An collector of early furniture got more than he bargained for when he bought an oak chest only to find it had been created for the 1503 marriage of King James IV and Margaret Tudor.


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I hadn't seen this online exhibition on The National Archives website before. It's worth a look. It's called 'Black Presence' and focuses on people of African descent who lived in Britain from the 15th century (they were here before that but this is the starting point for the exhibition).

Africans have been present in Europe from classical ( Read more... )

Speaking as someone who has worked in many a shop I found this article in The Daily Telegraph fascinating.

Dr Pamela Cox is presenting a new series on the history of the British 'shopgirl'.

Increasing industrialisation and growth of spending power for consumers meant that by the late 19th century, there was a real demand for women workers, as ( Read more... )

Archaeologists believe a skeleton found in Scotland may be that of an ancient Irish King.

Archaeologists suggest they may have found the remains of Olaf Guthfrithsson, who was the King of Dublin and Northumbria from 934 to 941, or a member of his entourage. The remains, which were excavated by AOC Archaeology Group at Auldhame in East Lothian in ( Read more... )

Preparations for a new bypass in Scotland have uncovered the remains of an Iron Age village!

The treasure trove unearthed during the building of the £17 million A75 Dunragit bypass in Wigtownshire sheds new light on land use and settlement in the area over the past 9,000 years. The discoveries include a rare and complete 130-piece jet bead ( Read more... )

Thanks to my mum for spotting this one!

The story of the ill-fated Scots colony at Darien survives in the oral history of the Kuna Indians, who are the only people who have ever settled successfully in this inhospitable place ( Read more... )

I spotted this via twitter today...

It’s that time of year again, when we vow to ditch the sugar, take out a gym membership, and follow religiously the latest weight loss guides. But while you might assume dieting to be a modern phenomenon, new research suggests it originates in an earlier century ( Read more... )

This isn't exactly a breaking news story, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The BBC learning zone have put up a new article on Margaret Tudor - Scotland's 'forgotten Queen'.

Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and aunt of Elizabeth I, was the first Tudor woman to rule a kingdom and caused scandal with her divorce, but her legacy was the eventual ( Read more... )

Archaeologists in Scotland believe they have found the oldest lunar 'calendar' in an Aberdeenshire field.

Excavations of a field at Crathes Castle found a series of 12 pits which appear to mimic the phases of the moon and track lunar months ( Read more... )

I love little discoveries like this.

Archaeologists at 13th century Drum Castle in Scotland were intrigued by two windows in the keep that could be seen from the outside, but not found inside. Expecting them to be part of filled passageways, they investigated and instead found a medieval room.

Dr Clark says, “We were surprised that when we ( Read more... )