Burns is hot
- Budding young historians from East Ayrshire primaries have been using Kilmarnock’s Burns Monument Centre to aid their research. Silverwood Primary pupils visited the centre to find out more about William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, and the town’s links with the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion; New Farm P7s used the centre’s digital Burns Collection to prepare for their Burns Supper.
Macbeth trail
- A proposal to create a Macbeth trail, aimed at restoring the reputation of the Scottish king, was launched last week at Glamis Castle by Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone and author Fiona Watson. They hope the trail, which could take in places such as Inverness, Iona and Lumphanan, will highlight Macbeth’s achievements and allow people to see beyond the character created by William Shakespeare.
Palatial play
- Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle will provide the settings for David Lyndsay’s renowned Renaissance drama, A Satire of the Three Estates, in June. Schools and community groups are being invited to explore issues which arise in the play as part of a two-year project run by Edinburgh, Oxford Brookes, Southampton and Glasgow universities, with support from Historic Scotland.
Battle legacy
- The Flodden 500 project to bring together communities of the Scottish and Northumbrian border areas in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden in 1513 won support worth #163;887,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. It will mean a four-year boost to ensure that a legacy is created beyond the actual commemoration events in 2013.
Victorian view
- The Queen’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is to host an exhibition from 8 March to 21 July, to explore the cultural significance Victorian Britain attached to the Middle East. It documents an educational tour of the region in 1862 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Francis Bedford, the first photographer to join a royal tour.
