03 May 2024

The premodern Scottish place: mapping, chorography, history, landscape, literature

Annual seminar of Scottish Maps Forum. In person at National Library of Scotland Causewayside  Building, Edinburgh, and online. Free. Programme to follow. Register here 

This seminar will bring together researchers working on the premodern (medieval and early modern) histories of Scottish cartography, chorography, landscape, history, and literature. Some of the central questions which will be discussed include:

• what are the roles of the respective disciplines (mapping, chorography, landscape  history, and literature) in the understanding of place and space in Scotland?
• what is the relationship between the premodern visual record (maps) and texts?
• what is the relationship between the (historical) lived experience of Scottish landscapes and their representations on maps and in other geographical texts and objects?
• what impact did the literary imagination have on the nascent sciences of mapping and chorography, and vice versa?

The seminar forms part of a wider research project relating to Place and Poetry in Pre-Modern Scotland. A related part of this project involves the creation of a new online resource, mapping a small selection of early modern poems relating to Scotland. These  will be unveiled on the day, inviting comment and review to help to finalise them by the summer.

The seminar will involve a series of short talks, with plenty of time for discussion. There will also be an opportunity to view a small selection of relevant collection items in the Maps Reading Room.The seminar will be held on 3 May 2024 in the NLS Causewayside Building, Edinburgh, and also online. There will be no charge for the seminar, but you will need to register to attend. Spaces are limited for attendance in person, and teh organisers will notify you over what is possible when numbers are confirmed.

Further details of speakers, talks and a timetable for the day will be posted online and also circulated to those who register.

03 May 2024

NoSAS will be running a small excavation investigating the site of a distillery shown on the 1788 map, which may also have been a mill. A mechanical digger will be employed over the area, and if any features are identified, several trenches will be opened up.

This excavation is for NoSAS members. Membership is £15/year, or free to full time students. See their website to join. All members are welcome to volunteer, regardless of experience. This will be a good opportunity to brush up on excavation skills, with less physically demanding roles available for those not wishing to dig. 

Further details will be sent to NoSAS members closer to the time,