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Africans in 16th Century Scotland

22/11/2012

 
I was contacted a few days ago by Miranda Kaufmann who has been working on Africans in Britain 1500-1640 at Oxford. She had just come across reports of my findings of 'morys' [Moors] in the household of Marie de Guise in 1549 - for which see the Bread Book on the Papers page of this site.

So yesterday afternoon I attended her seminar at Edinburgh Uni on Africans in Scotland in the 16th century and much enjoyed it. She now has a total of at least 13 different people of African origin in Scotland across the century, mainly in the households of monarchs and a few other, high-status individuals, including the two 'morys' in 1549, of course.

This morning, I think we can increase that to at least 17  - with some more context!

In 1562 a distribution list for bread, wine, candles etc in the household of Mary Queen of Scots was compiled. The manuscript is in NAS at E33/5 and it was published as Menu dela Maison dela Royne Faict Par Mons. de Pinguillon. M.D.LXII. and published by Thomas Thomson in about 1819.

Like the de Guise bread distribution, it is arranged hierarchically. In the 'bread' section, after the queen's table, the master household's table and the ladies' table etc comes the 'table des filles desmoiselles'. The 'fillles desmoiselles' were young girls but, usually 'of good family'; indeed, letters survive from noble parents asking Marie de Guise to take their daughters as 'filles desmoiselles'.


Eight people ate at this table. It was overseen by the 'gouvernante' (sometimes known as the Mistress of the Maidens) and the names include la Jeune Leuiston (the young Livingstone, a Scots nobleman's daughter), another is La Jeune Bethon, and then comes La sauvaige. The last name is 'rallay', evidently one of the nicknames so widely used in these lists. Rallay had her own servant and there is another servant allocated to the 'filles' as a group.

The list then moves on to the gentlemen's servants table, the chamber women's table, the valet de chamber's table, two tables for household officers and then the table for officers of the kitchens where 17 people ate. These include 'villemonson et gregoire, sauuaige galloppins' and also 'adrian sauuaige gardeuaisselle'. Gallopin is, literally, a rascal but was commonly used to describe menial kitchen servants and the gardevaisselles again did what it says, took care of the kitchen utensils and so on.



In March of 1563 a payment is recorded for a horse hire for Adrian Sauvage, 'sommelier de la vessels de cuisine' [waiter on the kitchen utensils] (NAS E33/7/3 f. 31v-33v for month-end summary for March).

The  'filles desmoiselles' were given a modest allowance of wine, the 'sauvaige' again specified and, whilst those in the kitchen are not specified by name in the wine list, they totals of people are the same, so they got some wine as part of the group they belonged to.

'La Sauvaige' is clearly, literally, 'The Savage' but, for example, when Mary went hunting in the southern Highlands, supplies were sent to here 'au sauvage'  (in the wilds) so it is not perhaps as derogatory as it seems. In any case, the girl is well placed and well fed; the servants ate the group's left-overs The two gallopins are further down the pecking order, but still are parts of the household, regularly fed - and they even have names! Adrian Sauvage, too, is a servant but is trusted with a horse and his job was not menial. The girl and the kichen servants ate with their peers. It would be intriguing if, as was often the case, the kitchen servants were also children, raising the question of how they came to be there, a question addressed at last night's seminar, though with only the most general conclusions.

There must remain a question of whether 'sauvage' necessessarily means, not just 'savage' but 'African'? There must also be a possibility that Adrian Sauvage was simply his name, though that seems unlikely in the circumstances. It is just possible that these people were from some other background but North Africa must, surely, be the most likely. Whilst the little girl might have been treated as something of an 'exotic pet', tolerated as a curiousity, that cannot apply to the kitchen servants who would seldom, if ever, have been seen by the sort of high-status visitors whose views of the court mattered! They are servants amongst servants, doing prosaic tasks.

I will post more on this story over the next few days, including images of the 'morys' entry in the Bread Book.







New Aerial Photography Book

21/11/2012

 
We have gradually got used to the idea of using aerial photographs in the study of Scotland's past. Only a few weeks ago I was poring over photos, stretching back to the 1940s, in the library of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).

A splendid book is just out. James Crawford, Scotland's Landscapes; The National Collection of Aerial Photography (RCAHMS, 2012).

Spendidly printed and designed and with hundreds of full-colour photographs, it is first and foremost a record of Scotland today, in all its diversity. There are wind farms and industrial sites as well as historic landscapes, coasts and mountains, houses and fields.

The text is clear and vivid, too, highlighting the ways in which, for thousands of years, human activity has moulded the land - and our perceptions of it.

RCAHMS has such a good track record for this sort of production that we have almost 'come to expect it'. This one reminds us that, each one is a triumph.

The cover price is £25 (a great present for some) but you can get it for less.





Genealogy and Landscapes

11/11/2012

 
I have posted a new short item about Fossachie and Parkhead, two former farm-sites on the shoulders of Dumyat, on the genealogy page today.

This is the sort of material which I have, sitting on file and which can so vividly illuminate the lives of local people in the past 500 years or so. Who lived at this site, how did they live, why was it abandoned?


It is ironic that it goes up on the same day as I blog about the threat to adjacent Menstrie Glen due to proposals to  plant extensive Sitka Spruce and other trees in this wonderful space.




Proposed tree-planting in Menstrie Glen

11/11/2012

 
Picture
Lands of Jerah seen from the west side of Menstrie Glen; the proposed planting would fill most of the far side of the glen in this view.
News arrives of proposals for extensive planting of trees in Menstrie Glen, in the Ochils east of Stirling.

There is a long way to go before this becomes reality - but now is the time to become alarmed!

Friends of the Ochils are 'on the case'.

The proposals can be see in outline on the Menstrie Community Council Website.


As is often the case, the planting will not directly overlie the specific, known archaeological sites in the area. But it will, most certainly, make it impossible to appreciate the relationships of the different sites; that is, they will destroy the landscapes rather than the sites.

Further, the planting will extend to and over the skyline. It will radically change the experience of the glen and will impinge on the middle and lower reaches of Glen Tye, across the watershed near the Sheriffmuir along the Auld Wharry Burn.
These are areas already threatened by the promimity of the  impending Beauly-Denny Powerline.

Thanks to research published on Menstrie Glen in 2001 by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, this area is one of the best-understood upland landscapes in Scotland. It is close to major poulation centres but is relatively accessible and is enjoyed by many thousands every year, not least all those who gain the summit of Dumyat, our favorite local summit.

Including a fringe of native species will do little to diminish the impact of this new intrusion of industry into the hills.

I will post more on this story as information emerges.







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    John G Harrison is a historian, working on a wide range of topics related to Scottish history, from architecture to wildlife. Take a scroll through the site to find out more. And feel free to contact John or to comment via the blog.

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