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Documenting Local Coal Working Before 1750 - Lecture

29/9/2023

Between about 1750 and 2000, coal mining was a major Scots industry and has been extensively studied. But sources for the earrlier coal industry are scattered and difficult to find.
Over the years, as I have come across such records in the course of other work, I have noted them and am now drawing them together. It is, I confess, a mixed bunch and includes a windmill and a miners' strike!
I will be presenting a lecture on 'Documenting Local Coal Working Before 1750' at the Forth Naturalist and Historian conference to be held at Stirling University on 11th Nov 2023 with the general theme Aspects of Extractive Industries; History, Impact and Recovery.
There is a great diversity of other papers. The full programme and booking form can be found here.

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Landscapes and the Battle of Stirling Bridge

28/4/2023

I have had several papers in Scottish Local History before and was pleased that they agreed to publish my latest offering - and very quickly, too, as I only submitted in late 2022 and it plopped into the porch on 27 April.

I was asked to do a talk about the landscapes last year and initially thought it would be conventional enough. Until I went for a walk and discovered a ditch with the potential to have played a major role in the battle. The ditch offered a golden opportunity to the English army - which they evidently failed to take advantage of!

Harrison, J. G., 2023. Landscapes and the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Scottish Local History, Issue 115, p. 26-32. Find a link to this paper here.

lANDSCAPES OF BANNOCKBURN - NEW PUBLICATIONS

19/9/2022

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Few topics in Scottish history are more evocative than the Battle of Bannockburn. The anniversary (in 2014) stimulated both the construction of a new Visitor Centre and also significant, new research work on the landscapes and their implictions for the battle.
Some of the outcomes were published at the time. But two major papers have only just appeared.
They are;
Richard Tipping, Gordon Cook, Derek Hamilton, John G Harrison, Jason Jordan, Danny Paterson & David E. Smith (2022) The terrain around Stirling at the battle of Bannockburn 1314: combined scientific and documentary approaches to reconstruction. I. The ‘low road’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/15740773.2022.2106809

Richard Tipping, John G Harrison, Danny Paterson, Gordon Cook & Derek Hamilton (2022) The terrain around Stirling at the Battle of Bannockburn 1314: combined scientific and documentary approaches to reconstruction. II. The ‘High Road’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/15740773.2022.2106810

The two papers look at the carse and the higher ground in turn and provide a radical new view of the landscapes (settled but often difficult to traverse) which the armies encountered.

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The Landscapes of the Battle of Stirling Bridge - Thursday 15 Sept 2022 at Legends, Wallace Monument.

18/8/2022

Though people have been writing about the Battle of Stirling Bridge for centuries, few have paid much attentioin to the landcapes - and many make wild assumptions about them.

On Thursday 15th Sept (6.30 for 7.00pm) John will talk about the evidence. There will be some surprises with new evidence from documentary sources but also (astonishingly!) found, on the ground, today!

Tickets (donation requested) can be reserved at

https://www.legendsatthemonument.co.uk/events/september-2022/
For a link to the Zoom option go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/where-wallace-led-evidence-for-the-landscapes-of-1297-john-g-harrison-tickets-410046729807

Ballengeich Pass

30/3/2022

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I have just posted a short piece about landscape change in the Ballengeich area, beside Stirling Castle, on the Research and Reports page of this website. It covers geological, historical and biological change over many millennia each with concrete and visible examples. Take a look here.

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Drifty Days - Zoom Lecture

14/11/2021

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My recent talk to the Perth Society of Natural Science on The Drifty Days was recorded and you can now watch it here

https://youtu.be/QMmXSwUrHiE

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Drifty Days - BALH Award

14/6/2021

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I have previously highlighted the award of the Birlinn Prize for my paper on The Drifty Days.
The paper has now also been recognised by an award by the British Association for Local History, presented at a virtual event on 12 June.
It is, of course, very gratifying to be recognised in this way - but the key thing is to keep finding new topics and to continue to produce lively and interesting work.

balh_certificate29062021.jpg

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Drifty Days - Birlinn Prize

7/11/2020

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Some weeks ago I recorded the publication of my paper on The Drifty Days of 1674 in the journal Scottish Local History.

I have been a member for many years and, from time to time, have published other papers in the journal.

It was a pleasant surprise to hear that the paper had been chosen as joint winner of the Birlinn Prize for the best paper published this year in the journal - and the other winner is one I am happy to be compared with!

The details are John G Harrison, 2020. The Drifty Days; A Climate Crisis of 1673-4, Scottish Local History issue 107, p. 11-16.

The article can be downloaded at https://www.slhf.org/annual-prize where further details of the prize, funded by Birlinn, well-known as major publishers of Scottish historical material, can be found.

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Western Ochils c. 1450-2000 - new paper

4/11/2020

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Volume 43 of the Forth Naturalist and Historian has now been published and brings yet another publication, the fourth of the year counting the web-based 'Last Wolf in Scotland'.
This one is the culmination of years of work on the Western Ochils entitled The Western Ochils c. 1450-2000. It is a drawing together of the threads of several different projects and endeavours an overview - even commenting on some contemporary changes.
You can get copies of the Journal (12) at the Smith, currently open for restricted hours Thursday to Sunday. Or by emailing [email protected]
The journal, as ever, includes many other items of interest including the annual weather and bird reports and several other historical papers -for which see Flyer attached.

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The Drifty Days - Joint winner of Birlinn Prize 2020

15/8/2020

A good many years ago, whilst researching the landscapes of Liddesdale, I came across evidence for a severe climatic 'hit' in early 1674, with massive losses of stock for local farms. The 'Drifty Days', as it came to be known, entered into folk memory in the Borders - but, with even the date uncertain.
How could one take it further? What about the rest of Scotland? How did people respond to the crisis and how enduring was the impact?
Further work on the locality (particularly using the extensive Buccleuch estate papers in National Records of Scotland) was the first step. Two 'diaries' of the time provide some comment on the appalling weather. And kirk session and presbytery minutes, which survive from the Borders to Orkney, show meetings disrupted, complaints of 'storm', of extreme cold and of the increasing distress of the poor.
Together, the sources show that the crisis was national, particularly with severe snow and cold in early 1674. But the Borders suffered more than other areas because local specialisation in sheep farming made them uniquely susceptible to just these conditions. It took almost a decade for the area to recover.
The findings have now been published as John G. Harrison, 2020. ‘The Drifty Days’: A Climate Crisis of 1673-4,, Scottish Local History, Issue 107, p. 11-16. The paper was chosen as joint winner of the Birlinn Prize for the best paper in Scottish Local History in 2020. Download this publication as a PDF here.

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Documenting Local Coal Working Before 1750 - Lecture

Landscapes and the Battle of Stirling Bridge

lANDSCAPES OF BANNOCKBURN - NEW PUBLICATIONS

The Landscapes of the Battle of Stirling Bridge - Thursday 15 Sept 2022 at Legends, Wallace Monument.

Ballengeich Pass

Drifty Days - Zoom Lecture

Drifty Days - BALH Award

Drifty Days - Birlinn Prize

Western Ochils c. 1450-2000 - new paper

The Drifty Days - Joint winner of Birlinn Prize 2020

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