Re-enactment and Living History experiences have become a major vehicle for heritage organisations to present the past to a demanding audience and, therefore, to inspire children, families and those with a passing interest into the further study of history. Almost all of us have attended a historical re-enactment event at some point in our lives, bringing history to life in a way that no book or classroom ever could. My own fascination with history began when I was twelve years old with a school visit to see the Sealed Knot re-enact the 1642 Battle of Edgehill. Now, after years of visiting schools and historic sites myself with my partner, dressed as King Robert the Bruce and his Queen, Elizabeth de Burgh, we are always amazed at the reaction of children.
Tag: education
Eighteenth-Century Scotland…and Stuff
People have been researching history through objects for centuries. The Antiquarians of the eighteenth-century fascinated over artefacts as survivors from ancient pasts. Most of us are familiar with looking at objects in museums as a way to learn about history. Historical artefacts offer a tangible connection to past peoples and places. But when we are taught the basics of history in school – and, indeed, in the early years of university history training – ‘things’ are rarely presented as historical sources. Often they are used as illustrative material, or supporting artefacts for documentary sources. Through this learning resource, I wanted to introduce school pupils to the ways in which they can examine material culture as evidence. It encourages them to consider the objects themselves but also the way people used, exchanged, and thought about things in the past to shed light on broader cultural, social, economic, and political histories.
Welcome to Mercat Crossings!
At the heart of so many Scottish towns and cities stands a mercat cross. First recorded in the late twelfth century, mercat crosses signaled a Royal Burgh’s unique trading privileges and its direct relationship with the crown. These crosses also became focal points for legal and political practises: sites for enacting justice; platforms for promulgating official proclamations; meeting spaces for burgh magistrates in lieu of a tolbooth or town house.