Amongst the most important royal rituals to take place at Stirling Castle was the baptism of Mary, Queen of Scots infant son, the future James VI, on 17 Dec 1566.
Our speaker for the meeting on Thursday 25 April will be Peter Pearson. As usual the meeting begins at 7.30pm in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum. We ask visitors to pay £2.50 towards costs. You can download the flier for the meeting here.

The talk will be preceded by a short AGM to tie up the year's activities.

Bannockburn House is one of the most important historic mansions in the Stirling area. For many years it has been in a somewhat parlous state. Now, however, a group are working to save it and find viable uses.
At our meeting on 28 March at 7.30 pm , in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Alan Clater will talk about Bannockburn House - past, present and future.
All are welcome. We ask visitors for a donation of £2.50 to cover costs. The meetings usually finish by 9pm and are illustrated.
Find further details on the flyer.

Between 1878 and 1939 the Stirling Natural History and Archaeology Society published 61 volumes of Transactions. Though hard copies have always been available it has been difficult to locate papers on specific topics due to the form of the contents and indexes.
The original contents pages of each volume have now been scanned as has the Index to the papers in Volumes 1-57, published in 1936. These two files can now be consulted (free) on the website of the Forth Naturalist and Historian (http://www.fnh.stir.ac.uk/journal/back_issues/index.php)

Robert Ritchie’s talk at our 28th Feb 2019 meeting has the title "Peter Mac Dougal : Kenspeckle, Stirling schoolmaster, traveller and author.”
 
Robert writes: Peter MacDougal, 1761-1851, was Master of the Writing and Mathematical School in Stirling for 55 years. Patie, as he was familiarly known, was a kenspeckle figure, idiosyncratic, pugnacious, strict disciplinarian, renowned for his "conviviality", but also a devout man who held Gaelic services in his school-room for 25 years. He was the author of various textbooks and teachers guides – on Geography, Arithmetic, and Book-keeping – and acquired a reputation more than local for his teaching of writing and commercial subjects (and navigation). His pupils attained positions in business, military and marine employment in Britain and around the world. Many of them have left us their recollections of him.

The meeting is at 19.30 in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum. All welcome. Members Free, Visitors £2 50.

For the flyer, see attachment here.

Regratably, due to illness,  it has been necessary to change the subject for January's meeting. However, we are delighted that Donald Peddie has stepped in at short notice and agreed to speak on The Callander and Oban Railway, covering its construction and operation.

The event will still take place in the Smith Museum and Art Gallery, starting at 7.30pm. Visitors very welcome (£2.50 charge) and we usually end by about 9pm.

Members and enthusiasts will know that Mr Peddie is a tremendously knowledgeable and accomplished speaker, so there will still be plenty of interest for specialists!

Meetings about railways always seem to draw a good crowd. And visitors will be particularly welcome to January's meeting when : Jim MacIntosh of the Caledonian Railway  Association  will speak on                                                                          
“The Development of the Early Scottish Railways”
All the details on the flyer which you can download here.
We aim to start promptly. There will be a space for questions and discussion. We aim to finish by about 9pm. We do as visitors to contribute £2.50 towards costs.

The re-introduction of Red Kites to the area over the last few years has brought back a once widespread species = they are now even to be seen over the urban fringes!

Our enquirer writes:

I’m trying to do a bit of research into the history of red kites in the local area for an ornithology book I’m writing and wondered if any of your group might know of any historical records of the birds in the area. 
I’m keen to find any primary sources from the pre 1880 period (when the last pairs were killed off). In particular I’m looking for old estate records which might have accounts of people killing them, but also anything about people’s experiences with the birds.   I have some info already but any extras would be hugely appreciated!

So, if anyone knows of any sources, you can contact  us  via enquire@stirling-lhs.org and we will pass on the information.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 25 Oct 2018 in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum at 7.30pm. The speakers will be Dorothy Wilson and Stephen Digney and the topic "Kings Park and the Stirling Races'.

The park is one of Stirling's most ancient and important landscape features and the Stirling Races were a very significant feature of life in Stirling until terminated in the mid 19th century. See details on the flyer.

Admission is free for members. We ask visitors for a small fee (£2.50) to help cover costs.

All Welcome.

Stirling Local History Society website now has a new section highlighting some Victorian "characters' together with the Recollections of Dr George Galbraith, concerning life in Stirling between the 1820s and the 1890s.

Information on David Taylor, Poet is at;   https://www.stirling-lhs.org/david-taylor-poet.html

Information on John Allan, architect, at https://www.stirling-lhs.org/john-allan-architect.html

Information on the Town Criers and related worthies, such as Danny McVean, 'Tammy' Chalmers and Isaac Spyron is at https://www.stirling-lhs.org/stirling-criers.htmlwww.stirling-lhs.org/stirling-criers.html

The recollections of Dr Galbraith form by far the most extensive, personal account of life in Victorian Stirling,  covering matters from demographic changes to funeral protocol, church services to the impact of the railway. Originally published by the Stirling Field and Archaeological Society, they can now be found (with some explanatory notes) at https://www.stirling-lhs.org/dr-gt-galbraith.html