The Forth Naturalist and Historian journal is usually launched at the annual conference at the University and we try to make copies available through our meetings. That cannot happen this year but the journal has still appeared - and needs your support. Copies can be purchased (£12) at the Smith Museum (currently open with restricted hours from Thursday to Sunday); or you can email FNH@stir.ac.uk to make arrangements.  Purchase a copy and fill in the enclosed form to be come of member of the organisation.

The journal includes the usual items such as the annual weather and bird reports as well as papers on
The Western Ochils, c. 1450-2000
Vegetation on the Gowane Hill over 300 years
Stirling Church Life in the Early 19th century
World War II military activity at Sheriffmuir
Stiring 'Statuemania' and Robert Burns.

We recently published a link to a blog post by Morag Cross about Christian MacLagan (1811-1901), the doughty pioneer archaeologist, and in her biographer Sheila Elsdon's words, 'formidable' lady antiquary.

Morag has now published a further blog, related to her and the more general issues of women's contributions to the historic architecture.

The link to the blog, and the 'hidden' women, submerged in St Mary's Wynd, is here:


https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2020/03/mysterious-buildings-hidden-women-lost-photos/

our next meeting will be on Thursday 27 March at 7.30pm in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum.
The speaker will be Dr Elizabeth Cumming, the topic Stirling and the Arts and Crafts Movement.
As usual, we ask visitors to pay a modest £2.50; members, of course, are free.
The flyer, with all details, can be downloaded by clicking here.

This month's meeting will take place in the Smith Museum and Art Gallery on Thursday 27 Feb at 7.30 pm.
Dorothy Wilson and Friends will present (in song and speech) the lives of three of Stirling's 19th century literary women.

Mrs Anne Grant of Laggan and Mrs Elizabeth Hamilton were well-known figures, playing an active part in Edinburgh's literary scene during the Scottish Enlightenment. Miss Helen Graham's diary (published in 1956 as Parties and Pleasures) provides a lively view of local elite society from 1823-1826.
Members Free. Visitors £2.50
Details here

Christian MacLagan was one of the most interesting and controversial figures of late Victorian Stirling. She was a feminist, archaeologist and writer, deeply (and often cantanceriously) involved in church affairs. She is the subject of an entry in the Dictionary of National Biography and of a modern book-length biography. Now Morag Cross (a more modern feminist, archaeologist and writer) has published some interim findings on her work on MacLagan's house and church bullding activities and her disputes with architects and others. Find it here.

Our January meeting is on Thursday 30 Jan at 7.30pm at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum. The speaker is Dr Miles Oglethorpe, Head of Industrial Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland who will talk about“Landscape and Legacies of Coal”.
Coal mining was one of Scotland's major industries and it was particularly significant in the Stirling area till well within living memory. The talk will reflect the findings of recent research into the industry.
All are welcome. We ask visitors to pay £2.50 towards costs.
See the flyer here.

We have had an enquiry from a project to study and record local lock-ups. The team write:

Your Local Lock-Up; a public engagement project that aims to compile data on any place or structure used for temporary imprisonment between the 16th and early 20th centuries.  These structures could include purpose-built lock-ups, police stations, cells in town halls or courthouses, workhouses, stocks and even rooms in pubs where prisoners were guarded overnight.  The accused might have been held there until they appeared before a magistrate, or the structures could even have been used by the community to punish anyone misbehaving in the parish.

For further information or to contribute, see the more detailed information attached.

This volume has just been published. Some copies will be available for sale (£12 each which includes free membership of Forth Naturalist and Historian) at the meeting on 28 Nov.
The volume includes the usual bird and weather reports and several 'naturalist' articles. More specifically historical are the following:
Roy Sexton on the historical and modern vegetation around Stirling Castle

John Harrison on the Stirling Field and Archaeological Society [1879-1939]

S Black on Pathfoot, the lost village of shoemakers

Cook, M. The Cotter in the King's Park: observations on Stirling's Royal Park Dyke

Dickie, M, The Development and Decline of the Craigrie Lade [Clackmannan]

Wood A. and Dingwall R., Stone Blocks and Iron Rails [remains of railways around Clackmannan/ Alloa].

If you would like one of the limited number of copies we will have at the meeting, it would be good if you could contact use in advance at enquire@stirling-lhs.org. Otherwise, they are also on sale at the Smith bookstall or via the Forth Naturalist and Historian website.

Our last meeting of 2019 will be at 7.30pm on Thursday 29 Nov. The speaker will be Dr Lachlan Munro on “The Scenery of Dreams: The true story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped".
Few literary figures are more closely tied to Stirling and the area than RLS. And in this case, not only the author but the hero and the tale are crucially tied.  Dr Munro has recently published a book about this topic and we are confident of an authorative and interesting presentation - with the option to purchase a copy of the book, too!
As usual, all are welcome though we ask visitors to pay £2.50 towards costs; members and students free.
Download the flyer here.