Yay! Just got my latest academic publication in hand. An annotated transcript of a historical poem about events at Melrose in 1682 plus an accompanying essay. So very many Dundee University linked historians in this one volume. #skystorians

Any suggestions for where I might find information on early-1600s Edinburgh tailors? Looking for William Elder, tailor and burgess.

Siobhán McSweeney modeling the scholar at work and play.

It's alive. This one took 7 years or so to come to fruition but it's worth the wait. Heck of a volume.

Indeed.

“Paws on Parchment” - this exhibition looks amazing as do the visiting kittens. (Image below of four foster kittens who visited the exhibition at the Walters Museum shortly after it opened). www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a... #medievalsky

Come for the loos, stay for the sleeves.

Guitar Center Institutes 72-Hour Waiting Period https://theonion.com/guitar-center-institutes-72-hour-waiting-period/

Delighted to announce the launch of a new seminar - Race and the Early Modern - in collaboration with @folger.edu. A monthly, transatlantic, online seminar for research on race, racialisation, and racemaking across #earlymodern Studies. Sign up to attend! kingsearlymodern.co.uk/race-and-the...

In December 1644, Canongate kirk session organised a clothing drive for "their souldiers in the north". Donated were, quote: 1. new clothes 72 stands 2. old clothes 126 stands 3. new hoise 25 pair 4. old hoise 40 pair 5. old boots 35 pair 6. shoon 9 pair 7. sarks 62

James II on his way to the siege of Roxburgh where he was blown up by his own cannon - probably The Lion, wore a cloak made from four and half ells of purple velvet which must have looked quite impressive. ( Quatuor ulnis cum quarta panni serici dicti vellus purpurii colouris)

So much for voice technology. The earworm in question turned out to be Crocodile Rock 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pleased to learn today the origin of, 'know which side your bread is buttered on'. I thought it was something archaic and literal, but it's in a poem about an arguing couple from John Heywood's 1562 'Epigrams & Proverbs'. The man says his wife can't tell who's bad or good for her, and she says:

A new post for the new year: "A New Year’s Gift: Fish, Flesh, and ‘Unlawful Diet’ in Early Modern England" legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a...

Skating on Inverleith Pond today

What sort of crossword clue is this, NY Times??

My top leisure reads of 2025. Honorable mention to rereads The Leopard and The Great Gatsby.

On the 6th day of Christmas 1574, Aberdeen kirk session disciplined Elspet, Marione, Isabell, 4 Jonets, 3 Nans, 2 Mages, Alexander Fydleris wife, and Andrew Buk's servant for "plaing, dansin, and singin off fylthe carrolles on Yeull Day, at evin, and on Sonday, at even, thairefter."

Unconventional Director Sets Shakespeare Play In Time, Place Shakespeare Intended https://theonion.com/unconventional-director-sets-shakespeare-play-in-time-1819569151/

Return of the mystery portrait! This time in Top Hat (1935).

On Thursday 12 Feb. we will be sponsoring a conference on THE ULSTER PLANTATION, linked to the 'People of Plantation Ulster' database project (QUB/Maynooth). This is a free event open to all, held at PRONI (11-4). Registration and programme is at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conference...

A clue for you all!

New Discover page I wrote looking at momentoes of the First and Second World Wars to accompany our current exhibition "Maps: Memories from the Second World War" at the National War Museum, Edinburgh www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...

Delighted that a copy of Nathan Hood’s first monograph arrived in the post today! Nathan’s work to date on emotions in early modern Scotland has been outstanding. I am sure this is going to be great too and I can’t wait to read it.

Megalithic monuments in the Orkney Islands “may not have been intended to last millennia, but, now that they have, they are stone doors through which the living try to touch the dead,” Alex Ross writes. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/TFPGiZ

Worth a listen for this observation alone: It wasn’t their fault that centuries of unwise marital choices had led them looking like this.

This almond butter sounds delicious (Jane Parker, Wellcome 3769, 1651)

Help please with #palaeography - what is Andro's surname? Or what word follows?

Good gravy does this ruffler have a sensational history. 1620s, English, owned by Sir Edwin Rich (b.1594) to Dame Zandra Rhodes (b.1940). Sold for 30x upper est. I'd like to know the story behind one of the holes and its corresponding blood stain! Unboxing video on auction house's insta.

In one of our newest #OpenAccess articles, @allankennedy.bsky.social (from @dundee.ac.uk) views petitioning in early modern Scotland as a mechanism of interaction between ruler and ruled: 'Petitioning the Justiciary Court in Restoration Scotland, 1660–88' tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

CALL FOR PAPERS! Thrilled to announce the third Communication and Exchange in the Early Modern 1500-1850 conference: ‘A Continent in Conversation.’ (Aberystwyth University, 11-12 June 2026). Please do check out and share our #CfP! #Earlymodern #History

“No news of my book. O Publishers why are you so slow in deciding what is so obvious—that it is a good, a very good book?”—Chips Channon, 21 June 1926

At least 50% of Underground stations sound like an early 17th c plot to overthrow the Stuarts.

Happy news: My new book -- Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction -- now has a cover and is available for preorder! The book is a concise history of humanitarianism in an international and global perspective, from the 18th century to the present. More info here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Patriots Starting To Regret Drafting 130-Pound Linebacker Based Exclusively On Strength Of Cover Letter https://theonion.com/patriots-starting-to-regret-drafting-130-pound-linebacker-based-exclusively-on-strength-of-cover-letter/

Looking forward to talking to East Lothian Embroiders and Textile Artists about Women's clothing in late medieval Scotland on Saturday 22nd at the Bleaching Field Centre, Dunbar at 2pm.

Imprisoned for nearly 20 years by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, fought her battles through words, sending and receiving coded letters. Historian Jade Scott @huntingrebels.bsky.social uncovers the human and political depths behind Mary’s captivity: www.folger.edu/podcasts/sha...

Mistress Young's Edinburgh macaroons c. 1640, 'beat 4 or 5 eggis the wheits of them with a tuig till it be all turned to fome', full recipe in ALT text

Maria Hayward’s Stuart Style: Monarchy, Dress and the Scottish Male Elite is a jewel. A bargain at full price, daylight robbery at half. yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Scottish Church History 54.2 is now out (@scotchurchhist.bsky.social)! Always a joy to work with Scott, our contributors, and the team at @edinburghup.bsky.social on another great issue of the journal. www.euppublishing.com/toc/sch/54/2

Reading a bit on Russian history and it. is. wild. At least three “False Dimitris” and a revolutionary assassin who had a stint as a math professor in, you guessed it, South Dakota. volanteonline.com/2019/02/head...

Halloween is the perfect time to learn more about Canada's first documented 'demon possession' case. Check out this interview with Mairi Cowan about her book The Possession of Barbe Hallay.

In this blog post, Julian Goodare share insights into why those accused of #witchcraft would confess and what to expect from his co-edited book, Scottish Witchcraft Trials.🧙‍♀️ Read the blog: buff.ly/Qo4ouEA

Oct. 1644, Whitekirk, East Lothian: the kirk session warned against curing a livestock malady known as "the rowting evill" by "making ane graiffe 🪏 and earding or intering ⚰️ ane quick beist 🐄 in it", as had been done in nearby Whittingehame. Practitioners faced charges of witchcraft and charming 🧪✨

A halloween books cartoon for @theguardian.com

Three Black Cats, c. 1960s, by #MaudLewis (Canadian, 1901-1970). Held by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, collections.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/Argusnet/Arg... #womenartists #artherstory #NationalCatDay (US)

A good friend thoughtfully gifted me Outlander upon my MA graduation (2011). It remains the only book I've yet to quit and throw across a room in ahistorical fury (something about tartan on page 10).

Overly amused by this clue in today’s NY Times crossword. Who could it be 🤔