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Anna Groundwater

@agroundwater.bsky.social
658 followers 127 following 44 posts

Historian, early modern Scotland & Britain, borders, things, James VI, Union of the Crowns … & oh yes, Mary Queen of Scots @bletherobooks 1st November: bit.ly/43mW82w

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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Adobe's PDF AI Assistant kindly asked to summarise my images of the 16th century Bannatyne MS @natlibscot.bsky.social in pdf - showing my favourite of the poems, Ane New Yeirs Gift to MQS going on display in the Mary Queen of Scots exhibition 2027 @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social - this is the result 🤣✍️
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Big thanks to the Scottish history enthusiasts who came along the morning to hear me talk Connecting Scotland’s History and for joining the discussion👏 #scotlandsfest @edfringe.bsky.social @luathpress.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Great line up for #scotlandsfest #spokenword @edfringe.bsky.social but just to blow my own 🎺🎺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Talking 2,000 years of Scottish history … 26 August …
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York Festival of Ideas @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Join British Museum curator Rachel King and discover the Tudor Heart, a unique 24-carat-gold pendant linked to Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon. The Tudor Heart - 30 May ow.ly/SAz250Z4aks
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Excited to be talking ‘Connecting Scotland’s History’ at the most luxy of bookfests @bozzybookfest.bsky.social on Sunday 10 May. Thank you for having me!
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Boswell Book Festival @bozzybookfest.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Our 2026 programme is now LIVE! You can now visit our website to see our amazing selection of talks for this year. Tickets are available from March 19. Though you can unlock priority booking and get ahead of the crowds by becoming a Friend of the Festival. www.boswellbookfestival.co.uk
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Excited to be talking ‘Connecting Scotland’s History’ at the most luxy of bookfests @bozzybookfest.bsky.social on Sunday 10 May. Thank you for having me!
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Know your early modern Scottish History, and have experience with collections? Mat leave cover opportunity as Assistant Curator, Renaissance and Early Modern History at National Museums Scotland, apply now! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🔍🕵️‍♀️Deadline 18 Feb: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/829206
careers.nms.ac.uk
Asst Curator Renaissance and Early Modern History
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Dr Bryony Coombs @bryonycoombs.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I have been puzzling over this for a while & thought that it might be worth opening out to the floor to hear some opinions.🙏 What is this medieval marginal figure doing? They are clearly working with some kind of tool on fabric, cloth or skin... any thoughts on what the tool or process might be?🔎
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Last minute stocking filler? Scottish history novice or enthusiast? Connecting Scotland’s History can be with you tomorrow 🎉🎄🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿join all the other unicorns🦄🎅#luathpress
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Last minute stocking filler? Scottish history novice or enthusiast? Connecting Scotland’s History can be with you tomorrow 🎉🎄🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿join all the other unicorns🦄🎅#luathpress
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Are you in museums or galleries? Do you do Renaissance-era research? Think about applying NOW to the Society for Renaissance Studies award to support such a research project upto £1,000. Deadline 1 December! It could get you to that crucial archive or museum! www.rensoc.org.uk/funding-priz...
rensoc.org.uk
Museums & Galleries Research Award – Society for Renaissance Studies
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Connecting Scotland's History is back in stock! Read more about it in this kind review of its previous edition (Scotland Connected) from Donald McCormick in the Scottish Left Review scottishleftreview.scot/book-review-... #Scotland #scottishhistory #history
scottishleftreview.scot
Book Review
Donald McCormick on a 'crackin' book which provides a timeline for Scottish history in the wider world.
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Catch my thoughts on the BBC MQS codebreakers program on BBC1 Points of View. (I haven’t seen it since away). Lovely to see actual Stewart Scottish specialists interviewed.. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
bbc.co.uk
Points of View - 2025: 26/10/2025
Viewers have their say on the BBC’s television shows. Email your thoughts to pov@bbc.co.uk
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Luath Press @luathpress.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
✨BOOK EVENT✨ 👤 Anna Groundwater 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 📍Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway 📆 1 November ⏰ 10:30am 🎟 buff.ly/fekUapY #AllowayWhatsOn #History #HistoryBook #ScottishHistory #BookEvent
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 08/10/2025
CFP: 18th International Conference on Medieval & Renaissance Scottish Language, Literature, & Culture 1–4 July, @bristoluni.bsky.social Deadline: 14 Nov 2025. See link for details 👇 icmrsllc2026.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/call-for-pap...
Call for Papers 

18th International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Language, Literature, and Culture (ICMRSLLC) 

University of Bristol, 1-4 July 2026 

We are delighted to invite papers for the 18th International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Language, Literature, and Culture (ICMRSLLC), first established in 1975. We welcome proposals for papers that discuss any aspects of medieval and renaissance Scottish language, literature, and culture, and papers that reflect on these fields from different time periods, languages, and places.  

Keynote speakers:  
Roderick Lyall (Emeritus Professor of Literatures in English, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) 
Anna Groundwater (Principal Curator, National Museums Scotland) 
Steven Reid (Professor of Early Modern Scottish History and Culture, University of Glasgow) 

You may submit either an individual paper proposal (in which case the organisers will compile proposals into panels); or a complete panel of 3 papers at 20 minutes each. The conference also welcomes alternative panel formats (e.g. roundtables, flash panels, work in progress sessions), but these will need to managed by the proposer and proposed in full, with details of all participants.  

Individual papers: 20 minutes  
Panel sessions (typically featuring 3 papers with time for questions, or in alternative formats): 90 minutes.
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
I'm kicking off A Blether of Books festival at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum talking Connecting Scotland's History on Saturday 1 November 📙🎉 - tickets in link on bio...! @luathpress.bsky.social #robertburnsnts #ABletheroBooks
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Bob Marshall @bobmarshall.co.uk · 14/10/2025
Hi #PortfolioDay! I'm an Architectural Illustrator from Edinburgh. I visually reconstruct heritage buildings and monuments in #Blender3D guided by archaeology, measured survey data, and by working in collaboration with historians and archaeologists. Website: bobmarshall.co.uk
ALT: A speculative digital reconstruction of the Bass of Inverurie - a late twelfth-century timber and earthwork castle held by the Earls of Garioch (pronounced "Geary" in the local tongue)- members of the extended royal family of Scotland and the ancestors of King Robert the Bruce. Personal project © Bob Marshall 2017. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Speculative digital reconstruction of Tor Alvie hillfort near Aviemore, Scottish Highlands. The site was identified as a hillfort in 2010-11 (Historic Environment Record: MHG55341). The reconstruction model was created in Blender 3D using a combination of high-resolution digital terrain data obtained from Ordnance Survey, which I used to create my backdrop of the Cairngorm Mountains. Although the fort has never been excavated, the line of its rampart walls can broadly be determined by a stony bank that encloses an area of roughly 85m x 30m, bearing immediate similarities in size and shape to Craig Phadrig hillfort near Inverness. However, unlike Craig Phadrig, there is no evidence that Torr Alvie was vitrified. It is difficult to know how thick the ramparts were, whether there were timber palisades, and how many entrances the fort had, so imagination plays a large part in this visualisation. With grateful thanks to Eve Boyle and Adam Welfare of Historic Environment Scotland and Professor Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen for their input and assistance. © Bob Marshall / badenochstorylands.com 2020.A speculative digital reconstruction of the early sixteenth-century chancel screen of St Mary's parish church in Youghal, Ireland. Using survey measurements, I developed a computer model to help me work out a possible design for the screen and its loft. Its form is guided by the information written in historical documents and from a single piece of decorated timber, which may have been part of this original screen, found underneath the church floor during recent archaeological investigations. I have combined influences from some surviving medieval screens found in churches in several English counties. The depiction of the Last Judgement painted above the chancel arch is imaginary, and also influenced by similar mural paintings found in several medieval English churches. The Last Judgement, sometimes also referred to as a ‘Doom’, was a common feature of medieval churches. It was an instrument for highlighting the contrasts between the rewards of heaven and the agony of hell, intended to guide Christians away from sin and misbehaviour.A digital reconstruction of Brougham Castle shows how it may have looked in 1388 following the additions and alterations made by Roger Clifford, 5th Baron of Westmoreland. This view of the castle in wintertime is from the northwest. Artist: Bob Marshall. © Historic England / English Heritage Trust. Contact Historic England Archives for Licensing enquiries.
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Luath Press @luathpress.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
✨BOOK EVENT✨ 👤 @agroundwater.bsky.social‬ 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 📍Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway 📆 1 November ⏰ 10:30am 🎟 buff.ly/fekUapY #AllowayWhatsOn #History #HistoryBook #ScottishHistory #BookEvent
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Kirkwall Tailors Project @kirkwalltailors.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
The KTP is a community-based transcription project, aiming to fully transcribe and eventually publish a critical edition of the Records of the Kirkwall Incorporation of Tailors, 1669-1772. Their minute book, formerly on display in Orkney Museum, is being photographed by @orkneylibrary.bsky.social .
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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The time is nigh! Another fab programme for the JST #JacobiteStudies Virtual Workshop is up and ready to kick off on Tuesday, 2 Sept. Following the keynote launch, we'll have fortnightly sessions on different aspects of Jacobite Studies from a wide range of contributors. jdb1745.net/events/jstwo...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
A reminder that my Connecting Scotlands History #edbookfest event this morning is streamed online, pay what you like! Link below! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Thanks to Ronnie Barbour for fun interview @bylines.scot, fab to have such great questions that got at the heart of the book 📚, have a listen!
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Bylines Scotland @bylines.scot · 16/08/2025
Ronnie Barbour talks with Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social about her book "Connecting Scotland's History: A Scottish History Timeline Linked into 2,000 Years of World History | Bylines Scotland Radio #EdinburghBookFestival
bylines.scot
Bylines Scotland Radio: Anna Groundwater
Ronnie Barbour talks with Anna Groundwater about her book "Connecting Scotland's History: A Scottish History Timeline Linked into 2,000 Years of World History."
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Just spotted #edbookfest bookshelves, three of ‘my’ books close together! 📚Connecting Scotland’s History, Decoding the Jewels and Kate Anderson’s The World of James VI&I in which I’ve a chapter 😊😊 @luathpress.bsky.social @nationalgalleries.bsky.social @sidestone.bsky.social
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Great chat with @bylines.scot for their podcast out Saturday! Talking Connecting Scotland’s History into what’s happening in the rest of the world - ahead of my @edbookfest.bsky.social event on Monday! 🗃️🎤Thanks Ronnie Barbour! Find it here... bylines.scot/podcast-2/ Tickets @ bit.ly/3J0amPx
bylines.scot
The Bylines Podcast - Bylines Scotland
The Bylines Scotland podcast is the official audio accompaniment to our publication. We delve into the issues that matter to Scotland, and have a conversation with Scottish voices in progressive polit...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
A week to go @edbookfest.bsky.social Slides sent, outfit chosen, pretty excited. Fun fun playing with 2,000 years of our histories! #ConnectingScotlandsHistory Great feature #Edbookfest watch online/catch up! @luathpress.bsky.social #scottishhistory #scotlandhistory #scotland #history #bannockburn
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Hi @scotland.co I'd really appreciate a shout-out for my upcoming event @edbookfest.bsky.social on my book Connecting Scotland's History - 18 August - and available to watch online (you decide what to pay!) bit.ly/3J0amPx. Big thanks if you can!
bit.ly
Watch online: Anna Groundwater: Finding Scotland’s Place in World History
From Mon 18 Aug - Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richn...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Hi @bylines.scot! I'd really appreciate a shout-out for my upcoming event @edbookfest.bsky.social on my book Connecting Scotland's History - 18 August - and available to watch online (you decide what to pay!) bit.ly/3J0amPx. Big thanks if you can!
bit.ly
Watch online: Anna Groundwater: Finding Scotland’s Place in World History
From Mon 18 Aug - Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richn...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Hi @scottishhistory.org I'd really appreciate a shout-out for my upcoming event @edbookfest.bsky.social on my book Connecting Scotland's History - 18 August - and available to watch online (you decide what to pay!) bit.ly/3J0amPx
bit.ly
Watch online: Anna Groundwater: Finding Scotland’s Place in World History
From Mon 18 Aug - Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richn...
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 09/08/2025
This week we published a new volume in the Society's Camden series of primary sources: 'The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541)' bit.ly/4mtRQgS. This new edition, by Helen Newsome-Chandler, is free to read until 30 September #Skystorians
bit.ly
The Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots: new Camden volume published - RHS
The Society is very pleased to announce publication of its latest Camden series volume: The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541), edited by Helen Newsome-Chandler. This volu...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
A week to go @edbookfest.bsky.social Slides sent, outfit chosen, pretty excited. Fun fun playing with 2,000 years of our histories! #ConnectingScotlandsHistory Great feature #Edbookfest watch online/catch up! @luathpress.bsky.social #scottishhistory #scotlandhistory #scotland #history #bannockburn
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Guelph Centre for Scottish Studies @uguelphscottish.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Watch online! Available live, then on-demand after the event.
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Talking ‘Finding Scotland’s Place in World History’ #EdBookFest celebrating new edition of 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 📍Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 18 August ⏰ 11am 🎟 bit.ly/3J0amPx #EIBF #EdBookFest #scottishhistory #Scotland #history #timeline
bit.ly
Watch online: Anna Groundwater: Finding Scotland’s Place in World History
From Mon 18 Aug - Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richn...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Tick tock, a fortnight to go! Talking ‘Finding Scotland’s Place in World History’ #EdBookFest celebrating new edition of 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 💃 📍Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 18 August ⏰ 11am 🎟 bit.ly/3J0amPx #EIBF #EdinburghWhatsOn #EdBookFest #EdinburghInternationalBookFestival
bit.ly
Watch online: Anna Groundwater: Finding Scotland’s Place in World History
From Mon 18 Aug - Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richn...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
What do these have in common? From Columba to Muhammad, Mary Queen of Scots to Ivan the Terrible ... come hear where Scotland's history links into that of the world! Finding Scotland's Place in World History 18 August! @edbookfest.bsky.social #ScottishHistory #edbookfest @luathpress.bsky.social
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
It’s arrived! Connecting Scotland’s History! Updated renamed edition of my Scottish history timeline set alongside that of events in British and world histories. Happy to see it here and to be talking it at #edbookfest @edbookfest.bsky.social on 18 August 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎺 @luathpress.bsky.social
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Pretty thrilled to be doing this at #EdinburghBookFest celebrating new edition of 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 💃 📍EFI Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute 📆 18 August ⏰ 11am 🎟 buff.ly/0KBUaja #EIBF #EdinburghWhatsOn #EdinburghBookFest #EdinburghInternationalBookFestival #EIBF25
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Luath Press @luathpress.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
✨Edinburgh International Book Festival Event✨ 👤 @agroundwater.bsky.social‬ 📚 Connecting Scotland's History 📍EFI Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute 📆 18 August ⏰ 11am 🎟 buff.ly/0KBUaja #EIBF #EdinburghWhatsOn #EdinburghBookFest #EdinburghInternationalBookFestival #EIBF25
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Linda Porter @drlindaporter.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Just two weeks until I'll be at Dumfries House for @bozzybookfest.bsky.social, talking with @huntingrebels.bsky.social about Margaret Tudor and Mary Queen of Scots, in a session chaired by @agroundwater.bsky.social . Cannot wait!
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Weirdly anonymous site of #maryqueenofscots execution #otd 1587 #Fotheringhay … almost as if the English were embarrassed 🤔
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
🎉@kbtgalleries maxing their #MQoS offer in 3 locations, the #casket is in good company @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Talking Magnificent Mary and the silver casket, Thursday, Kirkcudbright … www.kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk/event/re-pre...
kirkcudbrightgalleries.org.uk
Re-presenting Mary Queen of Scots: what the silver casket tells us of her life - Kirkcudbright Galleries | Dumfries and Galloway | Artists | Gallery
When we think of Mary Stuart, all too often we think of her dressed in black and of her tragic ending. However, the silver-gilt casket now on display at Kirkcudbright...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Marvel at #EstherInglis work in this fabulous online exhibition @ University of Edinburgh exhibitions.ed.ac.uk/exhibitions/...
exhibitions.ed.ac.uk
University of Edinburgh Exhibitions | Rewriting the Script
During the reign of King James VI/I, the daughter of two French refugees found safety in Scotland and became known within the royal court for the beauty of her handwriting. She earned money for her fa...
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
The #Fettercairn jewel & lots more on If Jewels coul Talk with Carol Woolton 😍💍💎 #Renaissance #jewels #Scottish open.spotify.com/episode/4yVQ...
open.spotify.com
DECODING SCOTTISH RENAISSANCE JEWELS with Dr Anna Groundwater
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Online exhibition from the University of Edinburgh, Dreams of Darien, on the University's connections to the Darien scheme and the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies exhibitions.ed.ac.uk/exhibitions/...
exhibitions.ed.ac.uk
University of Edinburgh Exhibitions | Dreams of Darien
The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies (1695-1707) was a joint-stock company, incorporated by an Act of Scottish Parliament, most well known for attempting to establish the Scottish ...
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All Edinburgh Theatre @alledintheatre.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
NEWS: Scottish Ballet is adding a new full-length narrative ballet about Mary, Queen of Scots to its repertoire. www.alledinburghtheatre.com/scottish-bal... Choreographed by Sophie Laplane, it will premiere at next summer’s Edinburgh International Fest, then a wee Scottish tour. #theatre #ballet
Sepia image of a young female dancer in a black dress, seen close up, with an older dancer in a white dress reaching out to touch her shoulder from behind.
Dancers Roseanna Leney and Charlotta Öfverholm in a crop of the hero image for the campaign shoot for Mary, Queen of Scots. Image by Gavin SmartSepia image of a young female dancer in a black dress on a moody stage with an older dancer in a white dress reaching out to touch her shoulder from behind.
Dancers Roseanna Leney and Charlotta Öfverholm in the hero image for the campaign shoot for Mary, Queen of Scots. Image by Gavin SmartA young female dancer in a black dress looks worried, as an older dancer in a white dress touches her shoulder from behind.
Dancers Roseanna Leney and Charlotta Öfverholm in a behind the scenes image on the campaign shoot for Mary, Queen of Scots. Image by Mihaela Bodlovic
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Anna Groundwater @agroundwater.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Get to #Kirkcudbright now! The #maryqueenofscots #casket is getting the stellar treatment it deserves. Wonderful exhibition telling its stories @ Kirkcudbright Galleries 👑😍🎉@NtlMuseumsScot
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