Chris Bowles the Scottish Borders Council Archaeology Officer circulated this note this morning.

The Bygone Berwick weekend will take place between the 14th and 15th of May, and as part of this the Heritage and Research group of the Flodden 500 project will be presenting an exciting opportunity to help us gain a full understanding of one of this region's key historical events: the Battle of Flodden. As many of you know, 2013 marks the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. Archaeological investigation and historical research is on-going in Northumberland as part of the Flodden 500 project, and we are hoping to bring to life a similar project in the Scottish Borders region.

At Bygone Berwick, we will be discussing, and hopefully encouraging some of you to take part in:

• The Flodden 500 Archaeology Project
• The Flodden 500 History Project
• The potential for a related Scottish Borders focussed history project looking at which Borderers went to battle, where they came from and if they ever came back
• The potential for a related archaeology project aimed at locating camps, muster points and the movements of the Scottish army after the battle in 1513

If you are interested, simply turn up on the 15 May from 11 - 12 at the Guildhall in Berwick (Council Chambers) for a discussion of the on-going research and our hopes for a Scottish project.

Welsh Ancestry

Surprisingly to some, there was a lot of movement between Wales and Scotland in past three centuries, so you may well have family members who lived in Wales.

People moved from Scotland especially to work in coal mines and slate quarries, to work as labourers and farm servants on estates, as well as in more traditional industries.

Similarly, people moved to Scotland to work in coal mines, to work as labourers and farm servants on estates, on the hydro-electric scheme construction, as well as in factories.

Of course, there was a lot of migration to and from England and Ireland, and to North America, too.

So you might be interested in television channel S4C's new family history programme, Perthyn, Welsh for 'belonging'.

The first programme is to be broadcast on Wednesday, 4th May at 9pm. This programme is about Geraint Morgan from Penllergaer near Swansea and his search for the reason why his great uncle, Llewelyn Davies, left the village of Myddfai in 1908 aged 17 for a new life in America.

Look at the the S4C Perthyn website for tips and useful links.


(Thanks to Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter).

David Hume Philosophy Festival on Saturday, 30th April 2011

A very warm sunny day for this event held in Chirnside, Berwickshire.

A man dressed in period costume, looking quite like some portraits of David Hume, greeted visitors and directed traffic.

Unfortunately I missed Fiona Houston's talk on Life in Georgian Chirnside, due to very slow traffic in front of me, all the way from Greenlaw. Fiona was dressed in period costume.

However, there were samples of Georgian gingerbread, macaroons, jumbles, and cake and they were very tasty.

There was an interesting presentation with animated slides about the life of David Hume and his works - many of his observations upon life seem very appropriate today - there were bank failures and political shenaningans in his day too.

David Hume, the chief executive of Scottish Borders Council, gave a speech about his namesake, David Hume, and unveiled the plaque on the wall of the old church, now the community centre.

Inside the community centre, as well as the Georgian food, there were 5 display stands, and a table with some interesting letters of the period, and some other documents including David Hume's family tree and a legal case involving David Hume's father, Joseph.

The stands were:

1. Introduction to David Hume

2. Life and Works of David Hume
3. David Hume's Legacy

4. David Hume's Family

5. Chirnside in the 1700s

There were lots more events in the programme, however, I didn't stay for them.

For more details of the programme, see Ronald Morrison's blog on the David Hume Philosophy Festival.