By MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
8 February 2010
THE Capital could soon be glowing with Georgian splendour once again, with plans to reinstate historical street lighting in the New Town.
Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) and the council are currently examining old photographs and planning documents to discover what the city's streetlights were like in days of old, with a view to replacing modern concrete posts with replicas of Georgian designs.
Once the research is completed the council will have a bank of classical designs at its disposal whenever a modern streetlight comes to the end of its operational life, and be able to quickly order a Georgian-style replacement.
EWH was inspired by projects in Lynedoch Place and Claremont Street where local residents banded together to restore their streets to their former glory.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell was among the 40 homeowners on Lynedoch Place who helped fund the GBP 30,000 restoration of the street in 2007.
The residents commissioned ten cast iron street lamps, funded by EWH, Edinburgh City Council and local residents - who chipped in around GBP 250 each.
David Hicks, communications manager at EWH, said: "We're not at the stage of discussing costs or which streets are going to be restored yet.
"We're still at the research stage to find out what kind of streetlighting was used in the New Town in the past.
"We want to discover what patterns were used, how they were positioned, whether they were wall-mounted or freestanding, and once this body of research has been done we can use it to refer back to whenever the opportunity to replace a streetlight comes up.
"It would be difficult to say how much each streetlight will cost because they will be made to order.
"It's quite exciting, actually, as the company that manufactured some of the original designs in the late 19th century is still around, still has all of the old moulds and even has some of the original order books so it will be quite easy to call them up and resurrect some of these old patterns."
A council spokesman said: "The council plans to develop a citywide strategy for streetlighting and, in order to inform the process, have asked Edinburgh World Heritage to lead on this historic study."
SHINING A LIGHT ON THE PAST
WROUGHT iron oil lanterns can still be found on Charlotte Square and York Place.
Some cast iron standards that were put up privately still exist on Heriot Row, Queen Street, Ann Street, Howard Place and Northumberland Street.
The committee of Commissioners of Police of the Lighting Department commissioned rail-mounted streetlights with public funding in 1819. There are surviving examples on George Street, Stafford Street, in the Advocates Library and York Place.
Most oil lamps were taken down in the 1820s to give way for new gas lights that were mounted on the pavements. These, however, were inspired by the oil lamps' design.
Edinburgh's street lanterns were powered by whale or train oils in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, giving a rather sparse light, only provided in the winter.
Sir John Carr reported that one July night he had to feel his way from George Square over North Bridge to St Andrew Square.
The oil was also very valuable and versatile, causing Russian sailors to climb the posts and make off with the oil for cooking.
Showing posts with label Annals of History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annals of History. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Monday, 19 October 2009
ANALYSIS: Lifestyles of the rich, poor and infamous...14th century style
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 15, 2009
Scotland's People Centre situated in the centre of the Capital offers a user-friendly facility for archive hunters Shirley Manson's are Viking, Gavin Esler's are German and Scot-baiting Jeremy Paxman's were famously found north of the Border. Finding your family roots has become a 21st century obsession - and not just among celebrities. In the first of a four-part series on genealogy, MARK McLAUGHLIN finds out about the city's earliest inhabitants and how to trace your own ancestors at the new Scotland's People Centre
THE locked gate swings open and the climb begins up the vast iron staircase to the top of New Register House to visit some of the oldest prisoners in Edinburgh.
With its spiralling, cylindrical cages and layer-upon-layer of locked chambers, the West Register Street rotunda resembles the gaols designed by 19th century sociologists to keep a close eye on their subjects.
But these "prisoners" are not living people. They are the records of every person whose lives have left a paper-trail over the last five centuries, and the cages aren't there to keep the prisoners in but to keep the public out.
But now the guardians of some of Edinburgh's most precious records have staged their own jailbreak, setting loose millions of previously inaccessible records into cyberspace.
The new GBP 7.5 million Scotland's People Centre, which opened earlier this year at the General Register Office and National Archives of Scotland complex near the east end of Princes Street, has given visiting rights to the relatives of anyone whose lives made their mark anywhere in Scotland.
Millions of documents have been digitised and indexed, and are ready to be scrolled through and pored over endless times without damaging the fragile documents themselves.
Dee Williams, head of the new Scotland's People Centre, grabs a set of keys and a pair of white gloves, and heads up to the highest part of the "prison" to take a look at some of the aging documents that have now been digitally preserved for posterity.
Like any valuable prisoner, these documents are kept under tight security.
"The oldest paper record we have of a person living in Edinburgh can be found in the old parish rolls of the Canongate from 1564," Dee explains as she pulls out a nondescript folio from the shelves.
She opens out the folio to reveal dozens of loose-leaf slips of paper, more than five centuries old and in written in an apparently impenetrable scrawl.
"The first name that appears is for a man named Thomas," she says over the rims of her reading spectacles. "Unfortunately the paper is torn so his surname has been lost, but if we move down a line we can see that this document is a record of births from that year.
"The first full record we have is for the birth of a child on 2 September 1564. It reads, 'William Bour: ane [one] child callit [called] Johne. His witness: Lard [Laird] of Brownstoun'.
"The record also contains the oldest remaining death certificate issued in Edinburgh for one Thomas Scot of Saint Johnston on 2 April 1566 - 'hangit at the corse of Edinburgh under ain callar [charge] of treason for the religious cause' - six years after the Scottish Reformation which severed Scotland's links with the Catholic Church.
"The oldest surviving marriage certificate can also be found in the old parish rolls of the City of Edinburgh, where a Robert Murheid married Janet Muir on 13 April 1595."
Other early Edinburgh surnames that can be found in these files include, amongst millions of others, Lawchlane, Adameson, Halyday, Ballentyne, Cambell, Richardson, Ray, Todd, Smyth, Spottiswod and Mowbray.
All of these names are still around today in one form or another, but you won't need a set of keys, a pair of white gloves, the patience of a saint and the research skills of historian to discover if you're related to any of these early Edinburgh-dwellers.
All of these names and more have been digitised and indexed, and a virtual record can now by called up at the touch of a button.
As well as the existing digital searches of statutory registers of births, death and marriages dating back to 1855, which have been available at General Register House for a number of years, the new Scotland's People Centre includes raft of new resources, including a search facility for wills and testaments stretching back to 1513, old parish registers dating back to 1553, and full census records from 1841-1901.
But it's not just those interested in their own family history who find the information useful, explains Dee.
"The police can use the information to search for birth records of current criminals or to research cold cases," she says. "We also have a pair of researchers from NHS Lothian who are down here almost on a daily basis searching through the family records of current patients.
"They see their work as essential to saving lives, as family history can tell you a lot about the current state of health of living people. For example, my mother died of breast cancer and two of my aunts have been diagnosed with it, and I've been told I have a 50-50 chance of developing it myself based on the medical history of my closest relatives.
"But if you were to search further into the past into older death certificates, I might discover that some of my older relatives also died from it which could maybe push the chances up to 80 per cent.
"This kind of information is vital for someone considering early screening and preventative treatment."
The ground floor of General Register House contains three fully refurbished rooms - the Adam Dome, the Reid Room and the Matheson Dome.
The Adam Dome has been set aside for two hour "taster sessions" in the mornings and afternoons, where people can come in and search their family history for free.
If they want to do more in-depth searches they can book a daily session, which costs GBP 10, or even purchase quarterly (GBP 440) or annual (GBP 1,250) passes to do some hardcore family history hunting.
"It can become something of an obsession," explains Alison Lindsay, head of the archives' historical research section. "However, you'll have a better chance of discovering a detailed picture of someone's life if they were very rich or very poor.
"If they had a lot of money there will be records of rents, taxes and wills, while the very poor would maybe show up in hospital or poor-house records, and may have fallen foul of the law and ended up hanged or imprisoned.
"For this reason, the 'respectable poor' - who only earned enough to scrape by and kept their noses clean - are rubbish ancestors to have!"
The Scotland's People Centre is open on weekdays from 9am-4.30pm. Taster sessions in the Adam Dome are available on a first-come-first-served basis from 10am-12pm and again at 2-4pm.
For more information visit www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
19th CENTURY RECORDS ARE BACK ON LINE
THE opening of the Scotland's People Centre has also plugged a major digital gap that's been bothering family historians for years.
Problems with the digitisation of the 1881 census meant its contents were virtually inaccessible, but earlier this year the Scotland's People technicians ironed out the glitches and revealed a wealth of information about some of Edinburgh's most notable citizens.
It's now possible to see the census record of Peter Pan Author J M Barrie, who was a 20-year-old student at the time living in lodgings on Great King Street with his landlady and a retired Army Officer.
The record also shows a 21-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle, who at the time was listed as a student of medicine, but went on to create the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, living with his mother and four of his ten siblings at 15 Lonsdale Terrace.
At 42 Palmerston Place there lived a 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate called Douglas Haig, who later went on to become Field Marshall Haig, the 1st Earl Haig, left, and leader of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.
Edinburgh Evening News
September 15, 2009
Scotland's People Centre situated in the centre of the Capital offers a user-friendly facility for archive hunters Shirley Manson's are Viking, Gavin Esler's are German and Scot-baiting Jeremy Paxman's were famously found north of the Border. Finding your family roots has become a 21st century obsession - and not just among celebrities. In the first of a four-part series on genealogy, MARK McLAUGHLIN finds out about the city's earliest inhabitants and how to trace your own ancestors at the new Scotland's People Centre
THE locked gate swings open and the climb begins up the vast iron staircase to the top of New Register House to visit some of the oldest prisoners in Edinburgh.
With its spiralling, cylindrical cages and layer-upon-layer of locked chambers, the West Register Street rotunda resembles the gaols designed by 19th century sociologists to keep a close eye on their subjects.
But these "prisoners" are not living people. They are the records of every person whose lives have left a paper-trail over the last five centuries, and the cages aren't there to keep the prisoners in but to keep the public out.
But now the guardians of some of Edinburgh's most precious records have staged their own jailbreak, setting loose millions of previously inaccessible records into cyberspace.
The new GBP 7.5 million Scotland's People Centre, which opened earlier this year at the General Register Office and National Archives of Scotland complex near the east end of Princes Street, has given visiting rights to the relatives of anyone whose lives made their mark anywhere in Scotland.
Millions of documents have been digitised and indexed, and are ready to be scrolled through and pored over endless times without damaging the fragile documents themselves.
Dee Williams, head of the new Scotland's People Centre, grabs a set of keys and a pair of white gloves, and heads up to the highest part of the "prison" to take a look at some of the aging documents that have now been digitally preserved for posterity.
Like any valuable prisoner, these documents are kept under tight security.
"The oldest paper record we have of a person living in Edinburgh can be found in the old parish rolls of the Canongate from 1564," Dee explains as she pulls out a nondescript folio from the shelves.
She opens out the folio to reveal dozens of loose-leaf slips of paper, more than five centuries old and in written in an apparently impenetrable scrawl.
"The first name that appears is for a man named Thomas," she says over the rims of her reading spectacles. "Unfortunately the paper is torn so his surname has been lost, but if we move down a line we can see that this document is a record of births from that year.
"The first full record we have is for the birth of a child on 2 September 1564. It reads, 'William Bour: ane [one] child callit [called] Johne. His witness: Lard [Laird] of Brownstoun'.
"The record also contains the oldest remaining death certificate issued in Edinburgh for one Thomas Scot of Saint Johnston on 2 April 1566 - 'hangit at the corse of Edinburgh under ain callar [charge] of treason for the religious cause' - six years after the Scottish Reformation which severed Scotland's links with the Catholic Church.
"The oldest surviving marriage certificate can also be found in the old parish rolls of the City of Edinburgh, where a Robert Murheid married Janet Muir on 13 April 1595."
Other early Edinburgh surnames that can be found in these files include, amongst millions of others, Lawchlane, Adameson, Halyday, Ballentyne, Cambell, Richardson, Ray, Todd, Smyth, Spottiswod and Mowbray.
All of these names are still around today in one form or another, but you won't need a set of keys, a pair of white gloves, the patience of a saint and the research skills of historian to discover if you're related to any of these early Edinburgh-dwellers.
All of these names and more have been digitised and indexed, and a virtual record can now by called up at the touch of a button.
As well as the existing digital searches of statutory registers of births, death and marriages dating back to 1855, which have been available at General Register House for a number of years, the new Scotland's People Centre includes raft of new resources, including a search facility for wills and testaments stretching back to 1513, old parish registers dating back to 1553, and full census records from 1841-1901.
But it's not just those interested in their own family history who find the information useful, explains Dee.
"The police can use the information to search for birth records of current criminals or to research cold cases," she says. "We also have a pair of researchers from NHS Lothian who are down here almost on a daily basis searching through the family records of current patients.
"They see their work as essential to saving lives, as family history can tell you a lot about the current state of health of living people. For example, my mother died of breast cancer and two of my aunts have been diagnosed with it, and I've been told I have a 50-50 chance of developing it myself based on the medical history of my closest relatives.
"But if you were to search further into the past into older death certificates, I might discover that some of my older relatives also died from it which could maybe push the chances up to 80 per cent.
"This kind of information is vital for someone considering early screening and preventative treatment."
The ground floor of General Register House contains three fully refurbished rooms - the Adam Dome, the Reid Room and the Matheson Dome.
The Adam Dome has been set aside for two hour "taster sessions" in the mornings and afternoons, where people can come in and search their family history for free.
If they want to do more in-depth searches they can book a daily session, which costs GBP 10, or even purchase quarterly (GBP 440) or annual (GBP 1,250) passes to do some hardcore family history hunting.
"It can become something of an obsession," explains Alison Lindsay, head of the archives' historical research section. "However, you'll have a better chance of discovering a detailed picture of someone's life if they were very rich or very poor.
"If they had a lot of money there will be records of rents, taxes and wills, while the very poor would maybe show up in hospital or poor-house records, and may have fallen foul of the law and ended up hanged or imprisoned.
"For this reason, the 'respectable poor' - who only earned enough to scrape by and kept their noses clean - are rubbish ancestors to have!"
The Scotland's People Centre is open on weekdays from 9am-4.30pm. Taster sessions in the Adam Dome are available on a first-come-first-served basis from 10am-12pm and again at 2-4pm.
For more information visit www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
19th CENTURY RECORDS ARE BACK ON LINE
THE opening of the Scotland's People Centre has also plugged a major digital gap that's been bothering family historians for years.
Problems with the digitisation of the 1881 census meant its contents were virtually inaccessible, but earlier this year the Scotland's People technicians ironed out the glitches and revealed a wealth of information about some of Edinburgh's most notable citizens.
It's now possible to see the census record of Peter Pan Author J M Barrie, who was a 20-year-old student at the time living in lodgings on Great King Street with his landlady and a retired Army Officer.
The record also shows a 21-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle, who at the time was listed as a student of medicine, but went on to create the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, living with his mother and four of his ten siblings at 15 Lonsdale Terrace.
At 42 Palmerston Place there lived a 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate called Douglas Haig, who later went on to become Field Marshall Haig, the 1st Earl Haig, left, and leader of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I.
FEATURE: Rocking Auld Reekie
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
June 17, 2009
Led Zeppelin, U2, AC/DC, REM (not to mention Oasis's previous visits). To be crowned 'greatest' you need to hit the high notes Oasis are the biggest act to hit Edinburgh in 2009 but the Gallagher brothers will have to pull out all the stops to match the greats that have graced the Capital's venues over the years.
As Liam and Noel prepare to take to the stage at Murrayfield tonight, Mark McLaughlin asks some of the city's most notable music fans who their contender would be for the greatest gig staged in Edinburgh . . . ever
IAN RANKIN, author
"THE best gig I ever went to was probably Tom Waits at The Playhouse in 1984.
" I'd always been a big fan of his music but had never seen him live. He put on a good show. It was real vaudeville stuff. The venue was good and the sound quality was perfect.
"I also remember a lot of really intimate, sweaty gigs I went to as a student in the early 1980s, including going to see U2 just before their first album came out at an old venue in Tollcross.
"I'd never heard of them but my mate gave me a ticket and asked me to come along, and they had a real energy about them even then. They knew their stuff from a very early age, and they had the audience eating out of their hands."
FISH, former Marillion frontman
"I went to see Genesis at the Usher Hall in April 1975, at a gig which had been rescheduled from the previous year when [guitarist] Steve Hackett sliced the tendons in his hand.
"He was at an aftershow party and rumours were already circulating that Peter Gabriel was going to leave Genesis.
"Someone mentioned that the Alex Harvey Band would be nothing without Alex Harvey, alluding to the fact that Genesis would be nothing without Gabriel, and he was so incensed he crushed a wine glass in his hand and sliced it open. They rescheduled and played an amazing gig . . . and then Gabriel left them about two weeks later."
BRUCE FINDLAY, music store owner, former Simple Minds manager
"There would be three gigs I'd put up there - all at the Usher Hall. The first was The Incredible String Band in the late 1960s. They were a really folksy band, quite whimsical and not everybody's cup of tea, even though they inspired loads of acts like the Beatles and Led Zep. They weren't big pop stars, even though they were the only Scottish band to play Woodstock.
"The second gig would be Led Zep themselves in 1969. I sold 1,000 tickets at my store but there were no seller's booking fees in those days - I was rewarded with two tickets in the second row, and it was phenomenal.
"The third would be the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. They really knew how to name their bands back then, but they really were sensational."
GRANT STOTT, broadcaster
"I used to be a programme seller at the Playhouse in the early 1980s, so I would see a different band every other day and it got the point where I was getting a bit blasé about it.
"That was until I saw AC/DC, and they blew me away. They played two nights in a row and I stood and watched them both.
"I wasn't into them at all before I saw them, but that night I could see that they weren't your usual heavy metal band standing thrashing away. Some of their songs were really melodic, and of course there was wee Angus [Young, guitarist] running around in his school uniform.
"I've seen the Proclaimers loads of times. For me their best gig - and one of the best I've been to - was during their Hit The Highway Tour around 1994. It's my favourite album so I enjoyed the songs.
"I also went to see Barry White at the Playhouse a few years earlier. He was such a great showman. I'm not normally one for dancing at gigs as I tend to feel a bit self-conscious, but he got everyone dancing around like mad - including me."
COUNCILLOR STEVE CARDOWNIE, city events champion
"I went to see Led Zeppelin at the King's Theatre in 1973. It was great to see them playing in such a small venue, and there were a lot of disappointed people in the city who couldn't get tickets that day.
"I remember they played Whole Lotta Love, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were just phenomenal.
"More recently I went to the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield, in 1999.
"There was a cartoon in the Evening News before the gig of them walking around on Zimmer frames, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Their set was really energetic, and packed with classics."
NOBBY CLARK, singer, the Bay City Rollers (1969-73)
"The most outstanding gig I ever saw was Pink Floyd at the Usher Hall in the mid-1970s.
"The light show was fantastic, the music was fantastic - it was just an outstanding gig all round. They had an aeroplane suspended above the balcony that descended during one of the songs and hit a big target behind the stage.
"I also went to see Alice Cooper biting the heads off chickens at the Playhouse. He had a robot on stage which he built up during one of the songs, and then he let it go and it walked around the stage.
"That concert was incredible. Quite gory - but great fun."
MARTIN METCALFE, singer/gutarist, Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Isa and the Filthy Tongues
"I've been to gigs in large venues like Murrayfield before, and I think they're really devoid of atmosphere.
"I went to see David Bowie at the Ingliston Showground in 1990, and it was all right but it wasn't great, and I also went to see Oasis at the same venue when they were really hot and on the up in 1996, but the venue ruined it for them.
"One exception was the Pixies at Meadowbank during T on the Fringe in 2005, which I thought was an amazing gig. It was a really windy day so the sound quality wasn't the best but their playing was top form. I'd been to see them about five times in the early years, and I was really surprised that singer Black Francis could still scream. I also went to see PJ Harvey at the Queen's Hall a couple of weeks ago, which I have to admit was probably one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen.
"She was playing new stuff that I'd never heard before, and it was really cinematic.
"Her voice would go from a really deep, obscene, man-like voice, to being really gentle and childlike, and then she would scream like a woman-possessed. There was something really special about it."
MARK MACKIE, director of concert promoter Regular Music EUNICE OLUMIDE, MC of hip-hop band Northernxposure
"My favourite gig was REM at the Playhouse during their Green tour in the late 1980s, when the band were at their finest. Michael Stipe stood up at a lectern in the middle of gig and started lecturing us about the evils of the Exxon company, right after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, banging his fist and ordering us to boycott a list of products made by the company."
EUNICE OLUMIDE, MC of hip-hop band Northernxposure
"I went to the last Oasis gig at Murrayfield and I thought it was absolutely amazing, even though their music's not my usual thing.
"There was this mass exodus of people heading out of the city centre to Murrayfield. I lost all of my friends and ended up standing by myself in the middle of crowd, and then the place just started going mental. I crowd-surfed to the front and met these totally random people and had a wicked time.
"I've also been to some brilliant nights at the Venue to see people like Roots Manuva, Black Twang and Estelle, which is more my kind of scene."
Edinburgh Evening News
June 17, 2009
Led Zeppelin, U2, AC/DC, REM (not to mention Oasis's previous visits). To be crowned 'greatest' you need to hit the high notes Oasis are the biggest act to hit Edinburgh in 2009 but the Gallagher brothers will have to pull out all the stops to match the greats that have graced the Capital's venues over the years.
As Liam and Noel prepare to take to the stage at Murrayfield tonight, Mark McLaughlin asks some of the city's most notable music fans who their contender would be for the greatest gig staged in Edinburgh . . . ever
IAN RANKIN, author
"THE best gig I ever went to was probably Tom Waits at The Playhouse in 1984.
" I'd always been a big fan of his music but had never seen him live. He put on a good show. It was real vaudeville stuff. The venue was good and the sound quality was perfect.
"I also remember a lot of really intimate, sweaty gigs I went to as a student in the early 1980s, including going to see U2 just before their first album came out at an old venue in Tollcross.
"I'd never heard of them but my mate gave me a ticket and asked me to come along, and they had a real energy about them even then. They knew their stuff from a very early age, and they had the audience eating out of their hands."
FISH, former Marillion frontman
"I went to see Genesis at the Usher Hall in April 1975, at a gig which had been rescheduled from the previous year when [guitarist] Steve Hackett sliced the tendons in his hand.
"He was at an aftershow party and rumours were already circulating that Peter Gabriel was going to leave Genesis.
"Someone mentioned that the Alex Harvey Band would be nothing without Alex Harvey, alluding to the fact that Genesis would be nothing without Gabriel, and he was so incensed he crushed a wine glass in his hand and sliced it open. They rescheduled and played an amazing gig . . . and then Gabriel left them about two weeks later."
BRUCE FINDLAY, music store owner, former Simple Minds manager
"There would be three gigs I'd put up there - all at the Usher Hall. The first was The Incredible String Band in the late 1960s. They were a really folksy band, quite whimsical and not everybody's cup of tea, even though they inspired loads of acts like the Beatles and Led Zep. They weren't big pop stars, even though they were the only Scottish band to play Woodstock.
"The second gig would be Led Zep themselves in 1969. I sold 1,000 tickets at my store but there were no seller's booking fees in those days - I was rewarded with two tickets in the second row, and it was phenomenal.
"The third would be the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. They really knew how to name their bands back then, but they really were sensational."
GRANT STOTT, broadcaster
"I used to be a programme seller at the Playhouse in the early 1980s, so I would see a different band every other day and it got the point where I was getting a bit blasé about it.
"That was until I saw AC/DC, and they blew me away. They played two nights in a row and I stood and watched them both.
"I wasn't into them at all before I saw them, but that night I could see that they weren't your usual heavy metal band standing thrashing away. Some of their songs were really melodic, and of course there was wee Angus [Young, guitarist] running around in his school uniform.
"I've seen the Proclaimers loads of times. For me their best gig - and one of the best I've been to - was during their Hit The Highway Tour around 1994. It's my favourite album so I enjoyed the songs.
"I also went to see Barry White at the Playhouse a few years earlier. He was such a great showman. I'm not normally one for dancing at gigs as I tend to feel a bit self-conscious, but he got everyone dancing around like mad - including me."
COUNCILLOR STEVE CARDOWNIE, city events champion
"I went to see Led Zeppelin at the King's Theatre in 1973. It was great to see them playing in such a small venue, and there were a lot of disappointed people in the city who couldn't get tickets that day.
"I remember they played Whole Lotta Love, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were just phenomenal.
"More recently I went to the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield, in 1999.
"There was a cartoon in the Evening News before the gig of them walking around on Zimmer frames, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Their set was really energetic, and packed with classics."
NOBBY CLARK, singer, the Bay City Rollers (1969-73)
"The most outstanding gig I ever saw was Pink Floyd at the Usher Hall in the mid-1970s.
"The light show was fantastic, the music was fantastic - it was just an outstanding gig all round. They had an aeroplane suspended above the balcony that descended during one of the songs and hit a big target behind the stage.
"I also went to see Alice Cooper biting the heads off chickens at the Playhouse. He had a robot on stage which he built up during one of the songs, and then he let it go and it walked around the stage.
"That concert was incredible. Quite gory - but great fun."
MARTIN METCALFE, singer/gutarist, Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Isa and the Filthy Tongues
"I've been to gigs in large venues like Murrayfield before, and I think they're really devoid of atmosphere.
"I went to see David Bowie at the Ingliston Showground in 1990, and it was all right but it wasn't great, and I also went to see Oasis at the same venue when they were really hot and on the up in 1996, but the venue ruined it for them.
"One exception was the Pixies at Meadowbank during T on the Fringe in 2005, which I thought was an amazing gig. It was a really windy day so the sound quality wasn't the best but their playing was top form. I'd been to see them about five times in the early years, and I was really surprised that singer Black Francis could still scream. I also went to see PJ Harvey at the Queen's Hall a couple of weeks ago, which I have to admit was probably one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen.
"She was playing new stuff that I'd never heard before, and it was really cinematic.
"Her voice would go from a really deep, obscene, man-like voice, to being really gentle and childlike, and then she would scream like a woman-possessed. There was something really special about it."
MARK MACKIE, director of concert promoter Regular Music EUNICE OLUMIDE, MC of hip-hop band Northernxposure
"My favourite gig was REM at the Playhouse during their Green tour in the late 1980s, when the band were at their finest. Michael Stipe stood up at a lectern in the middle of gig and started lecturing us about the evils of the Exxon company, right after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, banging his fist and ordering us to boycott a list of products made by the company."
EUNICE OLUMIDE, MC of hip-hop band Northernxposure
"I went to the last Oasis gig at Murrayfield and I thought it was absolutely amazing, even though their music's not my usual thing.
"There was this mass exodus of people heading out of the city centre to Murrayfield. I lost all of my friends and ended up standing by myself in the middle of crowd, and then the place just started going mental. I crowd-surfed to the front and met these totally random people and had a wicked time.
"I've also been to some brilliant nights at the Venue to see people like Roots Manuva, Black Twang and Estelle, which is more my kind of scene."
NEWS: A Contract with God
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
June 4, 2009
A RARE copy of one of the most important documents in Scottish history is expected to fetch thousands when it is auctioned in Edinburgh.
A copy of the National Covenant, a "contract with God" created in Edinburgh in 1638, will go up for sale at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers on Friday.
It is a chance to own a genuine record of a time of great political and religious strife in Scotland. The document was created after King Charles I, who saw himself as the "Godly Prince", attempted to introduce an Anglican prayer book into the Scottish Kirk, sparking fierce opposition.
A group of Scottish nobles got together at Greyfriars Kirkyard and drew up the National Covenant, which affirmed Scotland's opposition to interference in their reformed church.
The contract was then copied and dispatched to every shire, presbytery and parish of Scotland for signature.
"It's not known how many copies of the National Covenant were made," said Alex Dove, book specialist at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers.
"Frequent audits have been done throughout the 20th century and each time they're done they uncover more and more of them, so we think there are at least 100 still around. The copy we have for sale was sent to and signed by the people of Renfrewshire.
"It was purchased in the 1950s from a bookseller by a private collector of manuscripts for GBP 100, a not inconsiderable sum at the time but by all accounts the collector was extremely happy with the price he paid.
"It was bequeathed to the family who have put it up for auction as part of a lot containing some other very interesting manuscripts, include a letter from Charles I and Edward Hyde, the First Earl of Clarendon.
"All of these documents, including the National Covenant, date from the 17th century although they don't directly relate to each other.
"It would have been very interesting to have a letter from Charles I responding to the National Covenant in the same lot, but sadly that's not the case this time."
The last copy of the National Covenant to go up for sale, originally sent to the people of Teviotdale in Roxburghshire, went for GBP 500 in 1978. Another copy was sold for GBP 220 the previous year, although the original destination of the contract has not been recorded.
Ms Dove added: "We expect it to fetch between GBP 5,000 and GBP 8,000 at auction, and it will make a great addition to the collection of either a private collector or an institution.
"We know that 12 copies of the National Covenant are held in the National Library of Scotland, while the others are in institutions and private hands.
"As you can see from the date of the last sale, these things come up for auction very infrequently. We've had interest from private collectors both domestic and international."
Edinburgh Evening News
June 4, 2009
A RARE copy of one of the most important documents in Scottish history is expected to fetch thousands when it is auctioned in Edinburgh.
A copy of the National Covenant, a "contract with God" created in Edinburgh in 1638, will go up for sale at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers on Friday.
It is a chance to own a genuine record of a time of great political and religious strife in Scotland. The document was created after King Charles I, who saw himself as the "Godly Prince", attempted to introduce an Anglican prayer book into the Scottish Kirk, sparking fierce opposition.
A group of Scottish nobles got together at Greyfriars Kirkyard and drew up the National Covenant, which affirmed Scotland's opposition to interference in their reformed church.
The contract was then copied and dispatched to every shire, presbytery and parish of Scotland for signature.
"It's not known how many copies of the National Covenant were made," said Alex Dove, book specialist at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers.
"Frequent audits have been done throughout the 20th century and each time they're done they uncover more and more of them, so we think there are at least 100 still around. The copy we have for sale was sent to and signed by the people of Renfrewshire.
"It was purchased in the 1950s from a bookseller by a private collector of manuscripts for GBP 100, a not inconsiderable sum at the time but by all accounts the collector was extremely happy with the price he paid.
"It was bequeathed to the family who have put it up for auction as part of a lot containing some other very interesting manuscripts, include a letter from Charles I and Edward Hyde, the First Earl of Clarendon.
"All of these documents, including the National Covenant, date from the 17th century although they don't directly relate to each other.
"It would have been very interesting to have a letter from Charles I responding to the National Covenant in the same lot, but sadly that's not the case this time."
The last copy of the National Covenant to go up for sale, originally sent to the people of Teviotdale in Roxburghshire, went for GBP 500 in 1978. Another copy was sold for GBP 220 the previous year, although the original destination of the contract has not been recorded.
Ms Dove added: "We expect it to fetch between GBP 5,000 and GBP 8,000 at auction, and it will make a great addition to the collection of either a private collector or an institution.
"We know that 12 copies of the National Covenant are held in the National Library of Scotland, while the others are in institutions and private hands.
"As you can see from the date of the last sale, these things come up for auction very infrequently. We've had interest from private collectors both domestic and international."
FEATURE: Busted Olympian
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
February 26, 2009
'YOU had it all," said the judge to the shamed Olympian who went from the podium to the dock in less than a decade.
"You have brains, you're bilingual. In addition, you have great health and a fantastic, God-given athletic ability. Then enters greed and the whole thing seems to go down the toilet bowl."
Track and field star David Jenkins, who won silver at the 1972 Munich Olympics and Commonwealth Gold in 1978, did indeed seem to have it all.
By 1986, the former Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University student was 33 years old and living in San Diego, California, running a successful vitamin business and reaping the spoils of his former athletics career.
However, apparently unsatisfied with a life basking in the sun, his greed led him to Mexico and a 47-year-old laboratory owner named Juan Javier Macklis, who he approached with the idea of manufacturing steroids in Tijuana and smuggling them into the United States.
In a less than a year, the operation had grown to become the biggest supplier of counterfeit steroids in the country, responsible for 70 per cent of the illegal trade with distribution points stretching from Los Angeles to Miami and a reported cash flow of anything up to dollars 300 million - more than GBP 400m by today's prices.
It wasn't long before the operation caught the eye of US Customs. Border guards began catching illegal immigrants with packages containing drugs pertaining to be steroids and often marked with legitimate logos. Upon analysis, some packages were found to contain a different drug and occasionally drugs only licensed for animals.
US Customs and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set up a massive sting operation, led by Assistant US Attorney Phil Halpern. The first arrests were made when men attempted to sell dollars 250,000 worth of steroids to customs agents. Phone taps also recorded couriers discussing their activities, while a search inside the home of a Miami University football coach uncovered steroids, syringes, cash and a notebook of customers hidden inside the disgraced coach's television.
Halpern also uncovered evidence of beatings, torture and extortion carried out by other members of the conspiracy.
Halpern compiled a 110-count federal indictment, singling out Jenkins as the man behind the operation and charging a further 34 people and two Mexican corporations for their roles in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit anabolic steroids.
On April 28, 1987, Jenkins was arrested and imprisoned in a San Diego federal jail.
A not guilty plea was entered, however this was quickly undermined when several of the other men involved in the operation confessed, so Jenkins agreed to a plea bargain.
His 36-count indictment was reduced to just four charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States; holding counterfeit steroids for sale; introducing misbranded steroids into interstate commerce and receiving anabolic steroids subject to seizure.
Jenkins accepted the judge's ruling and apologised for his "misguided [and] foolish" actions. He was later sentenced to seven years behind bars.
In an interview conducted shortly after his conviction, he explained how the conspiracy got out of hand.
"Once you start breaking one rule, you end up breaking a whole lot of them," he said. "You lose the ability to clearly define which rules can and cannot be broken."
Edinburgh Evening News
February 26, 2009
'YOU had it all," said the judge to the shamed Olympian who went from the podium to the dock in less than a decade.
"You have brains, you're bilingual. In addition, you have great health and a fantastic, God-given athletic ability. Then enters greed and the whole thing seems to go down the toilet bowl."
Track and field star David Jenkins, who won silver at the 1972 Munich Olympics and Commonwealth Gold in 1978, did indeed seem to have it all.
By 1986, the former Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University student was 33 years old and living in San Diego, California, running a successful vitamin business and reaping the spoils of his former athletics career.
However, apparently unsatisfied with a life basking in the sun, his greed led him to Mexico and a 47-year-old laboratory owner named Juan Javier Macklis, who he approached with the idea of manufacturing steroids in Tijuana and smuggling them into the United States.
In a less than a year, the operation had grown to become the biggest supplier of counterfeit steroids in the country, responsible for 70 per cent of the illegal trade with distribution points stretching from Los Angeles to Miami and a reported cash flow of anything up to dollars 300 million - more than GBP 400m by today's prices.
It wasn't long before the operation caught the eye of US Customs. Border guards began catching illegal immigrants with packages containing drugs pertaining to be steroids and often marked with legitimate logos. Upon analysis, some packages were found to contain a different drug and occasionally drugs only licensed for animals.
US Customs and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set up a massive sting operation, led by Assistant US Attorney Phil Halpern. The first arrests were made when men attempted to sell dollars 250,000 worth of steroids to customs agents. Phone taps also recorded couriers discussing their activities, while a search inside the home of a Miami University football coach uncovered steroids, syringes, cash and a notebook of customers hidden inside the disgraced coach's television.
Halpern also uncovered evidence of beatings, torture and extortion carried out by other members of the conspiracy.
Halpern compiled a 110-count federal indictment, singling out Jenkins as the man behind the operation and charging a further 34 people and two Mexican corporations for their roles in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit anabolic steroids.
On April 28, 1987, Jenkins was arrested and imprisoned in a San Diego federal jail.
A not guilty plea was entered, however this was quickly undermined when several of the other men involved in the operation confessed, so Jenkins agreed to a plea bargain.
His 36-count indictment was reduced to just four charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States; holding counterfeit steroids for sale; introducing misbranded steroids into interstate commerce and receiving anabolic steroids subject to seizure.
Jenkins accepted the judge's ruling and apologised for his "misguided [and] foolish" actions. He was later sentenced to seven years behind bars.
In an interview conducted shortly after his conviction, he explained how the conspiracy got out of hand.
"Once you start breaking one rule, you end up breaking a whole lot of them," he said. "You lose the ability to clearly define which rules can and cannot be broken."
FEATURE: Bye Bye Burke
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
January 28, 2009
IT was only 8am but already the streets of Edinburgh were packed with 25,000 people.
They had gathered, despite the driving rain, in the shadow of St Giles' Cathedral to watch the miserable end of a notorious killer.
In contempt of the baying mob, many of whom had paid the princely sum of GBP 1 to the householders of the loftiest Royal Mile tenements for grandstand seats, the condemned man - pathetic-looking and emaciated - shot the crowd a look of "fierce defiance", then turned his back to them.
Shrieks of "turn him round" came from the crowd and, at exactly 8.10, one of Edinburgh's most notorious murderers was hanged from the gallows builders had erected during the night.
The man was William Burke - who, with his accomplice William Hare, murdered to provide bodies for the city's burgeoning medical research institutes. The date of his execution was January 28, 1829 - 180 years ago today.
The account of the execution appeared in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, a forerunner of the Evening News, and to coincide with the anniversary of Burke's execution - and cash in on the continued fascination with the murders - Edinburgh walking tour company The Cadies & Witchery Tours has reprinted the Christmas Day edition from 1828.
On that date, two of the paper's four pages were devoted to coverage of the infamous trial, where Burke was found guilty of the murders of Mary Paterson, James Wilson and Mary Docherty.
The Witchery Tours manager, Cameron Pirie, says:
"The trial is one of the darkest yet most important episodes in Edinburgh's history. William Burke had been luring the poor and the destitute to their deaths, with collusion from his wife Helen McDougal and from William Hare, with the intention of selling their bodies to Dr Robert Knox at Surgeon's Square."
Hare turned King's Evidence, and Burke was put on trial. The Courant was in the High Court of Justiciary to follow the case.
It reads: "Burke is of a short and rather stout figure. There is nothing in his physiognomy, except perhaps a dark lowering of his brow, to indicate any peculiar harshness or cruelty of disposition."
There were 55 witnesses listed for the case, among them a Hugh Alston, who lived above Burke. He told the court how on Hallowe'en, at around 11 o'clock, he heard the cries of a woman shouting "murder".
He listened at the door and heard two men "wrangling and struggling and the woman crying murder but not in such a manner as he considered her in imminent danger. That continued for about a minute and then he heard a cry as an inferior animal might give when strangled", the paper reported.
Alston, the paper reported, went off to call a policeman but couldn't find one. When he came back from his fruitless mission, he could no longer hear the woman's voice - so just went home.
The pair's victims had been sold to city anatomist Dr Robert Knox and it was evidence given by David Paterson, keeper of the museum owned by Knox, which caused one of the biggest stirs.
He described how Burke had arrived at around midnight on Hallowe'en and told him that he had "procured" something for the doctor which he would receive the next day.
The following evening, "Burke, Hare and a porter, named McCulloch, came with an old tea chest. It was put into a cellar, the door locked."
Dr Knox gave him five pounds which he divided between the three - the rest of the payment was to be handed over on the Monday, but on the Sunday the police arrived.
"He went with them - opened the door of the cellar and gave the package to them, which had been left the night before. He assisted in opening the box which was found to contain the body of an elderly female - who did not appear to have been interred. The head was pressed down as if for want of room."
Another lodger at Burke's house, Ann Gray, told the court of the dramatic moment she had found the body of Mary Docherty, a penniless Irish woman who Burke had pretended to befriend and brought to the house the previous night.
At the trial, Mrs Gray said: "There were no clothes on her. Her husband lifted up the head by the hair and saw blood on the face and about the mouth."
Hare, of course, was the star witness and his evidence helped to seal Burke's fate, claiming he had seen him murder the Irish woman. After Burke's execution, he was dissected like many of his victims.
The execution wasn't the last time Burke's words appeared in the Courant - his confession was printed on February 7, where he stated that he and Hare had always met with a ready market for the bodies, and when they had delivered one they were always told to get more. He also complained Dr Knox still owed him GBP 5 from the delivery of Mary Docherty's body.
The crowds for Burke's final appearance on the dissecting table at Surgeon's Square were queued round the block, and the police were called to keep order amongst the eager students demanding admission.
The top of his head was sawn off and his brain was the subject of a lecture. According to a contemporary account of the dissection "the amount of blood that gushed out was enormous, and by the time the lecture was finished . . . the lecture-room had the appearance of a butcher's slaughter house".
Burke was then skinned and his flesh was used to make a number of grim artifacts, including a business card holder - purchased by The Cadies and Witchery Tours in 1989 - and a wallet bearing the inscription "Executed 28 Jan 1829".
The artifacts are still a tremendous draw for tourists and researchers, and Edinburgh University's Anatomy Museum receives regular requests from around the world to view the items in their possession - including Burke's skeleton, which still hangs here.
Dr Gordon Findlater, senior lecturer in anatomy and curator of the museum, says:
"Burke was condemned to be hanged, dissected and put on public display in a sentence that very much harked back to the days when they would impale the heads of criminals on spikes around the city walls as a reminder to people not to repeat their crimes."
One outcome of Burke and Hare's trial was the introduction of the Anatomy Act in 1832 which "provided for executors and other people legally in charge of dead bodies to give them to licensed surgeons and teachers of anatomy unless the deceased has expressed a conscientious objection to being dissected".
Dr Findlater adds: "We no longer pay for bodies and haven't done since the introduction of the Anatomy Act 1832.
"If any 'silver lining' could be found in the crimes of Burke and Hare, this would be it."
Edinburgh Evening News
January 28, 2009
IT was only 8am but already the streets of Edinburgh were packed with 25,000 people.
They had gathered, despite the driving rain, in the shadow of St Giles' Cathedral to watch the miserable end of a notorious killer.
In contempt of the baying mob, many of whom had paid the princely sum of GBP 1 to the householders of the loftiest Royal Mile tenements for grandstand seats, the condemned man - pathetic-looking and emaciated - shot the crowd a look of "fierce defiance", then turned his back to them.
Shrieks of "turn him round" came from the crowd and, at exactly 8.10, one of Edinburgh's most notorious murderers was hanged from the gallows builders had erected during the night.
The man was William Burke - who, with his accomplice William Hare, murdered to provide bodies for the city's burgeoning medical research institutes. The date of his execution was January 28, 1829 - 180 years ago today.
The account of the execution appeared in the Edinburgh Evening Courant, a forerunner of the Evening News, and to coincide with the anniversary of Burke's execution - and cash in on the continued fascination with the murders - Edinburgh walking tour company The Cadies & Witchery Tours has reprinted the Christmas Day edition from 1828.
On that date, two of the paper's four pages were devoted to coverage of the infamous trial, where Burke was found guilty of the murders of Mary Paterson, James Wilson and Mary Docherty.
The Witchery Tours manager, Cameron Pirie, says:
"The trial is one of the darkest yet most important episodes in Edinburgh's history. William Burke had been luring the poor and the destitute to their deaths, with collusion from his wife Helen McDougal and from William Hare, with the intention of selling their bodies to Dr Robert Knox at Surgeon's Square."
Hare turned King's Evidence, and Burke was put on trial. The Courant was in the High Court of Justiciary to follow the case.
It reads: "Burke is of a short and rather stout figure. There is nothing in his physiognomy, except perhaps a dark lowering of his brow, to indicate any peculiar harshness or cruelty of disposition."
There were 55 witnesses listed for the case, among them a Hugh Alston, who lived above Burke. He told the court how on Hallowe'en, at around 11 o'clock, he heard the cries of a woman shouting "murder".
He listened at the door and heard two men "wrangling and struggling and the woman crying murder but not in such a manner as he considered her in imminent danger. That continued for about a minute and then he heard a cry as an inferior animal might give when strangled", the paper reported.
Alston, the paper reported, went off to call a policeman but couldn't find one. When he came back from his fruitless mission, he could no longer hear the woman's voice - so just went home.
The pair's victims had been sold to city anatomist Dr Robert Knox and it was evidence given by David Paterson, keeper of the museum owned by Knox, which caused one of the biggest stirs.
He described how Burke had arrived at around midnight on Hallowe'en and told him that he had "procured" something for the doctor which he would receive the next day.
The following evening, "Burke, Hare and a porter, named McCulloch, came with an old tea chest. It was put into a cellar, the door locked."
Dr Knox gave him five pounds which he divided between the three - the rest of the payment was to be handed over on the Monday, but on the Sunday the police arrived.
"He went with them - opened the door of the cellar and gave the package to them, which had been left the night before. He assisted in opening the box which was found to contain the body of an elderly female - who did not appear to have been interred. The head was pressed down as if for want of room."
Another lodger at Burke's house, Ann Gray, told the court of the dramatic moment she had found the body of Mary Docherty, a penniless Irish woman who Burke had pretended to befriend and brought to the house the previous night.
At the trial, Mrs Gray said: "There were no clothes on her. Her husband lifted up the head by the hair and saw blood on the face and about the mouth."
Hare, of course, was the star witness and his evidence helped to seal Burke's fate, claiming he had seen him murder the Irish woman. After Burke's execution, he was dissected like many of his victims.
The execution wasn't the last time Burke's words appeared in the Courant - his confession was printed on February 7, where he stated that he and Hare had always met with a ready market for the bodies, and when they had delivered one they were always told to get more. He also complained Dr Knox still owed him GBP 5 from the delivery of Mary Docherty's body.
The crowds for Burke's final appearance on the dissecting table at Surgeon's Square were queued round the block, and the police were called to keep order amongst the eager students demanding admission.
The top of his head was sawn off and his brain was the subject of a lecture. According to a contemporary account of the dissection "the amount of blood that gushed out was enormous, and by the time the lecture was finished . . . the lecture-room had the appearance of a butcher's slaughter house".
Burke was then skinned and his flesh was used to make a number of grim artifacts, including a business card holder - purchased by The Cadies and Witchery Tours in 1989 - and a wallet bearing the inscription "Executed 28 Jan 1829".
The artifacts are still a tremendous draw for tourists and researchers, and Edinburgh University's Anatomy Museum receives regular requests from around the world to view the items in their possession - including Burke's skeleton, which still hangs here.
Dr Gordon Findlater, senior lecturer in anatomy and curator of the museum, says:
"Burke was condemned to be hanged, dissected and put on public display in a sentence that very much harked back to the days when they would impale the heads of criminals on spikes around the city walls as a reminder to people not to repeat their crimes."
One outcome of Burke and Hare's trial was the introduction of the Anatomy Act in 1832 which "provided for executors and other people legally in charge of dead bodies to give them to licensed surgeons and teachers of anatomy unless the deceased has expressed a conscientious objection to being dissected".
Dr Findlater adds: "We no longer pay for bodies and haven't done since the introduction of the Anatomy Act 1832.
"If any 'silver lining' could be found in the crimes of Burke and Hare, this would be it."
FEATURE: Ukranian WWI soldier
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 8, 2008
IT has taken the best part of a century but a Lothian tribute to the fallen of the First World War is finally complete.
Ukrainian Vasiliy Nikitenko is the last name to be added to the memorial in Newtongrange, Midlothian.
The gunner emigrated to Scotland as a young man and found work in the village with the Lothian Coal Company.
A volunteer soldier, he was killed while fighting for his adoptive country on May 28, 1918, just six months before the end of the war. Mr Nikitenko is buried at the communal war cemetery at Franvillers, France, although it is not known exactly where he died.
Newtongrange's war memorial has now been updated after a campaign by local residents, backed by Councillor Wilma Chalmers.
She said: "There was a bit of uncertainty over whether this soldier deserved to be on the plaque, but when we researched it we found that he had indeed lived in the Lothian Coal Company lodgings.
"When war broke out, he fought for Britain and died in France, and was awarded the Military Medal which was sent to the government of Ukraine.
"They were unable to find any family for him so the medal was sent back, and he was forgotten about for 90 years until community councillors revived his memory.
"We thought it was right that he be honoured among the other men who died from Newtongrange."
Mr Nikitenko's memory was revived completely by chance when a Manchester-based filmmaker began researching the life of another previously forgotten Newtongrange soldier.
Charles Sandbach bought a military medal, posthumously awarded to a Corporal Robert Beveridge, on eBay.
Research revealed that the soldier was born in the small hamlet of Masterton, and died in an assault on a machine gun battery in Frezenberg, Belgium.
Mr Sandbach said: "As I dug a little deeper I found, completely by chance, that there was a second military medal awarded to a Ukrainian soldier who lived in Newtongrange before the war.
"After that we set the ball rolling to have him commemorated as well. These guys have been totally forgotten about, which was sad, but now justice has been done to their name and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."
Mr Sandbach has now created a documentary following in the footsteps of Robert Beveridge entitled A Soldier's Return. It features footage of his Newtongrange birthplace and chronicles his family's later move to Broxburn.
West Lothian Council is one of the first local authorities to take up the film.
A West Lothian Council spokesman said: "We can confirm that the film will be used in West Lothian schools.
"The film follows the story of Cpl Robert Beveridge MM, who is a local figure, which makes it a particularly relevant educational resource for our schools in their coverage of World War One history."
Edinburgh Evening News
September 8, 2008
IT has taken the best part of a century but a Lothian tribute to the fallen of the First World War is finally complete.
Ukrainian Vasiliy Nikitenko is the last name to be added to the memorial in Newtongrange, Midlothian.
The gunner emigrated to Scotland as a young man and found work in the village with the Lothian Coal Company.
A volunteer soldier, he was killed while fighting for his adoptive country on May 28, 1918, just six months before the end of the war. Mr Nikitenko is buried at the communal war cemetery at Franvillers, France, although it is not known exactly where he died.
Newtongrange's war memorial has now been updated after a campaign by local residents, backed by Councillor Wilma Chalmers.
She said: "There was a bit of uncertainty over whether this soldier deserved to be on the plaque, but when we researched it we found that he had indeed lived in the Lothian Coal Company lodgings.
"When war broke out, he fought for Britain and died in France, and was awarded the Military Medal which was sent to the government of Ukraine.
"They were unable to find any family for him so the medal was sent back, and he was forgotten about for 90 years until community councillors revived his memory.
"We thought it was right that he be honoured among the other men who died from Newtongrange."
Mr Nikitenko's memory was revived completely by chance when a Manchester-based filmmaker began researching the life of another previously forgotten Newtongrange soldier.
Charles Sandbach bought a military medal, posthumously awarded to a Corporal Robert Beveridge, on eBay.
Research revealed that the soldier was born in the small hamlet of Masterton, and died in an assault on a machine gun battery in Frezenberg, Belgium.
Mr Sandbach said: "As I dug a little deeper I found, completely by chance, that there was a second military medal awarded to a Ukrainian soldier who lived in Newtongrange before the war.
"After that we set the ball rolling to have him commemorated as well. These guys have been totally forgotten about, which was sad, but now justice has been done to their name and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."
Mr Sandbach has now created a documentary following in the footsteps of Robert Beveridge entitled A Soldier's Return. It features footage of his Newtongrange birthplace and chronicles his family's later move to Broxburn.
West Lothian Council is one of the first local authorities to take up the film.
A West Lothian Council spokesman said: "We can confirm that the film will be used in West Lothian schools.
"The film follows the story of Cpl Robert Beveridge MM, who is a local figure, which makes it a particularly relevant educational resource for our schools in their coverage of World War One history."
Sunday, 18 October 2009
NEWS: Darwin's Pharmacy
By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
July 9, 2008
A HISTORIC pharmacy that once sold medicine to Charles Darwin and King George V has found the perfect place to put its archives on display - the shop window.
The Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy in Edinburgh's Elm Row recently unearthed a hoard of items of historical interest in its basement and decided to take them on tour to branches as far away as Selkirk and Hawick.
Charles Darwin, who studied medicine in the Capital, was one of the early customers of the shop.
Following the tour, the items have now come home to Edinburgh and will be given pride of place in the shop window.
The colourful display features items from the early days until the 1950s, including original pharmacists' drawers, medicine bottles, product labels and prescription books.
Two specially designed and illustrated storyboards outline the history of the business.
Nigel Cumming, Lindsay & Gilmour chairman, said: "People enjoy coming to see how things used to be in times gone by, and some of our older customers may also see things that they remember from their youth. One thing that we noticed while these items were on tour was that they were a great trigger for reminiscences of the past.
"The Elm Row branch is the original Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy, from which the rest of the group takes its name. It was established in 1826, which makes it one of the oldest pharmacies in Scotland.
"We know from the label on an old medicine bottle that Charles Darwin was one of the early customers. That bottle is now in the Darwin Museum.
"We also used to hold the royal warrant for King George V, and some of the labels we've unearthed bear the slogan Chemist to His Majesty the King.
The parent company, Raimes Clark, dates all the way back to 1816.
The two founders of the company, John and Richard Raimes, originally set up their business in the Edinburgh High Street as Commission Agents, supplying apothecaries and druggists. For many years the company's main business was wholesaling.
The main premises, which incorporate an Adam-style Georgian Townhouse, will be open to the public for Doors Open Day 2008 on September 29.
This year, Raimes Clark celebrates its 100th year as a Limited Company and the exhibitions have been commissioned to mark the event.
It is also the 60th anniversary of the NHS, and the company is co-operating in a number of exhibitions to mark this event.
Preserved in the archive is a range of business correspondence, as well as early product catalogues, minutes books, diaries and ledgers from the 19th century.
These include a document concerning Patrick Anderson's famous True Scots Pills. The pills, which were invented in the 17th century, were a popular remedy for more than 300 years.
Cholera, gout and rheumatism were all on the list of ailments that the medicine was claimed to cure.
The document, which dates from 1649, declares the sole right of the bearer to manufacture the "True" Scots Pills, and as such is one of the earliest known patents.
It is accompanied by advertising leaflets and a box of the pills themselves.
Edinburgh Evening News
July 9, 2008
A HISTORIC pharmacy that once sold medicine to Charles Darwin and King George V has found the perfect place to put its archives on display - the shop window.
The Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy in Edinburgh's Elm Row recently unearthed a hoard of items of historical interest in its basement and decided to take them on tour to branches as far away as Selkirk and Hawick.
Charles Darwin, who studied medicine in the Capital, was one of the early customers of the shop.
Following the tour, the items have now come home to Edinburgh and will be given pride of place in the shop window.
The colourful display features items from the early days until the 1950s, including original pharmacists' drawers, medicine bottles, product labels and prescription books.
Two specially designed and illustrated storyboards outline the history of the business.
Nigel Cumming, Lindsay & Gilmour chairman, said: "People enjoy coming to see how things used to be in times gone by, and some of our older customers may also see things that they remember from their youth. One thing that we noticed while these items were on tour was that they were a great trigger for reminiscences of the past.
"The Elm Row branch is the original Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy, from which the rest of the group takes its name. It was established in 1826, which makes it one of the oldest pharmacies in Scotland.
"We know from the label on an old medicine bottle that Charles Darwin was one of the early customers. That bottle is now in the Darwin Museum.
"We also used to hold the royal warrant for King George V, and some of the labels we've unearthed bear the slogan Chemist to His Majesty the King.
The parent company, Raimes Clark, dates all the way back to 1816.
The two founders of the company, John and Richard Raimes, originally set up their business in the Edinburgh High Street as Commission Agents, supplying apothecaries and druggists. For many years the company's main business was wholesaling.
The main premises, which incorporate an Adam-style Georgian Townhouse, will be open to the public for Doors Open Day 2008 on September 29.
This year, Raimes Clark celebrates its 100th year as a Limited Company and the exhibitions have been commissioned to mark the event.
It is also the 60th anniversary of the NHS, and the company is co-operating in a number of exhibitions to mark this event.
Preserved in the archive is a range of business correspondence, as well as early product catalogues, minutes books, diaries and ledgers from the 19th century.
These include a document concerning Patrick Anderson's famous True Scots Pills. The pills, which were invented in the 17th century, were a popular remedy for more than 300 years.
Cholera, gout and rheumatism were all on the list of ailments that the medicine was claimed to cure.
The document, which dates from 1649, declares the sole right of the bearer to manufacture the "True" Scots Pills, and as such is one of the earliest known patents.
It is accompanied by advertising leaflets and a box of the pills themselves.
FEATURE: The real life Oliver!
By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
April 29, 2008
IT reads like a tale straight out of Oliver Twist. A young boy falls under the spell of a hardened criminal and is schooled in the art of pick-pocketing and thieving on the streets of London.
But for this young criminal from Edinburgh there was to be no happy ending - he was executed at the notorious Tyburn gallows, near the site of the modern Marble Arch, on May 18, 1743.
The account of the behaviour, confession and dying words of George Watson - a 17-year-old of "honest and reputable parents in the City of Edinburgh [but] very much disposed to thieving, picking pockets and breaking of houses" - is just one of the 200,000 or so cases from London's central criminal court archives from 1674 to 1913 set to go online.
George's execution is the earliest record of an Edinburgh man to fall foul of the London courts. He was the prodigal son of a "Scotch merchant" who ran away from home and found his way to London, where he was "reckon'd one of the most dextrous pick-pockets about the town".
The account continues: "Being in London, he associated himself with the vilest company of men and women he could meet with, and they finding him a very wicked boy fit for their purpose, trained him up in their works of darkness."
George's father, a hardware salesman based in Edinburgh, would often be in London on business but shunned his son's attempts to get in touch for fear it would harm his reputation. George was eventually caught and indicted for breaking into the house of a Thomas Meckwold on February 24, 1743.
The record says that on the day of his death he "believed in Christ, repented of his sins, and was in peace with all men".
As well as offering access to over 210,000 trials, the newly released material provides biographical details of around 3000 men and women executed at Tyburn.
The archive was compiled by the humanities research institute at the University of Sheffield and the service is free of charge. Dorothy Tweedie, treasurer of the Scottish Genealogy Society, said: "London has always been a magnet for ne'er-do-wells running away from home and thinking they can get lost in the big city - but they invariably ended up in some kind of trouble.
"There was also a lot of trade between the Port of Leith and London and sailors in these times also had a habit of getting into trouble when they were away from home.
"I think this will be a fabulous resource for anyone looking to see if they've got a black sheep in the family."
Edinburgh Evening News
April 29, 2008
IT reads like a tale straight out of Oliver Twist. A young boy falls under the spell of a hardened criminal and is schooled in the art of pick-pocketing and thieving on the streets of London.
But for this young criminal from Edinburgh there was to be no happy ending - he was executed at the notorious Tyburn gallows, near the site of the modern Marble Arch, on May 18, 1743.
The account of the behaviour, confession and dying words of George Watson - a 17-year-old of "honest and reputable parents in the City of Edinburgh [but] very much disposed to thieving, picking pockets and breaking of houses" - is just one of the 200,000 or so cases from London's central criminal court archives from 1674 to 1913 set to go online.
George's execution is the earliest record of an Edinburgh man to fall foul of the London courts. He was the prodigal son of a "Scotch merchant" who ran away from home and found his way to London, where he was "reckon'd one of the most dextrous pick-pockets about the town".
The account continues: "Being in London, he associated himself with the vilest company of men and women he could meet with, and they finding him a very wicked boy fit for their purpose, trained him up in their works of darkness."
George's father, a hardware salesman based in Edinburgh, would often be in London on business but shunned his son's attempts to get in touch for fear it would harm his reputation. George was eventually caught and indicted for breaking into the house of a Thomas Meckwold on February 24, 1743.
The record says that on the day of his death he "believed in Christ, repented of his sins, and was in peace with all men".
As well as offering access to over 210,000 trials, the newly released material provides biographical details of around 3000 men and women executed at Tyburn.
The archive was compiled by the humanities research institute at the University of Sheffield and the service is free of charge. Dorothy Tweedie, treasurer of the Scottish Genealogy Society, said: "London has always been a magnet for ne'er-do-wells running away from home and thinking they can get lost in the big city - but they invariably ended up in some kind of trouble.
"There was also a lot of trade between the Port of Leith and London and sailors in these times also had a habit of getting into trouble when they were away from home.
"I think this will be a fabulous resource for anyone looking to see if they've got a black sheep in the family."
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