Fife

The study of the inhumation cemeteries of Late Iron Age Scotland tends to revolve around the vexed question of whether or not they provide evidence for Christianity.  As a result, our approach has been to look for ‘Christian’ practices (lack of grave goods, west-east orientation) that are expectations based on analogy with the more standardised Christianity of the later medieval period.  As these burial practices originate in a Late Iron Age context, recent theoretical approaches from the study of late prehistory also need to be applied.  It is the emergence of cemeteries that is new in the mid-first millennium AD, and this distinction is still under-theorized.  Recent theoretical models seek to understand the significance of place, and how these cemeteries are actively involved in creating that place rather than using a predefined ‘sacred’ place.  By tracing their role in shaping and being shaped by their landscapes, before, during and after their use for burial, we can begin to speak more clearly about how we can use mortuary archaeology to study the changes of c. AD 400-600.  It is argued that the ambiguity of these sites lies not with the burials themselves, but in our expectations of Christianity and paganism in the Late Iron Age.

Very superficially the legend of Cruithne and his seven sons may seem fair enough; a little less superficially it is clear that it is complete nonsense. But if, as this paper attempts to do, we dig deeper into the names and keep sensible time scales in mind then the legend can indeed tell us a great deal about the development of Scotland. This paper has been written with the particular intention of putting Fife in context.

Aunque sabemos por fuentes diversas que el uso de “pífanos” y “flautas de Alemania” fue bastante frecuente en la
música heráldica y de danza durante el Renacimiento en Europa, muy pocos estudios hablan de la presencia y tipología de las flautas en
Castilla, más aún cuando se trata del período anterior a la llegada de los primeros Austrias. El presente artículo pretende llenar dicho vacío
exponiendo los resultados de un estudio basado en fuentes literarias, documentales e iconográficas, sobre la identidad y actividad profesional
de los ministriles-flautistas castellanos y flamencos que confluyeron en la corte de Castilla. Al mismo tiempo, sugiere algunas respuestas a
las preguntas sobre terminología y tipología de los miembros de la familia de las flautas, los músicos intérpretes y posibles contextos en los
que se usaron, con anterioridad al reinado de los Reyes Católicos.

A programme of archaeological works was required by Angle Park Sand and Gravel Co. Ltd in respect of the extension to the sand and gravel quarry at Melville Gates, Ladybank, Fife (NGR: NO 30635 11959). The archaeological works were designed to mitigate the impact on the archaeological remains within the development area. While across the majority of the development area, the evaluation trenches only revealed features which related to the land's use for agriculture in modern times, one feature of significance was discovered and recorded. A large ditch uncovered in the southwestern portion of the field was known to form part of the remains of the Command Line built in 1940. This was the name for an extensive network of defences built across Fife and Perthshire in preparation for the possibility of an invasion on British soil. The section revealed within the development area did not have any remaining timber revetments in situ but displayed the typical form known for the anti-tank ditch: a steeper edge ran along the southern side of the ditch facing enemy invasion from the north, with a more gradual slope running along its northern side. The infill of the ditch was formed of a single deposit suggesting a deliberate infilling of the ditch in one go, likely in order to swiftly return it back to agricultural land once the defence system was no longer required.

In 1980, Hillel Schwartz uncovered a manuscript correspondence in Glasgow relating to the mission of the ‘French prophets’ who came to Scotland in 1709 proclaiming that the millennium was at hand. Schwartz used this correspondence to chart the journey of the prophets throughout Scotland. His work demonstrated that the prophets’ belief system was modified by its engagement with the ideas of a group of self-described ‘mystics’ who called the prophets inwards. For Schwartz, it was an engagement with the writings of the French quietist, Jeanne Guyon -- influential among Protestants in the north-east of Scotland -- which led to a new breed of quietist prophecy.

This paper expands on this intriguing suggestion, by attempting to uncover the mystical community in which Cunningham was a part. Drawing on the Glasgow manuscript, as well as family papers, university muniments, church records, and the meticulously-kept records of the ‘French prophets’ movement itself, it uncovers the existence of a group of mystics in Fife, which it places within a wider nexus of mystical movements throughout Britain, including the followers of Guyon, with whom it had a somewhat strained relationship. Cunningham and his friends in Fife, I suggest, challenged contemporary confessional boundaries (and modern historiographical orthodoxy), by articulating an anti-confessional vision which was equally at home in Catholic circles as it was in Protestant. Through an exploration of Cunningham and his inter-denominational network, this paper calls for a greater dialogue between historians of mainstream Protestantism and the Catholic other.

This paper examined the mission of prophets who toured Scotland between 1709 and 1716. They were inspired by a group of Protestants from the Cévennes in the south of France, who had held out against the French state following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.  Among these 'Camisars',  many appeared who spoke in tongues and issued warnings to their enemies which they claimed came from the Holy Spirit. In 1706, three of these French prophets came to London and, with their English supporters, delivered a series of millenarian prophecies.

Descending on Scotland, they made several converts in Edinburgh. Following the conversion of a Fife noblewoman, the Lady Abden, they excited interest among of a group of mystics based around the estates of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall in Fife, and Alexander, 4th Lord Forbes of Pitsligo in Aberdeenshire.

Many of the mystics, including Sir Thomas and Lord Forbes' own sister, delivered warnings themselves. Others, like Hope's tutor Andrew Ramsay, were sceptical, and believed the prophecies they heard delivered could not be reconciled with the mystical theology they espoused. Furthermore, many of the followers of the prophets in London became weary with their Scottish brethren's mystical divinity and claimed that the warnings they delivered were the work of the Devil.

Based on evidence from dozens of manuscripts, many of which have never before been studied by historians, my paper uncovered the debate which emerged between the prophets' supporters and doubters. It aimed to shed new light on Scottish mysticism and early evangelical revivalism.