Category: Exhibitions

“The daughter of debate that discord aye doth sow”
Elizabeth I, from her sonnet ‘The Doubt of Future Foes’
referring to Mary Queen of Scots

During her lifetime Mary Queen of Scots was a highly controversial monarch and she continues to divide opinion today. When we consider her reign, we often focus on the tragedy of her captivity and execution. These events tend to colour how we view her life, as if its trajectory was an inevitable journey towards the executioner’s block. This is not helped by the two melancholy portraits of Mary which are the most well-known: Clouet’s portrait of her in her white mourning (‘deuil blanc’) after the death of her first husband, Francis II, and the posthumous portrait showing the Queen as a Catholic martyr, now in the Blairs Museum. In the early years of her personal reign in Scotland, however, her success and personal popularity were such that no-one could have predicted her end.

Mary grew up at court of Henry II of France, one of the most spectacular Renaissance courts in Europe. It was a gilded life, if not perhaps the best preparation for dealing with the factionalism and turbulence of the Scottish nobility. Her French experience at the heart of the royal court imbued her with the concept of the court as the centre of government, as a means of controlling the nobility, as the backdrop for magnificent entertainments as well as a centre of patronage and the arts. It was the template on which she drew on when she returned to Scotland.

Four documents appearing in the forthcoming Edinburgh Fringe exhibition ‘Famous Scots from the Past’ will put a spotlight on this period of Mary’s reign. There will be a rare opportunity to see Mary’s earliest surviving letter, written to her mother, Mary of Guise, when she was only 7 or 8.  Mother and daughter were reunited in France in 1550.

Also on display will be the list of Mary’s much-envied collection of jewels annotated by her, before the birth of her son James, with the names of the beneficiaries should she and her child die. This important document was only discovered in August 1854 among some unsorted legal papers in General Register House. Jewellery during the Renaissance performed a number of functions: beautiful items in themselves, the wearing of them was a powerful indicator of status, but they were also hugely valuable. Royal collections of jewellery were treasure stores to be plundered for gifts given out to inspire and reward loyalty, but also useful assets to be pledged or sold.

To complement this exhibition there will also be a short talk and introduction to these objects from NRS’s Dr Alison Rosie, ‘The Early Reign of Mary Queen of Scots’, on 21 August. Come along and discover more about Mary and the unique records held in our archives.

Dr Alison Rosie, Registrar

National Register of Archives for Scotland, National Records of Scotland

A titan of engineering and construction, William Arrol established his company in the early 1870s, when Glasgow was developing as an industrial city and the revolutionary Siemens Martin process was enabling the mass production of cheap steel. Arrol made his name with the construction of the Forth Bridge (1890), and is also known for the second Tay Bridge (1887), Tower Bridge in London and elsewhere.

Now a UNESCO site, the Forth Railway Bridge is recognised as a ‘masterpiece of creative genius because of its distinctive industrial aesthetic’ and as an extraordinary milestone in the evolution of bridge design and construction. However, the construction of the bridge was not without its difficulties. William Arrol won the contract for the Bridge Thomas Bouch designed in 1878, but due to the collapse of Bouch’s Tay Bridge in 1879 the project was put on hold. It wasn’t until 1882 when Parliament authorised the construction of a new Forth Railway Bridge design by Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler, that Arrol was contracted again to begin work. Concerned with re-establishing the public’s confidence in large scale engineering works, it has been suggested that this led to the Bridge being ‘over-engineered’, however it is perhaps due to this care that it still stands in use today, 128 years after its completion.

A great engineering feat spanning the tidal estuary of the River Forth, the Forth Bridge has become an iconic part of the landscape. Indeed, its design and size were so unusual at the time, many found it either beautiful or ugly.

“The bridge is a style unto itself: the simple directness of purpose with which it does its work is splendid and invests your vast monument with a kind of beauty of its own, differing though it certainly does from all the beautiful things I have ever seen” (Alfred Waterhouse)

It was the concern with safety and the difficulties of construction in the fast flowing river that led Arrol to innovations in technology and methods of working. These innovations included the creation of complex drilling and riveting machines, and Giant Cantilever or Titan cranes capable of lifting 150 tonnes or more.

Although there is some dispute as to whether Arrol is the only inventor of riveting machinery, he certainly revolutionised the process by applying hydraulic pressure and designing machinery that was easily transported in every direction with movable tubes. This allowed workers to place approximately 7 rivets a minute. To overcome the problem of building in the river, Arrol used a system of caissons. Watertight structures, once sunk in the water, the water inside the caissons was pumped out and replaced with compressed air and airlocks installed. This allowed workers to go below the surface in submarine air chambers to excavate the boulder-like clay beneath and sink the caisson further. Once complete the working chambers were filled with concrete and masonry piers built above.

These inventions and the development of engineering workshops that provided clear working spaces with the capacity for overhead cranes, were extensively adopted by heavy engineering such as bridge building and shipbuilding.

From 1 August to 1 September a small sample of our records from our unique Caledonian Railway Company and British Rail Archives will be on display in the General Register House’s Matheson Dome in our Fringe Festival exhibition, ‘Famous Scots from the Past’. Featuring some of Scotland’s most remarkable historical characters, a selection of records relating to Sir William Arrol and the Forth Bridge will be on show. Come along and discover more about Arrol and the unique records held in our archives.

Jocelyn Grant, Outreach Archivist

National Records of Scotland

Further Reading

• United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, The Forth Bridge
• Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame, Sir William Arrol
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Arrol, Sir William
• National Records of Scotland, Sir William Arrol (1839-1913)
• Evelyn George Carey Forth Bridge, Michael Gray and Angelo Maggi (2009)
• The Forth Bridge: A Picture History, Shelia Mackay (1990)
• Sir William Arrol: A Memoir, Sir Robert Purvis (1913)

On 30 June 1857 the trial of Madeleine Smith began. A young woman from a prosperous Glasgow family, Smith was charged with, on three separate occasions, administering arsenic or other poison to Pierre Emile L’Angelier with intent to kill, twice in February and once in March 1857. It was this accusation and the subsequent trial which brought to light the great volume of letters which had secretly passed between them. Presented as evidence of  Madeleine and Emile’s relationship and meetings, these letters formed a core part of the trial, and because of their frank expressions of desire and affection, they scandalised and excited the Victorian public of the time.

Madeleine Smith’s story has captured the imagination of many historians, playwrights, film makers  and the general public since it was reported in 1857. Having been the subject of many re-interpretations and productions (including a musical), it is no wonder that the story of Smith and her love affair have persisted until this day. But why is this the case?

Her trial led to the revelation of lascivious letters that were shocking because of her gender and class, but also because of the explicit statement of her enjoyment in sexual activity.

“My nightdress was on when you saw me. Would to God you had been in the same attire. We would be happy”

In the context of her time, this was a shocking revelation as, although it was not unexpected that woman would enjoy sex, it was understood that this would and could only happen within the marital bed. While the tantalising story of a doomed romance ending in a possible murder still has an attractive hook for a story today, it is likely the ‘whodunnit’ element of Smith’s case which continues to capture the imagination.

Taken into custody on 31 March 1857, Smith was accused of administering poison, but due to a lack of evidence the Crown could not prove that it was Madeleine who had killed L’Angelier. This lack of evidence and a magnificent defence led the jury to return the sensational verdict ‘not proven’. A unique characteristic of Scottish law, a verdict of ‘not proven’ is an acquittal with the same effect as ‘not guilty’. It has been wryly suggested however that the meaning of “not proven” is closer to ‘we think you did it, but the prosecution couldn’t prove it’.  This verdict allows nuance between ‘Proven’ and ‘Not Guilty’, allowing the jury to specify whether the evidence alone provides enough proof of the accused’s guilt or innocence (although the verdict itself carries an implication of guilt). This inability to prove that Smith was responsible for Pierre Emile L’Angelier’s death has kept the public intrigued, with many retellings and reviews of the evidence presented in an attempt to prove once and for all whether she was guilty, or not guilty.

While we cannot solve this murder mystery, we can offer a tantalising glimpse in to the Madeleine Smith archive, consisting of her declaration, letters, transcripts and the physical productions which were used in her trial. These include the purchased arsenic bottle, the forensic containers used for post-mortem chemical tests, the chocolate purportedly used to administer the poison and more. On display from 1 August to 1 September, some of these never-before exhibited items will be on show in General Register House’s Matheson Dome in ‘Famous Scots from the Past’. Featuring some of Scotland’s most remarkable historical characters, productions from Madeleine Smith’s trial will be on show alongside records relating to three other individuals. Who will they be? Kings or Queens? Thinkers or Doers? Come along to this Fringe Festival Exhibition and discover more about our shared history, and the unique records held in our archives.

Jocelyn Grant, Outreach Archivist

National Records of Scotland

Further Reading

• Murder and Morality in Victorian Britain: The Story of Madeleine Smith, Eleanor Gordon and Gwyneth Nair
• The Strange Affair of Madeleine Smith: Victorian Scotland’s Trial of the Century, Douglas MacGowan
• Lives of Scottish Women: Women and Scottish Society, 1800-1980, William W.J. Knox