Aitchison has some good stuff, hope you enjoy it as well!

Thanks Hamish! :)

Paperback of Máel Coluim III book is now available to pre-order from publisher:
birlinn.co.uk/product/mael...

Fact of the day, did you know that over the last century historians have uncovered evidence that the Roman Empire once sponsored the foundation of a colonial settlement in New England? See the dedicated Wikipedia article for the detail:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Eng...

Happy St Cuthbert's Day. Annual excuse to repost article on 'Cuthbert’s relics and the origins of the diocese of Durham', *Anglo-Saxon England* (2021).
Warning: contains some dastardly revisionism about Cuthbert's history (at Chester-le-Street) & the 'Viking Age' Northumbrian church cup.org/4ssGyNq

John Bannerman Lecture 2026 - Professor Fiona Edmonds | School of History, Classics & Archaeology | History Classics and Archaeology 'Dál Riata and Northumbria, c. 700‒1000: Connections and comparisons'. Hybrid.

Thurs 26 March, Prof. Fiona Edmonds will deliver the 2026 John Bannerman Memorial Lecture (in-person and online), on a topic close to Bannerman's own work: 'Dál Riata and Northumbria, c. 700‒1000: Connections and comparisons'.

Tuilleadh fiosrachaidh | More info 👇
hca.ed.ac.uk/john-bannerm...

Mar 6: Feast of Balthere (Baldred) (†756). Anchorite from Lindisfarne linked with Lothian sites Aldham (Auldhame), whose monastic community he may have founded; the Bass Rock, his likely retreat; and Tinangeham (Tyninghame), whose religious centre eclipsed Aldham by mid-10thC. #medievalsky

Congrats on another book!

Very pleased to receive author’s copies of Offa, King of the Mercians from @yalebooks.bsky.social today. Looking superb, and an excellent publishing experience!

For those who don't have the time to read this piece, it includes a new theory about the origins of Earl Harald & the politics of northern Scotland in the later 12th cent. See illustration (by Tom) for modified/suggested genealogical relations between Harald & other members of the Scottish dynasty.

Cheers, Caitlin! 😊 And thanks again for the stellar editorial work!

Details of Steve Boardman's forthcoming *The First Stewart Dynasty: Scotland, 1371–1488*, the long awaited Late Middle Ages volume in the New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Discount code from EUP on flyer.

See link for detail on the recently published Historical Map of Perth. This & detail about a forthcoming equivalent for St Andrews (see flyer) can be acquired via the website of the Historic Towns Trust: www.historictownstrust.uk

Published open access with other new articles (link below) in a special issue volume *Apardjón Journal for Scandinavian Studies - Connections and the Church in Late Norse Scotland*, thanks to the great editors @medivalist.bsky.social and @tomfairfax.bsky.social :
www.abdn.ac.uk/media/site/d...

Haraldr Maddaðarson and Scoto-Orcadian Politics before 1222 Haraldr Maddaðarson and Scoto-Orcadian Politics before 1222

New publication from myself, 'Haraldr Maddaðarson and Scoto-Orcadian Politics before 1222':
www.academia.edu/149771345/Ha...

Historic 200-year-old Category B listed church to close this year A historic 200-year-old church is set to close and it's building put up for sale

The Church of Scotland has confirmed that the Old Kilpatrick Parish Church, which sits on the northern bank of the Clyde near the Erskine Bridge, is set to close later this year after 214 years of service to its local community.

Read the story here 👇
www.clydebankpost.co.uk/news/2575942...

The wonderful @caitlinrgreen.bsky.social has a hugely interesting new article just out in Early Medieval England & its Neighbours, all about Alfred the Great's embassy to India - free to read here #India #AlfredtheGreat #medieval www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Demons & the undead reaching up from Hell to grasp the world? Perhaps a metaphor of some kind, or perhaps I've been watching too many horror films #Infantino #PeacePrize #FootballUnitesTheWorld

2025 Frank Watson Book Prize in Scottish History!

Catriona M.M. Macdonald, The Caledoniad: The Making of Scottish History. Edinburgh: John Donald, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd., 2024. ISBN: 9780859767200.

Congratulations, Dr. Macdonald! 🏆🎉

Read the jury's citation: www.uoguelph.ca/arts/scottis...

A Scottish History story :
@scotnational.bsky.social
@heraldscotland.bsky.social
@dailyrecord.co.uk
@scotsman.com
@pressandjournal.co.uk

Thank you Clare, enjoy! :)

Enjoy, & feel free to DM me if you have any questions!

Thanks!

The Máel Coluim III book, brand new in hardback, is available for just £30 (down from £70-100) Abebooks :
www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Book...

Máel Coluim II, 'Canbeg'

Based on an article currently in press I believe published through Apardjón, the Aberdeen Journal for Scandinavian Studies.

SSNS Seminar - Scoto Orcadian Relations in the Twelfth century, Dr Neil McGuigan YouTube video by Scottish Society for Northern Studies

A recent talk I gave to the Scottish Society for Northern Studies on Earl Harald of Orkney and "12th-century Scoto-Orcadian relations" has been put on YouTube. Includes a new theory about the origins of Harald's branch of the Scottish royal dynasty:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIDR...

Day conference celebrating Glasgow's 850th anniversary. Celebrating with scholarship, and doubling as a commemoration of the work of Norman Shead. Thursday 4 September 2025 -- 10.00 am- 4:30 pm, City Chambers.

Used to have a National Geographic map of the Soviet Union & its ethnic groups on my wall as a kid & developed a peeve when the tv or radio (invariably football-related) referred to something USSR/CIS as 'Russian'. I think I saw the analogy between Russia/USSR and England/UK.

Did some google booking, exact expression is used in various editions of the the 19th-century Beeton encyclopaedias. It could appear that the 1992 author is either 'influenced' by one of these or we have a very a curious manifestation of the 'library of Babel'!