The Burgh Records at the SGSAH International Summer School

10 June 2021 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

On Monday 21 June 2021 the Aberdeen Burgh Records project will run an afternoon workshop in this year’s Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) International Summer School.

The session will introduce the historical burgh records and the languages within them, from the Latin and Middle Scots to the XML which underpins the digital Aberdeen Registers Online: 1398-1511 (ARO).

With members of the current FLAG project, it will present the digital humanities work which is currently underway, investigating the ARO alongside a comparable digital resource from medieval Augsburg.

And, with Dr Claire Hawes, it will showcase creative responses to the themes and language in the ARO, in the form of contemporary song-writing and musical performance.

Songs of Medieval Aberdeen (L-R: Paddy Buchanan, Claire Hawes, Craig Spink and Davy Cattanach)

Claire will discuss the process by which she and Aberdeen-based musicians collaborated to write a set of songs which were performed at the Scottish Parliament in early 2020. These songs have now been recorded for the first time and they will be included in the session!

The Summer School workshops are aimed at Arts & Humanities doctoral researchers in Scotland. The International Summer School workshops are aimed at Arts & Humanities doctoral researchers across Europe and the globe, including Scotland. The keynote sessions are open to the public.

If you are a PhD researcher and wish to register for the workshop, please go to the Eventbrite link.

Strange Sickness goes to #MAMG21 Twitter Conference

27 May 2021 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

Strange Sickness features today in a short ‘paper’ at the The Middle Ages in Modern Games: Twitter Conference, organised and run online by The Public Medievalist and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Research at the University of Winchester.

A paper in the form of a ‘thread’ of 12 tweets from @medievalabdn, by Dr William Hepburn and Dr Jackson Armstrong, will look at the story that has led so far to the Strange Sickness game project, and the steps on the road to creating and bringing a historical research-based game to life.

Papers at the conference running 25-28 May 2021 may be found with the Twitter hashtag #MAMG21.

Strange Sickness News – More Funding, More Game

28 February 2021 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

Earlier this month Strange Sickness Kickstarter backers had an update on progress, and we are pleased to share the good news here.

Following the successful Kickstarter campaign, new support for Strange Sickness has come from the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service.

The Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service has enabled the project to meet its final stretch goal, and a Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Award from the University of Aberdeen more than doubles the funding raised during the Kickstarter campaign! This will allow more time to be booked from the game designer (Katharine Neil) and artist (Alana Bell).

This means that the whole game can be made with greater depth and detail, and that it will include the ‘epilogue’ stretch goal exploring the outbreak of 1514.

The extra funding wouldn’t have been possible without the faith in the project demonstrated by all the backers, and William and Jackson hope that they will all be pleased with the extra dimension that it will add to the game.

This does mean that the expected release of the game will push back to summer 2021, but the Strange Sickness team are sure the extra benefits this funding will bring to the game will make it worth the longer wait.

Work is underway on the game, and we’ve included a new image by Alana here for you to see how the look of the game is shaping up!

Printing the Past – designing a creative project with schools

30 January 202130 January 2021 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

*Fresh salmon for market was often called ‘red and sweet’ in the council registers*. Photo courtesy Hetty Haxworth.

Artists Hetty Haxworth and Kit Martin are working with the Aberdeen Burgh Records Project to help introduce primary school pupils in Scotland to art techniques and ideas that they might not otherwise try.

Inspired by the transcribed text in the Aberdeen Registers Online, Kit and Hetty have developed a pilot printmaking project to be conducted with a Primary 5 class in an Angus primary – when schools return, that is! If well received, there is scope to expand the activity to other interested schools (or other groups) in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.

Hetty and Kit have made instructional videos introducing a selection of stories and themes within the Aberdeen Registers Online, along with printmaking techniques. The videos then give step-by-step instruction for teacher and pupils to complete a piece of collaborative visual art. A package of materials will be sent to the school along with links to the videos. This will include images from medieval manuscripts as inspiration, including from the Aberdeen Bestiary.

*The tale of Aberdeen’s pig catchers has been told before in the blog!* Photo courtesy Hetty Haxworth.

The art techniques explored in the activities are block printing and monoprinting as well as collage, design and drawing. The finished piece will be a medieval ‘scroll’ measuring 180cm x 85cm that will illustrate three stories from the Aberdeen council registers and bordered by Middle Scots words taken from the Aberdeen Registers Online, to form a decorative edge.

The results could be displayed on the school wall, or in other potential locations such as the University or the City Archives. The pilot work has been supported by funding from the University of Aberdeen Development Trust.

We’re looking forward to the next steps for this exciting creative response to the Aberdeen burgh records!

Strange Sickness game campaign success

22 December 202022 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

The Kickstarter campaign for Strange Sickness wrapped up with an amazing 220 backers and 132% funding support, following a focused three-week run which ended a minute before midnight on 17 December 2020.

The generous response to the campaign brought backers from Scotland and around the world to support the project. Practical support and encouragement from Opportunity North East Code Base (ONE CodeBase) has been integral to the project.

Backing for the game exceeded the initial target and the first stretch goal. This means the game will include a prologue, to precede the main narrative section of play. Here the player will be introduced to Aberdeen and its inhabitants and hear reports of frightening illnesses from elsewhere in Scotland and overseas. Player decisions made in the prologue will affect the main narrative which follows.

The campaign received some great press coverage including in The Times, the Press and Journal, The National, the Evening Express and on ScotlandIS and The Scottish Games Network.

The campaign page for the project may be found at www.kickstarter.com. Early 2021 will see development underway by the project’s creative team!

Building a new game to bring the burgh records to life

01 December 202022 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

*Strange Sickness campaign banner by Alana Bell*

Strange Sickness is a narrative game about fear, disease and community. It is also an encounter with history, through the Aberdeen council registers.

The player will take on the role of a member of Aberdeen’s burgh council in the late 1490s as a plague epidemic is taking hold in Scotland. You must decide how to protect the city against the arrival of the disease by land or sea. You navigate through the game by linking to different parts of a branching narrative, deciding when to seek further information and how to respond to the threat of plague. The narrative plays out in different ways, with different endings, based on these decisions.

The project, led by William Hepburn and Jackson Armstrong, is newly launched on Kickstarter. If the project meets its funding target, the creative team will be led by William, building upon his experience in Playing in the Archives and with Who Killed David Dun?. William will bring his skills as a historian together with game designer Katharine Neil (Astrologaster and Over the Alps) and illustrator Alana Bell (graduate of Gray’s School of Art, 2020).

Strange Sickness is a non-profit project. William and Jackson are giving their time for free. The funds raised in this campaign will recover the costs of creating the game, delivering the rewards, and ensuring Katharine and Alana’s time is funded.

All profits from sales of the game after the Kickstarter campaign will support the Lord Provost’s Charitable Trust, for as long as the Trust is fundraising for Aberdeen-based registered charities to help individuals, families and communities across the city experiencing severe financial hardship as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kickstarter campaign has launched with a great start in its first few days, so far with some 120 backers and reaching 66% of its total goal. The campaign page for the project may be found at www.kickstarter.com.

For some recent publicity around the campaign see the University of Aberdeen news item and the blog at The Scottish Games Network.

Songs of Medieval Aberdeen performed in the Scottish Parliament

11 March 202001 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / 1 Comment

Last evening ‘Songs of Medieval Aberdeen’ went to Holyrood, for a reception, presentations and performance of the new music written by Dr Claire Hawes and Aberdeen-based musicians Davy Cattanach and Paddy Buchanan. The three were joined by percussionist Craig Spink.

L-R: Senior Vice Principal Karl Leydecker, Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop, Dr Claire Hawes, Lewis Macdonald MSP

The performance, held within the Scottish Parliament’s Garden Lobby, was hosted by Lewis Macdonald MSP and introduced by Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP. Senior Vice-Principal Professor Karl Leydecker spoke on behalf of the University of Aberdeen which is celebrating its 525th anniversary this year.

The set included the songs composed and performed by the trio last year, at the celebration to launch the Aberdeen Registers Online, and a new song, ‘Who Killed Davy Dun’, inspired by the game developed by Dr William Hepburn in 2019 in connection with an event he designed for the Granite Noir festival in 2017.

L-R: Davy Cattanach, Craig Spink, Claire Hawes, Paddy Buchanan.

City Archivist Phil Astley transported council register volumes seven and eight from Aberdeen to Parliament, so that they could be displayed for guests. The volumes were open to the pages containing the 1505 ‘aquavite’ entry, and the 1499 entry mentioning ‘brokin folkis’. The latter inspired the musicians to write a song with that title.

Dr Claire Hawes addressing guests

Fiona Hyslop MSP addressing guests

The performance involved a set of five songs, each introduced by Dr Hawes who explained the creative process behind their composition.

It was an exciting evening, demonstrating on a national stage the rich creative work that has been derived from the Aberdeen burgh records!

Follow this link to the University of Aberdeen news item about the event.

Celebration at the Town House

20 June 201901 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / 1 Comment

On the evening of 14 June a special event was held in the Town House to mark the completion of the Law in the Aberdeen Council Registers project.

L-R: Vice-Principal Professor Marion Campbell, Dr Andrew Simpson, Dr Edda Frankot, Dr William Hepburn, Lord Provost Barney Crockett, Dr Jackson Armstrong, Dr Claire Hawes, City Archivist Mr Phil Astley. Photo Credit: Norman Adams / Copyright Aberdeen City Council.

The eight earliest-surviving council register volumes were on display, and music and talks highlighted vignettes from the new resource created by this project, Aberdeen Registers Online: 1398–1511. Lord Provost Barney Crockett spoke on behalf of the City of Aberdeen, and Vice-Principal Professor Marion Campbell on behalf of the University of Aberdeen.

The event opened with a performance on recorder by Ruaraidh Wishart, Ed Friday, Kate Friday, and Marie McLean of a special composition entitled Fantasia for a Doric Fishman. The piece drew inspiration from the so-called ‘Fishman’, one of the most well-known decorations in the registers (see ARO-2-0102-01). Until recently moving to Abertay University, Ruaraidh Wishart was a senior archivist with the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives.

Short talks and highlights were given by LACR members, including Jackson Armstrong, Phil Astley, Edda Frankot, Andrew Simpson, and Claire Hawes. The evening also showcased some creative follow-on projects in response to the registers.

William Hepburn introduced Playing in the Archives, his Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative Economies Engagement Fellowship, which investigates how Aberdeen’s registers could provide the inspiration for video game development. William explained how he is assessing the effectiveness of video games as a scholarly medium for examining the burgh records and the historical subjects they inform.

Claire Hawes and musicians Davy Cattanach and Paddy Buchanan performed four Songs from Medieval Aberdeen. Claire’s introduction to their music explained that their composition project was made possible with a 2018 Creative Funding Award from Aberdeen City Council. The trio set out to explore how songwriters can use historical material in their work. These original songs were the result, inspired by stories and themes from the records, and the Scots language of the registers.

There was also a special cake, decorated by Aberdeen cake makers O’Caykx, which displayed some of the information about the words and languages of the registers in icing.

ARO Infographic Cake: Showing proportions of Latin and vernacular words in each register through the scrumptious medium of icing. Photo credit: Jackson Armstrong.

The cake icing depicted the proportion of words in each register in Latin (dark icing) and Scots (light icing). The small amount of orange marked in registers five and six reflects the appearance of a small amount of Dutch (or Middle Low German) in those volumes. The later registers have a greater proportion of content in Scots, and a greater number of words overall. It was a delicious way to mark the completion of the project!

Songs from Medieval Aberdeen

24 May 201901 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / 2 Comments

Dr Claire Hawes has collaborated with musicians Davy Cattanach and Paddy Buchanan to explore how songwriters can use historical material in their work. As part of the University of Aberdeen’s May Festival the trio performed today a set of original songs composed in response to the contents of the Aberdeen council registers.

Songs2 crop

The performance included an introduction by Claire into the nature of the collaboration, its steps and dialogues, and the question of how historians can contribute to the creative process. Claire, Davy and Paddy set out to answer the question by writing songs based on Aberdeen’s medieval town records. The introduction explained how the group encountered some expected differences between historical research and song writing, but also found some similarities.

The Songs from Medieval Aberdeen experiment was a success – resulting in composition of four songs, entitled Balingar, Kervel, Candilmas Time, The Brokin Folkis, and The Fisher Folk of Futy. Each song tells its own story from the Aberdeen registers, and was performed on guitar and bodhran with vocals in Scots. Claire’s introduction examined how the lyrics were crafted neither in Middle Scots nor Modern Scots (nor Doric), but still drew from the language of the registers.

A full audience in the Linklater Rooms at King’s College was given a special treat to hear these songs performed as a set for the first time. The trio said they were keen to record the songs when time allows!

The project was made possible with a Creative Funding Award from Aberdeen City Council.

Paddy and Davy

January Lectures on ‘The Common Books of Aberdeen, 1398-1511’

31 January 201901 December 2020 / aberdeenregisters / Leave a comment

This month LACR alumna Dr Claire Hawes delivered a pair of joint lectures for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Scottish History Society.

The subject was ‘The Common Books of Aberdeen’ and the presentation gave a fascinating overview of the historical richness of the council register volumes which have been at the core of the LACR project. Claire delivered her talk to substantial audiences in Edinburgh on 14 January at the National Museum Scotland, and on 15 January in Aberdeen for the Aberdeen & North East Section of the Antiquaries. The lecture illuminated some of the aspects of medieval life that are apparent in the volumes: the role of crafts, the presence of animals, the regulation of behaviour, and the place of the burgh in the political affairs of the Scottish kingdom, to name just a few. The Scots language was also prominent in the colourful examples explored by Claire as she set out some of the ways in which the registers will serve as a bountiful resource for future research. Well done, Claire!

aberdeen registers

Public Engagement