President s Report March 2013

Transcription

1 President s Report March 2013 We were sad to see an old friend depart the museum for other climes. Our Rhino head has been loaned to NMS in Edinburgh for safekeeping. Sadly there are those about who will pay large sums for the horns and have targeted Museums such as Elgin. The advice was to make him safe and we have done this. I had a great plan to replace him with a large stag s head and duly asked around. Our friends in the Falconer had two heads in their store and were pleased to allow us to display one. So I duly inspected and was most impressed. It turns out to be a wapiti from North America! Certainly large and he will look majestic in our main hall. I regret to announce that our grant from Moray Council which helps us run the Museum is to be cut by about 7000 per annum. We understand that we must take our share of the present financial circumstances but it will make life that little more difficult for us. The Board is determined to keep the Museum open and increase numbers attending. We had already decided to make entrance to the Museum free for a trial in We are sticking to that for this one year to see what happens. Be assured that the donations box will be very prominent indeed in the Hall. Amidst the many testing things we face we appear to have boiler problems. The facts are that our two ancient boilers have come to the end of their usful lives and we now face a bill of about 10, to replace them. To add to our excitement we have to have permission to install the various safety and emission requirements needed by the authorities. We have approached architects and will now engage with Moray Council planning authorities. But I am afraid that we still have to face the costs of this and any help you can give will be appreciated. The Museum has been part of the discussions on the Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere project which is designed to invigorate the city centre. It included the prospect of the renovation of Grant Lodge and this in particular would involve us in providing exhibits and advice. It looks as if this too may be questioned as part of the current financial problems Moray Council faces. However we can but hope that the work that has been done can be captured for future use when matters improve.

2 I attended a very good brain-storming session about the Museum which will be reported in detail elsewhere. Suffice to say that it was well attended and many good ideas were reported. Some are long term and very ambitious but why not? And we are now in the process of preparation for opening around Easter. As ever we need more volunteers. Please spread the word. The more the merrier! It has been a busy winter season and much has been achieved. I congratulate all those who work so hard to keep the Museum such an attractive place to have in Elgin. Grenville Johnston Honorary President Activities Committee We have had an excellent and well attended series of talks over the winter and still have at least another three talks to come. Be sure to get there early for a good seat as each is expected to attract a good attendance. Michael & Marie Start and a selection of exhibits from the Automatons talk in January Thursday 21 st March 2pm Life with 39 Engineer Regiment : a talk on life at Kinloss Barracks by Lt Col Andy Sturrock and others. Thursday 28 th March 2pm A Northern Pictish Kingdom : recent excavations and new perspectives by Gordon Noble, University of Aberdeen Friday 26 th April 7pm Moray Society AGM followed by The Moray Gig Mary Byatt 8pm

3 URGENT!! URGENT!! The post of volunteer Convenor is vacant so this is a call for anyone who might like to come forward to volunteer. The Committee is primarily responsible for the public winter lecture series, engaging speakers, liaising with the Publicity Volunteer, and hosting the lectures. The lectures traditionally take place on the last Friday of the month, but have also been held in the afternoon especially in winter. Activities have in the past also extended to additional lectures, and, working with for example the Management and Fundraising Committees (and the Museum and Hall Diary), conferences, other entertainments and outings. It is not a huge commitment and can also be fun! The lecture programme for 2013/14 has almost been completed by a small but willing and experienced team of Committee members who urgently seek a leader please! Activities Committee Museum Assistant Update MARCH 2013 Time has flown by since the last newsletter; I can hardly believe we are nearly into Spring and the open season! Our volunteers have been very busy researching and putting together new displays for the upstairs exhibition alcoves, overseeing never-ending building maintenance, ensuring regular publicity, collating and cataloguing coins and tokens, organising lectures, cataloguing the Incorporated Trades papers, examining our bird collection, photographing exhibits, helping with the textile collection (we have run out of time and space so this job will need to be continued next winter) and helping with the archaeology collection. Without the ongoing skills, dedication and enthusiasm of our volunteers the museum would not be here today, let alone actively providing such a highly valued service to the public. It has already proved a blessing to have Diane Hannan on board to help with the schools and outreach. March is an extremely busy period for school groups wanting to visit the museum but it is also the busiest time behind the scenes finalising the new exhibitions and catching up with essential backlog. I do not think I could have coped for another year trying to accommodate all the schools and manage my museum assistant duties whilst working part time for the museum and part time for The Moray Council - you are a very welcome and very experienced addition to the team, Diane! Volunteers select some items for new displays to the upstairs exhibition alcoves

4 17 th century male s embroidered waistcoat We have been inundated with extraordinary metal detector finds which has taken up a lot of time but has proved extremely interesting. David Marquardt will provide you with some juicy titbits about recent successful Treasure Trove acquisitions. Some recent items bought in for identification and/or to be delivered to the Edinburgh based Treasure Trove unit.

5 Staff at Forres Falconer Museum have been very accommodating in allowing us to use the space and quiet at the laboratory in Forres. They have a ventilation unit that makes it safer to mark artefacts with a museum number and not to breathe in the relatively toxic fumes. During this time I have been able to train volunteer Morag MacDonald to label and document Treasure Trove items; I shall leave it to Morag to tell you more about what we have been working on. We have made excellent progress and hope to have some more exciting finds from Clarkly Hill, Burghead and other areas in Moray on display in Elgin Museum very soon watch this space! Alan Ralph has been invaluable in taking care of the shop stock and sales; to assist with managing the shop we have recently acquired a new and enthusiastic volunteer, Tracey, to help with the purchasing of shop stock and the shop layout. We really want to ensure that this year we have plenty of stock that relates to the varied topics children are studying at school and that we also have a range of arts and crafts for sale that are designed and made by Moray based people; this will hopefully include an artist, potter, wood turner and jeweller. I am particularly excited that Hana Walls has agreed to supply Elgin Museum with original pieces of unique artwork including wall art, painted vases, boxes, key holders and much more. Hana has also agreed to hold an art exhibition later in the season. Hana Walls at work in her kitchen studio. Examples of Clare Smith s Pottery I am sure you will appreciate that we are living in ever changing times and will have read how the arts, heritage and culture sectors have been affected by drastic budget cuts nationally and locally. Moray Heritage Connections will be adversely affected with the changes ahead and we hope you will all continue to support your local museums and libraries in the future. As you will have learnt from Bill s report, we plan to have free entry for a trial period this year. It is a worrying time for us as gas and electricity bills continue to increase; we have major problems with the gas boilers needing replacing, the Museum insurance and security measures are terribly costly and we have seen a reduction in revenue in recent years. I would like to thank all of you for your continued support and hope that you continue to get as much joy and enlightenment from the Museum as I do. Art Exhibitions The exhibitions in the Mezzanine Gallery will be fewer than desired this year as we do not have the expertise of Caroline Simmill this year but we still have a promising line-up.

6 The season will begin when the museum opens to the public on Good Friday, 29 th March Friday 29 th March to Friday 24 th May Moray Embroiders Guild Picts and Needles. A textile exhibition by Moray Embroiders Guild, created in honour of the late Sheila McColl, previously The Museum s Archaeology Volunteer. Sheila was particularly interested in the history and archaeology of the Picts and was a keen embroiderer and member of the Guild. An opening reception is to be held by the Embroiderers Guild at 6.30pm on Friday 29 th March to which all members of the Moray Society are invited. Friday 31 st May 2013 to Friday 26 th July 2013 Hana Walls - Hana is originally from the Czech Republic but has lived in Moray for the last few years. She takes her inspiration from the world that surrounds her: the wide open skies with their ever-moving clouds, the constant ebb and flow of the sea and the stunning world of mother nature. She uses its colours, poetic scenes and moods to develop her individual art style sometimes leading her to produce contemporary, classic or abstract paintings. Hana s love of protecting the environment from unnecessary wastage further stimulates her creativity as she endeavours to create art forms on all types of different materials and re-using slate, stone and other objects which lend themselves to her unique style. Friday 2 nd August 2013 to Friday 20 th September 2013 James Byatt Images from Scotland and Abroad James Photographic Exhibition will be in aid of Parkinsons Disease and Elgin Museum. Friday 27 th September 2013 to Friday 1 st November Young People s Art Competition The above art exhibition will be organised by Diane Hannan but created by local youngsters. Two months of Tuesdays, Treasure and Trepidation by Morag Macdonald For the last few years I have been badgering Heather, the Museum Assistant to teach me how to accession items and in January 2013, she finally had time to take me through the process. The Museum Lab in Forres was to be our Tuesday destination for the next little while; there was space to spread out and a proper ventilation unit to use for drying objects. The first Tuesday we arrived at the Lab I was filled with some trepidation, will I make mistakes (yes!) will I learn how to write exceptionally small (yes!) and finally, would I enjoy it? (YES!) Heather took out the paraphernalia required; reams of acid free tissue, a small box marked accessioning materials, and most importantly, the boxes of archaeology, handed one to me and took me through the first procedure... With baited breath I took the lid off the first box and peered in, excitement leapt in my chest, these were some of the Clarkly Hill metal detecting finds, (an area I m familiar with after spending some time digging there over the last couple of

7 summers.) There were unusual Medieval brooches, which were made from solid metal rather than casting, a walking bird mount dating c1000 to early 11 th C, a fragment of an intricate openwork annular brooch made from silver wire (Heather had to accession that one, it was simply too small a fragment and sheer fear set in that I would damage such a fragile item). Fantastic Roman items, a gold finger ring, possibly adapted from a decorative mount; Norse strap-ends; a zoomorphic spur and a beautiful, small Dragonesque brooch, which almost seemed wearable today (those who know me, are aware of my fondness for old brooches!) That first day passed in a blur of B72 fixative solution, small brushes, MDA cards and the accession register and after my initial fear of breaking something dissipated, I found myself focused, in a zone, able to block out distractions whilst the hours flew by. By the 26 th February, the work had more or less come to an end, it had progressed much more quickly than we thought it would and whilst we breathed a sigh of relief, it was tinged with a hint of sadness that this day had come a bit too soon; no more wee trips tootling along on a Tuesday morning, eating Danish pastries and having a blether whilst the Falconer Friends oohed and aahed over our treasures, it was for the moment over It has been a real privilege to work with such objects of interest; they give us a glimpse into history, not just of Clarkly Hill but also of the Moray area, how people lived, what they valued and what we can learn from them. Rhinos retreat Many thanks to all who have contributed to the safe departure of the *two rhino heads, black and white, and the late-ming to mid-qing dynasty rhino horn cup (ELGNM ), to Edinburgh, including Ritchie Mabon, Davie Milne, Bill Dalgarno (ELGNM); Anne Owen, Liz Trevethick, Alistair Campbell (MORMS); Andrew Kitchener, Principal Curator of Vertebrates and colleague Jerry Herman, and Kevin McLoughlin, Principal Curator, East and Central Asia, Department of World Cultures (NMS). Why has this departure come about? There have been reports of many thefts of rhino material from museums over the past couple of years, on the Continent and in England, often involving forced entry while the building has been occupied, and the use of CS gas spray. Much as we have been reluctant to surrender iconic objects from our collection, in the face of common sense for the protection of our staff, visitors and volunteers, and specific advice from National Museums Scotland and our Museum Mentors, all rhino material has now been removed from Elgin Museum s stores and displays. Because disposal of accessioned museum objects requires the consent of the Moray Society membership, the material has been transferred as a temporary loan to NMS, and donation will be subject to a vote at the AGM. If our rhino objects become the property of NMS, they will be included in their current project, genotyping and bar coding all their rhino material. They have only 6 other black rhino heads, all East African, and one Northern white rhino. Any research results will be promulgated to our members and volunteers, and the objects would be available as future loans to us, should the criminal climate improve. Please contact Janet Trythall if you want further information about this matter.

8 To replace the rhino head that was in the Main Hall, we have received, at least as a temporary display of comparable dramatic effect, an antlered head from the Moray Museum Service store. Never displayed by them for lack of provenance, it has written on the back, from the dining room. My guess is that it could be from the old Altyre House, near Forres and a hunting trophy shot by a Gordon- Cumming. It has been identified by Andrew Kitchener, here to collect the rhinos, not as a red deer, but a wapiti, sometimes called an elk, Cervus canadensis, from North America. The crown arrangement of the tines at the distal ends of the antlers is diagnostic. Deer of the wapiti species are among the largest deer in the world, and long believed to be a subspecies of the European red deer (Cervus elaphus); evidence from a 2004 study of the mitochondrial DNA indicates that the two are distinct species. Instead of roaring, the male wapiti bugles. *ELGNM Head of white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) stuffed and mounted - shot Bahr el Ghazal, Sudan by father of donor Lt Col Stuart Menzies of Arndilly, Craigellachie in It was emptied and restuffed in 2003 for preparation for display. Old stuffing straw, newspaper (one dated 4/5/1912 re Titanic). Stephen Caine, taxidermist relined it with GRP. ELGNM Head of black rhinocerus (Diceros bicornis) stuffed and mounted - N. Rhodesia. Same donor. No other information. JT 8/3/2013 Education and Outreach March 2013 Since January 2013 to date there have been: Seven school visits to the museum, taking part in a variety of sessions including Early Man through to Victorians Eight Outreach sessions, with themes including Fossils and The Celts Currently there are: Three museum visits

9 Four Outreach sessions booked for the rest of March, with no current bookings for April as yet. This makes a total of approx 250 children so far who have taken part in sessions from the museum either as outreach or via a museum visit. All schools in the Moray area have been notified of the availability of sessions and outreach via the e-bulletin that is sent to schools on a weekly basis, this will be a good point of contact to keep schools informed of what is going on in the museum over the coming weeks and months. I have also attended one training session based around the theme of Engaging Communities held at Culloden Visitor Centre. This was a useful session with support and suggestions on running engaging community events. I will be taking an activity to the Moray Science Festival fossil handling and there is a hope that next year the museum will take a bigger role in this by staging school activity sessions along with the main festival. Di Hannan Volunteers The first training session for museum volunteers was held on Monday, 11the March when emergency procedures and new practices were explained. Each volunteer is to have a sheet recording training given, and details of training opportunities will be found in the back Volunteer Training Records folder. There are some courses on offer from MSG and also free computer courses from Moray Council. There were familiar faces as well as a new one among Monday s group and new volunteers are always welcome. Come to the second training day on Tuesday 18 th March or contact the museum. Mabel Rennie Museum Convenor s Report Museum opening: Preparations are ongoing for the opening of the Museum for this year on Friday 29 th March. The main change for the year is that we are to trial free opening to the public for Funding of 1500 each has been secured from Baxters and Walkers which will cover half of the total admission fees as in 2012 and help in kind has been promised from Johnstons and Gordon & MacPhail. The shop area has had a makeover, thanks to new volunteer, Tracy Metcalfe so it is hoped we will increase takings and the donations Teddy has been refurbished in readiness for its move to the centre of the Museum main gallery. Another change for this year is the removal of the white rhino from display as well as the black rhino from store and the rhino horn cup from the People and Place display. Because of the threat of theft, often with violence, it was decided to lend the exhibits to NMS until we decide on their long term future. The rhino is being replaced by a wapiti head (similar to a red deer but larger and Canadian) which we have been given by Moray Museum Service and which was surplus to

10 requirements in Falconer Museum. It is thought to have featured in the dining room of either Sanquar or Altyre House in Forres, both now demolished. The White Rhino, now removed to National Museums Scotland The wapiti in pride of place overlooking the museum It has been suggested that our new stag should be given a suitable name. He has, informally, been called Hugh since he came from the (Hugh) Falconer Museum but, perhaps, you could suggest something better! Answers to the Museum. A small prize may be awarded!!!

11 Buildings Much work has been done and still remains to be done in the Museum. Our major problem is the heating system which is now almost beyond repair. One boiler has had to be disconnected and the other is struggling unsuccessfully to heat the whole building. As a result temporary heaters are being used which is increasing our fuel bill greatly. We await quotes for replacement but are being hampered by the need for ventilation of new boilers and the resultant alteration required to the (listed) building. The work is likely to cost approx 10,000 and funding to cover this amount is being sought. We await advice on the grant application which was submitted to MGS to cover, among other things, shelving of the tower and the service area to release some space for rationalisation of the admin area. The MGS meeting has been postponed from 28 th Feb to 26 th March. Work has been completed in the lobby area of the Museum where the sandstone slabs on the floor had become unstable each has been lifted and fixed back into place. Collection Heather has recently been spending one day per week working in Forres Museum lab, labelling the many finds which have come into the Museum in recent times. Last week, we had a visit from Nick Fraser of NMS who spent most of a day surveying the Museum in the company of Janet Trythall and is to report on his findings with suggestions and recommendations for the future. He has concentrated his thoughts on the zoological collection and its future, the fossil collection and development of its exhibition and possible recognition of the Archaeology collection. After further discussion and analysis, we will bring forward recommendations to the Board for possible implementation. Work continues volunteers on areas of the collection. Mark is continuing his work on cataloguing the material from the archives of the Incorporated Trades and Cook is working steadily to update the catalogue of stuffed birds and, hopefully will carry on to our animal collection. Exhibitions The first exhibition of the year in the Upper Gallery is to be Picts and Needles by the Embroiderers Guild of Moray who are exhibiting a lot of work, previously unseen, by the late Sheila McColl, who was a leading member of both the Guild and of the Moray Society, as well as Pictish themed work by their members. An opening reception is to be held at 6.30pm on Friday 29 th March to which all Moray Society members are invited. Please advise the museum if you are coming along. Other exhibitions for the year are by Hana Walls and by James Byatt, followed in the month of October by a children s art exhibition to be organised in conjunction with schools by Di Hannan. At the beginning of June, we are hosting, again, the RIAS exhibition of prizewinning architecture as in the last two years. Education Outreach Congratulations are due to Di Hannan, our new Outreach worker who, as you will see from her piece, has been working very hard on school visits for the last three months. After a month of assembling materials, Di has visited a large number of schools as well as handling school visits to the museum. She has already assembled a large amount of materials which will be useful once her contract comes to an end. Website We are still struggling to get a working website and a working face book page. It is hoped that we can get both fully operational soon.

12 Bill Dalgarno Convenor of the Museum Management Committee ADVANCE NOTICE Heritage Coffee Morning Staff at the Austin s Coffee Morning, 2012 This year s Heritage Coffee Morning will be held, courtesy of Moray Bridge Centre at Austin s Tearooms on Saturday 15 th June Moray Society Prize Draw The Prize Draw has now been running for over twelve years and during that time has diverted over 12,000 into the Moray Society current account. This total includes donations submitted through the Prize Draw fund but does not take into account any further income accrued from Gift Aid generated by eligible donations. This has been of considerable benefit to our daily running expenses and continues to be so, given the huge inflationary price rises on all our utility bills. The price of the tickets remains unchanged and at present there are 93 tickets in circulation at 10 each. These are all eligible for the 12 prizes during their lifetime (1 year/4 draws with 3 prizes each). If you are not attracted by those odds then remember that you can still help the Society by purchasing one or more tickets in the sure knowledge that the only winner can be the Society itself. All income generated by the draw goes directly into Moray Society funds apart from the prize money paid to the lucky winners. Please address any questions or applications to me at the Museum (or mabritch@keme.co.uk, or tel ) Ritchie Mabon Prize Draw Co-ordinator

13 ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT March 2013 Treasure Trove The National Fund for Acquisitions and Allocation (NFA) at NMS has provided support funding of 245 to allow the Museum to acquire the five Treasure Trove lots that we bid for at the last meeting of the Scottish Archaeology Finds Acquisition Panel. This panel will meet again on 28 th March and the Museum will be bidding for five more lots. These include the 36 Roman coins found by metal detecting at Clarkly Hill before Dr Fraser Hunter began excavation there in The total estimated value of our bid is 1435 and once again we would hope that NFA will fund half this amount The Clarkly Hill Hoard Initial examination of the coins at the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) indicates that they probably came from a hoard buried somewhere on the site. This deposit had been disturbed by the plough at some in the past, as the coins were not found together as had been the case for the two hoards discovered during the Birnie dig. More Roman coins were found during the Clarkly Hill excavations in 2011 and 2012 and it is believed that these came from the same hoard. The 36 coins that we hope to acquire will require further specialist cleaning and conservation. After this a numismatist (coin expert) at NMS will be able to prepare a more comprehensive report on their various ages and history. More Clarkly Hill News Dr Fraser Hunter will be returning to dig again on Clarkly Hill this September from 1 st to 22 nd September. As usual all volunteers, skilled or unskilled are encouraged to come along and discover the joys of lying on the ground in the rain from 9:00am to 6:00pm! Only joking; the weather is often great and the enjoyment and camaraderie of sharing the tasks with your fellow diggers makes all the hard work worthwhile. And there is always the possibility that your trowel may just uncover the next magic discovery. We will not be returning to exactly the same area where the last two year s excavation took place. The opportunity has arisen to investigate a new site about 200 metres to the East. Geofizz investigations have shown very encouraging results here, so as usual expect some large trenches to be opened up. Ali MacPherson has recently brought in some interesting finds from the ploughed soil covering this new site. These will now be sent to NMS to be examined by the Treasure Trove experts, so expect more details in the near future. Storage in the cellar of 3 High Street Having more storage space in the cellar has allowed the Museum to request an excavation assemblage that will be offered at the forthcoming SAFAP meeting. This material, in nine boxes comes from the excavations by CFA in 2008 prior to the building of the A96 Bypass around Fochabers and Mosstodloch. Knowledge Exchange Event at NMS, Edinburgh The Society s Archaeological Representative will present a case study at the event on 15 th March The event will focus on museums without specialist curatorial expertise in the Archaeology. David Marquardt, Archaeology Representative

14 NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice is hereby given of the Annual General Meeting of The Moray Society to be held at 7.00pm on Friday 26th April 2013 in the Elgin Museum Hall. The following items will be on the agenda of the Meeting: 1. Consideration and approval of the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December Election of new Directors to the Board of the Society. Nominations should be sent to the Secretary, Ken Ferguson in writing GORDON BAXTER Obituaries You will already have heard of the death of Gordon Baxter who was a stalwart and generous member of the Moray Society and a wonderful friend and benefactor of the Museum. He played an active part in the refurbishment of the museum in the early 2000 s. A full obituary will appear in the next newsletter but our sympathies go out to his family at this time. DR. MORA SCOTT MBE 9/10/ /2/2012 Mora Joan Craig spent the early part of her childhood in Croydon and when her father, a banker, moved to Aberdeenshire, she went to Albyn School in Aberdeen. From Albyn School, Mora won a bursary to study medicine at Aberdeen University. By the third and fourth years of her studies she was proving to be an exceptional student and she won prizes for surgery and psychiatry, and qualified in Dr Craig was sent to Dr. Gray's Hospital in Elgin as assistant to Dr. Gordon Scott and, despite his misgivings at having a female assistant, he was soon impressed by her capabilities and her warm and caring attention to all. They were married in 1942 and while honeymooning on the west coast, Mora Scott became a fishing enthusiast. She spent many hours beside the River Spey enjoying the peace of the countryside and she fulfilled her ambition to catch a salmon when she was 90 and aged nearly 94 landed a sea trout. Dr Scott's interest in abused and neglected children began when she was a child herself and her ambition then was to be a medical missionary. Through her work as a busy and dedicated GP, Dr Scott was able to help with the work of the RSSPCC (now Children 1st) and she was one of the leading figures in the fight to bring the sexual abuse and neglect of children into the open. After Dr Scott retired in 1982, she was able to spend more time raising money for Children 1st and her tireless efforts were rewarded with an MBE in 2002, followed two years later with the Beacon Prize for Services to Children.

15 Dr Scott was always a good friend to Elgin Museum and a regular attender at the lectures and events, and she remembered us in her will. We are very grateful for several personal items that have also been donated including dresses and ball gowns, a child s pram, slave bangles and a local antique whisky flask. JMacW/JT 12/3/2013

16 Moray Embroiderer s Guild Picts and Needles A retrospective exhibition to commemorate the work of the late Sheila McColl, a leading member of Moray Embroiderer s Guild and of the Moray Society Elgin Museum Gallery Commencing Friday 29 th March 1 High Street, Elgin, Moray, IV30 1EQ Tel: curator@elginmuseum.org.uk ELGIN MUSEUM Scotland s oldest independent Museum Established The Moray Society: Company No Charity No

17