Let me begin by saying that July 14 was spent traveling by bus from London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland. We also had an afternoon to orient ourselves with Dalkeith where we were staying outside of Edinburgh.
Dalkeith House is this huge manor we stayed in. It sits on 800 acres of land we were allowed to explore. So many discoveries were to be had. A group of us went searching through the house one evening and discovered a couple of game rooms and a tv room in the basement. Kind of creepy at night. Out on the property we found an Orangery (a conservatory), an old overgrown amphitheater, a fading meditation maze, a cave, a tunnel, and the Hairy Coo. The Hairy Coo is a large hairy Highand Cow.
Today we were on our own to explore the National Library of Scotland. They had two very interesting exhibitions. There was a large exhibit on Livingstone and then a smaller exhibit about John Murray. I was actually hoping to see more of the library.
The National Archives of Scotland was a different story. This building opened in the late 1780s. It was specifically built to hold the registers of Scotland. The National Archives has recently merged with the General Records Office of Scotland and is now known as the NRS or National Records of Scotland. The NRS is like a portal to many areas of interest. This in particular with the website http://www.nrscotland.gov.UK. The National Archives holds more than 72 km of records. These include a wide range of historical records such as state and parliamentary papers, registers of deeds and sasines, church records, wills and testaments, valuation rolls, family and estate papers, old parish registers, registers of births, marriages, and deaths, courts legal records, malls and plans, and much more.
Digitization is an ongoing process for most libraries. The Archives was no different. They only have about 50% of their collection digitized. When they digitize a project, they use cameras and scanners. The books range in all sizes. They tend to do a lot of legal work. They move very quickly.We were able to view various documents. There were maps, and letters, digitized music scores, local newspapers, health records and even prison records with early photographs of the inmates. There were even several church records to view. One of my favorite documents was a letter with cross writing. This was a letter from a soldier to his wife. He wrote down the paper and then turned the paper sideways and continued writing to save paper.
Later that afternoon, after the libraries, I went on a fun and exciting Scotch Whiskey Experience with some friends. I learned a lot about the differences of the 4 types of scotch. I tried a highland single malt scotch. It was pretty darn good.
That is all for now...
Digitization is an ongoing process for most libraries. The Archives was no different. They only have about 50% of their collection digitized. When they digitize a project, they use cameras and scanners. The books range in all sizes. They tend to do a lot of legal work. They move very quickly.We were able to view various documents. There were maps, and letters, digitized music scores, local newspapers, health records and even prison records with early photographs of the inmates. There were even several church records to view. One of my favorite documents was a letter with cross writing. This was a letter from a soldier to his wife. He wrote down the paper and then turned the paper sideways and continued writing to save paper.
Later that afternoon, after the libraries, I went on a fun and exciting Scotch Whiskey Experience with some friends. I learned a lot about the differences of the 4 types of scotch. I tried a highland single malt scotch. It was pretty darn good.
That is all for now...
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