Introduction‘…it was not thought consistent with political wisdom, to draw the attention of the S... more Introduction‘…it was not thought consistent with political wisdom, to draw the attention of the Scots to the ancient honours of their independent monarchy’ (on the proposal in 1780 to found a Society of Antiquaries for Scotland)Archueologia Scoficu 1 (1792): ivFrom the Parliamentary Union with England of 1707 until the establishment of the new devolved parliament (although still within the Union) in Edinburgh in 1999 under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, Scotland was a nation with a ‘capital’ and its own legal system; neither a colony nor sovereign: an active participant in rather than a victim of 19th-century imperialism (Davidson 2000). Since the Union the writing of the history of Britain has been a more or less political process (Ash 1980: 34), the viewpoint of the historian depending on the individual’s position on the meaning and consequences of the Union and on the process of securing the creation of ‘North Britain’ and ‘South Britain’ — ‘the wider experiment to construct a new genuine British identity which would be formed from the two nations of Scotland and England’ [Finlay 1998). A small country sharing a small island with a world power will never have a quiet life (as Pierre Trudeau described Canada’s relationship with the USA — ‘being in bed with an elephant’).
On 24 March 2013, the Mail on Sunday, in its print-only Scottish edition, published a story that ... more On 24 March 2013, the Mail on Sunday, in its print-only Scottish edition, published a story that changed the direction of my life.1 This article records my own encounter with ‘fake news’ in the ten years between then and March 2023. The newspaper article set loose a factoid which has since been deployed and elaborated upon in the online debate about Scottish independence. ‘Factoid’ was coined by Norman Mailer and defined as ‘facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper’.2 This particular factoid, in summary, is the accusation that in 1940 General Ironside, Churchill, ‘Westminster’, or ‘the English’ planned to abandon Scotland in the face of a Nazi invasion, or to use the country as some sort of bargaining chip to protect England.
The 51st (Highland) Division surrendered to the Germans on 12 June 1940. The force lost at St Val... more The 51st (Highland) Division surrendered to the Germans on 12 June 1940. The force lost at St Valery was made up not only of Scots, but also English, Welsh, French and French Colonial troops. But in recent decades the division's loss has been recast as a story of solely Scottish loss, deployed in narratives of grievance and victimhood. We contrast the mythology with the historical reality, in the context of the distribution of 'fake history' in the service of nationalist politics (English 2021). This paper considers three aspects of the events of 1940: 1. The creation, development and use of the mythology. 'Scottish' was the force lost at St Valery? 3. The actual events of May-June 1940. We do this by drawing together existing and new scholarship, including more from French perspectives than is common, to summarise knowledge in an accessible form for a wider audience.
Three sites were excavated: a class II henge, a massive round barrow and a pair of ring-ditches. ... more Three sites were excavated: a class II henge, a massive round barrow and a pair of ring-ditches. Five periods of activity were noted on the henge site: I - pre henge-bank activity, including one burial; II - the class II henge, a ditch with an external bank enclosing a timber ring (late third millennium BC); III - burial and ritual/domestic activity, the former associated with food vessels, cinerary urns and a beaker, the latter with beaker material (second millennium BC); IV - in situ cremation and burial (late second/early first millennium BC); V-long grave cemetery (mid/late first millennium AD). A second timber ring, three burials and a number of pits could not be securely related to this sequence. One of the Period III food vessels had contained a cereal-based material.The barrow covered a substantial area of old land surface (Period II) exhibiting probable cultivation traces which in turn sealed small pits (Period I). The construction of the barrow (Period III) was undertaken ...
The first article to challenge the factoid that 'Churchill planned to abandon Scotland in 1940'. ... more The first article to challenge the factoid that 'Churchill planned to abandon Scotland in 1940'. Subsequently superseded by two other articles on this subject.
income tax. Surprisingly, it was not until 1921 at the fort of Segonium in Caenarfon that she was... more income tax. Surprisingly, it was not until 1921 at the fort of Segonium in Caenarfon that she was first exposed to archaeology, Rik by then having been appointed to the significant post of Keeper of Archaeology at the National Museum of Wales. In 1924 he was appointed Director and his wife played an increasingly prominent role in site-recording, as well as helping the career of another outstanding archaeologist, J N L Myres. She became the first woman president of the archaeological section of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society, and began lecturing in Cardiff. With Rik now appointed Keeper of the London Museum, his wife forged her independence at the Roman fort of Caerleon, where she excavated the amphitheatre. Verney Wheeler was noticed, as a lecturer and, not least by the media of the day, as a woman who wore skirt suits to dig, in contrast to her students’ youthful and informal attire. Running the London Museum with her husband, she maintained a separate office. She became involved with the British School in Egypt, published for the first time and, in 1928, was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Carr’s timeline of her subject’s life and work is indicative as she discusses ‘the Wheelers’ as excavators and co-publishers. They became media personalities: ‘Tessa ... with great reluctance, Rik with great enthusiasm’. They both understood the power of the press in raising awareness of archaeology and encouraging funding. Rik was the larger-thanlife personality, a favourite on Animal, Vegetable and Mineral, and the subject of a biography by another pioneering woman archaeologist, Jacquetta Hawkes. Although the detailed case is well made for Verney Wheeler as an individual whose contribution to archaeology has to date been significantly overlooked, the book is also about a pair of archaeologists. But the argument is that she was more than the woman behind the successful man. She was not only a noted specialist in fine and delicate Roman mosaics, a skill honed at Verulamium, she was not averse to the dirty grunt work involved in investigating them. As Carr notes: ‘She explored the terracotta plumbing system by crawling through the tunnels herself, before beginning the work of consolidation; she may have been the only person present small enough to fit and old enough to do so legally.’ Wheeler was well known for his philanderings, perhaps thereby attracting the media’s notice and breathless descriptions of the female species on site, ‘GIRL EXCAVATORS’ being one headline. Carr convincingly argues that Verney Wheeler was more than a woman wronged. Although the biography may be described as essentially the love story of Rik and Tessa, their relationship was more finely balanced than Rik’s flamboyant persona might lead those who have not studied Tessa’s life to believe. His wife’s unexpected death after minor surgery affected Rik greatly, and moved at least one anonymous admirer to poetry. That her demise occurred during the excavation of Maiden Castle is poetic and tragic in itself, given her important role among the ‘maidens’ of archaeology. Her ‘energy’ and ‘enthusiasm’ in the foundation of the London Institute of Archaeology is recorded on a fine marble plaque there.
This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as... more This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as a response to an earlier paper of ours (Barclay and Brophy 2020). But, like our earlier paper, this one has a wider remit. We had explored the presentation of the supposedly 'national' 'unifying' role of monuments in a geographically restricted sector of south-western England – what we called the '"British" late Neolithic mythos'. Madgwick and his collaborators' response fails to address the key points raised in our paper and, in doing so, in our view, provides further evidence of both methodological nationalism and conceptual conservatism in continuing to present a prehistory written around and prioritising evidence gathered in this restricted area. It does this apparently without any recognition that that research is being carried on within a problematic theoretical framework.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The removal of the backlog of unpublished excavations funded or encouraged by Historic Scotland o... more The removal of the backlog of unpublished excavations funded or encouraged by Historic Scotland over the last two decades has been managed within the normal rescue archaeology programme. Sympathetic help has been offered to the directors of these excavations, and the potential problem of a ‘logjam’ in publication will be overcome.
This book describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final tradi... more This book describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final traditional defensive capabilities were abandoned. The authors combine archival sources with new fieldwork and oral histories to not only describe what was built, but when and why. This meticulously researched, richly illustrated volume relates the defences in the Forth to the wider political and military context and also describes the human side of the defences: the men and women who manned the fortress. This is a fascinating resource for those interested in Scottish military and naval history, and conflict and battlefield archaeology.
The Cowie stop line, running west from the town of Stonehaven, the county town of the historical ... more The Cowie stop line, running west from the town of Stonehaven, the county town of the historical county of Kincardineshire, some 19km south of Aberdeen, has been recognized for some time as a well-preserved example of a Second World War anti-tank obstacle, but has not hitherto been described in detail. Its purpose was to stop any German force landing in the north-east penetrating into Angus and further south. To work effectively the line was extended to the west, by defences at the Bridge of Dye (on the Strachan-Fettercairn road) and the Devil's Elbow (on the Braemar-Blairgowrie road) and planned demolitions on the Inverness-Perth road and railway. It originally comprised a dozen pillboxes,' over 5km of anti-tank barrier, eight small and one large groups of anti-tank cubes 2 and other defensive features. This paper outlines the strategic background, how the Cowie Line fitted into it, how the Line was constructed, and how its intended function changed over time. The results o...
Introduction‘…it was not thought consistent with political wisdom, to draw the attention of the S... more Introduction‘…it was not thought consistent with political wisdom, to draw the attention of the Scots to the ancient honours of their independent monarchy’ (on the proposal in 1780 to found a Society of Antiquaries for Scotland)Archueologia Scoficu 1 (1792): ivFrom the Parliamentary Union with England of 1707 until the establishment of the new devolved parliament (although still within the Union) in Edinburgh in 1999 under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, Scotland was a nation with a ‘capital’ and its own legal system; neither a colony nor sovereign: an active participant in rather than a victim of 19th-century imperialism (Davidson 2000). Since the Union the writing of the history of Britain has been a more or less political process (Ash 1980: 34), the viewpoint of the historian depending on the individual’s position on the meaning and consequences of the Union and on the process of securing the creation of ‘North Britain’ and ‘South Britain’ — ‘the wider experiment to construct a new genuine British identity which would be formed from the two nations of Scotland and England’ [Finlay 1998). A small country sharing a small island with a world power will never have a quiet life (as Pierre Trudeau described Canada’s relationship with the USA — ‘being in bed with an elephant’).
On 24 March 2013, the Mail on Sunday, in its print-only Scottish edition, published a story that ... more On 24 March 2013, the Mail on Sunday, in its print-only Scottish edition, published a story that changed the direction of my life.1 This article records my own encounter with ‘fake news’ in the ten years between then and March 2023. The newspaper article set loose a factoid which has since been deployed and elaborated upon in the online debate about Scottish independence. ‘Factoid’ was coined by Norman Mailer and defined as ‘facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper’.2 This particular factoid, in summary, is the accusation that in 1940 General Ironside, Churchill, ‘Westminster’, or ‘the English’ planned to abandon Scotland in the face of a Nazi invasion, or to use the country as some sort of bargaining chip to protect England.
The 51st (Highland) Division surrendered to the Germans on 12 June 1940. The force lost at St Val... more The 51st (Highland) Division surrendered to the Germans on 12 June 1940. The force lost at St Valery was made up not only of Scots, but also English, Welsh, French and French Colonial troops. But in recent decades the division's loss has been recast as a story of solely Scottish loss, deployed in narratives of grievance and victimhood. We contrast the mythology with the historical reality, in the context of the distribution of 'fake history' in the service of nationalist politics (English 2021). This paper considers three aspects of the events of 1940: 1. The creation, development and use of the mythology. 'Scottish' was the force lost at St Valery? 3. The actual events of May-June 1940. We do this by drawing together existing and new scholarship, including more from French perspectives than is common, to summarise knowledge in an accessible form for a wider audience.
Three sites were excavated: a class II henge, a massive round barrow and a pair of ring-ditches. ... more Three sites were excavated: a class II henge, a massive round barrow and a pair of ring-ditches. Five periods of activity were noted on the henge site: I - pre henge-bank activity, including one burial; II - the class II henge, a ditch with an external bank enclosing a timber ring (late third millennium BC); III - burial and ritual/domestic activity, the former associated with food vessels, cinerary urns and a beaker, the latter with beaker material (second millennium BC); IV - in situ cremation and burial (late second/early first millennium BC); V-long grave cemetery (mid/late first millennium AD). A second timber ring, three burials and a number of pits could not be securely related to this sequence. One of the Period III food vessels had contained a cereal-based material.The barrow covered a substantial area of old land surface (Period II) exhibiting probable cultivation traces which in turn sealed small pits (Period I). The construction of the barrow (Period III) was undertaken ...
The first article to challenge the factoid that 'Churchill planned to abandon Scotland in 1940'. ... more The first article to challenge the factoid that 'Churchill planned to abandon Scotland in 1940'. Subsequently superseded by two other articles on this subject.
income tax. Surprisingly, it was not until 1921 at the fort of Segonium in Caenarfon that she was... more income tax. Surprisingly, it was not until 1921 at the fort of Segonium in Caenarfon that she was first exposed to archaeology, Rik by then having been appointed to the significant post of Keeper of Archaeology at the National Museum of Wales. In 1924 he was appointed Director and his wife played an increasingly prominent role in site-recording, as well as helping the career of another outstanding archaeologist, J N L Myres. She became the first woman president of the archaeological section of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society, and began lecturing in Cardiff. With Rik now appointed Keeper of the London Museum, his wife forged her independence at the Roman fort of Caerleon, where she excavated the amphitheatre. Verney Wheeler was noticed, as a lecturer and, not least by the media of the day, as a woman who wore skirt suits to dig, in contrast to her students’ youthful and informal attire. Running the London Museum with her husband, she maintained a separate office. She became involved with the British School in Egypt, published for the first time and, in 1928, was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Carr’s timeline of her subject’s life and work is indicative as she discusses ‘the Wheelers’ as excavators and co-publishers. They became media personalities: ‘Tessa ... with great reluctance, Rik with great enthusiasm’. They both understood the power of the press in raising awareness of archaeology and encouraging funding. Rik was the larger-thanlife personality, a favourite on Animal, Vegetable and Mineral, and the subject of a biography by another pioneering woman archaeologist, Jacquetta Hawkes. Although the detailed case is well made for Verney Wheeler as an individual whose contribution to archaeology has to date been significantly overlooked, the book is also about a pair of archaeologists. But the argument is that she was more than the woman behind the successful man. She was not only a noted specialist in fine and delicate Roman mosaics, a skill honed at Verulamium, she was not averse to the dirty grunt work involved in investigating them. As Carr notes: ‘She explored the terracotta plumbing system by crawling through the tunnels herself, before beginning the work of consolidation; she may have been the only person present small enough to fit and old enough to do so legally.’ Wheeler was well known for his philanderings, perhaps thereby attracting the media’s notice and breathless descriptions of the female species on site, ‘GIRL EXCAVATORS’ being one headline. Carr convincingly argues that Verney Wheeler was more than a woman wronged. Although the biography may be described as essentially the love story of Rik and Tessa, their relationship was more finely balanced than Rik’s flamboyant persona might lead those who have not studied Tessa’s life to believe. His wife’s unexpected death after minor surgery affected Rik greatly, and moved at least one anonymous admirer to poetry. That her demise occurred during the excavation of Maiden Castle is poetic and tragic in itself, given her important role among the ‘maidens’ of archaeology. Her ‘energy’ and ‘enthusiasm’ in the foundation of the London Institute of Archaeology is recorded on a fine marble plaque there.
This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as... more This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as a response to an earlier paper of ours (Barclay and Brophy 2020). But, like our earlier paper, this one has a wider remit. We had explored the presentation of the supposedly 'national' 'unifying' role of monuments in a geographically restricted sector of south-western England – what we called the '"British" late Neolithic mythos'. Madgwick and his collaborators' response fails to address the key points raised in our paper and, in doing so, in our view, provides further evidence of both methodological nationalism and conceptual conservatism in continuing to present a prehistory written around and prioritising evidence gathered in this restricted area. It does this apparently without any recognition that that research is being carried on within a problematic theoretical framework.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The removal of the backlog of unpublished excavations funded or encouraged by Historic Scotland o... more The removal of the backlog of unpublished excavations funded or encouraged by Historic Scotland over the last two decades has been managed within the normal rescue archaeology programme. Sympathetic help has been offered to the directors of these excavations, and the potential problem of a ‘logjam’ in publication will be overcome.
This book describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final tradi... more This book describes the story of the great Forth Fortress from 1880 to 1977, when the final traditional defensive capabilities were abandoned. The authors combine archival sources with new fieldwork and oral histories to not only describe what was built, but when and why. This meticulously researched, richly illustrated volume relates the defences in the Forth to the wider political and military context and also describes the human side of the defences: the men and women who manned the fortress. This is a fascinating resource for those interested in Scottish military and naval history, and conflict and battlefield archaeology.
The Cowie stop line, running west from the town of Stonehaven, the county town of the historical ... more The Cowie stop line, running west from the town of Stonehaven, the county town of the historical county of Kincardineshire, some 19km south of Aberdeen, has been recognized for some time as a well-preserved example of a Second World War anti-tank obstacle, but has not hitherto been described in detail. Its purpose was to stop any German force landing in the north-east penetrating into Angus and further south. To work effectively the line was extended to the west, by defences at the Bridge of Dye (on the Strachan-Fettercairn road) and the Devil's Elbow (on the Braemar-Blairgowrie road) and planned demolitions on the Inverness-Perth road and railway. It originally comprised a dozen pillboxes,' over 5km of anti-tank barrier, eight small and one large groups of anti-tank cubes 2 and other defensive features. This paper outlines the strategic background, how the Cowie Line fitted into it, how the Line was constructed, and how its intended function changed over time. The results o...
The 'omphalos of Britain': iconic sites and landscapes, methodological nationalism and conceptual conservatism in the writing of 'British' prehistory. A reply to Madgwick and collaborators 2021, 2021
This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as... more This paper in part responds to an article (Madgwick et al 2021) which in turn presented itself as a response to an earlier paper of ours (Barclay and Brophy 2020). But, like our earlier paper, this one has a wider remit. We had explored the presentation of the supposedly ‘national’ ‘unifying’ role of monuments in a geographically restricted sector of south-western England – what we called the ‘“British” late Neolithic mythos’. Madgwick and his collaborators’ response fails to address the key points raised in our paper and, in doing so, in our view, provides further evidence of both methodological nationalism and conceptual conservatism in continuing to present a prehistory written around and prioritising evidence gathered in this restricted area. It does this apparently without any recognition that that research is being carried on within a problematic theoretical framework.
Publisher Birlinn, 2013
"Between May 1940 and the summer of 1941 the British people expected a G... more Publisher Birlinn, 2013
"Between May 1940 and the summer of 1941 the British people expected a German invasion that, had it succeeded, would have enslaved them into the Nazis’ racist war. This period saw an unparalleled effort to prepare the defence of the UK against invasion. Scotland’s nationally important heavy industries, vital Royal Navy bases, and one of the UK’s key portswere very vulnerable to the sort of airborne attack that had devastated the defences of Belgium. Everyone was certain that a Fifth Column of Nazi sympathisers and agents was working actively to spread rumours and despair, and to aid the invasion forces, and in reality the country was far from united.
"Although the 1939–45 War is the most written-about war in history there is no account of the heroic efforts made in those months to prepare Scotland for the inevitable invasion, and how the defences were intended to be used. This book tells that story, against the wider history of the period and its people, and describes what was built, and what now survives."
Co-author Gordon Maxwell. Report on survey and excavation of the Cleaven Dyke, a Neolithic bank b... more Co-author Gordon Maxwell. Report on survey and excavation of the Cleaven Dyke, a Neolithic bank barrow/cursus, and the Littleour timber enclosure, in Perth & Kinross. Also sets these monuments in their wider context. Many specialist contributors on artefacts and palaeo-environment.
[This version contains corrections and additions up to December 2018, including material that cou... more [This version contains corrections and additions up to December 2018, including material that could not be incorporated at proof stage into the Scottish Affairs (Vol. 28.1 (2019) )version. Notably, the first appearance of the 'English troops' myth has now been put back to 1957.]
The 'Battle of George Square', 31 January 1919, is perhaps the most mythologised event in 20th-century Scottish history. A demonstration in support of the 40-hours strike descended into a violent riot and the Sheriff of Lanarkshire read the Riot Act and called in military aid, which he had already made sure would be available. Ten thousand, mainly Scottish, troops arrived that night in a city that was already returning to peace, followed three days later by six tanks. A largely mythological version of events has dominated Scottish popular history during the last century and the mythology has more recently developed beyond a narrative of 'capitalist oppression' to include one of 'English oppression', the deployment of 'English troops', by an 'English government', 'sent by Churchill'. This paper attempts to document the formation of the different elements of the mythology (while briefly explain why they are myths), how they have developed and been used in popular history and more recently, in political discourse on social media.
On 31 January 1919 a demonstration in Glasgow in support of an unofficial strike for a 40-hour wo... more On 31 January 1919 a demonstration in Glasgow in support of an unofficial strike for a 40-hour working week descended into violence and looting, the 'Battle of George Square', probably set off by an ill-judged police baton charge. Troops called by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire began to arrive late that evening, and six tanks appeared on the following Monday. The 'Battle' and the subsequent military deployment has entered the mythology of Scottish socialism¸and more recently, of Scottish nationalism. The strike had an overtly political aim: to force the Government to step in to regulate industry. That it had a more profoundly political, or even revolutionary, aim was believed by many in government. No detailed account of the troop deployment has yet been written, and in this gap mythology has flourished. This paper is intended to fill that gap. 'for a soldier there is no more distasteful duty than that of aiding the Civil Power'. 1 Introduction The story of 'Red Clydeside' has been a key part of the identity narrative of many on the left in the west of Scotland. The established picture was of a 'heroic episode of labour struggle' in which a potential for revolution was never fulfilled and it was only in the 1960s that a scholarly reappraisal began, spurred on by the release of the relevant government documents. 2 The 'revisionists', led by Iain Mclean, proposed a view in which industrial unrest was driven less by socialist ideology than by material concerns. Academic historians have since chewed over the detail of the social-, political-and labour-history of 'Red Clydeside', but one aspect of the period has not received much attention: there has been no evidence-based account of the legal, constitutional and administrative framework within which around 10,000 soldiers and six tanks suddenly appeared in the second-largest city of the Empire, over a weekend.
Uploads
Papers by Gordon Barclay
"Between May 1940 and the summer of 1941 the British people expected a German invasion that, had it succeeded, would have enslaved them into the Nazis’ racist war. This period saw an unparalleled effort to prepare the defence of the UK against invasion. Scotland’s nationally important heavy industries, vital Royal Navy bases, and one of the UK’s key portswere very vulnerable to the sort of airborne attack that had devastated the defences of Belgium. Everyone was certain that a Fifth Column of Nazi sympathisers and agents was working actively to spread rumours and despair, and to aid the invasion forces, and in reality the country was far from united.
"Although the 1939–45 War is the most written-about war in history there is no account of the heroic efforts made in those months to prepare Scotland for the inevitable invasion, and how the defences were intended to be used. This book tells that story, against the wider history of the period and its people, and describes what was built, and what now survives."
The 'Battle of George Square', 31 January 1919, is perhaps the most mythologised event in 20th-century Scottish history. A demonstration in support of the 40-hours strike descended into a violent riot and the Sheriff of Lanarkshire read the Riot Act and called in military aid, which he had already made sure would be available. Ten thousand, mainly Scottish, troops arrived that night in a city that was already returning to peace, followed three days later by six tanks. A largely mythological version of events has dominated Scottish popular history during the last century and the mythology has more recently developed beyond a narrative of 'capitalist oppression' to include one of 'English oppression', the deployment of 'English troops', by an 'English government', 'sent by Churchill'. This paper attempts to document the formation of the different elements of the mythology (while briefly explain why they are myths), how they have developed and been used in popular history and more recently, in political discourse on social media.
https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/jshs.2018.0248