Category Archives: DDS

The Dorothy Dunnett Society – formerly called the Dorothy Dunnett Readers’ Association

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The 5th-7th April saw the Annual Dorothy Dunnett Society AGM Weekend. Slightly earlier than usual, the weather in the week preceding it was dreadful with sea mist and rain, but fortunately it dried up just in time.

Friday evening was our now usual dinner at the Sheraton Hotel where everyone gathered together – many old friends but also a number of new ones. As usual there were a number of overseas visitors amongst the delegates, from France, Germany and Canada and this time there was even one who’d made the trip from India! Dedication indeed. Unfortunately one of the German members, old friend Heike Meyer, had a nightmare journey due to the Lufthansa strike and didn’t arrive until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning at the Royal Overseas League had a Richard III theme to it with two talks. One was on the discovery of Richard’s bones under a car park in Leicester and was given by Philippa Langley who was instrumental in getting the search taken and the archaeological dig funded and completed. The second was on the science of Craniofacial Identification by Prof Caroline Wilkinson from Dundee University. They were amongst the most interesting and best presented talks we’ve had and were much enjoyed by everyone.

For the post-lunch slot it was my turn, and I followed up my talk on Marthe a couple of years ago with one on Jerott Blyth. I’ll be posting an adaptation of it here shortly. Later in the afternoon we had a talk from Natalie Lussey – the winner of this years Dunnett History Prize who discussed her winning essay on Artisans, Printers and Traders in Renaissance Venice.

The AGM followed and then in the evening we had the usual Gala Dinner, finishing with the 2nd year of our new tradition of members giving four readings from Dorothy’s work.

Sunday’s bus trip was this year to Dundee, where a number of options were available including a tour of the Verdant Works Jute museum. Captain Scott’s ship Discovery, and the McManus Gallery and Museum. If the much-improved weather in Edinburgh was any guide they will have had a good sunny day for the various excursions.

Safe journey home to everyone and we look forward to seeing you all again.

 

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The AGM weekend will be just coming to an end, and hopefully everyone has had a good day at Stirling Castle as the heavy rains of Friday and part of Saturday thankfully made way for a bit of sun.

I very nearly didn’t make the weekend at all. Away at a wedding last weekend I picked up a virus and spent the week in bed – worried that I wouldn’t be able to give my scheduled talk on Marthe on Saturday morning. As it turned out I made it, but it was a very close run thing and I had to skip the Friday night opening meal to ensure I was sufficiently recovered for the Saturday.

The first two Saturday speakers gave us talks on the archaeological work that’s been done at Stirling Castle – useful preparation for the Sunday excursion – and then after a short coffee break it was my turn. Fortunately my voice held up sufficiently to get through it and I was happy to hear plenty of good feedback. It remains to be seen whether I converted anyone to my point of view since most people seemed to start with fairly negative views of Marthe, though a couple did say they would be reconsidering their opinions on their next read. I’ll be posting the text of my talk here soon so you can all judge for yourselves.

The afternoon talk was by Dr Jennifer Scarce on Ottoman Dress and how it was used to differentiate the various levels of society. Shortly before the end I found the effects of the virus catching up on me and headed for home for a couple of hours of much-needed sleep so I could return for the evening meal, and only just woke up in time to make it back. An excellent meal and stimulating conversation, along with a short talk by Judith Wilt and presentations to Simon Hedges and Olive Millward brought the day to a satisfying close; well a least once Ann McMillan, Simon and I had indulged in our now-traditional discussion on politics in the bar afterwards. 😉

Simon and Olive

I must say a few words about these two stalwarts of the society. Olive, having organised many AGMs previously, responded to the call and stepped in again this year with her usual efficiency and flair. She’s even managed to sort out next year by persuading Kathy Lewis into taking on the job.

Simon was stepping down as Chairman after a very successful tenure. A long standing committee member he had previously been Secretary, always a difficult job in any organisation, before following me when I decided to step down due to insufficient time. During his chairmanship the society has moved forward substantially and, while all the committee members deserve credit, much of that is due to his stewardship. How he’s managed to combine it with the very complex organisation of the Dunnett Siege of Istanbul which is due to occur later this year I don’t know, (Olive is of course involved there too) but it’s been an astonishing effort and he will certainly be missed. All our thanks are due to them both for many years of sterling work.

The last few months have been so busy for me that I was horrified to realise during the dinner that I hadn’t contributed to Simon’s book of thanks, so I hope he’ll accept this as my way of saying thanks for all his work for the cause of Dunnettry.

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This year has seen one of the best Springs we’ve had in Edinburgh for many years – it arrived early, stayed largely clear and bright, and the blossom has stayed on the trees for longer than I can remember for many a long year. So it was that delegates to the DDRA AGM had a warm sunny day to view the castle from the Royal Overseas League through a haze of pink blossom. (They also got a traffic noise free environment since Princes St is completely dug up for tramline laying but it kinda spoilt the view).

Numbers were down this year – partly due to the economic climate no doubt, and probably partly due to the overseas contingent being much reduced in anticipation of next year’s Le Spit gathering in Paris. However we still managed a healthy enough number.

After the AGM itself we had a talk from Prof. David Bradley, entitled “The Open Sea, with some Charts”, on the history of maritime exploration which included ship design, maps, and navigation as well as some of the personalities involved. He took particular care to mention Richard Chancellor. This was clearly a broad subject which could be studied for a lifetime and time was limited, but Prof. Bradley did extremely well to get through an illuminating session conveying a wealth of information.

After a fine lunch we had what for me was the highlight of the day – “Weaponry and Arms of the 16th Century” by Hugh Robertson, a demonstration of 16th century weapons, swordsmanship and fighting techniques. However this was far from a dry demonstration – rather it was a humorous, engaging, and sometimes knockabout session which educated while being immensely enjoyable. Would that we had had a higher ceiling so that Hugh (dressed as a gentleman) and his assistant (dressed as a soldier) had more freedom to swing their weapons without hindrance. With examples of many different swords, pikes, and pieces of armour on show – which we were able to handle while peppering the two men with questions afterwards – it was an ideal way to get a feel for the sort of warfare which our characters would have been engaged in. My thanks to them both and I do hope we’ll be able to invite them back at some stage.

With fewer delegates we were able to use the round tables for the evening dinner rather than the long lines of tables, which made for a more spacious and convivial experience. No formal speeches this time but the evening was again enlivened by Anne Buchanan’s readings of poems by William Topaz McGonagall.

Chairmanship

After considerable thought over many months I had decided to step down from both the chairmanship and the membership administrator role that I’ve held for some years now, and I did so at the AGM. There are various reasons for this but the primary one is sheer lack of time due to increasingly complex personal, family and business developments. In hindsight I should have relinquished the membership role when I took on the chairmanship and I feel that I have not had anything like enough time to devote to steering the association’s development. Since time is likely to be in even shorter supply this year I feel that it is right to hand on to someone else. It was an emotional decision and not one taken lightly, as I never like to leave a job unfinished. However as a notorious perfectionist I also can’t face doing a job less than well.

I have also long wanted to redevelop the Dunnett website which, apart from this blog, has had little attention in the last few years. I need to take a step back from organisation for a while but I hope that after a few months break while I concentrate on business I’ll be able to devote some time to bringing the site, which I’ve always regarded as Dorothy’s as much as mine, back up to an appropriate level.

I had originally planned to step down completely but with two members retiring and only one joining I have been prevailed upon to remain on the committee for another year as a general member without specific remit other than to offer my experience and knowledge where required. Olive Millward will be taking over the membership administration as soon as we can successfully convert the database. At the short committee meeting following the AGM Simon Hedges was elected chairman and I leave matters in his capable hands. I would say that all the roles in the committee take considerable time and expertise that in most organisations would require professional input. That we have had a series of committee members of the last few years who have sacrificed large parts of their personal lives to the cause says a great deal about their integrity and commitment.

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Spring arrived only just in time. A week earlier we’d still had a dusting of snow on the Pentland Hills and there was a biting cold wind even on the opening Friday evening – it wasn’t only our American visitors who were well wrapped up! Fortunately the sun appeared on Saturday and Sunday with rather warmer conditions, though it was back to cold again on Monday.

At the beginning of the week I’d been happy to escape the last minute preparations and welcome Mickey and Jerry Thies who had come over for a holiday to lead up to the weekend. I fear it was too cold for Jerry to get much golf in but I hear they managed a tour to Loch Ness amongst others. It was good to see them again after a few years gap.

For the committee the weekend really got under way with a four hour meeting on the Friday afternoon, though work commitments meant I missed the first hour and a half.

For the members the weekend started with a drink and an excellent buffet meal in the Sheraton Hotel. Numbers were up on previous years so this was a chance to get to know new people as well as greet old friends. I was sitting with two new members, Jayne and Alison, both of whom I’d had correspondence with, so it was good to be able to put faces to names and find things in common to chat about. Later I was able to enjoy a drink with Olive Depont and husband Kell who I hadn’t seen for a few years, and discuss Scottish History and Whisky.

Saturday meant an early start for the committee to get everything ready for the day’s events. I took along the portrait of Dorothy by Emilio Coia to show to the members and watch over the proceedings. Hurried consultations on running order and then it was time to make the opening address followed by the Chairman’s report and Membership report. Fortunately I’m pretty used to public speaking but so much talking certainly dries the throat.

AGMs are unpredictable events; sometimes they’re over in minutes and no-one wants to say anything, other times everyone wants to speak and the points made are expanded on and debated at length. That is the way of things and you cannot tamper with it. On this occasion discussion was plentiful and we overran our estimated time by over an hour, necessitating a rearrangement of lunch and a recess and later return to the AGM proceedings.

Prior to lunch we had Betty Moxon’s illuminating talk and slide-show on the trip she and others took to Timbuktu. I have little doubt that this kindled some feelings of wanderlust amongst many of her audience as she showed an obvious love of the country and its people along with some excellent photographs. Betty’s fellow traveller Jonquil finished off with a demonstration of turban wrapping Mali style.

Timbuktu was one of the very few places that Dorothy didn’t visit in her research – at the time she wanted to go there a war was taking place and the Foreign Office advised against it. She once told me that she regretted not going anyway. Such was her dedication to getting everything right.

Lunch, with views of Edinburgh Castle and the daffodills on the banks leading up to the Esplanade now bathed in sunshine, was followed by a talk from an old friend of the association, Doreen Grove of Historic Scotland, on the history and architecture of Rowallan Castle. Doreen always speaks with enthusiam as well as expertise and this was no exception.  She was followed by a colleague at Historic Scotland, the multi-talented Vajira Premadasa, who played us some delightful lute music – much of it from music books from the castle itself. I could happily have listened to much more of this and it gave us all an insight into the sort of music that Lymond and Philippa might have played.

After the resumption and finish of the AGM we all went off to prepare for the evening dinner. An excellent meal was followed by an address from our Honorary member and dear friend Charles Burnett, who had shown an unexpected talent as a prize draw announcer earlier in the day! As always he spoke well and finished up with a toast to Dorothy’s memory.

A well-deserved presentation was then made to Olive Millward who has been organising the AGM weekend for the last four years. She later showed the present to everyone – a lovely necklace made of red Murano glass.

The final part of a happy evening was a perfectly phrased recitation of epic poet and tragedian William McGonagle’s Tay Bridge Disaster by Ann Buchanan. I foresee this being a regular favourite at future events!

I didn’t go on the Sunday trip to Dirleton and Tantallon as the demand for places was so high this year that I didn’t want to deprive anyone of the chance of seeing them. Living locally I’ve been there a few times, while for some it might be their only chance of visiting. So I’m afraid I have no photos of this year’s events since it isn’t appropriate for the Chairman to hide behind a camera during the Saturday events. If anyone has any good ones I’d love to see them. The Sunday weather seemed sunny though I’ve little doubt that there would be a cool sea breeze on the coast. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it.

Messages are now coming in from those arriving home. I trust that all felt the journeys well worthwhile and that we’ll see them again before too long. Thanks for your company!