Heather Holmes

Analysing a Source of Evidence for the Purchase and Ownership of Scottish Books in the Late Eighteenth Century: A Comparison of Three Subscription Lists in the Agricultural Books of David Young of Perth Published in 1785, 1788 and 1790

Abstract This paper explores the relationship between three subscription lists inserted into agricultural books of David Young of Perth in 1785, 1788 and 1790. It shows that there are connections between the lists and the subscribers, including their personal details listed in them. It shows how the lists were managed by their compilers and the typographers who were setting them for printing.

Regional Patterns in the Exhibition of Breeds of Cattle and Sheep at the Royal Highland Show 1872–1905

Abstract This paper examines whether there were regional patterns in the exhibition of different breeds of cattle and sheep, two of the most important classes of livestock to be displayed at the Royal Highland Show, in the period 1872 to 1905. At this time the Show was a movable one, being held in a different region each year.

The Diffusion of Labour-Saving Technology and Technological Innovations: English Reaping Machines in Scotland 1850 to 1910

While Scotland was an important centre for the early development and manufacture of reaping machines, other countries such as England and the United States started to manufacture them in extensive numbers in later years. By the 1870s English manufacturers were selling large numbers of these machines to Scottish farmers, and Scottish manufacturers were competing in a busy market place with their English counterparts. By 1900 some of the Scottish manufacturers that had been renowned for their machines for a number of decades had stopped manufacturing them and sold machines that were manufactured by English or American manufacturers. This pattern raises a number of questions: when and at what rate did the diffusion of English machines into Scotland take place? Why were English manufacturers interested in competing with Scottish manufacturers in the Scottish market? How did Scottish manufacturers react to the competition from English ones? Why were Scottish farmers attracted by machines from English manufacturers rather than Scottish ones? This paper examines the diffusion of reapers (and binders) from English manufacturers into Scotland during the period 1850 to 1910 when these machines became the predominant mechanical means for harvesting the grain crops in the main grain-growing districts. It charts this diffusion through the implement catalogues of the Royal Highland Show, the annual show of the national agricultural society, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, the most important annual agricultural event. This approach provides a systematic investigation of technological diffusion throughout Scotland and in each of the Society’s show districts throughout the country.

Agricultural Implement Makers in Scotland During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract This paper examines the agricultural implement makers in Scotland during the period 1850 to 1914, when there were significant developments in agricultural implements and machines and in associated work practices. It considers themes such as the character of the implement makers, their geographical distribution, their standing, and reputation. It charts how their activities changed during this period. It shows that the capacity of their industry developed to support an increased number of family members, there was a growing number of larger businesses that increasingly had a customer base over a wider geographical area and that could be regarded as having a national standing; some also had an international standing. The technological advances in the production of implements and machines meant that production became more complex and was increasingly undertaken by businesses with more and better resources.

The English Countryside Between the Wars: Regeneration or Decline?

(2007). The English Countryside Between the Wars: Regeneration or Decline? Folk Life: Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 161-163.

Scottish Agricultural Writers and the Creation of their Personal Identities between 1697 and 1790

Abstract In the eighteenth century, a period of intense agricultural and rural change, the authors of Scottish agricultural books left a large body of evidence on agricultural systems, changes to the farming landscape and attitudes towards them. These writers also recorded a range of information about themselves, their characters and identities, all of which was conveyed in a number of ways. First, in personal details inserted throughout the subject matter of their books. Second, through the dedication, an established device in which they devoted a book to an individual or organisation, demonstrating their esteem of them or encouraging them to adopt the ideas put forward in the book itself A third device was employed by both the author and the bookseller (or bookseller publisher) that published and distributed a given book. This was the title-page, an important feature in a book. Unless a half-title was inserted, the title-page was the first printed page seen by a reader on opening a book. It demonstrated the skills of the compositor and of the printer, and illustrated the status of the publisher and bookseller; it associated their stature with that of the author being published, and it suggested the quality of the book that was to follow. For the author, it provided the context for the book that was to follow, and set up assumptions about it. In essence, the page acted as an advertisement for the book.