Former Exhibitions
For further information about these exhibitions, please revisit the website.
2013
Ballantrae's Smuggling Story
Part of the Ballantrae Smugglers Festival.
The Church Hall, Ballantrae 21 to 24 August
Herbal Remedies
See the entry for Dalemain in the 2010 section below.
The Millhouse on the Fleet, Gatehouse of Fleet Spring
2012
Marmalade Recipes from the Seventeenth Century
This exhibition describes the Marmalade recipes noted by Elizabeth Rainbow, wife of the Bishop of Carlisle, in the same book that included
her herbal remedies - the subject of last year's exhibition.
Elizabeth Thomas also collected recipies and herbal remedies. Her book of jottings is now at Broughton House in Kirkcudbright.
Copies of the booklet Marmalade Recipes from the Seventeenth Century and greetings cards featuring these recipes are on sale at the shop at Dalemain.
Curated and produced by Franscript.
Dalemain www.dalemain.com
2011
Photographs on Display
Examples of the landscape photographs and greetings cards taken by Frances Wilkins in Dumfries & Galloway and on the Isle of Man
can be seen as part of the Kirkcudbright Arts & Crafts Trail from 29 July 2011 to 1 August 2011.
For further information about this event see: www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk
The Life and Times of David Currie of Newlaw
This exhibition describes the trials and tribulations of an eighteenth century merchant / landowner against the background of the Kirkcudbright tobacco trade,
the smuggling trade and the slave trade. David Currie was bankrupted by his association with John Park of Ayrshire and Roscoff in France, John Christian, former
cashier of the ill-fated Douglas-Heron (Ayr) Bank et al. in a slave trading scheme based on the Island of Dominica in the West Indies. In an attempt to raise
money he borrowed £400 from the Mull of Galloway Smuggling Company, who in return rented his land at Balcary Bay.
Curated and produced by Franscript.
Stewarty Museum, Kirkcudbright Saturday, 08 October 2011 to Saturday, 03 December 2011
2010
Herbal Remedies
Born in Cambridgeshire, Elizabeth Smith married the Right Reverend Edward Rainbow in 1652. Twelve years later he was
appointed Bishop of Carlisle and the family moved to the official residence of Rose Castle at Dalston. While she lived
in Cumberland, Elizabeth Rainbow collected food recipes and herbal remedies, which she transcribed into a large leather-bound
book. There are over 250 pages of recipes and a further 250 pages of the remedies, providing a significant insight
into her lifestyle.
Four posters describing Elizabeth Rainbow’s Herbal and an illustrated A to Z of the plants that she used can be seen in an exhibition at Dalemain.
In addition the exhibition includes four posters describing a Lowland Herbal. Copies of the booklet Elizabeth Rainbow's Herbal Remedies and greetings cards
featuring herbs used in the recipes are on sale at the shop at Dalemain.
Curated and produced by Franscript.
For details of the opening times at Dalemain see www.dalemain.com
Photographs on Display
Examples of the landscape photographs and greetings cards taken by Frances Wilkins in Dumfries & Galloway and on the Isle of Man
can be seen as part of the Kirkcudbright Arts & Crafts Trail from 30 July 2010 to 1 August 2010.
For further information about this event see: www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk
2009
Gardens Great and Small - A story of the "lost" gardens of Dumfries and Galloway
This exhibition reconstructs the glory of the 18th and 19th Century gardens in Dumfries and Galloway, many of which have disappeared almost completely.
These gardens varied in size from large estates to town gardens and small allotments. They included designs aimed to inspire the mind and working gardens
that grew sufficient produce for the surplus to be sold at local markets. Seeds and plants were purchased from major suppliers in London and Edinburgh and also
from the local seedsmen and nurserymen in Dumfries, Castle Douglas, Gatehouse of Fleet and Stranraer.
The booklet 200 Years of Kirkconnell Garden describes 4 of the panels and there are greetings cards illustrating the garden plants of the 1820s.
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, Dumfries - Saturday, 11 April to Saturday, 23 May 2009
The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright - Saturday, 12 September to Saturday, 17 October 2009
Stranraer Library, Stranraer - November 2009
Pills, Potions and Poisons
"The most valuable of simple medicines" and other cures 1700 - 1850
This exhibition uses herbals, apothecary inventories, doctors' bills and written advice to patients to explore the way in which various illnesses
and other conditions were treated in Dumfries and Galloway during the 18th and 19th centuries. Patient lists provide detailed information about several
individuals and their problems, and a special section examines the outbreak of cholera in Dumfries on 1832.
Dumries Museum and Camera Obscura - Saturday, 12 September to Saturday, 31 October 2009
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Robert Burns, Dr William Maxwell and a pair of pistols
Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura - Saturday, 24 January to Saturday, 28 March 2009
The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright - Saturday, 31 January to Saturday, 21 March 2009
Dundonald Church Hall - Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 October 2009
Information about the catalogue for this exhibition can be found in the Kirkconnell Books section
Bringing the Admiral Home - The life and times of Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald
Dundonald Church Hall - Sunday, 28 June to Sunday, 26 July 2009Cochrane Day - Thursday, 23rd July 2009
Admiral Thomas Cochrane is most famous for his role at the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809. Yet during his long and somewhat tumultuous life Cochrane's achievements included freeing Chile from the Spanish, designing improvements to ships and various types of equipment and helping Brunel with his tunnel under the River Thames. Although he was born at Annesfield House, near Bothwell, Hamilton in 1775 and raised at Culross, Cochrane was the 10th Earl of Dundonald. Little is known about him in the village today. This exhibition aims to redress the balance by 'bringing the Admiral home' and so making both local people and visitors more aware of his exciting life.
Fourteen exhibition panels provide an outline of Admiral Cochrane's life and times. In addition there is detailed information on display about three particular aspects of his life. One topic lists all the ships he commanded with details of their size, crews and the number of guns. There are illustrations of the ship's layout and extracts from the log describe more eventful parts of the voyage. A second topic concentrates on the Admiral's battles with plans showing the positions of the British and enemy fleets and, where possible, first-hand accounts of the action. The third topic includes diagrams of the Admiral's inventions and designs for improvement of existing equipment from exploding ships to ship propellers. Some of the images associated with this topic have not been seen by the public in general before this exhibition.
In addition to the month-long exhibition there will be a lecture by its award-winning curator, at Dundonald Church Hall on Wednesday, 1 July at 7.30 p.m. Admission to the exhibition and the lecture is free.
 |
 |
South Ayrshire Council Homecoming Scotland 2009 Come Back to Ayrshire Awards for All Voluntary Action Fund The Hillhouse Trust Private donations |
 |
 |
Photographs on Display
Examples of the landscape photographs taken by Frances Wilkins in Dumfries & Galloway and on the Isle of Man
can be seen as part of the Kirkcudbright Arts & Crafts Trail from 31 July 2009 to 2 August 2009.
For further information about this event see: www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk
2008
Slavery and Smuggling
This combines two former exhibitions: Dumfries & Galloway and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and The
Smuggling Trade to total 28 panels. It emphasises the links between the two activities: the slave trade
provided labour on the plantations that produced the tobacco and rum that were subsequently smuggled along the
coast of Dumfries & Galloway.
The slave trade exhibition won a national award in 2007. It was chosen by the Black History Foundation as the
best contribution in Scotland to our understanding of black heritage. The large glass plaque that was presented
at Millennium Point in Birmingham in December 2007 is now on display at the Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright.
This part of the exhibition is supplemented by copies of contemporary documents relating to people from Dumfries &
Galloway.
The smuggling trade exhibition is based on the role of the Isle of Man in smuggling history. There is additional
information about local events and also a display of some of the items smuggled, including tea and tobacco.
20 June to 31 August See also Books: the Slave Trade Series and the Manx Series
Photographs on Display
Examples of the landscape photographs taken by Frances Wilkins in Dumfries & Galloway and on the Isle of Man
can be seen as part of the Kirkcudbright Arts & Crafts Trail from 1 to 3 August 2008.
For further information about this event see: www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk
Festival of Gardening and Country Life
Two small exhibitions were held at the Festival of Gardening and Country Life held at Tongland near Kirkcudbright
on 12 & 13 July 2008.
Plants in a Galloway Garden
This is based on information available in the Maxwell of Kirkconnell archive about that garden between 1699 and 1900.
It includes details of the plants grown in the greenhouse, the flower garden, the vegetables and soft fruit and the
trees in the Park. The final panel provides information about three of the head gardeners.
In addition there will be a wide range of plants for sale. All of these plants appeared in the 1820s catalogue of
Mason & Sons of Fleet Street, London, one of the suppliers used by Kirkconnell. They include familiar species but
also more unusual plants.
Copies of 200 Years of Kirkconnell Garden will be available for purchase.
Curated by Franscript.
Plants produced & presented by Jan Bartle, Rose Harper & Jane Pugh.
Herbal Remedies from an Apothecary's Textbook
This is based on a 'Lowland' herbal held by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons in Glasgow and now available
on the Internet. Several of the plants listed in the herbal together with their properties are described in 4 panels.
In addition a range of greetings cards featuring herbs used in the remedies will be on sale.
Curated by Franscript.
For further information about the Festival see: www.summerfestivities.com
Pills, Potions & Poisons
This exhibition looks at three very different yet inter-related aspects of life in Dundonald Parish during the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries.
Pills
Herbal remedies were an essential part of life. Two 17th century herbals and lists of plants that were growing
in Dundonald Parish during the 19th and 20th centuries have been combined to produce this section of the exhibition.
It is not suggested that these were the only plants available for herbal remedies or that all these recipes
were used by people living in the Parish. The survey does provide an insight, however, into the general understanding
of medical treatments between John Gerard's work in the 1630s and the emergence of a greater understanding of
the working of the human body during the mid to late 1700s. In this context the examination of John Wilson's body
described in the section on Poisons is of particular interest.
Potions
This section of the exhibition considers the witches of Highlees in the context of the evidence given against
them to the Dundonald Kirk Session and their subsequent trials before they were burned at the stake in Edinburgh.
Poisons
Matthew Hay is one of Dundonald Parish's most famous people - because he was hanged for poisoning his tenants
the Wilson family of Plewlands. This section of the exhibition uses the official trial papers to reconstruct
the events immediately before the family were poisoned by eating arsenic in their sowens and the subsequent
events. There is still some uncertainty about whether or not Matthew Hay was guilty and we hope that you will
record your 'vote'.
10 exhibition panels are supplemented by a reconstruction of the fireplace at Plewlands in 1780 and examples of
the herbs that were used in the pills and potions.
Sunday, 29 June to Sunday, 27 July 2008
Lecture by Frances Wilkins: Pills, Potions & Poisons
Curated by Frances Wilkins & the Dundonald Archives Group
Note: for information about future hire of this exhibition please contact 01563 851232
See also Books: Dundonald Series
Note: for information about future hire of this exhibition please contact 01563 851232
See also Books: Dundonald Series
James Maxwell and Prince Charles' Expedition, 1745-46
James Maxwell was the eldest son of William and Janet Maxwell of Kirkconnell, near new Abbey. Always a strong supporter
of the Stuart cause, James determined to help Prince Charles Edward Stuart in his campaign to claim the British crown
for his father, King James Francis Edward Stuart. Despite advice to the contrary from William Craik of Arbigland, James
and his servant William Carruthers left Kirkconnell in late 1745 to join the Prince in Edinburgh.
Maxwell served in the Prince's army as one of the captains in Lord Elcho's Troop of Lifeguards. He accompanied the
Prince on his expedition into England and the retreat to Scotland, and fought in the battles of Falkirk and Culloden
Moor. Afterwards Maxwell went to France in order to escape the vengeance of the Duke of Cumberland's troops. There
he spent part of his time composing a remarkable Narrative of the Prince's expedition.
Although there are numerous accounts of the events of 1745/46, the one written by James Maxwell stands out not only
because it records intimate details of the meetings of the Prince's Council of War, but also because it is based
on the experiences of a local man.
The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright
5 April to 7 June 2008: 10 exhibition panels: James Maxwell and Prince Charles' Expedition, 1745-46; plans
of the battles of Prestonpans, Falkirk and Culloden and the skirmish at Clifton Moor together with James Maxwell's
detailed descriptions of these events.
Curated by Frances Wilkins.
Note: for information about future hire of this exhibition please contact 01387 253374.
See also Books: Kirkconnell Archive Series
Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura
Throughout 2008:
Foyer display including items belonging to James Maxwell together with copies of his portraits and that of his wife, Mary; plans of the battles of Prestonpans, Falkirk and Culloden and the skirmish at Clifton Moor together with James Maxwell's detailed descriptions of these events; DVD describing the Prince's expedition from the viewpoint of James Maxwell. For further details see: www.dumgal.gov.uk/museums 2 February to 8 March 2008: 10 exhibition panels: James Maxwell and Prince Charles' Expedition, 1745-46
Foyer display including items belonging to James Maxwell together with copies of his portraits and that of his wife, Mary; plans of the battles of Prestonpans, Falkirk and Culloden and the skirmish at Clifton Moor together with James Maxwell's detailed descriptions of these events; DVD describing the Prince's expedition from the viewpoint of James Maxwell. For further details see: www.dumgal.gov.uk/museums 2 February to 8 March 2008: 10 exhibition panels: James Maxwell and Prince Charles' Expedition, 1745-46