Greetings from Holland!

Happy end of exams!! (oh, wait, that's not a holiday for non-uni students)  I'm spending the holidays with family in Holland, which is really nice so far.  I don't have a ton to report, aside from the horrific weather issues at the airport that have been all over the news (it was bad-I ran into friends that had been at the airport for days trying to get to the states).  Luckily, I made it after only a three hour delay.
Last weekend Ailsa and I got into the holiday spirit with a field trip to Edinburgh Castle, where the Edinburgh Opera Chorus was performing Christmas carols in the great hall.  Enjoy!

Edinburgh Tourism, 1861

While researching nineteenth century tartan books earlier today, I discovered Black's Picturesque Tourist of Scotland: a guidebook to Scotland published in Edinburgh in 1861.  It's full of lovely illustrations and hilarious price guides, but my favorite part are the exploratory walking routes around various cities-especially Edinburgh.  In the introduction to the chapter on Edinburgh, Black's remarks:

"The resemblance between Athens and Edinburgh, has been remarked by most travellers [sic] who have visited both capitals, has conferred upon the Scottish metropolis the title of 'The Modern Athens'....Dr. Clarke remarks that the neighbourhood of Athens is just the Highlands of Scotland enriched with the splendid remains of art...The natural and artificial beauties of the place, however, are not its only attractions.  Many of its localities teem with the recollections of the past, and are associated with the events of deep historical importance; others have been invested with an interest no less engrossing by the transcendent genius of Sir Walter Scott, whose novels have not only refreshed and embellished the incidents of history, but have conferred on many a spot, formerly unknown to fame, a reputation as enduring as the annals of history itself.
In literary eminence, the University of Edinburgh claims a distinguished place.  At the commencement of the present century it displayed an array of contemporaneous talent unequalled before by any similar institution; and we have only to remind our readers of the names of Robertson, Playfair, Leslie, Black, Cullen, Robison, Blair, Dugald Stewart, Brown, Gregory, and Munro, to vindicate this assertion.  This high status has been honorably maintained by successors among whom are numbered some of the most distinguished men of modern times.
...The climate in Edinburgh, although it cannot be called mild or genial, is yet eminently salubrious; and favourable, not only to longevity, but to the development of the mental and physical powers."
(pp. 16-8)

Yay!  The entire book is totally adorable.  If you'd like to read it for yourself, it's available on Google Books in its entirety.  Here it is :)

A Quest to De-stress

This morning I finished my exams! Cue my massive sigh of relief and pleasure.  Tomorrow I need to do practical things like clean my room, organize this semester's academic ruffage, go to the library, and go to work.  Today, though, I am taking some time to de-stress and work on a project I've been thinking about for a while but haven't been able to investigate.
That subject is my next (some day very far off) sewing project.  Last summer I started playing with the idea of making a new 1860s ball gown.  The dress I have now is very special to me, and was made by the lovely Katy Bishop from shot silk.  Shot silk is woven from two colors, so it looks different from different angles/in different light-mine is blue and green.

on the carousel at the Rotunda Ballroom in Newport, RI in 2008 

Being in Scotland has really inspired me to do something with tartan.  One of the things I learned in my Scottish history class this semester was that the whole tartan/clan connection became a much larger phenomenon thanks to royal interest during the early nineteenth century, and became an fashion craze during the mid-century after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased Balmoral Castle in the 1840s.  Queen Victoria seems to have been a great fan of tartan herself-check out all the tartan in the Balmoral drawing room:

you can see more pictures at Victoria's World

So knowing that much, I had a feeling I could find evidence of tartan in ladies' evening wear from the 1860s.  It turned out to be a little harder that I was expecting, but after some serious digging today I have choices!!  As I mentioned, Victoria liked tartan, and I found this great portrait of her in a cream dress and tartan sash from the 1850s.

 So that's option number one.  I don't know what tartan she's wearing (so I don't know what tartan it is), but based on some of the research I've been doing and the light areas I'd guess it's the Stewart Dress tartan, which looks like this:

or rather, this is what it looks like in wool, which is not what I'd make a dress out of.  Because tartan is woven, if I want real tartan I have to use woven fabric, which means any tartan on my dress will have to be silk.
Anyways, I kept looking.  I found an auction site with listings for pieces from the wardrobe of Queen Alexandra, which were being auctioned for charity in 1937.  One of the dresses was tartan! And better yet, not hideous!

This is the original auction description:
"27
SCOTTISH TARTAN AND WHITE SATIN CRINOLINE BALL DRESSPlaid satin panniers in the Royal Stuart tartan over a separate skirt of white satin ruffles outlined in red, with internal stiffening. Pointed bodice with pleated bertha trimmed with black lace, and short white tulle sleeves. With belt and separate collar. Worn at the Scottish Balls at Balmoral when H. M. the Queen first came to England"


However, this dress is later than the period I'm aiming for (mid-nineteenth century).  So I started looking for other pictures from balls at Balmoral castle.  In 1863, the Princess of Wales wore this dress to the annual ball:

It looks very similar to the previous one.  My guess is that one was a copy of this dress (done without the hoops), and that both are Stewart tartans, since the auction listing says that tartan is the Royal Stewart, and the white on this one makes me think it's the Dress Stewart.  
I don't love the underskirt on this one-it's too fussy for me, and I think the red trim would be a little too much with a bright tartan.  However, I'm very pleased with the overall style of the dress.  I think I would prefer to make something similar to this, rather than a plain dress with a sash in tartan, but we'll see.  I've found a great source for silk tartan, and scans of 19th century tartan sample books so I can cross-reference patterns for historical accuracy.  I'd like to do a cream/gold underskirt to bring out the yellow in the tartan; if I use a different tartan I'll use one with yellow highlights.  


Off to celebrate the end of exams at dance tonight!  I'll keep my eye out for any tartans I like. 

First Grade Friends 4

Dear First Graders,

A lot of you asked me about sports, so I decided to write to you about sports in Scotland.  There are many sports teams here, just like in America.  Some of the most popular sports here are soccer (which Scottish people call football), rugby, curling, and golf.  Do any of you play those sports?

One famous football (soccer) team here is the Celtics.  Does that sound familiar? Boston also has a team called the Celtics!  Do you know what sport the Boston Celtics play? (they play basketball).

the Glasgow Celtics

the Boston Celtics

Rugby is another popular sport, and is a little bit like American football-but looks a lot more dangerous!  Rugby is an international sport, like soccer, which means that the Scottish team plays against teams from all over the world!  When they play in Scotland, their stadium is in Edinburgh.

Scottish rugby players during the national anthem in a game against England

Golf and Curling are both sports that were invented in Scotland!  Golf was invented in a town called St Andrews, and people can still play on one of the first courses, the "Old Course".

St Andrews golf club

Curling is the other sport I mentioned that was invented in Scotland.  Have you ever heard of curling before?

Curling is played on ice, where players slide granite stones (big rocks) towards a target to try and earn points.  It was invented in Scotland hundreds of years ago, but is now played in the Olympics!

Curling in Scotland in 1860

Of course, there are many other sports played in Scotland, just like there are many different sports played in America.  Do you know any sports that were invented in America?

First Grade Friends 3

Dear First Graders,

Thank you all so much for your letters!  I'm glad you like hearing about Scotland.  I love living here so far, but we've had a lot of snow and it makes things tricky!  Do you get a lot of snow in the winter in Lowell?
I wanted to answer a few of your questions about Scotland.  I will do this every time you write to me.

Do you live in an apartment?

I do live in an apartment.  In Scotland, apartments are called "flats."  I live in a flat with four other girls.  Everyone who lives in my building is a student, too.  Sometimes we go places together and have special meals together, like Thanksgiving dinner.  Do other people live with you, or do you just live with your family?

What school do you go to?

I go to the University of Edinburgh.  The school was founded in 1582-that's almost 430 years ago!  But girls have only been allowed to come to University here since 1889-about 120 years ago.  Before that, only boys were allowed.

this is my school's symbol, or crest.  There is a thistle at the top (Scotland's national flower), a book in the middle, and a castle at the bottom.  What is the Bailey symbol?

What are the museums like in Edinburgh?


There are many types of museums here!  I love going to museums, and try to visit as many as I can.  Edinburgh is a very old city, so some museums are really old buildings that are made to look the way they would have when they were used.  When I go to places like that, I can learn about what life was like in the past.  There is even a castle!  It's on the highest hill in the city.  Lowell has many old building like this, like the Lowell Mills.  Have you ever been to visit the mills?

Edinburgh Castle

The Lowell Mills

Another type of museum is a gallery-a place that has a lot of things to look at on the walls or in cases.  One type of gallery is an art gallery, where you can look at paintings.  Edinburgh is home to the National Galleries of Scotland, where anyone can go look at artwork!
Another wonderful museum I've been to here is the Museum of Childhood.  The Museum of Childhood is all about what it was like to be a kid at different times.  They have all sorts of toys!  What kinds of toys might you have played with if you lived in the 1800s, or the 1950s?

a dollhouse at the Museum of Childood-it had real working lights and running water!

Trains at the Museum of Childhood

Have you ever been to a museum? What was something you saw there?


I like chicken sandwiches.  What do you like to eat?


I love to eat all kinds of food-including chicken sandwiches (I had one for lunch!).  Scotland has a famous food called Haggis, which is served with "Neeps and Tatties" or swede (a vegetable) and mashed potatoes.  Haggis is made out of sheep meat (called "mutton") mixed with oats and spices and cooked for a long time.  It sounds gross, but it actually tastes really good!  Scottish people eat Haggis on "Burns Night," a holiday celebrating Robert Burns, who is the National Poet. He wrote a poem called "An Ode to a Haggis" which people read before they eat on Burns Night.  Do have a special meal you eat for a holiday?  Have you ever written a poem or story about food?

Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties

I hope you have a great winter break!  I can't wait to hear from you again soon.

History Lesson

These videos are actually American, but they were too funny not to share.  Made by a group of history teachers in Hawaii, they re-write songs to teach kids about history.  These two relate to Scotland, which is how I'm justifying this post :)  For some of the actual places, take a look at the birthing room in Edinburgh Castle and the sixteenth century buildings in Mary King's Close.

Parades and Snow Days

It's funny the things I miss about the U.S.-none of them are things I'd thought about before I got here.  One of them, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, really bothered me.  It seems really silly, but watching the parade on Thanksgiving morning has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, as totally cliche as that is.  After a week, I've finally managed to track down a copy of the NBC footage online!  I am really excited to take a study break and watch some of it :)

Snow update:  After five days of snow, I saw my first city plow last night.  The roads are still a mess and a lot of my classes have been cancelled because our teachers can't get to campus...but for those of us who walk everywhere, we're still plugging away.