Society Events
Calendar of Society Events 2010
Wed. 24 Feb.
LUNCH AT LANGLEY CASTLE
Members meet at 12.30 for 1.00 pm at Langley Castle Hotel (near Haydon Bridge), built in 1350 by Lord Derwentwater's family, for a gathering and lunch, marked by a special presentation to the hotel, to commemorate the execution of James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and Viscount Radcliffe and Langley, on Tower Hill, London, on 24 February 1716.
Sat. 20 March
SIR WALTER SCOTT: AN APPRECIATION
A talk at Dilston College Recreation Hall at 11.00 am by Roderick Scott, official guide to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders, on the author of the Waverley novels (Waverley, Rob Roy, Redgauntlet etc.) that, from 1814, brought works with a Jacobite setting to European literature.
Sat. 17 April
CULLODEN ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION SERVICE
Members will meet on the 264th anniversary of the battle at 10.45 for 11.00 am in the entrance to the new, world-class Visitor Centre on Culloden Battlefield. It is avery colourful event, and, as usual, the Chairman will lay The Fifteen 's wreath at the Great Cairn. He will gladly give advice on overnight accommodation in Inverness.
Fri. 23 April
VISIT TO CAPHEATON HALL
Members will meet at Capheaton Hall at 12 Noon for lunch inside at 12.30 pm, followed by a full, private tour of house and garden. This building, with a distinguished interior that is rarely seen, was built in local baroque style in 1667-8 by Robert Trollope of Newcastle for the Swinburne baronets, who were cousins of the Radcliffes. The Dilston deeds were hidden under its roof at the start of the 'Fifteen. Eliza Browne-Swinburne, who lives in the hall, will show the family's famous Jacobite relics to Members.
Sat. 22 May
JAMES HOGG'S JACOBITE RELICS
A talk at Dilston College Recreation Hall at 11.00 am by Member Dr J. Maurice Milne, MA (Oxon), MLitt, PhD, on this famous collection of songs relating to the Jacobite Risings, published in 1819 and 1821 by James Hogg (17170-1835), 'The Ettrick Shepherd' (friend of Sir Walter Scott), who rose from absolute poverty to become a self-taught writer, famous for his own Confessions of a Justified Sinner.
Sun. 20 June
VISIT TO ABBOTSFORD
This will be a follow-up to Roderick Scott's enthusiastic talk in March. Members will meet at the entrance to Sir Walter Scott's castellated home, Abbotsford, near Melrose, at 12.45 pm for lunch at 1.00 pm in what was once Sir Walter's bedroom, normally closed to the public. Roderick will then give Members a personal, guided tour of Scott's Drawing Room, Dining Room, Library, Study and Armoury, filled with historical treasures such as Rob Roy's gun, dirk, sword and sporran. Members can then revisit parts of the house on their own or enjoy the lovely gardens and walks beside the River Tweed. If they wish, they can join fellow Members later in the Tea Room for refreshments at the end of the afternoon.
Friday 09 - Sunday 11 July
WEEKEND TRIP TO DERBY
As is well known, Derby is where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s military council made the fateful decision on Black Friday, 5 December 1745, against the Prince’s wishes, to retreat, when their forces of about 7,000 men were only 126 miles from London, which we now know was probably theirs for the taking.
Members will be taken to Derby in comfort in a coach, which will collect participants on Friday from two pick-up points in Hexham and Newcastle (and from pick-up points further south if more convenient and possible) and will return them there at the end of the trip on Sunday at about 5.00 pm.
They will stay for two nights (Friday and Saturday) at The Jurys Inn Derby, an immaculate, new luxury hotel that could not be better situated: all the places of interest within the city relating to the Jacobites are within easy walking distance of it. Extremely preferential rates have been obtained for Members for Dinner, Bed and Breakfast accommodation there.
Saturday morning will be spent visiting the Bonnie Prince Charlie equestrian statue, Derby Cathedral (small but exquisite, with a plaque commemorating the service held there by the Jacobites, who had prayers said for the Stuart Royal Family), the Market Place (where James III was proclaimed), mediaeval Sadler Gate (once the main road through Derby, up which the Prince’s forces would have marched) and Derby Museum and Art Gallery, which contains, amongst other treasures, the Bonnie Prince Charlie Room, the Joseph Wright of Derby Gallery and the Derby Porcelain Room. After a pre-booked lunch at the Derby Cathedral Centre, with its Treasury silver on display, Members will travel in their coach to Kedleston Hall, a Robert Adam masterpiece, once the palatial home of the Curzons, set in glorious landscape and grounds. Its sumptuously decorated State Rooms contain several fine portraits of Jacobite interest, and a small cannon captured from Prince Charles Edward’s forces at Derby is also on display.
On Sunday morning, Members will be taken by coach to Swarkeston Bridge, the southernmost point reached by the Jacobite forces in 1745. It is not just an ordinary bridge but a 13th-century causeway, the longest stone bridge in England. On the northern river bank is a commemorative cairn, where a wreath will be laid on behalf of The Fifteen. After lunch at the Crewe and Harpur Pub (a converted 17th-century coach house), the coach will take Members back to Northumberland.
Sat. 31 July
A talk at Dilston W.I. Hall (near Dilston College) at 11.00 am by Member Professor Jonathan C. D. Clark, eminent revisionist historian of 'the long century' (160-1832) and Joyce and Elizabeth Hall Distinguished Professor of British History at the University of Kansas, on the English essayist and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Son of a Jacobite sympathiser, Dr Johnson famously championed Flora Macdonald's qualities when he met her on Skye during the writing of The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1773) by his companion James Boswell, declaring that 'her name will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour'. Continuing the Jacobite literary theme, Professor Clark's talk promises to challenge previous assumptions about Dr Johnson.
VISIT TO HARTINGTON, MELDON AND WALLINGTON
A private visit will be made to the specialist Herterton House Gardens, adjoining Hartington Hall, home of Meg o' Meldon, great-grandmother of Lord Derwentwater, whose ghost still walks. After lunch at The Dyke Neuk, Members will visit Meldon Church, with its stained glass window to the Radcliffes; Meldon Park, once part of the Radcliffe estates; and, finally, Wallington Hall, former home of Sir John Fenwick, the Jacobite conspirator.
Saturday 9 October & Sunday 10 October
TENTH ANNIVERSARY ANNUAL SOCIETY DINNER AT LONGHIRST HALL / VISIT TO WIDDRINGTON AND WARKWORTH
What promises to be a very special Dinner to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Society's foundation is to be held in the Lawson Room at Longhirst Hall (7.00 for 7.30 pm) on Saturday 9 October , the very date when the 1715 Rising commenced in Northumberland. We are honoured that Founding Patron of the Society, The Rt Rev. Geoffrey Scott, Abbot of Douai, will be attending and has agreed to speak to us, just as he did at the very first Annual Dinner. There will be musical and other entertainment with Jacobite songs and the playing of the Northumbrian smallpipes, plus a surprise or two to add to the fun.
Longhirst Hall is perhaps John Dobson's architectural masterpiece and is set in 75 acres of woodland just 2 miles north of Morpeth. It has very good road routes from Hexham and Newcastle and is clearly signposted just north of the town. As a hotel and conference centre, it has an abundance of comfortable bedrooms for those wishing to stay overnight, with a specially arranged bargain rate for Members, with breakfast. There will be a follow-up morning of visits the next day to Widdrington (only 6 miles away), where will be viewed the Church and the sad remains of Widdrington Castle, once the splendid ancestral home of William, Lord Widdrington, one of the Northumbrian leaders of The 'Fifteen, and then to Warkworth, the first place in England where King James III was proclaimed in 1715. Members will lunch together there at The Masons Arms, where Lord Derwentwater is said to have dined with 24 followers at the start of the Rising. If Members are unable to attend the Dinner or stay overnight at Longhurst, they are still welcome to return or join us anew for the Sunday morning's events.
Sat. 16 Oct.
RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK AT DILSTON
A talk at Dilston College Recreation Hall at 11.00 am by Frank Giecco, Principal Archaeologist to the North Pennines Heritage Trust. He will summarise all the discoveries made on the Dilston site since his work started and update Members on the latest finds.
Sat. 4 Dec.
ANNUAL WREATH-LAYING AND AGM
Members will meet at The Derwentwater Cross near Langley for a short address by the Chairman at 11.30 am in tribute to all the brave Northumbrians who suffered for the Jacobite cause. Members should park beyond the cross and take a short walk back to it on what can be a busy road. As Nick Leeming, Piper to the Society, plays Derwentwater's Farewell on the Northumbrian smallpipes, a wreath will be attached to the cross, erected by Cadwallader John Bates in 1883. After lunch nearby, the Annual General Meeting will follow at Dilston College Recreation Hall at 2.15 for 2.30 pm, followed by a Tasting of Jacobite Wines and Ales. (A covering charge for participants will apply.)