National Library of Scotland

For centuries, Scots have made a significant impact on the world outside Scotland. From Adam Smith to Dolly the Sheep, Scotland has been – and continues to be – a hotbed of ideas, innovation, creativity, and dreams. To celebrate Homecoming Scotland 2014, curators at NLS have created an alphabet of achievement which presents a small selection of the many ways in which Scottish influence has extended around the globe. Some stories are ‘well-kent’, others barely known at all, but together they contribute to Scotland’s reputation for creativity and pioneering innovation, at home and abroad.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Life Cycle: A Bike Ride Round Scotland and Back to Childhood

• 10 March 2014 6-7pm

The result is heart-warming story of bikes and brotherhood as they cycled from the mountains of the Highlands to the traffic-snarled streets of Glasgow. Together they conquered Scotland on two wheels and became boys again as they pedalled for all they were worth on the road trip of a lifetime. Tonight Gary will take you on this journey.

Suitable for

• 18+
• Not suitable for children

Admission

Website

http://www.nls.uk/events/booking

Learn how to register as a reader*, find your way round the Library, request materials and find out about other services. The workshops include a short tour of the Reading Room and will last approximately 90 minutes. If you have any specific access requirements or other additional needs please let our staff know when you book your place. *If you are planning to register to use the Library afterwards, please bring evidence of identity i.e. a current driving licence or recent utility bill.

Suitable for

• 18+
• 16-17

Admission

This session includes demonstrations of a selection of resources and tips on how to search and discover the information you need.

Suitable for

• 18+
• 16-17

Admission

The Adventures of Tintin have been translated into over 70 languages, and last year saw the publication of the first ever Tintin title in Scots, The Derk Isle. In this talk, the translator, Susan Rennie, explains the challenges, and the pleasures, of translating the adventures of Hergé’s gallus boy reporter into modern Scots. She will also give a sneak preview of her next translation project, The Wee Prince, by French aviator and author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

Growing Wild: Community Regeneration, Gardening and Biodiversity

• 13 March 2014 6-7pm

Recent reports show how critically disconnected young people are with the natural world, not sharing the same experiences of nature as prior generations. The policy response is a “people and place” agenda, but how do you re-introduce people to the natural world where they live? Andrew Ormston, FRSA, a cultural and creative industries management consultant, explores both policy and exciting Scottish developments.

Suitable for

• 18+
• Not suitable for children

Admission

Find out about the range of resources that the Library holds to help you with your family history research. The workshop includes some practical information on how to become a reader and using the Reader Rooms.

Suitable for

• 18+
• 16-17

Admission

The map images website includes over 50,000 zoomable images of maps, primarily relating to Scotland over the last four centuries. This workshop in our IT training suite will help you to make best use of the map images website, as well as the related modern digital map resources available at NLS. Venue: IT Training Suite, assemble in Maps Reading Room, 159 Causewayside, Edinburgh EH9 1PH

Suitable for

• 16-17

Admission

Nature’s Peace

• 18 March 2014 6-7pm

Nature’s Peace is a stunning, full colour book that celebrates the landscapes of Scotland’s Watershed – the line that determines whether a raindrop falling on Scotland ends up in the Atlantic Ocean or the North Sea. Please book free on: Tel: 0131 623 3734 or www.nls.uk/events/booking.

Suitable for

• 18+
• Not suitable for children

Website

http://www.nls.uk/events#mar18

In celebration of the first ever National Shakespeare week join acclaimed novelist and Shakespeare professor Christopher Rush as he discusses his novel Will, an unforgettable re-imagining of the Bard’s life. Based on 30 years of scholarship, Rush takes readers into the mind of William Shakespeare. We hear the chilling account of the Tyburn executions, see him crossing the frozen Thames with the wooden beams that would become the Globe theatre, and return with him to Stratford on the heartbreaking journey to bury his only son.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

James Nasmyth (1808-1890) was one of the greatest Scottish innovators of the industrial revolution. Although he is better known for his success as a mechanical engineer and as the inventor of machines and tools, Nasmyth was a man of many talents and interests. Accomplished artist, entrepreneur, businessman, amateur astronomer and photographer, his creativity and curiosity knew no boundaries. This illustrated talk by NLS Curator Maria Castrillo will give you the opportunity to explore Nasmyth’s contribution to engineering and his fascination with the universe through the collection of sketches, letters and photographs held in the Library’s collections.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

David Livingstone’s Missionary Travels was one of the most successful travelogues of the Victorian period. Published in 1857, it was vital in shaping British ideas about central and southern Africa. In this talk Dr Justin Livingstone will go behind the scenes of this celebrated book, telling the story of its journey to publication. By comparing the published text with Livingstone’s first draft – in handwritten manuscript form – it will shed light on unpublished material that was excluded from the final book. This event is part of an on-going digitisation project, funded by ‘Livingstone 200’ that will result in an open access online edition of Missionary Travels.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland

• 27 March 2014 6-7pm

What to grow and how to grow it. Fruit and vegetables have formed a fundamental part of the Scottish diet for thousands of years. Kenneth Cox, a world expert on rhododendrons and Managing Director of Glendoick Gardens, presents a fascinating and practical look at the history of fruit, vegetable and herb growing in Scotland. Join him as he provides a contemporary guide to the best techniques for growing produce, whether in a garden, allotment, patio or window box.

Suitable for

• 18+
• Not suitable for children

Admission