Flodden Field

Today is the 500th anniversary of Flodden Field – the battle near the village of Branxton in Northumberland, just south of the Scottish border. Here is what I wrote about the site on a visit back in 2007 [Link] In the tracks of northern antiquaries, summer 2007 September 9 1513: in the low rolling hills…

Itinerarium Septentrionale

I have started the publication of my work in the English/Scottish borders with a three volume visual chorography. The first is now available. Itinerarium Septentrionale – A Northern Journey. Volume One – Coast Here is how I describe the project: Itinerarium Septentrionale: a northern journey through the English/Scottish borders. An itinerary: a schedule, a list,…

The Field Marshal, the artist, and an old edition of Walter Scott

Matters of the presence of the past — haunting presences. A couple of editions of Walter Scott’s poetry have arrived from my favorite bookseller – Barter Books of Alnwick, Northumberland UK. The first is an 1866 edition of Scott’s poem, Marmion, about the days before the disaster of Flodden Field in 1513. It is illustrated…

Ben Cullen

On the anniversary of the untimely and sudden death of Ben Cullen in 1995. [Link] [Link] [Link] I dedicated my book, The Archaeological Imagination [Link], published in April, to Ben. It is seventeen years today since he died. Uncanny. I wonder what I would say to him about the book, that might reveal how much…