Annual General Meeting; 20 March 2012

Will members please note that the AGM will take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20 March prior to that evening's talk in the Lecture Hall at Kilmarnock College.
Non-members are welcome to attend the talk and should note that the AGM normally lasts between 10 and 15 minutes.
Thank you.

Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow - 1812

Emperor Napoleon I invaded Russia with his Grande Armée on June 24, 1812. This enormous force, featuring more than 500,000 soldiers and staff, was the largest European military force ever assembled at that time.

During the opening months of the invasion, Napoleon and his troops faced a Russian army in perpetual retreat. Refusing to engage Napoleon's superior army in a full-scale confrontation, the Russians, commanded by General Mikhail Kutuzov, burned everything behind them as they retreated deeper and deeper into Russia.

On September 7, the indecisive Battle of Borodino was fought, in which both sides suffered terrible losses
.
On September 14, Napoleon reached Moscow hoping to find supplies but instead found almost the entire population evacuated, and the Russian forces having retreated again. Early the next morning, fires broke across the city, set by Russian patriots, and the Grande Armée's winter quarters were destroyed. After waiting a month for a surrender that never came, Napoleon, faced with the onset of the Russian winter, was forced to order his starving army out of Moscow.

To learn more about these historic events, come along to our meeting on Tuesday 21 February at 7.30pm in Kilmarnock College Lecture Theatre.  You will be made very welcome by our members.

Our speaker that night will be Dr. Ian Matheson and the title of his talk is:

"The Turning Point ; Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia 1812"

Our Next Speaker - 7 February 2012

Here is some background information on our next speaker.  He will be giving us some new insight into the life of our national hero William Wallace and discussing aspects of the Declaration of Arbroath

Professor Dauvit Broun

Dauvit Broun (David Brown) (born 1961) is Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on early medieval Scotland, and has written abundantly on the topic of early Scottish king-lists, as well as on literacy, charter-writing, national identity, and on the text known as de Situ Albanie.

He is editor of the New Edinburgh History of Scotland series, the pre-1603 editor of the Scottish Historical Review, convener of the Scottish History Society, and the Principal Investigator of the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project 'The Paradox of Medieval Scotland, 1093-1286'.

A Wee Bit of Football History - 1929

Kilmarnock F. C. Win The Scottish Cup For The Second Time

 

With a stiff breeze and strong sun against them, Killie faced intense pressure from the Ibrox men from the kick-off, and after 16 minutes referee Tom Dougray awarded Rangers a penalty after consulting his linesman, adjudging that Hugh Morton had brought down Buchanan. Tully Craig stepped up and hit a rocket towards the top-left corner, but Sam Clemie leapt like a cat to save the penalty.

Rangers did not waiver in their attack, McPail headed over from a corner, and had another decent penalty claim waved away by the ref. McPhail then missed a sitter after a Clemie fisted save rebounded to him.

Killie had weathered the first half wind, and went into the dressing room relieved, looking forward to the second half, with the conditions then in their favor.

Second Half

After 48 mins, Killie's Connell mis-hit a shot goalwards only to have winger Aitken redirect a first time shot past Hamilton in the Rangers' goal.

Minutes later Connell hit the post for Killie and then "Mattha" Smith narrowly missed putting  Killie two up.

Archibald and Fleming had Rangers best chances but could not convert.

After 77 mins Connell sent a great through ball to Cunningham  and the youngster shot past Hamilton from the edge of the box, to the keeper's left.

In the closing moments Rangers Buchanan became the first player sent off in a Scottish Cup Final, for un-gentlemanly conduct for swearing at the referee, as Rangers frustrations boiled over.

Kilmarnock: Clemie, Robertson, Nibloe, Morton, McLaren, McEwan, Connell, Smith, Cunningham, Williamson & Aitken.

Crowd: 114, 708

Road to the Final: SF Celtic 1-0, QF Raith Rovers (A) 3-2, Rd 3 Albion Rovers (A) 1-0, Rd 2 Bo'Ness (H) 3-2, Rd 1 Glasgow Uni (H) 8-1.

Spence (manager) & McCulloch (Chairman)
with the 28-29 Cup

1928-29 Scottish Cup Winners Kilmarnock FC

Kilmarnock 2 Rangers 0(Scottish Cup Final, Hampden Park, April 6th 1929)

For the second time since the war (the 1st World War) Kilmarnock captured the Scottish Cup with an upset win over the mighty Rangers the holders at Hampden Park. Killie had beaten Celtic in
The match was witnessed by 114,708 spectators, with several thousand being locked out of the match due to a mix-up prior to the match.

Rangers had just won the championship losing just 1 match all season and were therefore heavy favourites going into the match.

Books by John Burnett

It was mentioned, in the introduction to John Burnett's talk (24 January) about Crowds in 19th. Century Ayrshire, that John had published several books.  A couple are listed below and the titles give an indication of the subject matter.


Books by John Burnett - National Museum of Scotland.

	Riot, Revelry and Rout: Sport in Lowland Scotland Before 1860 Paperback: 297 pages Publisher: Tuckwell Press Ltd (8 Dec 2000) /gp/author/ajax/book_details.html?ie=UTF8&work=1862320039&entity=B001K86HWQ Expand See Book Details
	Robert Burns and the Hellish Legion Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: National Museums of Scotland (16 Jan 2010)

Unknown Photograph Identified!

Through the efforts of Frank Beattie, the location of the shop in the old photograph, previously posted, has been identified.  We think it is what used to be the picture framer's shop next to the Palace Theatre, which was the business premises for many years of the late Jimmy Little.  Compare the photos below.

Another First for Scotland

A few lines written on a 16th-century pay slip could put paid to the notion that England, rather than Scotland, was the first to make a great leap forward in transportation. For millennia the bone-jolting cart was the height of wheeled luxury – but then came the joy of horse-drawn carriages, with genuine suspension to soften the road. 

Historian John Harrison recently uncovered a document at National Archives of Scotland which suggests that a horse-drawn carriage had been transported from France to Scotland by 1552 and was kept at Stirling Castle. The arrival of this Continental novelty would have been a big flouncy feather in the cap for the kingdom, as it jockeyed with England to prove it was a full part of the modern European mainstream, up with all the latest trends.

The full article can be read here
The Scots did it First!!