{"id":129,"date":"2024-06-12T10:41:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T10:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/?p=129"},"modified":"2024-06-12T20:03:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:03:40","slug":"bridging-a-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"Bridging a gap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What is it that links people as disparate as footballers Duncan Ferguson and Billy Bremner*; King James VI of Scotland and I of England#; jockey Willie Carson*; journalist Kirsty Young \u00a7 and former Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman\u2260?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All have a deep association with the ancient Royal Burgh, and now city, of Stirling in central Scotland. Traditionally thought of as the place that bridges the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, its strategic importance meant that the town was a key battle site in the Wars of Independence in the late 13th<\/sup> and early 14th<\/sup> centuries. (Notably, the \u2018Battle of Stirling\u2019 depicted in the quasi-historical romp Braveheart<\/em> correctly recorded a Scottish victory on the day but substituted almost every other detail from a much later battle.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be visiting Stirling tomorrow, to take part in the annual conference held by the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP) \u2013 although we\u2019ll be based at the university campus, so outside of Stirling proper. Still, I\u2019m looking forward to going back to Scotland and to a part of the country I haven\u2019t visited previously. How much I\u2019ll get to see of the city and its environs is debateable; the conference programme is packed and I\u2019m heading home straight after the conference ends. Still, the journey there and back should be scenic at least. I\u2019m always struck, when travelling north of the border that, outside of the big cities, there is a more civilised pace and tone to life compared with much of England; less traffic, less pollution, less crowding altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking about the theme of the forthcoming conference \u2013 Place \u2013 it highlights how much RSVP is a truly international research society, bringing together periodicals scholars from the UK, Europe and North America (and beyond) \u2013 acting as a bridge for sharing knowledge. So, Stirling is an inspired choice for this year\u2019s conference venue. My paper is going to  discuss the influence of various events in the USA on the launch and life of a short-lived illustrated London-based newspaper in the mid-nineteenth century. Look out for the next post sharing some highlights from the conference itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KEY TO STIRLING ASSOCIATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* – born in Stirling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# – crowned King of Scotland in Stirling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a7 – educated in Stirling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2260 – represented Stirling (Burghs) in Parliament<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is it that links people as disparate as footballers Duncan Ferguson and Billy Bremner*; King James VI of Scotland and I of England#; jockey Willie Carson*; journalist Kirsty Young \u00a7 and former Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman\u2260? All have a deep association with the ancient Royal Burgh, and now city, of Stirling in central … <\/p>\n

Read more “Bridging a gap”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthewstephens.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}