Tartouffe

A bane faced by many a photographer is “stealth” of photographs. Pratap (@pixelshooter) has posted a pretty detailed take on this earlier which I read today. At around the same time, I noticed the comment shown below on the above photograph of mine. This got me thinking and led to this posting.

However, before we get into the dilemna I am facing, some basic definitions and understanding.

Copyright

Firstly what is a copyright? I find this article to be a good explanation of what a copyright is. After you read that, you might want to read a little more about copyright myths by the same author.

Photographs taken by an amateur photographer like me as a part of his/her hobby are buy default the copyright of the photographer.

License

A license refers to the act of authorizing use (under applicable intelectual property laws) by the licensor to the licensee sparing the licensee from a claim of infringement brought by the licensor. A more detailed explanation is on the wiki.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons is a non-profit organisation devoted towards expanding the range of “creative” works available for others to build upon legally and share further. In many ways, Creative Commons is to creative work, what “open source” is to software. Creative Commons defines many licenses under which one can license one’s work. Depending upon the license you choose, the restrictions that apply on the licensee when he/she/they use your work changes. The advantage obviously is that while you keep the copyright, you also allow others to copy and distribute your work provide they give you credit under the conditions you specify.

What license to choose?

That of course brings me to the topic of what license to choose. If you are feeling a little lost with all the jargon – I know I was – there is a simple way of deciding using this page on the Creative Commons website. Personally, I have used the following 2 licenses

1. Attribution-Share Alike
2. Attribution-Non commercial-No Derivative Works

Dilemna

As you can see from the 2 links above, the first is far more “relaxed” as compared to the second. After I came across Creative Commons, around 2 years ago, all my photographs where shared under Attribution-Share Alike. Some time in the past I got into this thinking that I while I want my work to be available to others to copy and distribute, I don’t want them to use the same commercially or derive other things from my work. Hence the move to Attribution-Non commercial-No Derivative Works. I am however wondering on the “No Derivative” clause currently. I need to figure out if there is a license from CC which allows me to share my work, enforce a “non-commercial” clause but still allow for derivatives which are further shared alike by the licensee. That would achieve my want to contribute and get the community to grow. I am sure those of you who swear by Open Source, get where I am going with this and what is driving this thinking!

Let me know what you think

FOGS Lammas newsletter XIV-3 August 2003

Ups and Downs
COUNTING on the state to care for our monuments has never been the FOGS way. In the northeast we like to check matters for ourselves and have always be quick to relay information to government when an ancient site appeared under threat. We are all aware of the lack of interest shown by Historic Scotland for ‘unscheduled’ sites – a situation where the local on-the-ground network triumphs in adversity, and we continue to maintain our stance for full protection for all monuments. It is unacceptable, however, to find ‘scheduled’ monuments not being adequately conserved, simply for lack of staffing or funding.

Such is the case at the recumbent stone circle of Balgorkar or Castle Fraser NJ 715 125 where one megalith, knocked over during close ploughing, has remained fallen and damaged for over a year.

One remedy suggested by FOGS as long ago as 1989 and taken to the level of ratification in a preliminary paper by government but then shelved, is to compensate farmers for leaving a ‘set-aside’ buffer zone around a stone circle unploughed.

This not only avoids accidents such as at Castle Fraser, but allows visitor access and something close to the ‘feel’ of the original.

As we know, FOGS helped create such a ‘feel’ at Kirkton of Bourtie RSC (NJ801 249) last September with a bale circle surrounding the stones. Our offer to compensate the farmer privately to keep the resulting precinct unploughed – up to the equivalent of government ‘set-aside’ – was turned down, not because of the money, but because no other farmer was doing it! The bale circle lasted until July, but close ploughing has again prevailed, making the circle look even more derelict than before. This is an HS matter.

Thankfully many farmers leave a respectful distance around stones, but there are glaring exceptions. Is it not time for our politicians – if they profess to look after our heritage – to put their(our) money where it does most good? Every NE farmer owning or renting a field with a ‘scheduled’ antiquity would cost the state approximately £200 per site at a generous estimate. Some (single monoliths or avenues) would rate less.

Bureaucracy is welll-placed to administer such a payment (combination of HS scheduling and agricultural set-aside systems), but close ploughing continues. Fourteen years is a long time for FOGS to remain silent. It seems it may be time for us to flex our stoney muscles once more.
©2003-2009MCY

2003 AGM at Balquhain

Balquhain recumbent stone circle and quartz outlier

The horizon is blocked only on the North by Gallow Hill; other Garioch stone circles are clearly visible and, for those who like spectacular celestial events to mark their AGM, there is the Bennachie equinox sunset roll-down as a bonus.

This is your invitation to attend FOGS 2003 annual meeting at 2p.m. Sunday September 21st at Balquhain, NJ 735 241. From A96 1m N of Inverurie take Chapel of Garioch turnoff (W) for 1 mile, passing Echo Vale; turn N (right) at Mains of Balquhain farm with its 13thC keep, follow farm track, and park at cottar houses. Access to Balquhain RSC is by field march & will be FOGS AGM signposted. The stone circle has been carefully wide-ploughed by the Strachans, although, as mentioned in our solstice news, they receive no compensation for doing this. Its main megaliths are cupmarked and, unique in the Garioch, a full-size all-quartz outlier seems to have equinoctial possibilities! All but one of its perimeter stones are in original positions. We are hoping for a good turnout, to foster our usual multi-discipline expertise in art, dowsing, astronomical alignment, geology and engineering – not to mention history, ritual and conjecture!

The MARS Effect
WITH Mars much in focus at present, at its perihelion on August 30thm 2003, three days after its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, it is gratifying to FOGS to find even local news stations giving the red planet a mention over the usual run of social unrest. After all, the last time we humans saw it so near and clear, we were emergent Neanderthals and it was 57,538 B.C. Or was it? Actually, Mars came close enough for a flurry of telescopes to appear in London on 23 August 1924 and on 18 August 1845. On both occasions the orb was within a similar distance from earth of 56 million km (34,646,000 miles). However it won’t come so close again until 28 August 2287.

Bourtie cross saved for public view

Bourtie steading 8thC Pictish cross

AS LONG AGO as 1990, FOGS questioned the stance of government (serving the public) in their acquiring portable antiquities but not providing adequate access to such acquisitions. A decade ago public access was not such a hot potato as it is now and, perhaps unnoticed, certain Pictish carved stones disappeared from view in the landscape.

Notable are the ‘Rhynie Man’ (in local government HQ Aberdeen), the Tillytarmont carved stones (in storage) and the Dyce Pictish and early-Christian stones. Historically local government has made little distinction between ‘rescue’ of a stone and where it was ultimately kept; the mere act of rescue seeming to outweigh the public access consideration. ‘Rhynie Man’ was ‘rescued’ and his former farmer owner compensated within ‘treasure trove’ legislation, but he remains on view only within office hours – inconvenient if you are a weekend visitor. Tillytarmont goose stone and its companions may only be viewed by permission – FOGS were once allowed a rare glimpse. The Dyce stones still languish in Edinburgh – rather a detour for an international visitor who has made the long trek to St Fergus chapel, Dyce, only to find a plaque in their stead. A Pictish landscape we may live in, but fewer Pictish stones are being seen in their context. And the public is not always as specialist as FOGS or as patient in its demands.

NInth century Pictish carved Maiden Stone on the slopes of Bennachie

Whether we agree or disagree with rescue per se, Pictish stones are a kind of grid or network by which we may measure our past and they belong to us all. Public opinion is presently swinging to full transparency and non-élitism; are the public servants listening?

FRIENDS OF GRAMPIAN STONES ARCHIVES ARE HERE DISPLAYED COURTESY OF CLEOPASBE11 and WORDPRESS
They consist of a random but chronological mix of newsletters of the Charitable Society which existed to promote the welfare and conservation of Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Pictish stones and monuments in Northeast Scotland from 1988 until it was dissolved in 2008. Further information is still available on its website

30 October, Friday.

With just one day until Halloween, I headed out in the morning with Thuy to San Paolo Fuori Mura, the basilica, to sketch. Adrian and Marcelo were supposed to come with us, but passed in favor of sleep—lame. We took a brief spin around the huge hall, then snagged spots on the courtyard steps to sketch the statue of Saint Paul. Thuy left early to catch her plane to Paris and I stayed to finish my sketch, then chilled at home for a bit. Shanna’s friends were out of town and she had procured pancakes, so we had a pancake dinner, a delightful taste of home. We played cards with the guys after, then Cindy and Caitlin K. left and Melissa, Jenny, and Elise, three girls from a west-coast art program who live downstairs, came over. We all got to know each other and talked about majors, art history, and how the girls had to take a wine class and made their own wine in their apartment.

We stopped by their apartment to get their jackets and met their roommates (three other girls and one resilient guy named Mc . . . something), and of course the guys had forgotten their names even though they’d already hung out with them once before, so I had to artfully rediscover them. Then all of us headed out towards Campo. We stopped at Scholars but, fortunately (I’m not the biggest Scholars fan), there were too many older people there, so we split and headed to our favorite Campo bar at the back corner. We hung out there for a while, then headed into Trastevere, which was packed with people out for a weekend night. The girls were still full of energy but me, Hugh, Roberto, and Marcelo and I were about ready to pass out, so we parted ways at Dog fountain and headed for home.

Al vell mig de Kyoto hi un gran parc anomenat Parc Imperial, o simplement Kyoto Gyoen. A l’interior es troben l’actual Palau Imperial de Kyoto, i el Palau de l’Emperador Retirat (encara que d’aquest darrer només en queden els jardins).

El palau que actualment es pot veure no es l’original, sinó un dels palaus exteriors del palau original, tot i que des de 1331, durant el regnat de l’Emperador Kogen, aquest es el palau que es va convertir en la residencia oficial dels Emperadors del Japó fins que el 1868 la capital es va traslladar a Tokyo. I com sol ser habitual en les edificacions japoneses antigues, diferents incendis i terratrèmols han fet que els edificis actuals siguin realment reconstruccions o construccions noves del 1855.

Foto: Arturo - Seisho-mon & Tsuiji-bei

Foto: Arturo

Sobre la visita específica del Palau Imperial de Kyoto, cal dir que aquesta es fa amb un guia oficial i en grup, amb un “guia escombra” que s’assegura que ningú es quedi retrasat (encara que cal dir en el seu favor que es força amable, i deixa que la gent acabi de fer fotos quan la gent marxa cap al següent punt sense dir gairebé res a no ser que es demori massa). La visita guiada pot ser en anglès o japonès (segons l’horari escollit, en que s’especifica l’ idioma), però no sabria dir-vos si el que diuen es gaire interessant perquè cap de les dues vegades que hi he anat he prestat gaire atenció (estava massa enfeinat prenent fotos i vídeos tractant d’evitar que es veies massa gent pel mig).

El recorregut de la visita es totalment exterior; no es deixa veure cap detall dels interiors, a no ser que siguin mes o menys (menys que més) visibles des de l’exterior, i només avarca la meitat del recinte total del palau, com es pot veure al mapa adjunt, on hi ha marcada la ruta que es segueix durant la visita.

Per accedir al recinte s’ha d’entrar per la porta Seisho-mon, que es troba al mur Est del palau. Des de allà es va fins a una sala on es pot veure un vídeo i adquirir alguns records, així com deixar les bosses en taquilles o prendre alguna cosa (d’una màquina) mentre s’espera l’inici de la visita. Durant  la visita es pasa per davant de la Kenrei-mon (o porta Sud) que només pot ser travessada per l’Emperador, i que es troba davant del Shisin-den, l’edifici emprat per les cerimònies solemnes (com la coronació de l’Emperador), davant del qual hi ha una explanada de sorra blanca que “reflexa la llum del sol”.

Shishin-den

Devant del Shishin-den hi ha un cirerer i un taronjer.

Per arribar aquí es pasa per davant del Shodaibu-no-ma, on es poden veure (des de l’exterior) les sales adornades amb portes correderes amb motius de tigres, grues i cireres de les sales on esperaven els nobles (tigres), oficials del govern o sacerdots (grues) i la resta de visitants (cireres).

Foto: Skaven - Trono Imperial al Seiryo-den

Després es pasa per davant del Shunkô-den (també anomenat Kashiko-dokoro), on es suposa que es guarda el mirall sagrat que forma part dels tres objectes de la Regalia Imperial. El següent edifici es el Seiryo-den, inicialment construït com a residencia privada de l’Emperador, des de la meitat del període Heian va pasar a fer-se servir només per cerimònies. Allà, des de l’exterior, es pot veure on es troba situat el trono imperial, des de el que es domina un petit pati en el que es poden trobar dos tipus de bambú que reben el nom  de dues dinasties xineses, Kure-take o bambú Wu, i Kara-take o bambú Han. El pati es envoltat per un petit corrent d’aigua que s’origina al llac Biwa (proper a Kyoto).

Shin Mikuromo-yose
Kenrei-mon	Foto: Arturo - Sunkô-den

La part final de la visita pasa per davant d’Oike-niwa, un jardí de tipus de passeig amb un estany (només es pot veure des de el llindar), davant del qual es troben el Ko-gosho o palau menor i el Gogakuman-jo (saló d’estudi), on es poden veure alguna porta decorada més, i finalment s’atravesa un pati força gran que condueix novament al lloc on has esperat abans de la visita, i que es també el punt en que s’acaba.

Oike-niwa	Oike-niwa
Oike-niwa
Foto: Skaven - Oike-niwa	Foto: Skaven - Oike-niwa

Com podeu apreciar en el mapa, la part del palau que es visita es realment petita, i no es poden veure cap dels detalls que realment serien interessants, com la decoració interior. Potser una visita una mica decepcionant si tens grans expectatives sobre el que podries arribar a veure (sobretot si compares amb edificis equivalents de casa nostre com podria ser el Palau d’Orient de Madrid), però inconvenients al marge per estar obligat a concertar la visita molt abans de ni tan sols sortir de viatge (les places, especialment en èpoques de màxima afluència de turisme s’esgoten ràpidament), es una visita interessant i gratuïta (una cosa força rara al Japó), si be en cas de no estar mases dies a la ciutat podria obviar-se sense que per això et perdis quelcom important.

Informació important:

• Lloc: Kyoto
• Entrada: gratuïta, però cal reservar amb antelació.
• Com arribar-hi: per arribar al Parc Imperial hi ha diverses opcions, però la que et deixa més a prop de l’entrada per accedir al Palau Imperial es la parada de metro Imadegawa, a la línea Karasuma.
• Web per reservar visita: http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/order/index_EN.html (en anglès)
• Web d’informació sobre el palau: http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/guide/kyoto.html (en anglès)

Coal Miners' Memorial (Roslyn, Washington)

A memorial and cenotaph honoring the heritage and sacrifice of area coal miners, located in Roslyn, Washington. Created in 1996, Coal Miners’ Memorial comprises three faces of a 5′ high tile wall, inscribed with the names of miners, surrounding a bronze sculpture of young coal miner depicted in period attire (1908-1920) leaving the mine at the end of a workday. It sits atop a podium inscribed with the names of those that were killed. The memorial is located on the NE corner of East Pennsylvania Ave and North 1st Street, kitty-corner from The Brick tavern.

Abdul Gaffoor Mosque

In Singapore’s ‘Little India’ known as Tekka, one can find the Abdul Gaffoor Mosque in Dunlop Street.  The mosque had its beginnings as a simple building in 1881.  Its trustee, Shaik Abdul Gaffoor Shaik Hyder, a lawyer’s clerk, built shophouses in the area allocated for the mosque and rented them out to raise funds to build the mosque.  Work on the present structure began in 1907 and was completed in 1910.  The architecture is a combination of Arab and Victorian styles.  It was gazetted a National Monument in 1979.

PLACES OF WORSHIP

In Singapore, a significant number of religious places of worship have been gazetted as national monuments.  These important landmarks reflect the multi-religious nature of Singapore society.  Many of these religious landmarks also have a long history dating back to the early immigrant communities who settled down in 19th century Singapore.

Most of the early places of worship were located in the town area, especially around Telok Ayer Street which used to abut the sea, as well as in South Bridge Road.  The most interesting streets in Singapore in so far as religious monuments are concerned are Waterloo Street where you can find the Maghain Aboth Synagogue, the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, and the Sri Krishnan Temple; and Telok Ayer Street, home to the Thian Hock Keng Temple, the Al-Abrar Mosque, Telok Ayer Methodist Church and Nagore Dargah Mosque.

www.lesliestjohn.com

The Malay Cultural Centre (former Istana Kampong Glam)

The Malay Cultural Centre is in the heart of Kampong Gelam (sometimes spelt ‘Glam’), one of the earliest Malay settlements.  The building was once known as Istana Kampung Gelam and was the palace of the family and followers of Sultan Hussein Mohamed Shah, the man Stamford Raffles brought in from Pulau Penyengat in Riau to become the titular head of his new-found colony.

In 1820, the Istana occupied an area twice the size of the present compound.  This property was halved when Victoria Street was built across the compound.

Over time, the compound and building became dilapidated.  In 1999, the Malay Heritage Foundation was formed to restore the premises and building so as to transform it into a beautiful and meaningful Malay Heritage Centre.  The museum’s 9 galleries present the history, culture, role and contributions of Singapore’s Malay community.

The Capela dos Ossos (English: Chapel of Bones) is one of the best known monuments in Évora, Portugal. It is a small interior chapel located next to the entrance of the Church of St. Francis.

The Capela dos Ossos was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who, in the Counter-Reformation spirit of that era, wanted to prod his fellow brothers into contemplation and transmit the message of life being transitory. This is clearly shown in the famous warning at the entrance “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos” (“We, bones that lie here, for yours await”).

The lugubrious chapel is formed by three spans 18.7 meters long and 11 meters wide. Light enters through three small openings on the left. Its walls and eight pillars are “decorated” in carefully arranged bones and skulls held together by cement. The ceiling is made of white painted brick and is painted with death motifs. The number of skeletons of monks was calculated to be about 5000, coming from the cemeteries that were situated inside several dozen churches. Some of these skulls have been scribbled with graffiti. Two desiccated corpses, one of which is a child, dangle from a chain.

06/11/2009 http://professionals.visitcostadelsol.com/bd/mostrar_noticia.php?ident=844&tipo=eventos

Nature, monuments, culture, food, good weather, special routes, sports, landscapes, peace and quiet… These are some of the attractions of country travel. Being aware of them, the Costa del Sol Tourist Board launched a plan early this summer to boost this segment. It is our Hinterland Tourism Advertising and Promotion Plan for Málaga Province.

Very soon after September 11, 2001,  the dual roles of the Ground Zero site became clear. The site was to act as a memorial for the victims and was at the same time a piece of prime real estate. These two were very hard to combine. For years nothing seemed to happen. Competitions were held, and various rather horrific combinations of memorial and profitable office space were selected and questioned over and over again.

Now, it appears that construction is finally on the way, and things are starting to come up out of the ground after 8 years. I’m not sure what it will be, whether it is Snøhetta’s, Foster’s, Rogers’, Calatrava’s or Libeskind’s building that will be there, possibly it has all been hijacked by SOM and generic office towers will fill in the gap. Whatever it is, it feels rather good that something is happening and that the scar will be healed eventually.

In one very definite sense was the hole the most effective memorial there could be. It is not about whether that would allow the enemy to win or not, but it puts the entire catastrophe into the present in a way a memorial could never do. As soon as a memorial is constructed, the event memorialized is effectively put into history. A scar drags the events of 9.11 into the present while a memorial, any memorial, no matter how it’s designed, will effectively put the events into the history books.

One could therefore argue that the scar in the urban fabric is the ultimate memorial, It keeps the events in the present forever, much more effectively than any memorial. It is this that every day reminds Americans in general and New Yorkers in particular about the “War on Terror”. The physical void corresponds to the psychological void in people’s minds in a very minimalistic but effective way. I find it interesting that the last parcel of land was handed over to the developers just when the US politics shifted focus from having the War on Terror as the top priority. The void could then hypothetically have been used as an instrument of politics, as a way of stretching, or bridging the past into the present.

The void itself is not empty, and the symbolism of the void can be quite powerful. A void is a something not a nothing, there is no Tabula Rasa. No matter how much symbolism you try to load into the office towers that will be built, they will just be buildings, and they will put this quite awkward period of America and the world into the history books rather than eternally revolving on the prime-time news. Construction on Ground Zero is making peace with the rest of the world, it is putting an end to the state of emergency that has served as an excuse for humans doing rather horrific things to each other for far too long.

It is interesting to look at why we construct monuments, sometimes we construct them not to remember, but to forget. We build memorials to allow ourselves to move on and detach ourselves from the past by loading a physical structure with the guilt, sorrow and other emotions. The memorial gives us a distance to the event its created to commemorate. It also provides us with a physical structure where we can remember, but the structure or space takes on many of the immediate emotions and memories. The structure remembers, history remembers, so we don’t have to. Our minds are liberated by it, free to go on with our lives and to live in the present instead of the past. In that way, the monument is a great structure, a very human structure that sets us free to live our own lives, in our own day and age.

National Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

FDR Memorial

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

The Empress Place Museum was originally built as a Court House and it housed the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements from 1867 to 1877.  The building was designed by Colonial Engineer, John Frederick Adolphus McNair.  In 1877, the Court moved back to its original home (Old Parliament House or now, the Arts House) and the Empress Place complex was transformed into a building for Government departments, and at one time, the entire colonial bureaucracy.  To locals, it was simply known as Government Offices.  In 1907, it was renamed Empress Place in memory of the late Queen Victoria.

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FOGS Newsletter FALL 2001 volume XII NO.4

5000-year old Dyce recumbent stone circle overlooks modern airport

It is perhaps at times of world crisis that thoughts turn to what we have done and what we can still do for our planet.

FOGS have traditionally supported both heritage and environment and, given the possibility of public funds becoming less fluid, we in Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire and Moray can be proud of our private involvement in conserving our unique cluster of sacred monuments.

While we mourn with our American brothers and sisters the loss of fellow travellers, we also spare a thought for those in Afghanistan who may have lost everything.

Our own heritage is not in immediate danger of being wiped out by a sudden coup, but we are well to remain alert to changes which may happen as a result of consolidation within Europe. Umbrellas, after all, should provide basics, i.e. shelter.

While there remains a significant gap between FOGS’ concept and that of deskbound administrators in a government department of what is of ancient and historical importance, there is still a place for us to keep our ‘on-the-ground’ vigil.

5000-year old Aikey Brae recumbent stone circle, Aberdeenshire

to mark as sacred the changes in season, on the whim of Mother Nature who still provides us with beauty all around if we have eyes to see it;
or, like the Picts, the demarcation of land by the placing of sacred stones for all to see.

While none of us would want to return to days of invoking earth spirits with sacrificial offerings in order to stay famine or plague, it is not without purpose that the Northeast remains one of the most beautiful landscapes in which to contemplate our beginnings – and possibly even our endings.

People worldwide right now are contemplating their spiritual home; their genuine priorities, their way forward. Perhaps for us it is to show to others what Nature [with a little help from her FOGS friends] has kept alive these past 5000 years: call them sacred sites, power points, places of astronomical anomaly or community focus – what you will – they are on our doorstep, part of our spiritual heritage and worthy of our attention. ©2001MCY

Another Pictish cross-stone

Pictish early Christian cross reused in kirkyard wall, Bourtie, Inverurie

Pictish 8thC cross stone embedded in steading, Kirkton of Bourtie Aberdeenshire

Door to church at Migvie, carved to commemorate the Pictish stone in the kirkyard

Dyce Symbol Stones update

Dyce Class II Pictish stone with elaborate fish-tail ogham on rear

RCAHMS forges on
Following exclusive coverage in our spring newsletter and your many letters to Parliament in support of RCAHMS, the unsung heroes of the Royal Commission’s ground force are continuing their massive survey of Aberdeenshire, the last county in the series begun in 1908. While much has been added to the National Monuments Record over recent decades, we await results with interest as the ‘Strathdon’ survey turns over every rock. Watch this space.

Fetternear’s bonus discoveries
Following their kind invitation to hold our 2001 AGM at the medieval Bishops’ palace of Fetternear, team project directors Drs Penny Dransart and Nick Bogdan excitedly revealed an array of new discoveries at the excavation site outside Kemnay. In addition to expected evidence on the enormous size of the palace grounds, it appears to have been the successor to a series of sacred buildings, with earlier [Bronze Age] settlement occupation on high ground at the palace rear.

Also on this plateau were found worked flint and other tools linking the site to possible earlier use of the ground in both Neolithic and even Mesolithic periods.

James Kenworthy, Paul Gerderd and a keen group of volunteers [both student and FOGS-based] assisted the progress of work on this most intriguing summer project. If further funding can be secured to ensure an eighth season in 2002, it is possible the true strategic significance of Fetternear within the history of the Pictish Church in the North may become clear.

It is also thought that its Jesuit links at the Reformation are an indication of its dominance as an ecclesiastical centre, dating not only to the time of the Norman kings, but to a place of sacred sanctuary or monastic foundation, the focus of education, pastoral care and religious works from the Pictish era, when eighth-century Class II Christian carved stones begin to appear. Because of the very few Class II stones within Aberdeenshire [by comparison with a relative bevvy of such beauties in Moray, around Elgin, Spynie, Gordonstoun, centred on Kinneddar], any discoveries of this kind of sculpture at Fetternear would make the project directors very happy indeed.

FOGS SPRING EQUINOX NEWSLETTER 2002 volume XII no.2

Bishop's Palace, Fetternear; heritage project under threat

QUANGOS are non-Governmental, but the Executive seems to have become ‘responsible’ for them, as non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)- a different animal altogether.

This issue deals almost exclusively with this matter because it would appear ministers have not initiated adequate consultation within professional and academic groups whose opinion is of supreme importance. If bureaucratic systems are implemented wholesale, the work of generations of fine minds may be relegated to the bin in a ‘baby-with-bathwater’ attempt at civil service rationale. We may not wish to comment on internal Parole Board workings or how the Royal Botanic Garden educates the planet. It is relevant to FOGS, however, that some of our greatest institutions with documentary evidence of our heritage collected over centuries, may be under immense threat.

Wishing to go further, the Executive is now looking at all Scots public bodies and the ‘role they play in delivering Ministers’ policies’. Overall aim is to modernise infrastructure by reduction or initiating appropriate systems, to ensure appointments are ‘suitable’ and that ‘public bodies are properly accountable to Ministers and Parliament.’

We all know that we live in the most over-governed small country in the world. Within it, nevertheless, are national treasures, resources and a long history of care for heritage and environment independent of bureaucrats. Our voluntary groups and charitable societies rival any in the English-speaking world. There are descendants of Scots in every nation, many of whom despair of our careless disbanding of tradition, value and history, seen in recent government efforts to remake ‘cool Britannia’.

It seems ‘Scottish Ministers want the changes to the framework within which public bodies operate to yield lasting benefits and to command widespread support.’ This initial review will not be the last word. The process of dialogue and consultation invites comment by April 12th 2001 [address below], but will continue beyond May. Every public body which remains will be subject to a ‘modernized, focused rolling review process.’

Annex B of the consultation document states ‘if the case is not made for the QUANGO, we will abolish it.’

One wonders how, for instance, the National Library, legal repository for every work published in Great Britain and Ireland, having an unrivalled Scots collection, will fare.

The Ancient Monuments Board has traditionally advised ministers on the exercise of their functions under the Act of 1979. Do ministers now intend a little rôle reversal to advise the Board on how they should guard monuments?

The Royal Commission (RCAHMS) is under most pressure. How will it fit into the category of ‘what Ministers want’? It has an unparalleled (& efficient) library in Edinburgh which gives members of the public unlimited access to archive material collected since 1908. Its enormously innovative & important Canmore website is an independent project like Monuments on Record on CD-ROM, published to mark its 90th anniversary. ‘Canmore’ database attracted 50,000 searches in its first year on the Internet. Recognised as a charity with the Capital Taxes office [SC026749], able to apply for independent funding via Heritage Lottery Fund, the Commission provides a niche for high-profile, irreplaceable archives; but just as NASA and JPL are dependent on amateur astronomers for unusual material, RCAHMS has accepted personal photographic and documentary historical research donated over the years by amateurs. The present much-needed ‘Strath Don’ survey of Aberdeenshire is possible only because RCAHMS technicians are single-minded, dedicated professionals; not a blade of grass is left unturned nor a single mound unexamined. Instead of this remarkable heritage, are we to receive short shrift from a civil servant with a budget to watch? Will our ancient land once again become amalgamated and manipulated to suit some jargon-filled programme?
We invite you to write in support of RCAHMS before April 12th (2001) to:
Scottish Executive, Public Bodies Review Team,
Room 318,16 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3DN
Fax: 0131 244 5077
e-mail: ndpbreview@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Resources Relevant to RCAHMS
MANY FOGS members will know that the English equivalent of Historic Scotland currently wants to pass through the Lords the Culture and Recreation Bill (H.L.) which would give English Heritage extraordinarily sweeping intellectual property rights relating to ancient monuments and historic buildings, including ‘any other intangible assets’ – wording of a clause which it seeks to insert into 1983’s National Heritage Act. If exercised, such rights could significantly undermine work of independent charities, freelance professionals and owners of such properties. As drafted, it could infringe authors’, illustrators’ and photographers’ rights and undermine legitimate arrangements on intellectual property and other rights.

When moved for a second time on 18-01-2001, Lord Scott of Foscote, a Law Lord, observed that it seemed to contravene the Human Rights Act, pointing out: ‘it surely could not have been intended that the exploitation of intellectual property rights (relating to monuments and historic buildings) should be privately owned rights’. Prehistorians and archaeologists are alarmed that a similar situation might follow north of the border, if the present Scottish Executive Review of Public Bodies succeeds.

Among correspondence we have received, Dr PZ Dransart who works within both legislatures, gives a most succinct comparison:
‘Part V of the Culture and Recreation Bill (H.L.) is analogous to the Scottish Executive review. It intends ‘to remove anomalies which hamper efficient/effective delivery of public services’. Three new bodies are proposed, designed to be reconstituted as statutory bodies to ‘provide the Secretary of State with a basis for making grants’. It also makes changes to the way people are appointed to governing bodies of different museums.

‘As you mentioned, all these issues are interconnected. Independence and organisation of our national museums, libraries and RCAHMS is under threat from such proposals. It will dilute professionalism and make bodies less professionally accountable.

‘At present advertisements are placed in the press to invite applications for people to serve on the executive and advisory NDPBs. Paradoxically, the proposals may not even save money, as the Scottish Executive will have to appoint more civil servants to replace people who sit on those bodies.’
P.Z.Dransart, Univ. of Wales at Lampeter; archaeologist Episcopal Palaces project Fetternear, Aberdeenshire.