November 2016 Meeting

November 17th   7:30 pm,      Abbey Church Hall Derek Larkman – “Jute, Jack and Journeyings” Lieutenant Commander Larkman served in the Royal Navy, in frigates, carriers and Polaris submarines as well as a in a variety of shore appointments. After...

Frank the Tramp and the Minister’s Dinner

by Dr. Jean Barclay DID YOU KNOW… about Frank the tramp who stole the minister`s dinner? In the 18th century Scotland, when the population was only between one and two millions, hundreds of beggars wandered the roads. A few were privileged `blue gown` beggars...

The Abbey’s upmarket toolshed

In the following article Sue Mowat corrects some common misconceptions about an unusual small building in the Abbey churchyard and also tells of the opening of the first museum in Dunfermline.   The Abbey Graveyard Toolhouse by Sue Mowat Near the east gate of the...

The Abbey Graveyard Gun

By Sue Mowat Guns were a hot topic in Dunfermline in the summer of 1857, more specifically the town’s newly-acquired trophy of the recent Crimean War. Among the Russian armaments captured at the fall of Sevastopol had been more than 300 cannon from the fort of Redan....