Revealing Trimontium : The Correspondence of James Curle of Melrose, Excavator of Newstead Roman Fort / edited by Donald Gordon, Fraser Hunter, and Phil Freeman.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gordon, Donald, editor.

Hunter, Fraser (Museum curator), editor.

Freeman, Philip, 1959- editor.

Series:

Archaeological lives.

Archaeological Lives Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeologists--Scotland--Correspondence.

Archaeologists.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Scotland--Melrose (Scottish Borders).

Excavations (Archaeology).

Fortification--Scotland--History.

Fortification.

Melrose (Scottish Borders, Scotland)--Antiquities, Roman.

Melrose (Scottish Borders, Scotland).

Curle, James, 1862-1944--Correspondence.

Curle, James.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, [2023]

Summary:

The Roman fort of Trimontium is renowned internationally thanks to the work of James Curle (1862-1944) who led the excavations of 1905-1910. This volume brings together key sets of his correspondence which cast fresh light on the intellectual networks of the early 20th century, when professional archaeology was still in its infancy.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents Page

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction

Figure 1.1. James Curle later in life. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 1.2. Map locating Melrose and key northern British sites mentioned in the Letters. Ground over 250m is shaded.

Figure 1.3. Key British and Irish sites and findspots mentioned in the letters.

James Curle and his Letters

Figure 2.1. James Curle as a young man, c. 1890. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 2.2. The three Eildon hills which gave the fort its Latin name Trimontium, viewed from the east. © Lawrence Keppie.

Figure 2.3. The two-volume edition of Curle's 1911 Report. Photo by Neil McLean, © National Museums Scotland

Figure 2.4. Charles Hercules Read, Keeper of the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography at the British Museum, and a regular correspondent of Curle's. © Trustees of the British Museum

Table 2.1. The travels of James Curle derived from his passport (in the family's possession, covering 1886-1903), Letters or other sources. It will be incomplete for the period after 1903. Letter 4.10 implies a visit to Switzerland prior to 1913 but subse

Figure 2.5. Curle's passport. a: folded into a wallet. b: unfolded. The passport was authorised and signed by Viscount Rosebery, and signed by Curle bottom left. Photos by Donald Gordon, reproduced by courtesy of the family.

An Introduction to Trimontium

Figure 3.1. Aerial photograph showing the fort in the bend of the river Tweed, with the Eildon Hills in the background. © Crown Copyright: HES.

Figure 3.2. The fort area today, approached from the west, sitting on the plateau where the line of trees runs. © Fraser Hunter.

Figure 3.3. First-edition 6" Ordnance Survey map of the fort area, surveyed 1859, published 1863, with field names, the line of the 1846 railway, and stray Roman finds marked. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Figure 3.4. Excavations in progress at Newstead, 1905-1910, showing the main drain passing under the western fort wall. A view without the human scale was used in the Report (Curle 1911a: pl. 6.2). © Courtesy of HES (Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Col

Figure 3.5. Excavations by Bradford University within the fort, with Eildon Hill North in the background. © Fraser Hunter.

Figure 3.6. Location map

the inset shows the fort in the wider Antonine occupation. Drawn by Alan Braby, © National Museums Scotland.

Figure 3.7. Composite plan of the fort remains that Curle uncovered (drawn by Lorraine McEwan, after Curle 1911: plan facing p. 38)

Figure 3.8. Suggested phasing of the fort (redrawn from RCAHMS 1956: fig. 424)

Figure 3.9. The monument erected at the north-west corner of the fort in 1928

see also Figures 11.6-11.7. Photo by Neil McLean, © National Museums Scotland.

James Curle and his Archaeological World

Table 4.1. Antiquaries known to have corresponded with Curle, split by geographical area. For details, see Dramatis personae.

Figure 4.1. Excavation of the titulus outside the west gate of the fort, 1905-1910. © Courtesy of HES (Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Collection).

Figure 4.2. Copy of the Newstead face-mask owned by James Curle. Photo by courtesy of the Trimontium Trust, © J. Reid.

Figure 4.3. Selection of samian ware from Newstead. © National Museums Scotland.

Table 4.2. The contents of Curle's 1908 Rhind lectures, derived from reports in The Scotsman, and correlations with the published report.

Figure 4.4. The facet-cut glass beaker fragment from Birrens which Curle wrote up. © National Museums Scotland (X.FP 245).

Figure 4.5. Signatures of Curle and his wife in the Chesterholm (Vindolanda) visitor book (bottom left). a overall view

b detail. Two above Blanche Curle is R.G. Collingwood

two above him, F.G. Simpson. Ian Richmond is second from top on the right. By c

Figure 4.6. Drawing of a Byzantine spoon exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries of London by Curle in 1895. From the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London (second series) 15: 274.

Table 4.3. Summary of the Curle Letters published here, showing numbers of letters per year, source, key topics, and correlation with publications. SAS = Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Curle and Haverfield

Figure 5.1. Francis Haverfield. By courtesy of P. Freeman.

James Curle: A Man of Melrose

Figure 6.1. Portrait of Blanche Curle, by W.B. Nicolson. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 6.2. Portrait of James Curle in the costume of a Royal Archer, by W.B. Nicolson. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 6.3. James Curle at 'Harmony' with one of his grandchildren. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 6.4. 'Priorwood' with the Eildons behind. By courtesy of J.S. Crawford Contracts (Borders) Ltd.

Figure 6.5. 'Priorwood'. By courtesy of J.S. Crawford Contracts (Borders) Ltd.

Figure 6.6. The Abbey Street wall of 'Priorwood', rebuilt for Curle in 1905, showing the iron scoops designed by Lutyens, with the entrance towards the bottom by the modern sign. © Fraser Hunter

Figure 6.7. Detail of one of the Lutyens-designed iron scoops. © Fraser Hunter.

Figure 6.8. Lintel over the entrance from the 'Priorwood' garden to Abbey Street. a: overall view. b: detail. © Donald Gordon.

Figure 6.9. Melrose Curling Club c. 1895-1900 depicts male sporting society - landowners, professionals, shopkeepers - and one girl. There is a Who's Who of attendees but the passage of time has not made it easy to clarify. An article in the Southern Repo

Figure 6.10. Curle the curler, c. 1900. By courtesy of the family.

Figure 6.11. Plaque commemorating James and Alexander Curle and George Macdonald on the wall of 'Priorwood', the Curle family home. © Donald Gordon.

Glimpses of the Dramatis Personae

Figure 7.1. Reginald Allender Smith (1873-1940), curator in and later Keeper of the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities at the British Museum, and a regular correspondent of Curle. © Trustees of the British Museum.

Letter to Hercules

Figure 8.1. The broch at Torwoodlee, sitting within an older hillfort. Photo by courtesy of the Trimontium Trust, © J. Reid.

Figure 8.2. The three Torwoodlee fittings, re-scaled to 1:1

glass bangle top left, enamelled disc bottom left, terret on right. Modified from Curle 1892: figs 9-11.

Figure 8.3. Gaming pieces from Gotland, exhibited by Curle to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1895. From the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London (second series) 15: 273.

Figure 8.4. Curle's bookplate by Sir David Young Cameron, showing the south transept of Melrose Abbey. © Yale Center for British Art, The Edwin M. Herr, Yale PhD 1884, Memorial Collection

Gift of Mrs Herr, transfer from the Yale University Art Gallery.

Figure 8.5. Castor ware pot with hunting scenes, found in 1906. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 1392).

Figure 8.6. Burnt samian (interpreted by Curle as 'black samian') with stamp of Cintuginus. a overall view. b detail of stamp. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 1519).

Figure 8.7. Bronze jug with Bacchic head (detail). © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 1193).

Figure 8.8. The iron helmet and mask from Newstead. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 121).

Figure 8.9. The set of saddle horns from Pit XXII, interpreted by Curle as parts of armour. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 130).

Figure 8.10. The brass parade helmet from Newstead. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 125).

Figure 8.11. Bronze face mask from a parade helmet. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 123).

Figure 8.12. Detail of bone pin with female bust. © National Museums Scotland (X.FRA 688).

Figure 8.13. Postcard showing a chariot race at Newstead, by George Hope Tait. Image © Donald Gordon.

Figure 8.14. Curle's illustration of a rusticated jar (Curle 1911a: pl. 46 no. 29).

Figure 8.15. Decorated coarse ware pot imitating a Dr. 30 bowl. © National Museums Scotland.

Figure 8.16. Leather chamfron for a horse's head. © National Museums Scotland.

Figure 8.17. Gold beaker from Lambayeque, Peru, showing three repeated images of a high-status male (deity?) wearing a head-dress and ear-spools, carrying a ceremonial sceptre and either a banner or a trophy head on a staff. NMS A.1947.140.

Figure 8.18. The two silver cups from the Boscoreale Treasure used by Curle as parallels for samian (Héron de Villefosse 1899: pls XVII (2), XVIII (1)).

Figure 8.19. The finds from the Viking burial at Valtos/Bhaltos, Lewis, as published by Curle (Macleod et al. 1916: FIG. 1).

Figure 8.20. Glass beaker from Gotland of the Germanic Iron Age, cherished by Curle and purchased from him with the rest of his Gotlandic collection by the British Museum. © Trustees of the British Museum (1921,1101.381).

Figure 8.21. The Erickstanebrae late Roman crossbow brooch. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 50.22.14).

From Greece and Rome.

Figure 9.9. The helmet face-mask from Gazientep, Turkey. © Trustees of the British Museum (1919, 1220.1).

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781803275161

1803275162

OCLC:

1397571900