An Essay on the History of Written Language: Ivory Towers and Mythical Landscapes

This is an essay on the history of written language, it starts with a look at the mysterious figure of Socrates and his discussion of the god Thoth, reputed in myth to have created language.  This has been chosen as a starting point as this essay is already out of its depth in suggesting that such a subject can be tackled adequately.  We find ourselves confronted with the study of history and the art of historiography – what stories are told and how truely they hold any facts.  The most useful tool here will be a helping of doubt upon which a healthy scepticism to question things. Read more…

Singing The Law and Riding The City; The Story of Ghengis Khan by Donald Carrick

Donald Carrick takes us through a history of Ghengis Khan and raises questions about how we read history. He confers what we know about Ghengis Khan as a series of stories which we repeat to ourselves, and invites the listener to treat them as such. Talking about one of the biggest empires ever, Donald communicates some insights as to how this could have come about. Read more…

Working Men’s Clubs and Education by Dr Ruth Cherrington

It’s for a good reason that I gave my book on working men’s clubs (WMCs) the title ‘Not just Beer and Bingo!’ They were always about much more than drinking and low level gambling. I will outline here the important educational aspects that WMCs started out with which were part of their ‘self help’ ethos. Another article will follow WMCs into the 20th century describing how, whilst educational aspects declined, they did not entirely disappear. Read more…

Temujin Rising: How a Slave Would Change World History by Donald Carrick

In June 2015, Donald Carrick gave his talk ‘Temujin Rising: How a Slave Would Change World History’ at The Counting House. Almost everyone has heard of Genghis Khan, but what do you really know about him? In all likelihood if you know anything you know about his conquests and wars, about the huge numbers of people he killed, or about the huge numbers he fathered. None of this is wrong but it isn’t the whole story, life is never this simple. Read more…

29th Oct 2015: A Memory of Blood; Livestreaming and the Fall of the Mongolian Empire by Donald Carrick

Mongol Empire

Come along to The Counting House at 7pm to listen to Donald, share some food, and learn about the Mongolian Empire…

 

Title of Talk:

A Memory of Blood: Livestreaming and the Fall of the Mongolian Empire

Bullet Points of What You Would Like to Talk About:

  • The myriad narratives that could describe the aftermath of the rule of Genghis Khan
  • The conflict between those narratives, as real life does not conform to narrative and thus to the way we understand life. The inherent contradictions this illuminates in the human mind and our conceptions of the reality.
  • The fall of the Mongolian Empire after the death of Genghis Khan and the conflict between his children.
  • The conflict between our ingrained narrative thinking and the shape of the modern world. The dangers this poses to our sense of self and reality if not addressed.
  • The question of how history can be made use of in our conception of the current and future stories of reality we inhabit.

Read more…

1980 Review of Edinburgh Settlement’s Policy and Activities

This is a transcription of the 1980 review of Edinburgh Settlement’s Policy and Activities, which is a part of the historical archive held in trust.

Acknowledgements

The thanks of the staff team are due to those people who contributed, formally or informally – and whether knowingly or not – to the Policy Review: members of Council, Executive Committee and sub-committees; workers in the voluntary and statutory welfare sectors; and University personnel. Special thanks are due to Rodney Noble and Charles Stewart, who produced earlier discussion papers.
The staff team wishes to note its particular debt of gratitude to Isobel Lister, their colleague, who typed the first draft and Caroline O’Kelly, who typed the final version. Christine Dickson, Tony Graham, Sally Griffiths, Mairi Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Isobel Lister, Lis McHardy, Peter Ritchie, Frances Sturrock, Bill Wallace, Edith Wood. Read more…