lecture – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

The Birth of Rugby in Edinburgh

CITY ART CENTRE: Thursday 29 May 2025 at 2:00pm

Join us for ‘The birth of rugby in Edinburgh’ – A Lecture to celebrate Edinburgh900: City of Leisure.

A view of the action from the first rugby international, Scotland v England, played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh in 1871.

Book here: https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/…/birth-rugby…

The birth of rugby in Edinburgh: how the handling code captivated the city and led to the first international in 1871.

Edinburgh is right at the heart of rugby history, with the world’s first rugby international played at Raeburn Place in 1871, between Scotland and England.

Rugby was the dominant code of football for the city’s schools from the 1850s onwards and Andy Mitchell will detail the series of events that led to the carrying game gaining the upper hand, explaining why young men in Scotland’s capital played rugby football almost exclusively until association football finally made a breakthrough in the 1870s.

The pioneers created a legacy that remains with us today as rugby continues to be a thriving sport at school, club and international levels.

Andy Mitchell is a Scottish sports historian who runs a dedicated sports history website and has written several books including a Who’s Who of Scotland footballers and the story of the first international match.

He was brought up in Edinburgh and when he went to his first football match in 1970 – an Edinburgh derby, no less – he was immediately hooked on the game despite attending a rugby-playing school.

He was fortunate enough to have spent most of his career in the media working in football, as Head of Communications at the Scottish Football Association and as a freelance media officer for UEFA. Now retired, he lives in Portobello and is researching sports history as vigorously as ever.

Edinburgh is 900 Years Old!

In 1124 King David I introduced a new system of local government into Scotland by creating royal burghs as part of his efforts to reform the nation’s economic and political structures.

Edinburgh was one of his first royal burghs, along with Berwick, Dunfermline, Roxburgh and Stirling.

While there is no surviving founding Edinburgh charter, an 1127 Dunfermline Abbey royal charter refers to ‘my burgh of Edinburgh’. In 1128, Canongate Burgh was created for Holyrood Abbey.

After the Reformation, Edinburgh spent considerable effort acquiring the former abbey’s lands over the following 200 years. It acquired Canongate then created a new burgh for South Leith in 1636.

The burghs of Broughton, Calton and Portsburgh were also acquired and run by Edinburgh. This complex system of governance was abolished in 1856 when all burghs under the management of Edinburgh were merged into a single burgh.

In 1833, Portobello and Leith were made independent parliamentary burghs under the Burgh Reform Act. They ran their own affairs until amalgamated into an expanded Edinburgh in 1896 and 1920, respectively. 1975 saw the last expansion of the city’s boundaries, including Queensferry, which had been made a royal burgh in 1636.

Edinburgh has selected 2024 to mark the start of the 900th anniversary of our city, and to tell the story of Edinburgh’s journey through the centuries from the 12th century City of David right up to the 21st century, the City of Diversity.

Our talks at the City Art Centre will celebrate the 10 themes and will span a period of summer 2024 until August 2025.

Compassion in World Farming: Dame Joanna Lumley delivers Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture

“We must listen to our hearts, not our heads,” reveals Dame Joanna Lumley in lecture on compassion honouring charity’s late founder

We should include all life in our circle of compassion and we must listen to our hearts, not our heads. That was the clear message from Compassion in World Farming patron, Dame Joanna Lumley, as she delivered a lecture on compassion to a packed theatre yesterday (2 April) in honour of the charity’s late founder, Peter Roberts MBE.

The BAFTA-winning actress, TV presenter and longstanding champion for animal welfare shared her thoughts on the true meaning of compassion at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre this afternoon.

She said: “I was taught that compassion doesn’t have limits … we need to include all life in our circle of compassion. We have to listen to what our hearts say, not our heads.

“What has happened to us? We have become a kind of virus eating too much meat for our own health. Eighty billion farm animals are slaughtered every year and 70% are reared in factory farms.

“Peter Roberts taught me that it’s not enough not to harm something. You have to fight to do the right thing. By engaging with like-minded spirits, it really helps us to be stronger together.”

The event, part of the 25th Oxford Literary Festival, saw Dame Joanna interviewed on stage by Compassion’s Global CEO, Philip Lymbery.

Among the many topics discussed were how she developed empathy for animals as a young girl, her admiration for Her Majesty the Queen, and what made her become such a dedicated supporter of the international farm animal welfare charity.

Philip, who is also the best-selling author of books Farmageddon and Dead Zone – Where the Wild Things Were, said: “I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to discuss the true meaning of compassion with our dear friend Joanna Lumley today, particularly at a time when there is so much conflict in the world.

“These are dark days for humanity and for animals, and it is more important than ever to counter this darkness with the light and hope for a more just, peaceful, and compassionate world. We all need to be kinder, not just to ourselves but to one another, to animals and to all life on this planet.

“Factory farming remains the biggest cause of cruelty on the planet. But there is a better way, based on compassion and kindness – ending all cages and letting animals experience the joy of living.

“We are enormously thankful to Joanna for all she does to support our work to make that a reality and for providing such a wonderful lecture today in memory of Compassion’s founder, Peter Roberts.”

Peter Roberts and his wife, Anna, established Compassion in World Farming in 1967 from the kitchen table of their Hampshire dairy farm after they became horrified at the development of intensive factory farming.

They took up the cause of farm animal welfare and the disconnect between food production and nature at a time when few others shared their concern.

They would be proud that, today, Compassion is a powerful global movement, with offices in 12 countries, achieving profound and enduring advancements in farm animal welfare and highlighting the impacts of factory farming on animals, people and the planet.

For further information about Compassion in World Farming visit www.ciwf.org

The shape of things to come: from Napier’s bones to future science

A whirlwind tour of advances in science and engineering is to highlight just how far we have come since John Napier devised his calculating bones and changed mathematics forever. Professor Jim Al-Khalili (above) is heading north to take an Edinburgh audience on a journey through the cutting-edge developments which will change the way we live. Continue reading The shape of things to come: from Napier’s bones to future science

Alex Salmond to address Saltire Society

Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond will give a special lecture to celebrate the Saltire Society’s 80^th anniversary at the Royal Society of Edinburgh tonight.

Entitled ‘Inspiring Scotland – 80 years of the Saltire Society’, Mr Salmond’s lecture will focus on the history of the Saltire Society and its varied contribution to Scotland’s public life, culture and society since being set up in 1936. As part of the lecture, Mr. Salmond will also consider what Scotland’s future might hold and its changing place in the world.

The event is open to the public and tickets are free but must be booked by emailing saltire@saltiresociety.org.uk. Tickets can also be booked through the Saltire Society website, www.saltiresociety.org.uk.

Ahead of the lecture, Mr Salmond said: “The Saltire Society is a superb collective where Scottish culture is preserved, nurtured and most importantly, enjoyed, across the globe. As we approach a century of their great work, I am thrilled to be able to host this event and look back on eighty years of Comann Crann na h-Alba. Long may their work – and celebrating everything it means to be Scottish – continue.”

Alex Salmond was first elected as an SNP MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987 and first became leader of the SNP in 1990. He was elected First Minister of Scotland following the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections in which the SNP beat Labour into second place and became the largest single Parliamentary party. He then led a minority SNP administration until the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, at which the SNP won an overall majority.

He led negotiations on the terms of the 2014 Referendum on Scottish Independence. On the day after the referendum vote, he announced his intention to resign as Leader of the SNP and as First Minister immediately following the SNP’s Annual Conference in November 2014, where he was succeeded as SNP Leader and First Minister by Nicola Sturgeon. He is currently MP for Gordon where he won 48% of the constituency vote at the 2015 UK General Election.

Jim Tough, Executive Director of the Saltire Society, said: “We are very excited to announce that former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond will be addressing the Saltire Society on its 80^th anniversary. We are enjoying an extremely busy year of events, awards, and lectures to celebrate 80 years of the Saltire Society and I believe this will be another great highlight.

“I am very much looking forward to what I’m sure will be a fascinating and thought-provoking lecture and would encourage anyone interested to come along and join the audience for what is bound to be a very popular event.”

The lecture will take place at 6.30pm tonight at The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street.

Search for sacred in music ‘as strong today as ever’

‘Scotland, now more than ever, needs to hear a wide range of perspectives rather than a narrow orthodoxy.’ – Professor Sir James MacMillan

Distinguished Scottish composer and conductor, Professor Sir James MacMillan, will argue that the “search for the sacred in music is as strong today as it ever was” and is the “bravest, most radical and counter-cultural vision a creative person can have” in a lecture at Glasgow’s St. Mungo’s Museum next Thursday (19 May). Continue reading Search for sacred in music ‘as strong today as ever’