This week we have added 123,844 brand new pages to The Archive. We are delighted to have added four new Scottish titles to our collection, as we continue to augment our holdings for Scotland.

We have two new titles covering the Moray area, namely the Forres News and Advertiser and the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express. Our third new Scottish newspaper is the Renfrewshire Independent, for which we have so far published the years 1858 to 1877.

Our final new addition this week is the Devon Valley Tribune, which is not to be confused with the English west country county! Published in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, we have an impressive run of pages for this title, ranging from the end of the 1890s right up until the 1950s.

Devon Valley Tribune

We have not neglected our existing titles this week. Continuing with our Scottish theme, we have updated the Daily Review (Edinburgh), the Aberdeen Press & Journal and finally the Aberdeen Evening Express. England and Northern Ireland are represented too, with updates to the Staffordshire Sentinel and the Portadown News. Rounding off a week of wide-ranging updates is fascinating society publication The Queen, with new pages covering the early years of the twentieth century.

With the addition of the Forres News and Advertiser, our blog today takes a look at the historic town of Forres. A former royal burgh, and the location of Duncan’s castle in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is a town rich in both history and legend. Something that brings both together is the landmark that the town is famous for – Sueno’s Stone – the largest surviving Pictish stone in Scotland.

Illustrated London News | 21 November 1857

Standing at an impressive 23 feet high, and made from old red sandstone, Sueno’s Stone is thought to have been constructed over one thousand years ago. The structure is embellished with rich carvings, variously depicting a Celtic cross, as well as armed soldiers. Using our new and existing titles in The Archive, it is possible to take a look at the history of this ancient monument, as well as learning how it came to be protected in the late twentieth century.

In an account from our newly added title the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express, a possible explanation for the mysterious stone’s origins is given. It describes how one ‘Sueno, son of Herald, King of Denmark, having defeated the English and driven their king, Ethlerad, out of the kingdom, sought to be revenged on the Scots who had aided Ethelrad.’

A Danish army then entered Scotland, committing ‘great ravages.’ However, King Malcom II met these forces, and the stone ‘is said to be connected with this battle,’ commemorating the Scottish victory over the invaders.

Aberdeen Press and Journal | 15 October 1987

However, by the late 1980s, the condition of the stone had begun to deteriorate. In a letter to the Aberdeen Press & Journal, December 1987, one reader suggests that ‘it be removed to a local museum and a replica put in its place.’ However, in 1989 it was revealed that the stone was to be protected from erosion by a ‘glass-and-steel sheath,’ designed by architect Brian Paul.

Aberdeen Press & Journal | 3 December 1987

You can discover more about Sueno’s Stone in our Archive by using the search term ‘Sueno’s Stone,’ allowing you to unearth further Victorian accounts of its origins, and more contemporary articles concerning its preservation.

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated six of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

Register now and explore the Archive

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.