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University Collections

Encyclopaedia of the North East

T - Tap o Noth to thack

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A large ornate printed capital letter T with tartan samples, a walking stick, thatching tools, a pair of shoes, a bonnet, a helmet and some archaeological objects.

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Tap o Noth 
A conspicuous hill near Rhynie, crowned by a large vitrified fort.

A high and strong wall is the most obvious form of defence against an actual or imagined disaster. Yet walls are easily broken by a determined attacker or natural catastrophe. Today war is the province of professionals with no place for local militias. Even the protection of civilians is now in the hands of a professional agency whose role is in the coordination of resources in the event of plane crashes, floods and the like as well as war. 

Terret. A bronze ring covered in a dark, smooth green patina. It has a small ring on one side. At the bottom of the main ring wide arms project from the sides and meet in the middle, curving up to a peg like projection.

Bronze rein-ring (terret) from the foot of Tap o Noth (1st - 3rd cent.)

ABDUA:15599

Axe head. A rough stone oblong axe head, with the inscription 39 HILL OF NOTH RHYNIE painted on.

Stone axe head from Tap o Noth, c2000-800BC.

ABDUA:19887

Cup. A small bowl like cup carved from a single piece of dark grey stone, with a blocky handle on one side.

Steatite cup from the hillfort on Dunnideer Hill, Aberdeenshire (100BC - 800AD).

ABDUA:17408

Gorget and breastplate. A brass gorget decorated with a crown, foliage and the initials G.R. with red fabric rosettes, an oval shaped breastplate with the initials G.R. and the text Old Aberdeen Volunteers.

Gilded gorget and breast-plate worn by Rev Professor Gilbert Gerard, Major Commandant of the Old Aberdeen Volunteers 1802.

ABDUA:17843, 19623

A certificate certifying a James S. Barclay as a member of the Aberdeen division of the Civil Defence Corps in 1949, and a silver badge with the initial A.R.P. and a crown.

Second World War Air Raid Protection (ARP) warden's lapel badge and Civil Defence Corps certificate.

ABDUA:17645, 17646

ARP helmet. A white metal helmet with a wide brim and a bowl shaped top, with the letter R painted on.

Second World War ARP helmet.

ABDUA:17644

Civil defence literature. A small booklet with a message from the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland explaining that civil defence is to "adapt ourselves to the reality that we at present must live with, and to prepare ourselves so that we could alleviate the suffering which war would cause if it came". Further in the text are headings such as "Why bother with civil defence?" and "But surely there is no real protection against a nuclear attack?".

Cold War era United Kingdom government civil defense literature (1986).

LEMUR:1000026

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tartan la19, tarton, tertane 16 n adj 
A woven cloth with a pattern of stripes of different colours crossing at right angles; such as a pattern esp one associated with a particular clan (although the ascribing of such is unhistorical). 

The clans begin to gather in Braemar days before the games begin. There is the Clan Mayfair, the Clan Belgravia, the Clan Chicago, the Clan Washington, with various septs and dependents wearing their national horn-rims and monacles. They gather in long touring cars. They fill the hotels for miles around with bright chatter of grouse and salmon. Here and there among them is a genuine laird whose knees are voted by the beautiful girls of the Clan Chicago "just too cute for woids".
H.V. Morton 1929. In Search of Scotland.

Carpet sample. A square piece of tartan carpet. Mainly red, with a narrow yellow and white grid pattern, a grid of wide bands of light and dark brown and mossy green, and dark blue, green and teal where the bands intersect.

Piece of carpet from Balmoral in Royal Stewart tartan (mid 19th cent.)

ABDUA:64518

Curtain sample. A rectangular piece of tartan curtain. White background, with narrow and wide vertical bands of light blue and red, and horizontal bands of dark blue and red, light yellow and black.

Piece of curtains from Balmoral in 'Victoria Tartan' (mid 19th cent.)

ABDUA:36865

Tartan Map of Scotland. A large folded up piece of paper with numerous swatches of different tartans on it.

Tartan map of Scotland, Aberdeen (1990).

LEMUR:1000021

Hamish McBear. A small teddy bear with a tartan bonnet and scarf.

'Hamish McBear', Aberdeen (1990).

ABDUA:63806

Bonnet. A white wool bonnet, flat, over a foot wide, with a pompom in the centre.

Knitted wool broad bonnet worn by Gen Sir Alex Leith, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire (late 19th cent.)

ABDUA:17963

Brogues. A pair of black leather shoes tooled with decorative dots and thistles.

Brogues worn with 'Highland Dress', Inverernan, Aberdeenshire (early 20th cent.)

ABDUA:15871

Sporran. A red leather flap with a decorative stitched border folds over a mass of brown hair hanging downwards. There are eight tassels of yellow cord arranged in two rows, also hanging downwards from the flap.

Sporran (19th cent.)

ABDUA:17971

Photograph of Edward VII. A large bearded white man wearing a black cap, tartan jacket and waistcoat, a shirt and tie, a tartan kilt with a small swastika on it, a sporran, stockings and shiny black leather shoes, holding a walking stick.

King Edward VII in highland dress.

ABDUA:30052

Walking stick. A crooked, knobbly wooden stick about a metre long with a crook at one end for a handle.

Walking stick made from pine root, Inverernan, Aberdeenshire (early 20th cent.)

ABDUA:19613

Brooch. A flat tarnished silver ring almost four inches wide with the word LONACH and a thistle incised on the front. On the back is a pin and the inscription Stewart Forbes 1853.

Plaid brooch worn by John Stewart Forbes of the Lonach Society, a society formed to promote highland dress, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire (1853).

ABDUA:18117

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thack la17c- 
1 n Thatch 
2 v To cover a roof with straw, reeds, heather etc. 
thack dairt n An instrument used in thatching. 

Thatching tools. A small wooden spade with two points, a metal spatula with teeth and a wooden handle, a two pronged metal fork with a wooden handle.

Stob spade (left) and thack dairts (right), tools used for thatching (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18847, 18846, 18848

Thraw cruik. A long hook shaped wooden rod, with a cord tied across the bend of the hook. There is a wooden handle with an loosely fitting hole and an iron disc allowing it to rotate.

Thraw cruik for making straw rope (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18836

Thraw cruik. A rod of iron with a hook at the top, bent at a right angle and then another at the bottom. On the straight part of the rod below the hook is a hexagonal length of wood which fits loosely enough to rotate. A similar, but fixed piece of wood forms the handle at the bottom.

Thraw cruik, Aberdeenshire (20th cent.)

ABDUA:36864

T - Tap o Noth to thack