Wow – don’t they look fantastic! These fine men and women who will be showing visitors round the refurbished royal palace when it opens in June.
Walking through apartments which are decorated and furnished in the style of a Renaissance Scottish palace is quite something. But meeting characters, from feuding nobles to maid servants, who can tell you all about what life was like there in the 1540s, is an even better way to get a sense of the past as a real place.
The new team of costumed interpreters are an impressive group of people – all with their own particular skills and talents, plus a real love of history. Among them are experts in history, period costume and 16th century landscapes as well as a former Royal Marine and someone who taught English in China. Quite a few have worked as stewards at Stirling or Edinburgh castles, and other major UK visitor attractions. They are excited about their new roles because it takes this kind of work to another level – some of the time they provide factual information, but they also slip into character and bring the past to life. And that bit is great fun. A couple of the men are up here this week for sword fighting practice, which gives you an idea of the sort of spectacles that we have in store.
There will also be lots of chances to find out about food and fashion – what it was like to dress and feed a queen, and how the ladies of the court educated the young Mary Queen of Scots. That’s the kind of thing Mairi Gibson will be talking about when she takes on the role of Lady Janet Fleming. Laura Tench, seen here as a noblewoman, will also be appearing as a chambermaid, to talk about her daily chores – and doubtless pass on some hot 1540s gossip.
The history – and authenticity is the key to everything the team will do – will be presented in a way that’s engaging and fun. One of the team, Joan Sewell, sees her job as being about highlighting that although the 1540s were incredibly different to 2011 in so many ways, the people had many of the same strengths, weaknesses, worries, fears, vanities and zest for life as any of us do today. But with all the emphasis on courtly manners and etiquette, plus tight corsets for the ladies, the palace folk of the 16th century sometimes had to express themselves in very different ways.
Gillian Macdonald, Executive Manager