The Orkney Archive hosts a Palaeography Group for anyone interested in reading and transcribing Scottish Secretary Hand. The Archive holds thousands of documents from the 16th and 17th centuries written in this script. The aims of the group are to have a regular place to learn and practice reading Secretary Hand, understanding the Scots language, and deciphering the documents. The stories can then be shared with a modern audience.
The group meets every 2 weeks on Mondays from 6pm - 7pm between October and June. They meet in person in the Archive Searchroom, but also online via Zoom. For each meeting, the Archivist picks a document to transcribe. The group then works through the document word by word, letter by letter, deciphering the script and discovering the meanings of the words.
The members all come to the group with different levels of skill and learn from each other along the way. So far the group has transcribed over 110 documents from the Archive. Click here to see a selection of documents we have transcribed since we began in 2019.
If you are interested in joining the group or just want to know more, please contact our Archivist, Lucy Gibbon. Our phone number is 01856 873166, our email is archives@orkney.gov.uk Once you are part of the mailing list, you will be sent notices of meetings, document images, transcriptions and other updates.
If you are new to Secretary Hand we recommend the Scottish Handwriting section on the Scotlands People website for tips and tutorials. For Scots Language help, please explore the Dictionary of the Scots Language website.
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