The Meal-Mills of Your Mind...

Well, today was the day when I had to write up my paper on mills and milling.  I'd been pussy-footing around the matter for a couple of days, wildly reading up on the history of milling, the process of milling, etc.  I'm now familiar with the concepts of multure and thirlage, which I'm sure will come in useful somewhere.  By 10 am this morning, I still wasn't convinced I'd get a paper I was happy with. The word limit was quite tight - it's a note rather than a paper proper, but it has to be tackled in exactly the same way.  Writing a paper isn't the same as writing a report - you need a slant, an angle, and when you're doing a compare and contrast on two apparently nondescript sites, it can be difficult.

A little research does wonders.  I discovered that my two nondescript mills were in fact rather interesting.  With a brief trawl through information held in the National Archives of Scotland (Ah! The Internet!  Friend of the Lazy Researcher!!), I tracked one of my mills back to the Reformation, and therefore, by inferrence, the Medieval period.  My mill had, as I'd suspected been established by the local abbey.  I was fair chuffed by this discovery - the existing report had only traced it back to the 18th century.  Add a link with my local heroes, the Montgomerie family, and I was away.

I got my angle, and I got my paper finished.  Okay, it's a bit long, but it's sorted, and that's good news.  In a fit of madness, I batted it across to The Boss, who promised to read it.  Ulp!!  When I next set eyes on it, I daresay he'll have performed a brisk bit of butchery on it...

I have no pictures of meal-mills with which to wow you.  To make up for it, I shall post some pretty pictures of brochs tomorrow.

The Meal-Mills of Your Mind...

Well, today was the day when I had to write up my paper on mills and milling.  I'd been pussy-footing around the matter for a couple of days, wildly reading up on the history of milling, the process of milling, etc.  I'm now familiar with the concepts of multure and thirlage, which I'm sure will come in useful somewhere.  By 10 am this morning, I still wasn't convinced I'd get a paper I was happy with. The word limit was quite tight - it's a note rather than a paper proper, but it has to be tackled in exactly the same way.  Writing a paper isn't the same as writing a report - you need a slant, an angle, and when you're doing a compare and contrast on two apparently nondescript sites, it can be difficult.

A little research does wonders.  I discovered that my two nondescript mills were in fact rather interesting.  With a brief trawl through information held in the National Archives of Scotland (Ah! The Internet!  Friend of the Lazy Researcher!!), I tracked one of my mills back to the Reformation, and therefore, by inferrence, the Medieval period.  My mill had, as I'd suspected been established by the local abbey.  I was fair chuffed by this discovery - the existing report had only traced it back to the 18th century.  Add a link with my local heroes, the Montgomerie family, and I was away.

I got my angle, and I got my paper finished.  Okay, it's a bit long, but it's sorted, and that's good news.  In a fit of madness, I batted it across to The Boss, who promised to read it.  Ulp!!  When I next set eyes on it, I daresay he'll have performed a brisk bit of butchery on it...

I have no pictures of meal-mills with which to wow you.  To make up for it, I shall post some pretty pictures of brochs tomorrow.

Just for faerie_writer...

To inspire you, and fuel your Muse, here's some nice photos of Firenze.  Here's a view of the city from the Domo...

Here's a nice view of the Church of the Holy Cross....

And for fans of the Medici boys, here's the interior of the palace with a very nice loggia...

Good luck with your writing, and enjoy your Linda Proud book...

Just for faerie_writer...

To inspire you, and fuel your Muse, here's some nice photos of Firenze.  Here's a view of the city from the Domo...

Here's a nice view of the Church of the Holy Cross....

And for fans of the Medici boys, here's the interior of the palace with a very nice loggia...

Good luck with your writing, and enjoy your Linda Proud book...