The making of the Ragman Roll: the work of the notary

Between the middle of May and the end of August 1296, during the course of a royal progress through the kingdom of Scots, via an eastern coastal route, having militarily asserted his authority over the leading nobles of Scotland, Edward I received into his peace the prelates, earls, barons, nobles and the communities of the realm of Scotland. Over 1500 individuals performed fealty, with those who held their lands in capite (that is, ‘in chief’, immediately of the Crown) doing homage as well. Fealty was performed either individually or in groups, and the acts were recorded in over 180 deeds, in the form of letters patent written in French, with each individual or community attaching their own seal. Of these original deeds, about seventy are extant, preserved in the records of the exchequer, collection E 39, ‘Scottish Documents’, at The National Archives in Kew

The execution of William Wallace: the earliest account

A newly discovered English source, which also marks the earliest record of William Wallace’s execution, confirms outright what historians had only suspected before: the reason that Edward I dealt so harshly with Wallace was that he viewed him as a pretender to the Scottish crown

Comforting sentences from the warming room at Inchcolm abbey

A fragmentary inscription from the fifteenth century is reconstructed and its source identified, offering an insight into the use of one proverbial source of morally and spiritually encouraging sentences, and opening another little window on to the books available to the canons of Inchcolm

The making of the Ragman Roll: the work of the notary

Between the middle of May and the end of August 1296, during the course of a royal progress through the kingdom of Scots, via an eastern coastal route, having militarily asserted his authority over the leading nobles of Scotland, Edward I received into his peace the prelates, earls, barons, nobles and the communities of the realm of Scotland. Over 1500 individuals performed fealty, with those who held their lands in capite (that is, ‘in chief’, immediately of the Crown) doing homage as well. Fealty was performed either individually or in groups, and the acts were recorded in over 180 deeds, in the form of letters patent written in French, with each individual or community attaching their own seal. Of these original deeds, about seventy are extant, preserved in the records of the exchequer, collection E 39, ‘Scottish Documents’, at The National Archives in Kew

A Case Study of the Population Ecology of a Topmouth Gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) Population in the UK and the Implication for Native Fish Communities

1. The topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva is a small Asian cyprinid species that has proved invasive throughout many European countries. Following an initial introduction into the wild in 1996, the species is now proving invasive in the UK, with at least 25 infested waters in England and Wales, of which 10 are known to have direct connection to a major river catchment. 2. To demonstrate the threat of P. parva to fisheries in the UK, a case study is presented on a lake located in the Lake District of England where the species was introduced in 2000. The species rapidly established a breeding population that, by 2003, was the dominant species in size classes <70 mm. In 2004, they were the only species in the lake that produced young-of-the-year. 3. Individual P. parva adopted the reproductive tactics of early maturity, multiple spawning, male dominance and male nest guarding; sexual dimorphism was manifested in larger body size of males. These traits were in contrast to the resident, native species of the lake, including roach Rutilus rutilus and gudgeon Gobio gobio, which adopted traits of later maturity and single spawning. 4. This case study, therefore, revealed relatively rapid establishment of a P. parva population, their subsequent numerical dominance of the fish community, and the impediment of the recruitment of native fish. The implications for UK fisheries are concerning: should P. parva continue to disperse and individuals adopt similar traits as those in this case study, there may be few waters immune from their invasion, numerical dominance and subsequent impacts

Octree-based production of near net shape components

Near net shape (NNS) manufacturing refers to the production of products that require a finishing operation of some kind. NNS manufacturing is important because it enables a significant reduction in: machining work, raw material usage, production time, and energy consumption. This paper presents an integrated system for the production of near net shape components based on the Octree decomposition of 3-D models. The Octree representation is used to automatically decompose and approximate the 3-D models, and to generate the robot instructions required to create assemblies of blocks secured by adhesive. Not only is the system capable of producing shapes of variable precision and complexity (including overhanging or reentrant shapes) from a variety of materials, but it also requires no production tooling (e.g., molds, dies, jigs, or fixtures). This paper details how a number of well-known Octree algorithms for subdivision, neighbor findings, and tree traversal have been modified to support this novel application. This paper ends by reporting the construction of two mechanical components in the prototype cell, and discussing the overall feasibility of the system

BGS Consultancy : UNICEF IWASH project, Northern Ghana : visit report 25/10-5/11/2010

BGS have been commissioned to investigate the low drilling success rates encountered by the UNICEF IWASH programme in the Northern region of Ghana. The work is split into three phases: (1) situation analysis and information collation on current methods of groundwater development; (2) the development of a preliminary groundwater development map and suggestions for improving siting methods; and (3) a workshop and training course on groundwater development in N region. The project started on October 15th 2010 and is scheduled to finish by February 28th, 2011. Phase 1 involves a visit to Ghana, Phase 2 will occur mainly in the UK; and Phase 3 is scheduled to take place in Ghana during February 2011. This short note reports on the data collection visit 25th October – 5th November 2010. An itinerary, list of contacts and summary of data collected is given in the Appendices

South Wales

Carboniferous rocks in this region occur in a broadly east-west trending syncline, the core of which includes the South Wales and Pembrokeshire coalfields (Fig. 5.1). Tournaisian and Visean strata (Avon and Pembroke Limestone groups) represent deposition on a southward prograding carbonate ramp evolving into a carbonate shelf (Wright 1987), in a succession which shows similarities to that of the Bristol and Mendips areas (Chapter 6). The main outcrops, in south Pembrokeshire, Gower and the Vale of Glamorgan, occur along the southern periphery of the coalfields and are commonly affected by Variscan thrusting and folding. Thinner successions occur along what is termed the East Crop and North Crop of the South Wales Coalfield, where much of the Visean succession is absent due to sub-Namurian and intra-Visean unconformities. Namurian fluvio-deltaic deposits (Marros Group) flank the South Wales and Pembrokeshire coalfields. Much of the lower and middle Namurian succession is absent across the region, except in the west of the South Wales Coalfield where only small parts are absent beneath an intra-Namurian unconformity. Westphalian fluvio-lacustrine deposits (South Wales Coal Measures Group) form the South Wales and Pembrokeshire coalfields, located to the east and west of Carmarthen Bay, respectively. Westphalian to Stephanian Pennant alluvial facies (Warwickshire Group) occur in the core of the South Wales Coalfield syncline. Deposition of the South Wales Coal Measures and Warwickshire groups was probably laterally contiguous with those in the Bristol and Somerset coalfields (Chapter 6), but the Usk-Cowbridge High controlled and restricted sedimentation for much of the Carboniferous, with pre-Namurian uplift and erosion removing the Tournaisian and Visean succession. Later uplift is also believed to have caused attenuation of the Warwickshire Group in the east of the South Wales Coalfield. The lithostratigraphical nomenclature for the region is that of Waters et al. (2007; 2009)

Assessing the efficacy and ecology of biocontrol and biomanipulation for managing invasive pest fish

1. Management of non-native species aims to prevent biological invasions using actions including control and containment of the potential invader. Biocontrol and biomanipulation strategies are used frequently to reduce population sizes of non-native species, and reduce their ecological impacts and dispersal rates. 2. Assessments of the efficacy of biocontrol and biomanipulation actions for managing non-native pest fish, and the ecological mechanisms involved, were studied here using lentic populations of the invasive fish Pseudorasbora parva. Biocontrol was through release of the indigenous piscivorous fish Perca fluviatilis and biomanipulation through intensive fish removals. 3. A combined biocontrol and removal programme was completed in an invaded pond over 2 reproductive seasons. Almost 10000 P. parva were removed, with cumulative removal numbers significantly related to their decreased abundance (>60 to <0.1 m-2). Ten adult P. fluviatilis were also released initially and reproduced each season. Analyses revealed P. parva contribution to their diet was high initially, but decreased as P. parva abundance reduced. Individual contributions of the management actions to declined P. parva abundance were difficult to isolate. 4. The individual effects of biocontrol and removals on P. parva populations were then tested using a field trial in replicated pond mesocosms over 3 reproductive seasons. Replicates started with 1500 P. parva. The control (no interventions) revealed no significant temporal changes in P. parva abundances. In the removal treatment, where over 17000 P. parva were removed per replicate over the trial, abundance declined initially, but increased significantly after each reproductive season as remaining fish compensated through increased reproductive output. In the biocontrol, abundance declined and remained low; analyses revealed P. parva were an important dietary component of larger P. fluviatilis, with predation suppressing compensatory responses. 5. Synthesis and applications: Biocontrol and removals can significantly reduce abundances of lentic populations of small invasive fishes. Removals provide short-term population suppression, but high effort is needed to overcome compensatory responses. Biocontrol can provide longer-term suppression but could invoke unintended ecological consequences via ‘stocking-up’ food webs. Application of these results to decision-making frameworks should enable managers to make more objective decisions on risk-commensurate methodologies for controlling small invasive fishes