Elphinstone Institute

27/08/2026

There is still time to send in your submissions for the Toulmin Prize, deadline 31 August 2026: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/public-engagement/toulmin-prize

The Toulmin prize is open to all amateur writers over the age of 16 for submissions of short stories. Stories should be about some aspect of life in North-East Scotland and may be written in Scots, including Doric, or English, or a mixture of the two, and up to 4,000 words in length to be submitted by 31 August 2026. (Previous prize-winners cannot submit an entry).

The winner will receive a £500 prize, sponsored by Steven and Martin Reid, grandsons of David Toulmin (aka John Reid), and the story will be read by well-known North-East writer, Sheena Blackhall, at this year's Way WORD Festival on 11 October at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Photographed is last year's winner, Marka Riffat, with judges and Steven and Martin Reid.

25/08/2026

Fit a rare experience wis hid at e ‘22nd International Handbell Ringing Symposium’ in e Aiberdeen P&J Live a pucklie wiks syne. Sivin hunner haanbell musicians fae aa ower e warld cam igither — different leids, different ringing styles, different stories. I hinna bin a pairt o an evint like iss afore. It wisnae jist aboot music; the theme iss ear wis biggin brigs, celebratin cultures, an makkin new freens, an er wis plinty o aat. I hid a chunce te s**k wi fowk aboot e culture (mait, music an leid) o the North-East an it wis received wi gryte muckle enthusiasm.

21/08/2026

REMINDER! Deadline approaching!

The Friends of the Elphinstone Institute - Call for New Board Members!

Are you passionate about Northern Scottish culture and traditions? would you like to join the board of The Friends of the Elphinstone Institute and help support the vital work of the Elphinstone Institute? A centre for the study, promotion, and celebration of Northern Scottish culture and traditions based at the University of Aberdeen.
Our local and international members support the work of the Elphinstone Institute to research, celebrate and promote culture and traditions across the North of Scotland. Members include past and present students, local businesses, arts professionals, cultural workers, academics, and others with an interest in supporting our work.
We are looking for three new board members from September 2026. We welcome applications from across Scotland.

Deadline for expressions of interest: Monday 31st August 2026

For more information, contact David Francis - [email protected]

To find out more about what we do, visit www.elphinstonefriends.org

06/08/2026

Thank you to Dinna be feart - La Escocia oscura en español for creating this brilliant film about this year's Buchan Ballad Bus. Watch it here:

BIENVENIDOS A DINNA BE FEART: LA ESCOCIA OSCURA EN ESPAÑOL 🌫️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳...

04/08/2026

Last Friday the Elphinstone Institute was pleased to faciliate a small gathering of local storytellers, musicians, and singers with a delegation of the Comanche Nation visiting the University of Aberdeen from Oklahoma.

The delegates, who were otherwise visiting Neil Curtis at the University of Aberdeen Collections, were keen to share Comanche culture and learn about Scottish traditions. Among other tales, we heard stories of coyote, fairies and fairy mounds, mills and goblins, all alongside flute, fiddle, harp, whistle, bouzouki tunes, and a rich variety of Comanche and Scottish songs, as well. It was a fantastic night that showed the importance of intercultural communication.

Special thanks to Sheena Blackhall, Ronnie Gibson, Kenny Hadden, Phyll McBain, Jackie Ross, Allan Taylor, Irene Watt, and Graham White, for sharing their songs, stories, and tunes. Sincere thanks to Nicholas Bruscato for facilitating the delegate's journey and being open to this wonderful sharing of tradition.

03/08/2026

We are delighted to announce that our Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, Dr Frances Wilkins, was recently awarded an RSE spring 2026 research award together with Prof Duncan MacLeod of Glasgow School of Art and Flòraidh Forrest of Tobar an Dualchais ~ Kist o Riches .

Titled 'The Carrying Stream: Activating Scotland’s sound archives through creative transmission', the project will enable vital collaboration between academics, sound archivists and arts practitioners in Scotland.

Scotland’s sound archives are among the nation’s most significant cultural resources, holding rich recordings of story, song, oral history, oral tradition, language, and everyday life that preserve a vital record of Scotland’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). They also contain extensive material in Scots and Gàidhlig, making them an important resource for the cultural memory, knowledge, and traditions carried through these minoritised languages. This project will establish a national interdisciplinary research network to examine how these archives might be more effectively connected to communities, creative practitioners, and partner organisations. Bringing together archivists, artists, musicians, curators, and researchers, it will explore how creative practice, emergent technologies, and decolonial approaches such as rematriation can inform new models of access, engagement, and stewardship.

'The Carrying Stream' is an 18 month project commencing in January 2027.

University of Aberdeen LLMVC
University of Aberdeen

We are pleased to announce that 61 exceptional research projects were selected at the latest Research Awards open call.

31/07/2026

There is exactly one month left to get in your short stories for our annual Toulmin Prize! https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/public-engagement/toulmin-prize/

The Toulmin prize is open to all amateur writers over the age of 16 for submissions of short stories. Stories should be about some aspect of life in North-East Scotland and may be written in Scots, including Doric, or English, or a mixture of the two, and up to 4,000 words in length to be submitted by 31 August 2026. (Previous prize-winners cannot submit an entry).

The winner will receive a £500 prize, sponsored by Steven and Martin Reid, grandsons of David Toulmin (aka John Reid), and the story will be read by well-known North-East writer, Sheena Blackhall, at this year's WayWORD Festival in October.

31/07/2026

Big thank you to abody who made Cullerlie 2026 such a special event, with some of the finest tradition bearers from across Scotland, England and Ireland gathering on stage and in the audience to sing their songs, and enjoy the cookery, crafts and crack.

This was our first weekend without founding director Ian Russell, who was celebrated at a special tribute on the Saturday, and will continue to be remembered and talked about fondly for many years to come.

We'll be back in 2027 (23-25 July) and look forrit tae seeing and singing with you then. (Photie kindly provided by Mary Masson Photography)

23/07/2026

Our busy summer continues, and it's difficult to believe that the Cullerlie Traditional singing weekend, which is now sold out, starts tomorrow! We're looking forward to this brilliant weekend of traditional songs, which will feature a tribute on the Saturday afternoon to the late Ian Russell, our former director, who was so involved in setting up the festival with Tam and Anne Reid.

The festival continues thanks to the tireless efforts of Eric and Tracey Walker, Scott Gardiner, Robin and Morag Dempsey, Norma Russell, as well as support from staff at the Elphinstone Institute and volunteers.

22/07/2026

Doric Development Worker and 'prood Brocher' Charley Buchan represented The Institute at the Glover Festival in Fraserburgh last month. The day was a celebration of community, culture and the legacy of Thomas Blake Glover, the “Scottish Samurai,” who was instrumental in forging lasting links between Scotland and Japan.

Japanese Consul General for Scotland Mr Katsutoshi Takeda oversaw the renaming of a Fraserburgh Harbour pilot boat as ‘Glover’ and also enjoyed reading some of our Japanese folk tales translated into Doric (he nottit a han wi the Doric!) as well as admiring some of the puppets, based on the traditional song ‘Herrins’ Heids’ created by Fraserburgh schoolchildren and performed by pupils in Nagasaki during a cultural exchange programme with Institute Director Tom McKean and Honorary Research Associate Dr Irene Watt several years previously.