Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650

by Chris Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard

In November 2013 two mass burials were discovered unexpectedly on a construction site in the city of Durham in north-east England. Over the next 2 years, a complex jigsaw of evidence was pieced together by a team of archaeologists to establish the identity of the human remains. Today we know them to be some of the Scottish prisoners who died in the autumn of 1650 in Durham cathedral and castle following the battle of Dunbar on the south-east coast of Scotland.

Fought between the English and the Scots, this was one of the key engagements of the War of the Three Kingdoms. Using the latest techniques of skeleton science, this book gives back to the men a voice through an understanding of their childhood and later lives. Archaeological and historical evidence also allows us to reconstruct with vivid accuracy how and why these men vanished off the historical radar.

Of the prisoners who survived their ordeal after Dunbar, new evidence has emerged about their involvement in local industries and in one of the great infrastructural projects of the day, the draining of the Fens. Others were sent far away, transported to the colonies as indentured servants to begin a new life at the edge of the known world. Following the trail of their biographies takes us across the Atlantic where the Dunbar men supported each other throughout their lives on the frontiers of New England. Here they worked in ironworks and sawmills, farmed and fished and adapted to the vast forested landscapes which they named 'Scotland' and, after the vessel they had sailed in, 'Unity.' None returned to the country of their birth. Lost Lives, New Voices is a collaboration between academic researchers and professional archaeologists working on the Scottish Soldiers Research Project.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2018

Reviews

[Joan Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating because I am descended from 4 of these Scottish POWs. Some of the details were tedious, when talking about the finding and excavation of the skeletons at Durham Cathedral. However, learning of the analysis of the bones, and how much they could tell about the person in that analysis, blew me away.
My ancestors were mentioned by name. They were captured at the Battle of Dunbar, marched without food many miles to Durham, imprisoned there and used as work details, then sold as indentured servants to a Boston man in 1650. They worked out their seven years of servitude: at Braintree Ironworks, Saugus Ironworks, and at the Saugus Ironworks sawmill in Kittery, Maine. Once freed, they settled down, married, and made lives for themselves in the New England colonies.

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

Fantastic book detailing the discovery of bodies of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Dunbar (where Cromwell defeated the Scottish army) and were marched to and imprisoned in Durham Cathedral. It also tells the story of what happened to the prisoners who lived, some of whom were transported over the ocean as indentures servants.

[Joe Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book, but if you had ancestors that fought at Dunbar, it is a must have.