Alice Thornton's Picnic at Starbank Park

Blog article published by Eleanor Thom on 18 June 2024 creative writing deliverances events lifewriting medicine nature

On a sunny Saturday in early June, Starbank Park hosted the Alice Thornton Books team once again for an afternoon of history, nature, and creativity. Visitors to the park were able to delve into the seventeenth century through guided botanical walks, craft activities, talks by Project Postdoctoral Researcher, Jo Edge, and a lively conversation between our Project Principal Investigator, Cordelia Beattie, and historical novelist, Kate Foster.

Kate Foster is the Edinburgh-based author of The Maiden (2023) and The King’s Witches (2024). Her novels are set in the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries respectively, and her stories examine history from the perspectives of female characters. We were grateful to the Scottish Book Trust’s Live Literature Programme for support in inviting Kate to join us.

Botanist, Dr Heather McHaffie very kindly volunteered her time to entertain groups of enthusiastic park visitors with her incredible knowledge. She shared lots of insights into the poultices and poisons that may have been grown or gathered and used by seventeenth-century women like Alice Thornton, and by the compelling characters in Kate’s books.

Health and Herbal Remedies in the 17th Century

There were two opportunities to meet and hear from Cordelia Beattie and Jo Edge. Cordelia introduced Alice Thornton, her books and the project and Jo gave a short talk on Thornton and dangerous food and herbal remedies. Audiences got to ask questions, including about the forthcoming digital edition.

'Poisons and Poultices' - A Guided Walk

“Weeds are what we need,” Dr Heather McHaffie confided as she arrived in the park. Some plants now regarded as an annoyance, such as sticky willys, were once prized remedies, she explained. At the sight of the park’s many volunteers very busily tidying the beds, she looked a little worried, so she headed off hoping to save some weeds before they were spotted. These would be part of Heather’s two guided walks.

As talks from Cordelia and Jo ended at 14:30 and 16:30, the audience was invited to join Heather for a stroll. At every corner, she pointed out varieties of plants, flowers and trees which were common ingredients in remedies in the past. We learned of the many ways botanicals were prepared and used to treat minor ailments such as stomach complaints and fevers, and how many remain important in modern medicine, including plants which are poisonous but helpful in cancer treatment, such as yew.

Kate Foster in Conversation With Cordelia Beattie

Kate Foster, Eleanor Thom and Cordelia Beattie. — Kate Foster, Eleanor Thom and Cordelia Beattie

Mid-afternoon, Cordelia was joined by novelist, Kate Foster for a conversation and Q&A chaired by author and Engagement and Impact Officer for the Alice Thornton’s Books project, Eleanor Thom.

The protagonist in Cordelia’s work is of course, Alice Thornton, a seventeenth-century woman who wrote about her own life. Kate, on the other hand, is known for her Edinburgh-based novels that bring erly modern women’s experiences to life through fiction. However, many of Kate’s characters are based on real women, traces of whom can be found in the archives and in legends of the local area.

The dialogue between Cordelia and Kate explored the intersection between historical fact and imagination, and the different ways in which we can better tell women’s stories, particularly when their lives are not recorded, or not recorded in the same way as men’s lives.

Cordelia shared insights from Alice Thornton’s books, explaining Thornton’s struggles and her triumphs, and how modern audiences have reacted to these.

Kate talked about how she draws inspiration for fiction from historical women whose lives, while known of in some cases, are not necessarily recorded in the way they themselves would have chosen. She spoke of the delicate balance in weaving a narrative that resonates with contemporary readers whilst respecting the real women behind the stories.

The conversation really highlighted the importance of bringing women's voices from the past into the present, and there were some interesting parallel themes, particularly in terms of the financial struggles faced by Alice Thornton and by Christian Nimmo, Kate Foster’s main character in The Maiden.

Before a short Q&A, both Kate and Cordelia talked about what’s next. Cordelia introduced the Digital Edition of all of Alice Thornton’s books, which is about to have a new release online very soon. Kate told us she is working on her next book, and while we’ll leave it to her to reveal the details, the Alice Thornton’s Books team’s ears pricked up as we heard that Kate’s next heroine experienced the greatest deliverance from death of all time. Deliverance from death is, as our followers will know, a favourite theme of ours.

A book stall run by Argonaut Books from Leith Walk was also in the park with us, and Kate Foster joined them to sign copies of her books.

Craft and Creative Writing

As well as reading new books, children and adults had a chance to try writing with dip ink on small pages of a similar size to those Alice Thornton had in her books. Writing prompts inspired by Alice Thornton included recipes for herbal remedies and where they had been learned, inventing a new herbal remedy, or recounting a personal ‘deliverance from death’.

Examples of modern-day ‘deliverances from death’, based on Alice Thornton’s Books, written by the local Citizen writing group and illustrated by students at Edinburgh College of Art, were also on display.

While mulling ideas for their own piece of writing, park visitors made calming lavender bags tied with colourful ribbon.

Thanks to Starbank Park and Park Visitors

Starbank Park, in full bloom and looking wonderful in the sun, proved to be the perfect backdrop for our Alice Thornton community event. Visitors left with handcrafted mementos, new books, and an appetite to find out more about Thornton.