The Gaston County Museum would like to welcome our new Curatorial Intern, Fiona Shirkie!
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Dunfermline Abbey and Palace by Paul
McIIroy
My name is Fiona Shirkie and I am the new curatorial intern
at the Gaston County Museum. I thought I would take some time to introduce
myself. After a successful 10 year career in Customer Service I decided to
return to my first love – history. I went back to school and have recently graduated
with a Masters in Museum and Gallery Studies from the University of St Andrews,
Scotland. I have been fortunate enough to work with the British Golf Museum,
The BlackWatch Museum and Stirling Castle in the UK.
I am Scottish and come from a town called Dunfermline.
Dunfermline was the ancient capital of Scotland and many Scottish Royals,
including Robert the Bruce, are buried in the town. It is 3,784 miles from
Dallas. To say that the weather is different would be an understatement. The
usual forecast is sunshine and showers, even in the summer! The coast is only 3
miles away. At first glance the two towns appear to have little in common – but
the tie that binds us is Textiles.
Textiles were big business in Scotland for hundreds of
years. By 1838 more than 100,000 people were employed in the industry.[i]
Dunfermline was famously the home of silk and linen, particularly damask linen
after an early case of industrial espionage (James Blake stole the method of
damask production from a Huguenot factory). The area had 34 mills and the
larger ones had depots across Europe and the Commonwealth. The impact that
these mills had on the area and its people was huge.
Issues such as child labor and workers disputes arose. Post
WW1 competition from other countries, supply and tariff issues led to a decline
in the industry. Sadly the last remaining mill closed in 1989.
The team here at the museum has been very welcoming. I am
looking forward to learning more about the similarities and differences between
our two countries and towns and to working with and learning about some of the
fabulous objects in the museum’s collection. I hope that you are able to come
along to the museum to see some of these objects for yourself. Each of them has
its own unique story.
very interesting
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