A careers fair with a difference was held on Saturday, offering attendees the chance to see which historic Dundee trade they might have worked in 200 years ago.
The Ye Olde Careers Fayre at Dundee Howff cemetery saw visitors quizzed using the latest technology, which then streamed them into jobs which made up the city’s Nine Trades.
Once separated into their respective careers, visitors were led on a tour of the ancient site to visit their long-deceased comrades resting under the ground of the bustling city centre.
Volunteers from the Dundee Howff Conservation Group, as well as the Dig It 2017 campaign, led discussions and tours of the site, offering a rare insight into the city’s eerie past as well as giving information on the people interred there.
The conservation group is currently undertaking an extensive archiving programme and believe as many as 80,000 bodies lie buried in the graveyard, which ceased use in the late 19th century.
Simon Goulding, chairman of the Dundee Howff Conservation Group, said: “We have been making use of a 3D camera and printer, which has been making scale models of several of the headstones erected in the cemetery.
“We were quite busy on the Saturday, which was great and follows on from our very popular Doors Open day we held last weekend, which saw more than 200 visitors come through the gates.
“Headstones and tombstones are fascinating. Each one tells a story, not just about when that person died, but in a lot of cases, how they lived.
“Hundreds of the stones in the Howff are marked with the emblem of their trade. This allows us to find out more about the history of Dundee.”
The event was organised as part of Scotland’s year of history, heritage and archaeology, co-ordinated by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and Archaeology, Historic Environment Scotland and the Dundee Howff Conservation Group.
Voters recently elected the Howff – which dates back to the 16th century but has headstones interred which are from as far back as the 1200s – one of the country’s hidden gems.
More than 12,000 people across Scotland took part in the survey, with thousands of votes being cast in the Howff’s favour.
Paul Malik – I am the Maltman
In what will come as absolutely no shock to anyone who knows me, my answers to the Nine Trades quiz identified me as a maltman, or what we now know as a brewer.
Maltmen were one of the city’s largest trades, with hundreds employed in the industry in the 1600s (when Dundee’s population was roughly 8,000) .
Confusingly, Maltmen were not considered one of the Nine Trades, instead belonging to the Three United Trades and as such, had no seat on the city council.
Given that part of their wage was a gallon of beer a day, this might have been no bad thing. In fact, perhaps the exclusion of hundreds of imbibed men on the Burgh council saved the city from hundreds of years of poor planning decisions and soused ideas. Perhaps.
I was very happy to visit my long-lost comrades at eternal rest in the Howff, safe in the knowledge no organisation in any breweries would be required, what with them having died 400 years or more ago.