The Hunter Marshall Bequest and the Ross Fund

The College of Arts benefits from two endowments providing modest annual income to support research in the broad areas of Scottish history and culture. 

The Hunter Marshall Bequest provides funds to be applied in encouraging the study of the history of mediæval Scotland, especially with regard to the history of Scots Law and institutions of that period, or to the history of the Celtic period in Scotland, and its relation to the history of the Celtic period in England, Ireland and Brittany. Specific areas in which funds may be used are:

The Library: to maintain and enhance the Hunter Marshall collection of books through occasional purchase.

Research: to support research through the provision of funds for a modest research assistantship in the fields indicated by the bequest.

Subsidisation of Publication: to subsidise publications by persons connected with the University of Glasgow.

Excavations: to subsidise excavations on mediæval Scottish sites conducted by a staff member in Archaeology in the School of Humanities or by persons associated with that Subject Area in the School.

The Ross Fund provides funds to collect in Glasgow University material from abroad relating to the history of Scotland and to the history of Scottish people and influences abroad.  The intention is to deal with all periods, and with all aspects of history - political, ecclesiastical, social, economic, and artistic.  The Ross Fund provides a grant or scholarship for two distinct types of enquiry: one short-term and exploratory; the other long-term and comprehensive.  Further conditions are specified below.

Applications to either of these funds can be made by sending a completed Hunter Marshall and Ross Fund application form‌‌ to arts-collegeadmin@glasgow.ac.uk by 31 May each year.

Applications should state clearly from which fund resources are being sought. The Committee administering the funds will consider the applications and advise applicants in due course. It is a condition of funding that successful applicants subsequently report on the outcomes of the work funded. The results of research or excavations and copies of publications may be lodged in the University Library.

Further conditions of the Ross Fund

Short-term survey:  A survey of the relevant archive groups, with a full record of what has been surveyed and a brief indication of the amount and scope of Scottish material in each group.  Detailed references to documents will usually be omitted, since the object is to survey as much material as possible in a short time.

  1. Such a survey will be financed by the Fund on terms which will normally cover the expenses of residence and work in the foreign archive but travel expenses to and from this country and between foreign archives will be allowable if a special case is made and accepted. 
  2. The survey should, so far as possible, be specific about the matter of material covered. Phrases like “Various letters on personal topics”, “Business memoranda” are to be avoided; the character of the “personal topics” and the purport of the “business memoranda” should be specified. 

Comprehensive investigation:  A thorough investigation of an archive group or groups, and the extraction of Scottish material.  The investigation may be limited to a certain period or to certain categories of archive groups.  The University will make financial provision to the scholar appropriate to his or her experience and to the country in which he or she works, this sum not normally to exceed one year’s income from the Fund. 

  1. An inventory or statement should be kept of each group investigated or each Scottish item found therein, and of the means adopted to record it (microfilm, photostat, or electronic medium).  Any group producing no Scottish items must be included in the statement. In the interests of clarity and uniformity, an early part of this statement should be sent as soon as possible to the University so that observations on it may be made to the scholar.  This should be done before any microfilm or storage medium order is placed. 
  2. Material from the archive may already be in print or available in electronic form.  An attempt should be made before leaving Britain to discover how much is in print, and this enquiry should be further pursued at an early stage of work in the archive.  The University will consider copying parts of printed works which are difficult to obtain in Britain. 
  3. Guides to and inventories of the archive may be in print or available in electronic form.  These should be listed and an indication given of which are on sale and which should be bought for the University Library. 
  4. Guides and inventories may be available in typescript or manuscript or electronic form.  If these contain a substantial amount of relevant material and can be bought on microfilm or other medium they should be purchased; an inventory of Scottish items written by the scholar can then be dispensed with. 
  5. Copyright rules should be ascertained - ie to whom application should be made for permission to print.  Applicants should provide a clear statement that copyright and IP rights are being observed. 
  6. Electronic storage and retrieval should be used wherever possible to record Scottish items.  In placing an order it should be specified that each exposure should include the archive reference of the item photographed.  Expenditure on microfilm or other consumables required will be discussed with each scholar, but will normally be met from an advance of money made by the University to the scholar for this purpose. 
  7. Photostats for faded, decayed or otherwise illegible material.  Each photostat should include the archive reference of the item(s) on it. Where photostats have to be obtained extensively, special approval must be obtained from the University. 
  8. Summaries are particularly suitable where Scottish material is in brief scattered entries, perhaps two or three lines on a page mainly concerned with other countries.  Precise references must be given. Quotations within summaries should be clearly indicated.  It is important that summaries should indicate the length of the document and should be specific as to its character and condition. 
  9. Transcripts in full should be made only when a document is very important and no other satisfactory means of recording it is available. 
  10. All material collected belongs to the University of Glasgow.  It will be in the charge of the Professor of Scottish History there, who will arrange for it to be classified and filed.  Material will be indexed. 
  11. All material collected will be made available to scholars in general and may be cited or printed with due acknowledgement to the University after the formal approval of the University has been obtained.  It shall be for the person printing or citing the material to meet the requirements of obtaining permission from, and making due acknowledgement to, the appropriate person or authority.