Visitors to the Dundee Howff can see if they have what it took to work in one of the city’s famous Nine Trades.
A day of free educational tours of the vaunted burial ground – which doubled as a meeting point for the Nine Incorporated Trades during a time of Dundee burgh “council excesses” – is to be held this Saturday.
The event, dubbed Ye Olde Careers Fayre, will celebrate the graveyard’s recent unveiling as one of the country’s six hidden historical gems.
Attendees will have the chance to take a short quiz which will stream them into one of the nine trades of the city – including tailor, shipmaster, glover or bonnetmaker.
The event is being held as part of a wider celebration of Scotland’s year of history, heritage and archaeology.
As well as a day of discussions, city centre shops will take part in the fun celebrations by adorning their shop windows with 3-D printed recreations of some of the cemetery’s gravestones.
The stones, some of which have survived for hundreds of years, are decorated with symbols detailing the career of the deceased.
The replica graves are being produced by Dundee University art school graduate Callum Wallis, who will also hold a 3D printing demonstration in the Howff on Saturday.
Simon Goulding, chair of the Dundee Howff Conservation Group, said: “As the competition to discover Scotland’s six Hidden Gems was full of fantastic entries, we never expected The Howff to be in the top six and this is all down to the people that voted.
“The Howff is one of Scotland’s most historic burial grounds and has amazing carvings upon many of the headstones relating to the hard-working trades that made Dundee a metropolis between the 16th and 19th centuries.
“The headstones and tombs tell stories of the past that are not written down anywhere else but are carved into the stones to let the reader know of the success of the individuals and the loss of their family members.
“Ye Olde Careers Fayre is a great way to have people visit the Howff and to be shown individual stones which have carvings relating to the trades of the era and to learn what symbols mean and stand for.
“It will also show the use of photogrammetry techniques that allow a 3D printer to produce a miniature model of the headstones.”
The day will run from 10am – 4pm on Saturday September 23.
Dundee Howff dates back to medieval times, with the conservation group having recently unearthed a grave planted in the 12th or 13th century.
The category A plot was gifted to the city by Mary Queen of Scots in 1564, closing in 1860 due to crowding.
However, the final burial took place in 1878 after the Secretary of State allowed permission.
