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A large rocky slope with grass and shrubbery growing on the surface.

During the Scottish Enlightenment, James Hutton analysed the rocks here, coming to a new and controversial realisation about the age of the Earth. See Trudi’s story of his discovery in British Sign Language (BSL), and explore the videos to learn how she uses this visual-spatial language. 

A story of rocks and time

Trudi uses BSL to tell how James Hutton, ‘the father of Geology’, pioneered a new theory of the Earth’s age using observations of volcanic rocks in Holyrood Park.

Fingerspelling and creating signs in BSL

BSL linguist Robert Adam describes how signers respond when there isn’t an established sign for a noun or concept, or they don’t know its sign.

Using timelines in BSL

Robert shows how in BSL time can be described using directional lines in the signing space.

Qualifying verbs and adverbs in BSL

Robert describes how the way in which you perform a sign – for example, fast or slow, once or repeatedly – can add detail into a story in BSL.

More BSL stories

Language and Landscape home

St Anthony's Chapel

Watch a British Sign Language (BSL) story about St Anthony's Chapel, then discover how she uses the grammar of BSL to tell its tale.

The Holyrood Coffins

Children exploring Holyrood Park in 1836 made an intriguing discovery…

David and the Stag

The story of how an encounter between King David and a stag gave Holyrood Park its name, and discover how signers use signing space to create atmosphere and drama in BSL.