Glasgow's monument to Lord Nelson • Weightlifting stone • Family history research • Lost 18c Wm Adam mansion

Got an historical itch to scratch? Then look no further than Past Lives for help! Mark Stephen sets out across Scotland to answer your questions about the country's past -- from Wick to Dumfries and Vikings to Mods, his curiosity knows no bounds. This week Mark Mark Stephen was in Largs -- holding to his hat in the face of the strong onshore winds whipping up the Firth of Clyde. He met Douglas Easton from Largs Historical Society to find out about the Battle of Largs in 1263, when King Alexander of Scotland managed to outwit King Haakon of Norway, who controlled much of the Western Isles at the time.

Ian Williams rang in to ask if the monument to Nelson on Glasgow Green was the first to be erected in Britain? Kirsty Williams went down to meet historian James Coleman to find out that the monument was erected by public subscription in 1806. It was the first purpose-built monument to Nelson although an earlier one had been erected in Taynuilt.

While Mark drank a cup of tea in Nardini's (it was too cold for ice cream...) Johnston Craig helped us to answer listener Mrs Finlayson's question about a stone she remembers seeing by a roadside in Perthshire which had been used in a weightlifting competition. Johnston thinks the stone's to be found in the Sma'Glen and remembers seeing it as a child.

Mark went off to the Largs and North Ayrshire Family History Society Beginners' Night at Largs Library to meet Alison Wallace from www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/. Alison guided Mark through the site and the records which he can search online and traced his family tree back to the early 1800s.

History doctor Louise Yeoman was off in search of the lost Hamilton House in the Midlothian village of Fala with listeners Andrew and Joyce Pringle. By reading the hedgerows and looking at old maps and documents, archaeologist David Connolly found the location of the house and introduced Andrew and Joyce to the story of the former inhabitants.

Mark finished his visit to Largs with a chat with Family History chair Alex Blair and member Mary Leitch about the pitfalls and joys of family history research.