St Kilda Mailboat West Highland Museum By the late 1890s, a unique system of mail dispatch had developed on the remote Scottish archipelago of St Kilda. Letters were enclosed in a waterproof receptacle, usually a sheep’s bladder, attached to a homemade buoy, and...
Whisky Still West Highland Museum This whisky still has a mysterious history. It was found abandoned anonymously on the steps of the museum in the 1920s. The damage was caused by some over-zealous excisemen (or tax collectors) who were determined to make sure that the...
Grouse BasketBrora Heritage Centre Grouse driving and shooting became very popular during the Victorian period, becoming an important part of the tourism industry in the Highlands. This basket is on loan from the Dudgeon family at Crakaig Farm and Estate, to the north...
Socks in the Gairloch PatternGairloch Museum These socks are knitted in the unique ‘Gairoch pattern’, first documented in the mid-nineteenth century. The Mackenzies of Gairloch supported work schemes for their tenants during the potato famine in the 1840s. Spinning...
Poltalloch ClarsachWest Highland Museum This beautifully decorated clarsach, or Scottish harp, is in the style of the Queen Mary harp, so named because the original design dates from the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. The clarsach is the oldest national instrument of...
