This knitted pattern, which was unique to Gairloch, developed in the middle of the 19th century. At the time of the potato famine in the 1840s, strenuous efforts were made by the lairds of Gairloch to provide work for the people. To provide an income for the women, knitting was encouraged using wool from local fleeces, home spun and dyed with local plants taking advantage of the skills which many already possessed. To instruct them to a higher standard Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch employed an expert in spin... Read More

Programme strand in the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival March 2022. The strand included a new commission for Marion Kenny: one of Scotland’s leading storytellers, and award-winning musician, singer and songwriter: Mairi Campbell, to respond to two films in the National Library of Scotland (NLS) Moving Image Archive featuring Marjory Kennedy Fraser (1857 – 1930). Fraser was one of the foremost folksong collectors and composers in Scotland. She visited many of the islands to the west of Scotland, recordi... Read More

Gairloch Museum Festival of Stories This locally inspired festival of stories, supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund, was built around a room for stories, a room for community. A key focus of the museum’s wider events programme is ways to combat the social isolation compounded by the pandemic. The gallery was converted into a taigh cèilidh venue within the museum for the 10 days of the festival. taigh cèilidh a party, gathering, or the like, at which dancing, singing, and ... Read More

In celebration of ‘Scotland’s Year of Stories’, and in partnership with International arts company Kinetika and Highland artist- storyteller Lizzie McDougall, the Nairn Books & Arts Festival worked with local community groups to develop ‘Stories of Nairn’ . This was a collection of 20 silk flags, encapsulating in striking visual form, some of Nairn’s stories – "who we are, what we love about our town, where we come from, and the characters, histories, languages, myths and legends that make up... Read More

A jewel thief, a witch, a doctor and an inspirational teacher are just some of the stories of incredible Highland women revealed from museum archives. Unforgotten Highland Women is a short podcast series, recorded at live events across the Highlands of Scotland, about remarkable local women. Pauline Moore - podcaster and freelance producer - with support from the team at XpoNorth was commissioned by Museums and Heritage Highland to host these events, interviewing the keepers of the tales, sharing the storie... Read More