The long-buried stories of extraordinary Highland women have found themselves amplified to a new audience thanks to a podcast series which goes live this week.
Commissioned by Museums and Heritage Highlands and in collaboration with Highlands and Islands creative business support organisation XpoNorth Digital, the podcast series is hosted by Pauline Moore, formerly from the BBC who is now an award-winning freelance podcast host and producer. Focussing on uncovering the previously obscured stories of remarkable Highland women, each podcast uses archived material to highlight fascinating individual narratives.
The first in the series, for example, recounts the intriguing rags-to-riches story of Mary Marjory MacDonald, who became a prolific jewel thief after having been orphaned as a teenager. Subsequent episodes, meanwhile, spotlight artist Margaret Swanson, who was ahead of her time when she became a champion of women’s creativity in the 1800s, and Orkney-born doctor and photographer Beatrice Garvie, who blazed the trail for women in medicine when she became one of the UK’s first female GPs in the 1930s.
Nicola Henderson, Heritage specialist at XpoNorth Digital, said: “Over a year ago now, Nick Lindsay from Clyne Heritage Society approached Museums and Heritage Highland with the story of Caroline Ross, a powerful story of a brave young woman. A story that had been lost to time that he believed the world needed to hear. This idea then came to XpoNorth and with support from the team went on a journey to discover the many amazing stories of remarkable women from across the Highlands. I am delighted that we can finally tell these stories to the world and hope that these pilot episodes lead to people wanting to know more not just about these women, but about the many more amazing women from Highland history whose stories have been hidden for far too long.”
Having been recorded live at a series of events earlier in the year, the podcast series has been facilitated by audio production company and network, The Big Light, whose mission is to connect an international community of listeners with Scottish history and culture.
Janice Forsyth, co-founder of The Big Light Network, added: “We are delighted to host Unforgotten Highland Women on The Big Light Network. Pauline Moore is a world-class producer and presenter and we’re thrilled that she’s bringing these extraordinary Highland women to life in this 6-part boxset. Fiona White and I co-founded the network to tell powerful and important stories and share them with audiences around the world. Unforgotten Highland Women proudly takes its place alongside more than 20 other titles.”
This event and podcast series has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund, and is one of the final projects being launched in celebration of this theme. The fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
Marie Christie, Head of Development at VisitScotland added “We are delighted to be supporting the Unforgotten Women podcast through the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. Events play an important role in our communities as they sustain livelihoods and help to celebrate and promote our unique places, spaces and stories. Themed Years are all about collaboration and Museums Galleries Scotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund and VisitScotland are pleased to work in partnership to create this fund to showcase community stories. By supporting events taking place within our communities, including the Unforgotten Women podcast series, new opportunities will be provided for locals and visitors to come together and find out more about the diverse stories, past and present, that our communities have to share.”
We are very excited to launch our first residential weekend offering peer-to-peer support for Museum Managers and Curators
When Friday 24th February (6pm-ish) – Sunday 26th February (11am-ish)
Where Kirkmichael Apartments, Kirkmichael near Pitlochry What A 2-day professional development opportunity for early to mid career curator/managers in the Highlands.
Curator/managers often find themselves focusing on the organisational aspects of their roles, caught up in a never-ending list of deadlines, unanswered emails, evaluations and budgetary concerns. The aim of this residency is to give them the opportunity to share their experiences, enrich their practice and explore in depth issues, concerns, possibilities and opportunities in a safe non-judgmental environment.
The residency will include:
Facilitated getting to know each other time
One-to-one skills sharing sessions
One-to-one idea sharing with peer response
Group discussion and problem solving
MHH understands that some participants may have genuine concerns about sharing their ideas or challenges with others. While all participants should know in advance that some degree of sharing is key to gaining as much as possible from the workshops, it is also understood that there is some need for privacy and you will not be asked to discuss anything that you would prefer to keep private.
This residency will be supported and facilitated by Tamsin Russell. Tamsin is based in Fife and has worked in the cultural sector for over 20 years leading on learning and professional development from formal leadership programmes to action learning sets, from careers advice to coaching. Tamsin joins with an understanding of the sector, and the Scottish landscape specifically.
‘I am really delighted to be holding this space for curator/ managers, my philosophy has always been if we all share, we all learn – and this programme is grounded on that belief.’
Eligibility The course will be open to a maximum of 6 curator/managers, who will be chosen by application. Participants will be selected based upon their shared needs and stage of career: it is hoped that participants will be working at a similar level to maximise their opportunities for sharing experiences and learning. The course is open to all those who have some experience working as a curator/manager for at least 1 year. You must also be resident in the Highlands & Islands or Moray at the time of application.
Costs All residential costs (accommodation and meals) will be covered by Museums and Heritage Highland. Participants are only required to pay an attendance fee of £50 (£100 for non-members) and cover their own travel expenses to Pitcairlie House (we will organise car-sharing for this to reduce costs as much as possible).
This opportunity is funded through the Museums Galleries Scotland Forum’s Fund project and is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players.
How to Apply Please send a current CV and personal support statement explaining why you would like to take part (in particular, why now?), think about what you would want to leave the weekend knowing/feeling/being able to do and please state what skills you would like to share and the key issue you would like to discuss with the group.
This opportunity is open to all. If you have any access requirements please include these in your personal statement so that we can ensure your needs are met.
Museums and Heritage Highland (MHH) is a new charity formed in March 2019. We are a strong, supportive voice for heritage in the Highlands. Our members include museums, galleries and heritage organisations of all sizes from across the region. We work to promote collaborative working and capacity building; promoting partnership opportunities that support our members achieve their purpose and to be sustainable and resilient in challenging times.
We are seeking new Board members to join our existing Board of Trustees, which provides support, advice, expertise, and ideas to ensure good governance and healthy practice.
We are looking for people who have experience and skills in the following areas:
Fundraising – public, private and commercial
Marketing/PR
Tourism
Accounting
Human Resources
Strategy development
We want to remove barriers that may prevent people from accessing or participating in our work. For this reason, we encourage applications from individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the sector due to age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith or belief, education, or socio-economic background.
The successful candidates will have:
An understanding of and interest in Highland heritage and tourism
Excellent relationship-building and communication skills
Strong ability to work collaboratively
Knowledge of or interest in MHH work
One or more of the key skills we are looking for (listed above)
Previous Board experience is not essential.
Museums and Heritage Highland Board meets six times a year (mostly online, but occasionally in person meetings may be required, usually in the Inverness area). In addition to attending meetings, Board members are asked to give an additional two days (minimum) of their time over the course of each year towards assisting the organisation in its aims, and to attend events or trainings provided to support the Board’s development or their knowledge of the work of MHH.
MHH is an equal opportunities organisation. We will work with short-listed candidates to ensure their access needs are met during the recruitment process and will ensure that access requirements are not a factor in our decision-making.
Museums and Heritage Highland (MHH) is a registered SCIO formed in March 2019. Scottish Charity Number SC049088.
How to Apply
Please send your note of interest to danieljosephcottam@gmail.com and include a bit about your background and why you’re interested in joining the team. Please also tell us if you are specifically interested in applying for an office bearer position (chair, secretary, treasurer). This should be no longer than 1 A4 page, or 2 minutes audio/video file, sent (via link if a large file) to the email address above.
If you have any questions about the role or would like to speak with a member of the team, please email Dan Cottam at danieljosephcottam@gmail.com
XpoNorth reveals groundbreaking partnership with Smartify to give global reach to Highlands and Islands museums
Museums in the Highlands and Islands will be given a unique opportunity to showcase their incredible collections on the global stage, as XpoNorth Digital announces a groundbreaking partnership with Smartify.
This transformative opportunity will give five museums in the region the chance to feature on the world’s most downloaded museum app and tell their story to audiences all over the planet, with support from a digital content creator to help them pull together the content they need.
As part of the project, each museum will have their venue listed on the Smartify platform, which enables cultural attractions of any size to offer a slick, accessible smartphone-led experience to every visitor. Their collection, which can range from 10s to 100s of objects, will be digitised and uploaded, along with a five minute curated video telling their story, a multi-media tour, the opportunity to create an e-shop and all the data and support needed to ensure they get the most from the opportunity.
XpoNorth Digital, Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s mechanisms for specialist digital support for creative and heritage networks based across the Highlands and Islands, believes the partnership is a revolutionary one that has the power to elevate the global status of regional museums exponentially.
Nicola Henderson, XpoNorth Specialist Advisor for Heritage said: “Smartify has over three million users across the world. That’s three million people who love museums; who love history, who love art. Helping Highland museums to get on the platform and tell their stories to a targeted audience of this size could be transformational.
“The Smartify platform gives museums the tools they need to build new experiences within their buildings for their physical visitors, while also helping them to reach out to new audiences. It will help to drive engagement with their collections and stories, while offering opportunities to generate revenue from a global audience. I’m really excited to work with museums of all sizes from anywhere in the Highlands or Islands to explore what this partnership could mean for their organisation.”
Christopher Bazley, Smartify’s Head of Global Partnerships said: “Smartify’s commitment to making world-class digital engagement affordable and accessible to as many museums as possible is part of our DNA. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the Highlands and Islands and its globally significant cultural heritage, we are delighted, honoured and excited to have the opportunity of working with XpoNorth on this important project.”
This opportunity is open to any museum based in the Highlands and Islands and participants will be selected through an open application process delivered in collaboration with XpoNorth, Smartify and stakeholder networks.
XpoNorth will be running two dedicated online information sessions in partnership with Smartify to allow museums to gain more information on the opportunity and ask any questions ahead of making an application. These will take place on October 19 and November 16. The application window will close at 5pm on Friday 2nd December.
Email for more information or register for the events here:
– Wednesday 19th October: 2pm-3pm
Information Session: Smartify Opportunity for Highlands and Islands Museums
A new film that aims to highlight the unique story of a landscape of Northern Scotland will have its maiden screening in Lairg.
The Dreaming Bog is an ecopoetic story on Climate Change told through the lens of the Bogs & Peatlands of Northern Scotland and the Mires & Swamps of Finland. The film is based on the opening act of an epic new poem by Caithness Makar, George Gunn, ’Six Thousand Years of Sunlight’, and was produced by Sutherland born filmmaker, Robert Aitken.
The film seeks to seed a new wave of discussion on Climate Change where humans are placed back into the heart and narrative of nature, and honour that place. Although a complete telling, the film has been created as the opening of 4 x films continuing an ecopoetic discourse and engagement with the remaining stanzas of George Gunn’s modern epic.
As George says; “I was honoured when Robert wanted to use some of my poem for his new film, ‘The Dreaming Bog’. The subject matter of the Caithness and Sutherland Bog lands is very close to my heart given the Clan Gunn literally, culturally and historically, come out of the Bog.
George Gunn
Filming took place at the end of 2021 under challenging circumstances. As Robert explains; “After a difficult birth including; a pandemic, a lock down, two storms and multiple cancellations due to Covid and illness, it’s just incredible The Dreaming Bog got made at all. Given events elsewhere in the world however I give gratitude that I could create this film. In a strange way the challenges in production echo the wider situation and how we can overcome adversity.”
The global Bogs and Peatlands are an incredible gift of life, but are in danger of degradation through human-related activities. These places are home to an immense variety of plants and wildlife, and historically, humankind has lived and worked in the Bogs of northern Scotland since the arrival of hunter-gatherer. Arguably the greatest gift of certain Bog types is that they are the best Carbon Keepers on earth, up to four times more efficient at storing gas, poisonous to human life, than the rain forests.
The Dreaming Bog also contains heartfelt comment from those who actually live and work in the Bogs of Caithness and Sutherland, as well as Finland – informed testimony from passionate researchers, heritage curators and scientists, all who have delved deep in to the legacy of the Peatlands and their rich story.
Writer, ethnologist and archaeologist Cáit O’Neill McCullagh says; “As a landscape of course the Peatbogs preserve a tremendous amount of archaeology because It’s an anaerobic environment, an oxygen free environment. The Bogs of Northern Europe are well known as places where people would have deposited important things for ritual purposes. Hoards of expensive precious metals, materials that would have been fashioned in to swords or cauldrons but also for simply preserving things like you or I would put things in the fridge.”
Heritage and Digital curator at Timespan Arts in Helmsdale, Jacquie Aitken, continues on the theme of preservation; “Wood was not readily available to the township folk of far north of Scotland so they would have gone up to the Bogs and dug up Peat as fuel. They’d also come across old roots of trees preserved in the Bogs. It’s these hard bits of wood that they would utilise and make furniture out of, such as chairs. It’s a wonderful example of vernacular furniture that’s been derived from the Peatbogs.”
Other footage and comment was supplied by film partners from the University of Eastern Finland’s Mire Trend Project. With Finland’s landmass being one-third swamps, the Mire Trend Project looks at various influences of swamps and Bogs on Finnish society.
The topic of Climate Change is very much at the forefront of the global energy crisis with concerns on our reliance on fossil fuels versus the need for deliverable renewables. For the most part planet earth has paid little attention to human civilisation over the past 6000 years. Only since the industrial revolution has this relationship fractured; a mere 200 years and earth has seen its air, water, ice and rock begin to act directly due to human activities. As Robert says; “We all want the human journey to continue but our efforts thus far have failed. Adding Robert says; “Getting a message out there with a narrative that connects with people requires a different approach. It’s ultimately humanity that needs to change so I do find a lot of the messaging and terminology in the current arguments a barrier to any real progress. In short, we need a new story.”
Social scientist at UHI’s Environmental Research Institute in Thurso, Magnus Davidson, comments on his work on the Caithness Peatlands, known locally as the Flow Country; ”I try to understand the social history of the Flow Country, to better understand how we as a society might use the Flow Country in the future, but also understand the environmental degradation and as we look to restore the environment around it.”It’s this need for a new perspective on Climate Change that led Robert to make this film on the global Bogs. Given the importance to our past and current existence on earth the Bogs act like a planetary storage facility, physically and metaphysically. Due to the chemical make-up of the vegetation the Bogs hold a geological record of earth from millennia ago and act as a depository of our activities; a living and breathing vast record of our collective actions on earth.
The producers of The Dreaming Bog are keen for as many people as possible to see the film, listen to the panel discussion and get involved in the Q&A sessions. As Robert surmises; “The film is only half the story, we want host venues and the public to get involved and be participants. The film will also make a great addition to festivals, climate change and arts related activity venues may be planning with its themes around vulnerable landscapes, poetry, heritage & culture and its highly creative approach in storytelling.”
Robert Aitken
There are already a number of venues throughout the far North and Scotland signed up as part of a national screening tour of The Dreaming Bog. The film is now being offered to museums, arts venues, community organisations etc., of all sizes to host a screening event. To help host venues with costs the producers are wavering all film licensing fees and some other costs. They also offering help with advertising and promoting to ensure a successful screening event. In concluding Robert says; “I am so delighted we are kicking off our screening tour in Lairg, the region of my birth and of course not far from the precious Bogs. They are an incredible and hugely important landscape facing an uncertain future. It’s this story we have endeavoured to tell in The Dreaming Bog.”
If you wish to host a film screening event or receive more information of The Dreaming Bog please get in touch with Robert Aitken on: robert@aitken.online
We invited Catriona, curator at Glencoe Folk Museum, to talk to us about the journey they have been on with the Steps to Sustainability programme.
In 2021, we were successful in our application to take part in Steps to Sustainability – a programme run by Social Enterprise Academy and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The aim of the programme was to support organisations through a specific project of their own choosing, through a combination of workshops, facilitated sessions, discussions and networking. Following successful completion of the programme – and delivery of a presentation outlining plans, costs and profit – each organisation was awarded £5000 towards their project, with a further £5000 promised further down the line, provided we could evidence that our project was a success.
We chose to focus our project on our gift shop. An issue we have always had (and maybe something other Highland Museums can relate to) is a lack of funds at the start of the season to invest in shop stock, and not wanting to risk spending money on products that might not sell well. The money from this programme allowed us the freedom to experiment with new lines, commission our own bespoke products based on objects from the collection, cover high “minimum spend” for new sellers, and put in much larger initial orders to keep us well stocked.
With the first £5000, we commissioned Paper Houses Design to create a pattern inspired by our Spitalfields Silk Dress (as featured in Highland Threads), which we then had printed on tote bags, tea towels, mugs and silk scarves. We also invested in local artist Lilli (Discover & Draw), who uses the local landscape to inspire her work, and sells items including mugs, bags, cards, stickers, water bottles and coasters. Finally, local model-maker Jodie created Ballachulish Goddess keyrings for us, based on our replica. These were probably the most popular out of all of these items – a completely unique and quirky souvenir of the area and the museum! Seeing how each of these products sold allowed us to determine how to spend the remaining £5000. We could see that visitors appreciated unique items which had a strong Glencoe connection – whether to the museum, the community who created them or to the landscape. Our most unique selling point is our museum cottages, so we decided to commission “museum bothies” – little thatched ceramic double-cottages in the style of our museum. These were created by Glenshee Bothies, and we also invested in their pre-existing coloured bothies, tin-roofed bothies and single-cottage thatched bothies.
We also invested in some local businesses: we bought a range of soy candles from the Glencoe Candle Company, local heather honey from Jahama Estate, a selection of loose-leaf teas made just along the road in Mallaig and jewellery by a local crafter. We were also able to stock up on more Ballachulish Goddess keyrings and more items from Discover & Draw. Finally, we expanded our children’s range. This is something I feel that the gift shop has been lacking for a while, but sellers seemed to have quite large minimum orders and minimum spend for new retailers. The funding allowed us to stock a wide selection risk-free. We opted for Living Nature soft toys of local wildlife and a range of retro ‘pocket-money’ toys such as slinkies, cup-and-ball, pick-up-sticks and spinning tops.
I have to admit that I found the programme itself a little time-consuming, though I was the only member of staff at the time (colleague was furloughed) so was trying to juggle a lot of balls and hadn’t quite realised what I was signing up for. It consisted of two back-to-back full day Zoom sessions each month for 3 months plus extra optional courses on things like marketing or retail, one-to-one mentoring sessions and also time spent preparing the presentation. It was all really useful stuff though, and for organisations with dedicated members of staff running e.g. the gift shop or café, this should be much more manageable and shouldn’t cause any issues! The organisations taking part in the same round as us – which included the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Dundee Transport Museum and Mary Burgh Halls – all agreed that it was extremely useful to be able to connect with other museums running similar projects, and to get advice and discuss problems with peers. I also found that our mentor was extremely knowledgeable and full of great ideas for taking things forward after the end of the programme.
So, despite the long sessions, this programme was absolutely worth it for us. Our gift shops sales and profit have increased remarkably; in June 2022, we saw a 190% increase in profit from the gift shop compared to June 2019, and every other month has been at least 50% up on 2019. I put this down to having a retail offer that is unique, thoughtful and local, giving visitors the opportunity to purchase souvenirs that they can’t get anywhere else – and we wouldn’t have been able to create this offer without the funding and support from the Steps to Sustainability programme.
Round 3 of the Steps to Sustainability programme is starting in October 2022. You can find out more here.
A Podcast series run by XpoNorth with support from Museums and Heritage Highland will share stories of remarkable women from the Highlands.
A jewel thief, a witch, a doctor and an inspirational teacher are just some of the stories of incredible Highland women which will be revealed from museum archives and broadcast to audiences around the world in a new ten-part podcast series set to air later this year.
Run by XpoNorth, the support mechanism for creative industry businesses across the Highlands and Islands, in partnership with Museums and Heritage Highland and supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund, the series will be presented by freelance BBC producer, reporter and podcaster, Pauline Moore.
Pauline Moore, freelence BBC producer, reporter and podcaster
As part of her research for the series, Pauline and the team from XpoNorth will host events across the Highlands to share stories with communities, interview the ‘keepers’ of the tales, and hold information gathering sessions to help complete the picture. The importance and relevance of the tales uncovered will be discussed, and the first event will take place on Tuesday June 21 at the Highland Museums of Childhood. At this event the story of the notorious Mary Marjory MacDonald will be told. The only child of a local Gaelic speaking fishing family, Mary was orphaned in her teens and took to London society, travelling across Europe to become a very successful jewel thief. Gaining the trust of the ladies she worked with, Mary stole from them and was caught and tried a number of times. The event will hear Pauline in discussion with Siobhan Beatson, curator at Ullapool Museum, and Morven Macdonald, curator at Highland Museum of Childhood, to uncover Mary’s story.
Other events will take place on June 23 at Brora Heritage Centre where an audience will learn about Megan Boyd, one of the best salmon fly fish tyers to have lived, and about Caroline Ross, a single schoolteacher who concealed her pregnancy and delivered her illegitimate child alone in her lodgings in a rural community in the Scottish Highlands in 1930. Caroline was arrested and charged with child murder and the case was widely reported at the time.
An event in Castletown on June 24 will discuss Margaret Swanson who influenced the education of generations of girls with her interest in the physical and mental development of children. The story of Orkney doctor and photographer, Beatrice Garvie (1872 – 1956), will be told on June 28 at an event which will be held on Zoom from the Orkney Archive Centre, and the story of ‘The Witch of Auldearn’, Isobel Gowdie, will be explored on June 30 at Nairn Museum.
Julia Jeffrey drawing of Isobel Gowdie
Nicola Henderson, heritage specialist from XpoNorth said, “It is a real joy to unearth these tales of remarkable Highland women and the podcast series will be a brilliant mechanism in which to do so. We are very much looking forward to bringing the stories alive and it will be fascinating to discover any forgotten memories about the six women when we visit the communities to re-tell their stories.”
This event and podcast series has been supported by the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. This fund is being delivered in partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
Marie Christie, Head of Development at VisitScotland, said, “We are delighted to be supporting Unforgotten Highland Women through the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. Events play an important role in our communities as they sustain livelihoods and help to celebrate and promote our unique places, spaces and stories. Themed Years are all about collaboration and Museums Galleries Scotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund and VisitScotland are pleased to work in partnership to create this fund to showcase community stories. By supporting events taking place within our communities, including Unforgotten Highland Women, new opportunities with be provided for locals and visitors to come together and find out more about the diverse stories, past and present, that our communities have to share.”
About XpoNorth
XpoNorth is Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s (HIE) specialist year-round support mechanism for creative industry businesses based across the Highlands and Islands. The project delivers a range of responsive programmes to encourage the continued growth and innovation of the creative economy throughout one of the country’s most diverse regions. XpoNorth also produce a well-established annual conference connecting our business base with some of the most influential networks in the global marketplace.
XpoNorth is funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and is delivered by IronWorks Venue.
About Museums and Heritage Highland
Museums and Heritage Highland (MHH) is a membership organisation for museums, galleries and heritage organisations from across the Highlands. They exist to strengthen the heritage sector in the Highlands for the benefit of everyone living in and visiting the Highlands. Projects are drawn from their membership with the key aim of helping museums and other heritage organisations raise standards, engage with more people, collaborate with each other and be sustainable and resilient.
Further information about each event
Unforgotten Highland Women – Mary Marjory MacDonald, Ullapool
21st June, 10.30am Highland Museum of Childhood, Strathpeffer
How is a notorious story which would have been thought of as shameful and shunned at the time remembered now? Mary Marjory was the only child of a local Gaelic speaking fishing family who had a successful business in town. She was orphaned in her teens and took to London society, travelled across Europe and became a very successful jewel thief – gaining the trust of the Ladies she worked with in high society circles. She was caught and tried a number of times, including on the platform at Strathpeffer Old Railway Station where this event will be held.
Pauline will be in conversation with Siobhan Beatson, curator at Ullapool Museum and Morven Macdonald, curator Highland Museum of Childhood to uncover Mary’s story. There will be opportunities to explore the platform where she was caught, look at the museum display in her memory, enjoy some tea and cake and to be interviewed for the podcast, giving your thoughts on the story.
Unforgotten Highland Women – Megan Boyd and Caroline Ross, Brora
23rd June, 1pm Brora Heritage Centre, Brora
Megan Boyd – fly fisher (born 1915)
Though she never fished herself she is regarded as the finest tier of fishing flies in the world. She took to the craft of creating fish flies under the supervision of a Sutherland gamekeeper. She won her first award in 1938 at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow and received the British Empire Medal in 1971. Discussions are taking place about commissioning an art installation in her memory and erecting it at one of the gateways to the village of Brora. The move came after a Norwegian angler and Megan Boyd devotee made a pilgrimage to Brora to pay homage to her, but was shocked to find nothing about her there.
Caroline Ross (1904-1985)
Caroline Ross was a 26-year-old, single schoolteacher who concealed her pregnancy and delivered her ‘illegitimate’ child alone in her room in her lodgings in a rural community in the Highlands of Scotland in 1930. The child was discovered dead the same day.
She was put in custody and charged with Child Murder and appeared in court three months later. The case was widely reported in the papers at the time. Writer and historian Nick Lindsay writes that – ninety years on and the sense of the stress and tension of the terrifying court case in which she spoke not a single word of evidence, is tangible. The medical evidence appeared damning; the cause of the infant’s death was throttling, but the jury delivered a verdict of ‘Not Proven’. An absolute cliff-hanger to the end! It’s an extremely sad story with a tragic outcome but it illustrates a lot about attitudes and lack of support for young woman who found themselves pregnant at the time. The court case was a media sensation at the time. How can stories like this be remembered and reflect on changing attitudes?
Pauline will interview Nick Lindsay, author and chair of Clyne Heritage Society. Pauline and Nick will be joined by Mary Warrier for Megan’s story and by Wattie and Angela Macbeath for Caroline’s story. There will be an opportunity to look at objects related to the stories and enjoy a cup of tea.
Unforgotten Highland Women – Margaret Swanson
24th June, 1pm Castlehill Heritage Centre, Castletown
Margaret grew up in Castletown, Caithness, the daughter of the village cobbler. Despite her humble beginnings she went on to influence the education of generations of girls. After early schooling at the local school, Margaret was sent to board with an elderly lady to allow her to attend Wick Academy for further education. She became a pupil teacher in the town and embarked on teacher training in Aberdeen. She stayed in Scotland when her family emigrated to Nova Scotia. It was her interest in the physical and mental development of children which allowed her to change the “Code “ or requirements for sewing on the School Curriculum. The emphasis at the time was on the fineness of stitching on a delicate white material. This Margaret declared to be as meaningless as using black chalk on a blackboard. She became an instructor in the Glasgow school of Art, Charles Rennie MacIntosh was among her associates. She developed the “ Margaret Swanson System of Educational Needlework” revolutionising its teaching in Britain and abroad. Children were encouraged to choose the bright colours of thread they preferred , learning to stitch on unbleached calico with wool and cotton. Older girls were shown how to make their own embroidered garments, allowing imagination and creativity . Margaret continued to travel, research ,lecture and learn until ill-health put an end to her devotion to her craft.
Pauline will interview Muriel Murray who first learned of Margaret’s story. There will be an exhibition of objects related to Margaret on display for everyone to peruse over the tea and cake break. We will also be joined by the local school and local crafts groups as the audience is invited to make their own ‘sampler’ in Margaret’s memory
Unforgotten Highland Women – Beatrice Garvie
28th June, 11am – Zoom from Orkney Archive Centre
The Orkney Doctor and Photographer – Beatrice Garvie (1872-1956), was one of the earliest women to qualify as a doctor, and worked in Glasgow, India, and London. She understood the links between poverty and ill health, and was prepared to champion equal entitlement to healthcare, even when it meant putting herself on the line. Beatrice spent 15 years on North Ronaldsay as the GP in the 1930s, and 40s. She was a keen photographer and took lots of pictures of everyday life. Local people were well used to Beatrice and her camera, and would ask her to capture the important moments of family life for them. This work is now an important and unusually privileged record of island history.
Pauline Moore, BBC producer and reporter and experienced podcaster, will be joined by Fiona Sanderson, artist and researcher, as they talk with special guests linked to Beatrice directly. This event will be held on Zoom and recorded for use in an upcoming podcast series. Link details to follow
Unforgotten Highland Women – Isobel Gowdie
30th June, 1pm, Nairn Museum, Nairn
The Witch of Auldearn – Isobel Gowdie (17th century) The story of Isobel Gowdie is embedded in the world of academia as part of the Scottish Witch Trial accounts. Her story has also featured in a music composition by James McMillan. And most recently an American novelist (Nancy Hayes Kilgore )has recently published a novel – Bitter Magic – based on Isobel’s life. What makes Isobel’s story different is that she confessed her witchcraft without the usual torture imposed. She was regarded as a great story teller and her story has influenced later studies of witchcraft.
Pauline will be in conversation with Melissa Davies, curator of Nairn Museum, Andrew Grant Mackenzie, Highland Historian and Helen Wright who designed the mural to Isobel that can be found in Auldearn. There will also be an opportunity to view some objects related to withcraft from the local area.
Helen Pickles, curator at the Highland folk Museum, tells us all about the development of their digital dressing up filters and how they are using them to engage new and existing audiences.
Aside from the threat of moths and light damage, and the problems posed by delicate fabric and never enough storage space, there’s an additional challenge with costume collections…fighting the desire to dress up! Conservators can breathe a sigh of relief though, as the days of wearing one’s collection has long gone. The founder of the Highland Folk Museum, Dr Isabel F. Grant, had some of the 19th century dresses in the collection modelled by local girls (with tiny waists), and the images made into postcards. Former Curator Ross Noble was known to wear a tam o’shanter from the collection for events in the 1980s and 90s, but it’s a practice we’ve now, somewhat begrudgingly, left behind.
Ross Noble wearing the tam o’shanter
We’ve recently been trying out an alternative way to experience the items…Augmented Reality dressing up.
In 2021 we received funding from the Esmeé Fairbairn Collections Fund which allowed us to get creative and develop a social media filter to let visitors try on something from the collection. This was a part of a wider project in which we also created digital tours of some of the historic buildings, to bring our collections to a wider online audience.
After some research and looking at the capabilities and costs of the technology, we decided to stick to the head and shoulders rather than going for a full body experience. “Virtual trying on” has been used for a few years by opticians and glasses frames providers, to allow customers to test out what style suits their face, and it works well. Head movement tracking technology is advanced enough to give a convincing result, with the accessory matching the movement of the head. However, we couldn’t find any museums who had used this tech to engage users with heritage hats or accessories, so we were excited to give it a go and see what we could do.
We selected two hats from our collection which are quintessentially Scottish – the green tam o’shanter with red toorie as modelled by Ross Noble, and a 19th century white cotton mutch, with frills and a ribbon fastening. Both were in good condition, stable enough to be handled, packed and transported, they would hold their shape when photographed, and there were no very thin or transparent areas (such as lace) that would cause problems in data capture.
Tam o’shanterCotton mutch
The first stage of the process was to create a 3D model, then second stage was the production of the filter. Both of these are specialist skills that we didn’t have in-house, so we worked with two external companies on this project; AOC Archaeology Group and Dynam design agency.
AOC Archaeology are experts in 3D scanning and photogrammetry. They usually work with archaeological remains, sites or buildings, but were very keen to take on the challenge of recording smaller museum objects, in particular textiles items.
The bonnets were couriered down to the AOC studio and lab in Edinburgh, and photogrammetry (hundreds of photos taken from all angles, then digitally pieced together to form a whole) was used to produce the 3D models. There was some discussion about the angle of the tam o’shanter upon the head. According to James Logan, writing in his 1876 book “The Scottish Gael”, the inhabitants of Badenoch, Strathspey, Strathdon etc wore their bonnets cocked, so that provided our answer.
Once the photogrammetry had been completed and the 3D models finished, Dynam took over to create the digital dress up effect. Rather than creating a whole new app to achieve the result, they recommended an Effects filter which works in both Instagram and Facebook – two platforms where we already have an established audience.
After some back and forth with getting the size and colour just right for each hat, we ended up with two fantastic results. The final part of the creative process was taking the promotional shots. My colleague Hannes Schnell and I modelled the hats with the 19th century thatched Highland Cottage in the background, a building that fits with the era of the bonnets. Our seasonal Costumed Interpreters wear mutches, and now visitors can too!
The filters were launched in late November 2021, and promoted in the local press and across our social media. They received a very positive response, with hundreds of views within the first few days. We encouraged our online audience to share images of them trying on the bonnets, and tag HFM in their posts. It seems like people are a little shy at doing this, as although the filters are being opened and viewed, users are about three times as likely to save the image than they are to publicly share the images on their posts or stories.
Usage of the filters has been a wee bit quieter over the start of this year, but has picked up again since the museum opened to the public in April. Promotional posters around the site include QR codes to take visitors directly to the effects, which really helps in finding them. If you’re not used to using social media Effect filters, it can be tricky to find them until they’re pointed out, so we’ve found that providing direct links works really well in getting people there.
We’ve received positive feedback from visitors on site too, with staff reporting lots of laughter and giggles with people trying on the hats. Trying on the tam o’shanter or mutch with the backdrop of the historic Highland buildings (or in the comfort of your own home) is a bit of fun – go on, you know you want to!
Use your smartphone or device to try on the bonnets with the Facebook or Instagram apps:
Maths Week Scotland is a dedicated week of events and activity, with special events throughout the year. Events take place all across Scotland for families, adults and schools hosted by science centres, museums, organisations, schools and more! This year, Maths Week Scotland will take place 26 September – 2 October 2022. (featured image copyright Abermedia)
Maths Week Scotland 2022 will have the theme ‘The Beauty of Maths’’ with a focus on creativity and beauty in maths, as well as the maths in such as art and music.
Maths is all around us in our everyday lives and that is reflected in the broad programme of activity. Maths Week Scotland shines a light on maths in unexpected places and gives people the opportunity to engage with it in new fun ways.
Across Maths Week Scotland, we want people of all ages and backgrounds to: Be curious, enthusiastic, confident and engaged in numeracy and mathematics Understand the relevance of maths learning and skills to their lives, now and in the future Have access to a diverse range of events and activities promoting and demonstrating the joy and value of maths
We had seven museums take part in Maths Week Scotland from the Highlands to the Borders. You can see what museums got up to for Maths Week Scotland 2021 here. If you are interested in taking part in Maths Week Scotland please contact mathsweekscot@nms.ac.uk to find out what support is available. We can offer support from maths education and museum specialists to help you get started or work through your ideas.
The Large Grant Fund is offering grants of between £2,000 – £7,000 to support organisations, partnerships and charities to develop exciting new strands of Maths Week Scotland 2022.
If your project is smaller than this amount there will also be a Small Grants Fund for applications of up to £2,000. For more information on the Small Grants Fund find out more here.
The final deadline for submission is 17:00 on Monday 16 May 2022.
Applications received will be reviewed and advised of outcome by Monday 30 May 2022.
We are seeking a Digital Learning and Interpretation Specialist to work with us on creating content for a Digital Learning Hub for schools and families. This opportunity is supported by the Art Fund and Museums and Galleries Scotland.
Over the next year we are working with museums across the Highlands to create a dynamic digital learning hub enabling children, young people and teachers to discover and engage with museum collections from across the Highlands in new and exciting ways. The project brings together 17 museums from across the Highlands to collaborate in bringing objects from their collections together to create a digital portal into the rich history and culture of the Highlands. Users will be able to move through historical time, place or subject matter to explore objects in different museum collections using immersive imagery, video and audio and bringing them together to create their own ‘journeys’. The learning hub will allow users to access museum collections and learning resources related to objects and topic for use at home or in the classroom, with the functionality to contact museums directly to set up virtual or in person learning visits.
The Digital Learning and Interpretation Specialist will be a creative leader in this project, focused on providing digital learning and interpretation experiences for all ages. This position is responsible for supporting participating museums in creating online and remote digital learning resources for a variety of audiences, most specifically targeting, teachers, families and young people currently in primary and secondary education. It may suit one person or a team and are happy to discuss different approaches with you before applying.
For full details on the position and on how to apply, please download the job pack below.
