Collated by Moray Teale. The Falkirk council area was formed in 1996 when the Central Region was divided into several parts. Falkirk boasts many varied attractions from the ruins of the Antonine Wall, Callendar House and Blackness Castle to the engineering feats of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Falkirk Wheel. More recently it has become famous for the […]
Category: 21st-century items
Zoom into Perth and Kinross
The county of Perth, formerly known as Perthshire, sits at the heart of Scotland, and its vast geographic size has seen it called ‘the big county.’ It existed as an administrative county from 1890 until 1930, when it was linked with Kinross-shire which, in direct contrast to its neighbour, is one of Scotland’s smallest counties. The county town is Perth, and a large number […]
Zoom into Dundee City
Collated by Lorna Black. Dundee is the fourth largest city in Scotland and lies on the north bank of the River Tay. Dundee is famous for three Js: Jute, Jam and Journalism. During the peak of jute production the city was nicknamed Juteolopis. It is also known for the Tay Bridge Disaster and RSS Discovery. […]
Women’s History Month Reading List
This blog post focuses on a selection of contemporary women writers in Scotland and their contribution to Scottish literature, society and history. Note: The links included in this blog are to the catalogue record for the books in the Library. Leila Aboulela is an Aberdeen-based playwright and poet. Leila Aboulela was born in Cairo, grew up in Khartoum and moved in her mid-twenties to Scotland. Leila’s work […]
Zoom Into North Ayrshire
Collated by Emma Boyd North Ayrshire is a council area in the south-west of Scotland. Set along the coast of the Firth of Clyde and with a population of over 135,000 at the last census; it is the most populous of the three Ayrshire regions. The area was formed in 1996 from the former Cunninghame district, and includes the Isle of […]
Exploring climate change, environmental damage and race.
Through newspaper and journal articles accessed via Ethnic NewsWatch, this blog post by our Climate Crisis Intern explores the relationship between climate change, environmental damage, and race. “Global climate change is experienced very differently across race, gender, class and nationality.” So begins a 2012 article from Race, Gender & Class, a journal available on Ethnic […]
Zoom Into Angus
The Modern-day council area of Angus traces its name to an eighth century Pictish king, Óengus son of Fergus (ruled 732-761). Óengus (Angus) hailed from Circinn, one of the four principal Pictish kingdoms roughly coextensive with the modern county of Angus. The signing of the Declaration of Arbroath at Arbroath Abbey in 1320 marked Scotland’s establishment as an independent nation, and so Angus has become known as the birthplace of […]
Zoom into the Scottish Borders
Collated by Charlotte James Robertson. The Scottish Borders, which are sometimes simply called The Borders, stretch from the Pentland Hills, which mark their boundary with the Lothians, to the River Tweed at the border with England. As an area of exceptional beauty the Scottish Borders have inspired writers like Sir Walter Scott and John Buchan. They are also home to several […]
Zoom into Moray
Collated by Moray Teale. Moray is situated in the north-east of Scotland and borders the Aberdeenshire and Highland council areas. Until 1996 Moray was also part of the Grampian Region. Moray has a varied landscape from the Moray Firth and largely flat coastline, to the hilly interior and several lochs. The River Spey runs through much of the area, which is famous for its whiskies and contains more […]
Reading list: In reflection of Black History Month
In reflection of US Black History Month, the cohort of interns here at the National Library of Scotland have curated a reading list of titles from the Library’s ever-expanding print and digital collections relating to Black history. Our internships are as follows: Access and Outreach Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Climate Crisis Gaelic Translation Rights and Personalisation Creating Media Content This small selection of material comes from a larger pool of […]