Collated by: Veronica Bell. Situated between Glasgow to the west and Loch Lomond to the north, West Dunbartonshire is a county centred around three main towns: Dumbarton, Clydebank, and the Vale of Leven district. It is historically significant – the town of Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, and its famous […]
Tag: local history
Zoom into Argyll and Bute
Collated by Veronica Bell. Argyll and Bute is the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council, with its varied geography consisting of a heavily indented coastline, numerous islands, and a hilly mainland encompassing hundreds of lochs. There is much for the historian to discover, from prehistoric monuments such as Kilmartin, to early Christian sites […]
Zoom into Inverclyde
Part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, Inverclyde is situated in the crook of the upper Firth of Clyde as it bends east toward Glasgow. Its largest towns, Greenock and Port Glasgow, were historic centres of shipbuilding. From the eighteenth century they were key ports for the British trade in goods from overseas, including commodities, […]
Zoom into Clackmannanshire
Collated by Charlotte James Robertson. This time in our ‘Zoom into…’ series the spotlight is on Clackmannanshire. Affectionately known as ‘The Wee County’ it is mainland Scotland’s smallest council area by population. Clackmannanshire borders the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross. The town of Clackmannan was the county town up until 1822 when Alloa became the main administrative centre. […]
Zoom into Na h-Eileanan Siar
Time to step into the rich history and culture of Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles or Outer Hebrides). Na h-Eileanan Siar is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The inhabited islands of the Western Isles include: Lewis and Harris, South Uist, North Uist, Benbecula, Barra, Great Bernera, Berneray, Vatersay, Baleshare, North Grimsay, […]
Zoom into the Shetland Islands
Collated by Veronica Bell. The Shetland Islands are the most northerly part of the British Isles, lying in the North Atlantic between the British mainland, the Faroe Islands and Norway. The main town, Lerwick, lies only six degrees of latitude from the Arctic Circle.
Zoom into the Orkney Islands
Collated by Alison Leslie. Orkney, or the Orkney Islands, is a group of 70 islands off the north coast of Scotland. They became part of Scotland in 1469 in lieu of an unpaid dowry from Norway. Today Orkney is best known for its historic sites, the dive sites around the scuttled World War One German fleet, its birdlife, its food and drink, and the North Ronaldsay sheep […]
Zoom Into Scotland
What is that building? Who is this street named after? Where do those gates lead? With most of us spending more time at and around our homes, we are noticing things we haven’t spotted before. Whether you have lived there for a short time or for years there is always something new to discover. Many of us live away […]
The Fight for Fife
Guest Blog Post by Matthew Fellion As a volunteer in Archives and Manuscript Collections, Matthew Fellion has been listing the records of the North East Fife Conservative and Unionist Association (NEFCUA), which the Library acquired in autumn 2017. Acc.13853 is part of the Library’s modern political manuscript holdings, which include records of Scottish political parties, […]
Researching local town history
People often think that the only way to search for material in the National Library of Scotland is via the on-line catalogue. However there are other resources available that can pinpoint useful material that can assist with your research. For example, if you are studying the history of Largs, you will find quite a few […]