From the middle of the nineteenth century, Norway became a popular destination for aristocratic British fishermen. They became known there as “salmon lords”. John Francis Campbell (1821-1885) was one of them but he did more than live a life of leisure. He was a noted linguist and folklorist, collecting Gaelic folktales, songs, anecdotes and more.
Tag: manuscripts
Zoom into South Lanarkshire
The former county of Lanarkshire was covered by North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Glasgow. The county has historically also been called Clydesdale after the River Clyde. In 1975, South Lanarkshire separated, and currently borders the City of Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. The larger […]
Zoom into Aberdeen City
Aberdeen City sits on the north-east coast of Scotland, north of the River Dee and south of the River Don. Aberdeen is often referred to the Granite or Silver City as the buildings were built with granite that has a high mica content (mica is a natural mineral that is typically very shiny or shimmery). […]
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, […]
Curators’ Favourites: Tours of Scotland
The choice: Tours of Scotland Chosen by: Kirsty McHugh, Curator, John Murray Archive & Publishers’ Collections Read online at the Curious Travellers website Welcome to the third in our blog series where we introduce you to some favourites from our collections for you to enjoy reading, all freely available online. In this blog, rather than focus on a book from our digital gallery, we invite you to explore some of […]
Happy 60th Birthday Ian Rankin
Today marks the 60th birthday of the UK’s number one best-selling crime writer, Ian Rankin. To celebrate Mr. Rankin’s latest milestone, we thought it appropriate to dedicate this post to his other love: music.
The Rankin Files
It all began a few years ago, when representatives of the Library sat down with renowned crime writer Ian Rankin to discuss the acquisition of his extensive literary archive. Fast-forward to September 2019, when I took up the post of Ian Rankin Project Curator, tasked with the arrangement, cataloguing, and promotion of this incredible collection […]
Making Public Alasdair Gray Prints
Two signed, limited-edition prints by Scottish artist, writer and cultural icon Alasdair Gray have just been acquired by The National Library of Scotland.
Cross Trust Special Collections Interns
Our names are Amy Kerr and Jennifer Roach and we have just completed our four week special collections internship in Archives, Records Management and Rare Books Librarianship. We are very grateful to have been given this opportunity, which was was funded by the Cross Trust. We both came from different postgraduate courses: Amy is completing […]
Seals, slashes and stamps
Although there are many fascinating stories and events depicted in the content of letters, legal documents, ledgers and manuscripts, sometimes the physical nature of the record will enlighten readers about the origin of the document, its use, or give clues to or about the author. So, it can be interesting to take a closer look […]