West Highland Museum has recently obtained on long term loan a distinctive snuff box that was present during the Battle of Culloden. This item is a ram’s horn snuff mull – taking snuff was the fashionable means of inhaling Nicotine before cigarettes. The object has a silver lid inscribed with the motto of Clan Chattan: […]
A Grim Relic from the Battle of Culloden Read More »
A drover’s flintlock pistol and walking stick that once belonged to the Brae Lochaber drover Alexander MacArthur (1774 – approximately1844) was gifted to the Museum recently. This blog has been written for us by the donor. Droving cattle was an important part of the Highland economy up to and including the 19th century. The droves
Alexander MacArthur: The Brae Lochaber Drover Read More »
One cannot properly understand the exiled Stuarts in Rome, and the importance of their relationship with Poland, without understanding the role played by one extraordinary individual. That man was the Stuarts’ most trusted confidant. He was also an intimate friend of the Stuarts’ closest Polish cousins, Prince Michał Radziwiłł and his eldest son Prince
BISHOP GIORGIO LASCARIS AND THE STUART – RADZIWILL CIRCLE BY PETER PININSKI Read More »
In 2025 the museum were gifted Alexander Finlayson Beaton’s wartime medals by his daughter Maggie Hardy (nee Beaton) and granddaughter Tracy Anderson. This fascinating account of Grandpa Beaton’s wartime experiences was written by his granddaughter and has also been gifted to the museum. It is published here by kind permission of Tracy Anderson. Alexander Finlayson
Grandpa Beaton’s World War II Story Read More »
This is the fascinating story of a Victorian oil painting that was bequeathed to the West Highland Museum in 1999, but an object that has never been inside the museum building. Letters and News at the Loch Side was given as a wedding gift to Gertrude Astley (1849 – 1920) from her sisters, Constance (1851
Letters and News at the Loch Side Read More »
Objects from the Drambuie Collection have been on loan to West Highland Museum since 2018 and can be viewed in our Jacobite Gallery. Following on from our highly successful “An evening with Drambuie” event, Andy Fairgrieve from William Grant and Sons Ltd has written a blog for us focusing on the history of Drambuie liqueur.
A History of Drambuie Read More »
The museum has six objects in its collection that once belonged to Colonel John Cameron of Fassifern (or Fassiefern), these include a childhood toy, a love token, and objects associated with his military service. Cameron was a cousin of the Camerons of Lochiel and educated partly at the grammar school in Fort William, but also
Military Stories: Colonel John Cameron of Fassefern (1771–1815) Read More »
A tropical palm-leaf hat with a wide brim and shallow crown is displayed discreetly on a wall in the museum’s Victorian gallery. The hat once belonged to the infamous big game hunter Roualeyn George Gordon-Cumming (1820-1866). The museum once also had his walking stick, which was iron shod with a plaster head of lion separately
Empire Stories: The Lion Hunter of Fort Augustus Read More »
West Highland Museum is hosting its “Camanachd: Geama Aosda nan Gleann Abrach” (Shinty: Ancient Game of the Lochaber Glens) exhibition this autumn. In this third of a series of blogs, shinty expert and broadcaster Dr Hugh Dan MacLennnan explores the history of Kilmallie Shinty Club. Kilmallie Shinty Club, currently based at Canal Parks, in Caol, was
Shinty Memories: Kilmallie Shinty Club Read More »
West Highland Museum is hosting its “Camanachd: Geama Aosda nan Gleann Abrach” (Shinty: Ancient Game of the Lochaber Glens) exhibition this autumn. In this second of a series of blogs, shinty expert and broadcaster Dr Hugh Dan MacLennnan explores the history of Fort William Shinty Club. Formed in February 1893, Fort William Shinty Club has
Shinty Memories: Fort William Shinty Club Read More »