Some of the best known scientific inventors in Scotland have also been celebrated in the library’s online Scottish Science Hall of Fame.

Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat

There have been a number of recent biographies published on notable Jacobites. One of them is ‘The Last Highlander: Scotland’s Most Notorious Clan Chief, Rebel & Double Agent’ by Sarah Fraser, London, 2012. This book tells the story of Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat and leader of the Clan Fraser. He was the individual who had supreme command of the Jacobite army and was defeated at the Battle of Culloden. He was executed on 9 April 1747. A complicated individual, he was by turns a rebel and loyal British army officer, a spy for both Stuarts and Hanoverians, a Protestant and Roman Catholic.

Another recent title is ‘The Poet Chief: Alexander Robertson of Struan 1670-1749′ by James Irvine Robertson, Kinloss, 2011. This tells the story of the 13th chief of Clan Robertson, who was unique in having taken part in all three Jacobite risings on behalf of the Stuarts. He spent more than 20 years in exile in France.

Maggie Craig has written a couple of books on less well known Jacobites, both men and women. They are the colourfully titled ‘Bare-Arsed Banditti: The Men of the ‘45′, Edinburgh, 2009 and ‘Damn’ Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ‘45′, Edinburgh, 2000.

For those looking for portraits of people who were involved in the Jacobite Rebellions, the library’s digital resource Jacobite prints and broadsides may provide a relevant picture. ]]> http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/?feed=rss2&p=463 0 http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/?p=451 http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/?p=451#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:48:56 +0000 Hazel Stewart http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/?p=451 The library has digitised a large amount of material from our Gaelic collections, which can be viewed for free on our Digital Gallery.

If you need to refresh your Gaelic or are just starting to learn and need some help, then there are a few books that might help. These include Angus Watson’s ‘The Essential Gaelic-English, English-Gaelic Dictionary’, Edinburgh, 2012, Michael Bauer’s ‘Blas na Gaidhlig: the practical guide to Scottish Gaelic pronunciation’, Glasgow, 2011 and George McLennan’s ‘Gaelic Alphabet: a guide to the pronunciation of Gaelic letters and words’, Glendaruel, 2009.

If you are looking for some reading material in Gaelic, then the ‘Scottish Gaelic Union Catalogue: a list of books printed in Scottish Gaelic from 1567 to 1973′ by Mary Ferguson and Ann Matheson, Edinburgh, 1984, can provide you with an extensive reading list.

If you want to know more about Scottish graveyards and their tombstones, then ‘Understanding Scottish Graveyards’ by Betty Willsher, Edinburgh, 2005 and ‘Researching Scottish Graveyards’ by Bruce B. Bishop, Elgin, 2010, can help further your research.

Dane Love’s ‘Scottish Kirkyards’, Stroud, 2010, provides an explanation of the role of the kirkyard within the Scottish community as well as detailing burial customs of Scotland. Hamish Brown’s ‘A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany: Exploring the Folk Art of Scotland’s Gravestones’, Edinburgh, 2008, discusses examples of graveyard art from all over Scotland.

Books on the subject, which are specific to particular geographical areas, include Geoff Holder’s ‘Perthshire Murders’, Stroud, 2010, Malcolm Archibald’s ‘A Sink of Atrocity: Crime in 19th Century Dundee’, Edinburgh, 2012 and Jessie Sword’s ‘They Did Wrong: Public Hangings in the Angus Area 1785 to 1868′, Dundee, 2005. This latter title includes background information on the people who were hanged, as well as details of their trials and executions.

‘The Vagabond Book of Stirling: 1752-1787′ by Marie Brammeld, Stirling, 2010, was a book kept by the local authorities in Stirling. It recorded misdemeanours such as theft, breach of the peace and assualt and a list of the punishments given out to the offenders by the Magistrates of the Burgh.

The second is a collection of 20 volumes of  ‘Gazetteers of Scotland, 1803-1901′. These provide a comprehensive geographical encyclopedia of Scotland during in the 19th century. They include information on parishes, towns and counties in Scotland, as well as historical and geographical details on each location.

Alexander Reid has written ‘Aye ready! the history of Edinburgh Fire Brigade, the oldest municipal brigade in Britain’, Edinburgh, 1974, while Alan Forbes has more recently published ‘Everyday Heroes: the 30 year story of Strathclyde Fire Brigade’, Edinburgh, 2005.

If you are interested in the Scottish Fire Services training facility in Gullane, East Lothian then Beryl Robinson’s ‘From Golfers to Firefighters…where hope is unbroken: the story of Gullane’s Marine Hotel transformed to the Scottish Fire Services College’, Gullane, 2005, may provide further information. If you want to find out more about the creator of the British Fire Service then the book to read is Brian Henham’s ‘True Hero: the life and times of James Braidwood, father of the British Fire Service’, Romford, 2000.

Finally, the amusingly named ‘Scooshers’ by Andrew F Anderson, Gloucester, 1993, tells the story of Glasgow Fire Service.

David Ditchburn has contributed an article on ‘Piracy and War at Sea in Late Medieval Scotland’ to T.C. Smout’s ‘Scotland and the Sea’, Edinburgh, 1992, pages 35-58.

John Gow was one of Scotland’s most famous pirates and Stromness Museum in Orkney has produced a facsimile edition of ‘An Account of the Conduct and Proceedings of the Late John Gow’ as ‘The Pirate Gow by Daniel Defoe, 1725′. This tells the tale of an Orkney lad who ran away to sea, came home the master of a ship, romanced a local girl and when his piratical past was revealed, he went raiding in Orkney. After being run aground he was captured and sent to London in chains, where he was executed ten months later.

The library’s Word on the Street collection of online broadsides contains news reports on the activities of pirates as well as descriptions of the executions of those convicted of piracy.

If you have some old police badges or other items of memorabilia, you may be able to find out more about them from ‘Scottish Insignia as used by old Police Forces’, by John C Green, 2008. This book provides a brief history of the old Scottish police forces and lists and photographs of identifiable items associated with them.

If you have an ancestor who was in the Edinburgh police in the early nineteenth century, then ‘The Edinburgh Police Register 1815-1859′, edited by Peter Ruthven-Murray, 1991, may provide more details. It includes information such as warrant numbers, date of joining, age at joining, height, facial characteristics, marital status, trade or occupation before joining and reason for leaving, amongst other details.