Family and local history

Although Scotland is a small nation, it has produced a significantly high number of inventors throughout the centuries. Some of these inventors are world-renowned but others are shrouded in obscurity. The library has numerous books in its collections that tell the stories of these inventors. A selection of recent titles include ‘Scottish Firsts: a celebration of innovation and achievement’ by Elspeth Wills, Edinburgh, 2002, ‘Invented in Scotland: Scottish ingenuity and invention through the ages’ by Allan Burnett, Edinburgh, 2010 and ‘Caledonia Dreaming: 100 Scots who changed the world not always for the better!’ by John K V Eunson, London, 2010.

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

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.

The National Library of Scotland has just released digital copies of British military lists from the First and Second World Wars. They list all the officers who served in the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force from 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. They can be viewed for free on the library website.

There are two new additions to our Digital Gallery, both of which are free to use. The first is the ‘Biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen’, published in three volumes in 1875. The books contain biographies and engraved portraits of Scots men (and some women) mainly during the 16th to 19th centuries. The biographies discuss individuals who were prominent in the fields of medicine, religion, art and literature, politics, philosophy and the natural sciences.

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.

 Ahoy me hearties! Are you interested in the history of Scottish pirates? The library has a number of books in our collections that can provide more information on the subject. These include Eric J Graham’s ‘Seawolves: Pirates & the Scots’, Edinburgh, 2005 and ‘Skull & Saltire: Stories of Scottish Piracy – Ancient & Modern’ by Jim Hewitson, Edinburgh, 2005.

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 are interested in tartan and how it has been used in fashion throughout the centuries, then ‘Tartan’ by Jonathan Faiers, 2008, may be of interest to you. This comprehensive and colourful book describes not only the history of tartan but also its technical aspects of construction. It also discusses how tartan has evolved over time to become an integral part of the modern day fashion industry.

A more conventional book on the subject is ‘The Complete Book of Tartan: a heritage encyclopedia of over 400 tartans and the stories that shaped Scottish history’ by Iain Zaczek and Charles Phillips, 2011. As well as providing a detailed history of tartan, the book also includes a tartan directory listing the major clans, other Scottish families and associated clans and modern and international tartans.

Finally, if you are looking for a specific tartan then the Scottish Register of Tartans may be of assistance in your research. This resource was set up in 2008 to protect, promote and preserve tartan and can be used to search for specific tartans by name or colours.

Is there an actor or actress in your family? If the answer is yes, then ‘My ancestor worked in the theatre‘ by Alan Rushton, 2005, may be of interest to you. The book explains what records survive and where they can be found. The National Library of Scotland also has a couple of online resources that may help with your research. We have digitised a collection of theatre posters and playbills from the period 1870-1900. These depict scenes from plays or portraits of leading actors and actresses. There are also black and white photographs of some pantomime characters.

A second resource is the Scottish Theatre Programmes database. This provides details of the programmes, playbills and posters that the National Library of Scotland has in its collections. The database covers a large number of different Scottish venues from the 19th century onwards.

Do you have any sporting heroes in your family? An interesting new book explains how you can research family members who participated both as amateurs and professionals in different types of sport. ‘Sporting Ancestors: Tracing Your Family’s Athletic Past’ by Keith Gregson provides a brief history of British sport, as well as information about where to find records and how to research the subject.

There are also some mysterious sporting photographs on our website. Do you know anyone in these photographs? Please let us know if you have any more information on these individuals or the events that were taking place.

For those with an interest in heraldry, a new free database may be of interest. The British Armorial Bindings database, which was created by a late colleague, John Morris, is now available for researchers. It attempts to record all known British armorial bookbinding stamps used by personal owners to mark and decorate their books. Currently, the database reproduces over 3300 stamps, used in the 16th-20th centuries, by 1900 individual owners. The stamps depict coats of arms, crests and other heraldic devices.