Learn with Lorna event in Inverness on May 28th

This who have been following Highland Archives archivist Lorna Steele-McGinn over the last six years with her weekly online Learn With Lorna lectures will perhaps be interested to know that Lorna will be hosting an in-person event in Inverness on 28 May 2026. Here's the blurb from the archive's latest newsletter:

Our series of short online talks about the records held by the Highland Archive Service returned on 22nd January 2026 after a Christmas break.  As advertised in our last newsletter we are looking forward to hosting an in-person Learn with Lorna event at the Highland Archive Centre on 28th May 2026.  A talk on some "Treasures of the Highland Archive Service" will be followed by the chance to see some of the many documents that have featured across the 6 years of the series and to meet some of the other team members who have contributed research over the years.  We are really looking forward to welcoming LWL viewers to the archive centre, celebrating the community that has grown from the series, and saying thank you to all who have helped it grow. The few remaining tickets are available via https://tickets.highlifehighland.com/events/highlifehighland/2057468 or by contacting the Highland Archive Centre direct.

It should be a great event! To watch Lorna's Learn with Lorna series on YouTube, visit https://www.youtube.com/@HighLifeHighlandsocial

(With thanks to Highland Archives) 

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Learn with Lorna - 250th lecture

Highland Archive (https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives/highland-archive-centre) has released its 250th Learn with Lorna lecture online on YouTube. This lecture, with archivist Lorna Steele-McGinn, looks at street names, and is all the more remarkable because Lorna is a wee bit unwell, but still persevering with it like a complete hero! 

You can view the lecture at https://youtu.be/c1r4HZMT5_Y?si=RgeGEHjKGCZ9Aevj, or below for convenience.

Well done Lorna, agus cùm a' dol! (And get well soon!)

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Napier Commission returns to be added to ScotlandsPeople in November

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has announced that the late 19th century Napier Commission returns are to be added to ScotlandsPeople in November.  

"Two fascinating new record sets are landing this autumn. The Napier Commission returns arrive in early November, offering a unique window into Highland crofting life in the 1880s. In December, we’ll add over 1,000 maps and plans, giving you new ways to explore the places your ancestors called home." 

The Napier Commission from 1884, more formally known as the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands, and reporting to Lord Napier, was set up in response to demand for land reform in the predominantly Gaelic speaking Highland and Islands of Scotland. It led to the subsequent Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) of 1886, providing security of tenure for crofters, although this was only the first step.

It is unclear at present precisely what ScotlandsPeople is preparing to put online, but the published version of the records can be accessed at present in PDF format via the University of the Highland and Islands website at https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/cultural/centre-for-history/research/resources/the-napier-commission/. The published version contains oral testimony from many witnesses, although these have been translated into English from Gaelic.

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Highland Archive Service wins 'Record Keeping Service of the Year' at the ARA Excellence Awards

Congratulations to the Highland Archive Service for winning 'Record Keeping Service of the Year' at the Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland (ARA) Excellence Awards last night, after receiving 63% of the public vote. That's a seriously big thumbs up!

For more on the story please visit https://www.highlifehighland.com/blog/highland-archive-service-are-winners-in-the-2024-ara-excellence-awards/. 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Second sight in Gaelic Scotland

Historically in the Highlands and Islands, people known in Gaelic as 'muinntir an dà shealladh' - 'people of the two sights' - were often believed to have had an ability to predict the future, and in many cases, doom for particular individuals. The spooky Runrig song Cnoc na Fèille references the muinntir an dà shealladh in its first verse, who were able to see a strange light on the hill of the market stand.

There's a great article looking at the subject of 'second sight' in today's Herald at https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23640933.second-sight-folklore-scottish-highlands-islands/, including instances of it recorded by traveller Martin Martin on his journey of the Western Isles, published in 1703 (A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland - available at https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_a-description-of-the-wes_martin-martin-gent_1703). 

You can also find out more about second sight in the following book available on Electric Scotland at https://electricscotland.com/history/brahan/highlandsecond.pdf.

And here's that Runrig song - one of my faves...!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

NLS exhibition: Sgeul / Story - Folktales from the Scottish Highlands

A new exhibition at the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) seeks to share the Gaelic folklore of the Highlands:

Sgeul / Story : Folktales from the Scottish Highlands 

Sgeul | Story is an exhibition in Gaelic and English about stories and storytelling traditions.

People share stories every day. A story is kept alive by a storyteller telling it to others. Folktales have survived all over the world, passed on from generation to generation.

Scotland is rich in stories but once upon a time, Scottish Gaelic folktales were almost unknown beyond the Highlands. In 1859, folklorist John Francis Campbell began to collect Scottish Gaelic folktales. He found a treasure trove.

Campbell worked with a team of helpers to gather folktales. They travelled from place to place across the western Highlands and Islands of Scotland meeting with storytellers.

See the manuscript diaries kept by Campbell and the watercolours he painted. In the storytelling area, you can read and listen to some of the folktales given by the storytellers in Gaelic and English.

Find out what stories and storytelling mean to Gaelic speakers of all ages today.

Tha Sgeul | Story na taisbeanadh ann an Gàidhlig agus Beurla mu sgeulachdan agus traidiseanan seanchais.

Bidh daoine ag innse sgeulachdan gach latha. Tha sgeul air a cumail beò le sgeulaiche ga h-innse do dhaoine eile. Tha beul-aithris ann air feadh an t-saoghail, air a thoirt seachad bho ghinealach gu ginealach.

Tha beairteas de sgeulachdan aig Alba ach uair den t-saoghal is beag gun robh fios aig mòran dhaoine air beul-aithris na Gàidhlig taobh a-muigh na Gàidhealtachd fhèin. Ann an 1859, thòisich an t-eòlaiche beul aithris Iain Frainsias Caimbeul (Iain Òg Ìle) air sgeulachdan Gàidhlig na h-Alba a chruinneachadh. Lorg e mòr-ulaidh dha-rìribh.

Bha an Caimbeulach ag obair còmhla ri sgioba de luchd-cuideachaidh gus sgeulachdan a chruinneachadh. Shiubhail iad bho àite gu àite air feadh taobh siar na Gàidhealtachd agus Innse Gall a’ coinneachadh ri sgeulaichean.

Faic na leabhraichean-latha ann an cruth làmh-sgrìobhainnean a sgrìobh an Caimbeulach agus na dealbhan dath-uisge a pheant e. Ann an àrainn nan sgeulachdan, faodaidh tu cuid den bheul-aithris a thug na seanchaidhean seachad ann an Gàidhlig agus Beurla a leughadh agus èisteachd riutha.

Faigh a-mach na tha sgeulachdan agus seanchas a’ ciallachadh do luchd na Gàidhlig de gach aois san latha an-diugh.

The exhibition continues until April 20th. The exhibition space is open during the following hours:

Monday: 9:30am to 7pm.
Tuesday: 9:30am to 7pm.
Wednesday: 10am to 7pm.
Thursday: 9:30am to 7pm.
Friday: 9:30am to 5pm.
Saturday: 9:30am to 5pm.
Sunday: Closed.

Admission is free.

Tha mi'n dòchas gun còrd an taisbeanadh ribh! (I hope you enjoy the exhibition!)

(Source: https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/sgeul-story/)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Highland Memorial Inscriptions site is down

The massively useful Highland Memorial Inscriptions site at https://sites.google.com/site/highlandmemorialinscriptions/home is currently showing as a dead link. 

I've had a look on the Internet Archive, and have found that some of the material has been preserved - for example, the burials at Tomnahurich Cemetery in Inverness, whereas others are not fully available, e.g. the Invernessshire page is only show listings for burials with surnames beginning with the letters A-E.

The latest time the site was saved was March 30th this year, available at https://web.archive.org/web/20230330183615/https://sites.google.com/site/highlandmemorialinscriptions/home.

If anyone knows the fate of this site, and whether this is just a temporary glitch, I would be grateful to learn about it!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Highland Archive's Archives for Beginners classes in early 2022

From the Highland Archive Service (https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service/):

We're please to be running our Archives for Beginners classes in the new year, helping people to discover the range of documents we care for, how to use them and the stories they contain. The classes will run in two blocks of 4 on the following dates at a cost of £40 (£32 concession) per block and will be delivered on Zoom by members of staff from across the service.  We would love to welcome you on to either set or both!

Friday Morning Archives for Beginners Classes Block One (10am-12noon)
Friday 21st January 2022 - Introduction to Archives
Friday 28th January 2022 - Education Records
Friday 4th February 2022 - Property Records
Friday 11th February 2022 - Church Records

Friday Morning Archives for Beginners Classes Block Two (10am-12noon)
Friday 18th February 2022 - Poor Relief Records
Friday 25th February 2022 - Crime & Punishment Records
Friday 4th March 2022 - Estate Papers
Friday 11th March 2022 - Family & Personal Papers

A short video about these classes can be found here.  For more information, or to book, please contact archives@highlifehighland.com.  We hope to see you there! 

(With thanks to the archive's winter newsletter - you can subscribe at https://highlifehighland.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6bb8a878b8c071ba85e1c9248&id=b801ce6571)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

 

 

Learn with Lorna from Highland Archives

There have been some truly heroic efforts from the family history and archives community throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but one of the most gargantuan has been an amazing effort by Lorna Steele from Highland Archives (www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service/) through her weekly series of Learn with Lorna Facebook broadcasts. 

Each week Lorna has given a short lecture, ranging from about half an hour to forty minutes in length, on a topic related to the archive holdings at Highland Archives. These have revealed not just the range of materials held by the facility, but also the many stories that they have documented. Topics have included 'Sabbath breaking and other breaches of discipline', 'Witchcraft', 'Food for rich and poor', 'The aluminium industry in the Highlands', 'The Jacobites and the Battle of Culloden', 'Poor Relief', 'Christmas in the collections', and so much more. 

To date there have been NINETY (you read that right!) such presentations, and you can find these on YouTube at www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyxasYGi8kIcL7OThf1QGsHAMACY_1DGE. If you have ancestors from the Highlands they will be of immense interest, but even if not, they still present a superb insight into the vast range of holdings available in the many wonderful archives around Scotland. 

You can find more about Lorna's series at www.highlifehighland.com/blog/learn-with-lorna-series-brings-more-people-to-highland-archive/. 

Thanks Lorna!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

More on Inverness Registrars' ScotlandsPeople access

I contacted the Inverness Registrars' service (www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/765327/inverness_registration_office/) on Monday to enquire about the status of the ScotlandsPeople service provision there, and have received the following which may be of interest to those seeking access:

Good afternoon Chris,

Thank you for your enquiry and it does look like you have already been given a good steer on how we are currently operating.

We very much appreciate how keen our customer are to make use of the ScotlandsPeople terminals in Inverness.  You are quite correct that we are currently trialling 2 sessions a week with 2 terminals available.  We have been working through our waiting list of customers and offering spaces in order to allow everyone the opportunity for a 1st session back.

We don’t as yet have any immediate plans to extend the bookings to additional days or numbers of people.  Once we have worked through our list of customers, we will consider whether we open the diary for bookings on a first come first served basis.

Whilst we very much plan to return to our previous offering of 4 seats, 5 days per week in the future, I am unable to give an indication of a date for this.  Any enquiries for access should be emailed to inverness.registrars@highland.gov.uk

Kind Regards,

Lesley Gray, Chief Registrar
Highland Archive and Registration Centre,
Bught Road, Inverness IV3 5SS

COMMENT: The days being trialled are Tuesdays and Thursdays, with access from 10-4.30, although the room is closed for lunch from 12.45-2pm.

(With thanks to Lesley at Highland Archive and Registration Centre)

UPDATE: Just to add also, that having spent another morning at the Burns Monument Centre today, a wee handy bit of advice for you - take a jumper. When all the windows are open for ventilation, it gets a wee bit on the cool side!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Highland Archives catalogue goes online

So, quite genuinely, I don't think I've been this excited since PRONI put its catalogue online...! From Highland Archive Service (www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service):

Online Catalogue

Our extensive archive catalogue can be explored online, opening up our fantastic and varied collections to the world like never before.

Our catalogue contains nearly 100,000 descriptions of archives and library holdings held in our four Archive Centres in Inverness, Portree, Fort William and Wick. It will be continually added to, with new content added on a monthly basis. You can search by text, reference number or Archive Centre to help you find entries relating to the subject you’re interested in. Once you have found records you would like to view, you can contact the relevant Archive Centre about accessing them. You can do this either by booking an appointment to view them or by a member of staff conducting a remote enquiry on your behalf.

For information on the catalogue contents and searches, see the top right hand menu on the site.

We hope you enjoy searching the catalogues, and welcome your feedback on the layout and content available.

To access the catalogue, visit https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service/online-catalogue/

The age old question about whether God is Scottish or Northern Irish has once again been opened - I should be busy for a bit now chasing after my lot around Inverness! 

A massive congratulations to Highland Archive!

Chris

Pre-order my next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Highland Archives urges people to record diaries during pandemic

From Highland Archives (https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service/):

Welcome to the Spring 2020 Highland Archive Service newsletter. At the time of writing we are, as many of you will be, working from home and adjusting to a different way of living and delivering our services as all of our archive centres are temporarily closed due to COVID-19. Over the coming weeks and months, in addition to remotely responding to enquiries and continuing our Family History research service, we will be creating digital resource packs for parents teaching from home, putting together resources for older people and delivering some live chats on Facebook to keep our community together in these unusual times. If you work in a Care Home, or are supporting a vulnerable person please let us know if we can provide resources. We'll also be sharing regular posts on Twitter and Facebook giving an insight into all the things our staff are working on in their hastily-created home offices! In addition, those of us who are able will be volunteering with the Highland Council to help deliver essential services and provide support to our communities where it is needed most.

As you know, we are in the midst of a global pandemic and people's lives are changing like never before. The Highland Archive Service is putting out a call for people living in the Highlands to keep diaries of their daily experiences and the impact on their family/work/life. Over the coming months we would be love to add your diaries to our collections so they can form part of the Highlands' collective memory going forwards.

For the full newsletter visit https://mailchi.mp/highlifehighland/highland-archive-service-1095129?e=36f4314bac

I suggested something similar a couple of weeks ago (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/documenting-present.html), and have regularly been keeping a diary since then (indeed, this blog is fulfilling a similar function from a genealogy perspective).

As much as we need to survive the present, we are also witnesses to history - what we record today will inform the future.

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.