1st 2010 Exhibition
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Burgh Folk
Made in Kinross-shire
A Sporting Loch
Lost and Found
St Serf's Island
Reading Kinross-shire
Made in Kinross-shire
A Sporting Loch
Lost and Found
St Serf's Island
Reading Kinross-shire
The Exhibits needed will be asked for here.
The Museum Collecting Policy
Our exhibition on Burgh Folk looks at three colourful characters from 19thcentury Kinross – Tam Christie (The Daw), Andrew Nicol (Muck Andrew) and Geordie McNab. Dressed in odd clothes given to him by the town folk, Tam Christie played a horn decorated with ribbons on special occasions such as weddings and the annual July Fair. 'Muck' Andrew, as he was known to lawyers in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, carried on a legal case for over 20 years over the ownership of his midden stead. Geordie McNab, a handloom weaver and boatman on Loch Leven, was the town crier. Six foot six inches tall, he accompanied Tom Thumb on a walk around Kinross in 1879. Set against backdrops of John Wood's 1823 plan of Kinross and a painting of the July Fair, the main exhibits on display are Tam Christie's horn, Geordie McNab's bell and John Kay's caricature.
David Marshall – Father of Kinross Museum
Without David Marshall (1831-1902) Kinross Museum would not exist. His keen interest in the history of the county of Kinross led him to amass a large collection of items which he left to the people of Kinross. This collection comprises the core of material on display in the modern Kinross (Marshall) Museum, his two diaries forming a centre piece to an exhibit that highlights his varied career as a fisherman, bookbinder, cooper and antiquarian.
Made in Kinross-shire
Though largely an agricultural county, Kinross-shire has also had its industries large and small. Made in Kinross features just some of the items produced in Kinross over the last three centuries - from cutlery, wooden ladles, a candle stick holder, linen, lemonade and milk to harnesses, parchment and vellum, not forgetting producers in operation today such as the Jacqui Seller Pottery in Kinnesswood. You may recognise the local character depicted in a Toby Jug and be surprised to see Buckingham Palace dish towels made at the Loch Leven Linen Works. Beside the vellum makers tools of the trade is a map drawn on vellum in the 1790s by the vellum maker John Birrell who doubled as a land surveyor.
A Sporting Loch in Winter
A Sporting Loch - Winter tells the story of skating and curling on the loch in years when it was completely frozen over. Pictures from curling bonspiels in 1895, 1959 and 1979 are accompanied by curling stones, brooms and other memorabilia from the rink. Pride of place are two Scottish Skating Association trophies and a Royal Humane Society Parchment that recalls a tragic incident in 1936 when four men fell through the ice and drowned.
Lost and Found
Discoveries of historic interest are being made every year in Kinross-shire. Lost and Found puts the spotlight on material from as far back as the Stone Age that have been unearthed, including coins, clay bullets, horse harness ornaments and other items found in recent years near Kinnesswood by metal detectorist Jim Crombie. Also on display are photos that demonstrate the use of Time Team-style geophysical techniques to reveal the foundations of buildings and graves in Tullibole Old Churchyard.
St Serf's Island
St Serf's Island has a history that dates back over a thousand years to the founding of a religious house by the early Celtic church. Little remains of the old Priory of Lochleven except for the ruins of a chapel but excavations in the past have uncovered many items, some of which are on display here. An old red sandstone hand quernstone for grinding corn, medieval pottery and a Viking arrow head tell us something about day-to-day life on the island and the copy of a prior's seal highlights the significance of this site up to the Reformation. Of special interest is the story of Prior Andrew Wyntoun, author of one of the oldest histories of Scotland. His Orygynale Cronikyl of Scotland includes a reference to Macbeth and the three witches, a tale later picked up by William Shakespeare.