Exhibits and Collections

Members of the Historylinks Trust and Heritage Society continue to work on the cataloguing of museum artefacts, documents and photographs.

The museum catalogue includes images, captured by digital photography or the scanning of documents.

Flavour of Exhibits

A flavour of the objects on display in the museum is provided in 'Museum Exhibits' and 'From our collection'

In March 2008 the 'Scottish Museums Council' (now Museums Galleries Scotland) included the Historylinks website in the European 'Multilingual Inventory of Cultural Heritage in Europe' (MICHAEL) database www.michael-culture.eu , as a "good example of a small museum using online digital images and descriptions to increase access to stored collections".

Historylinks Image Library

To provide even greater public access to the complete museum collection in June 2008 the museum launched the Historylinks Image Library.

The image library provides access to descriptive data and images of the complete museum collection. It is interactive, allowing users to add comments concerning any image. Since launch in June 2008 image library comments have provided factual and background information to enhance our catalogue records.

Dornoch War Memorial Project

A project to add personal details and images to Dornoch's World War 1 and 2 Rolls of Honour was undertaken as part of the museum's contribution to Scotland's 2009 Year of Homecoming.

The project led to an exhibition in the museum and the addition to the Historylinks website of a War Memorials page, launched 26 May 2009, which provides access to World War 1 and 2 Rolls of Honour and details of military graves and headstones in local cemeteries.

A page commemorating each individual serviceman and woman can be accessed from the Rolls of Honour lists. Where available photographs have been included and, with the kind permission of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a copy of the CWG certificate recording the location of burial or, where there is no known grave, the memorial on which the indivual is listed.

Inevitably there are some details which remain unknown. In particular, we would like further information concerning:

Capt Ronald Hugh Walrond Rose, Cameronians, World War 1 Collection

At the end of 2008 Historylinks Museum was fortunate in acquiring, on 5 year loan, a collection of objects recording the military service of Captain Ronald Hugh Walrond Rose, 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). We are most grateful to Mrs Carol Haq and other descendants of Captain Rose for permission to use his war diary, photograph albums, documents, uniform and accoutrements in displays and exhibitions.

Capt. Rose was the son of Katherine Gilchrist of Ospisdale (Sutherland), who commissioned the stained glass window in his memory (along with one to his brother) in Creich Parish Church in Bonar Bridge. Capt Rose name is included in the Roll of Honour in Dornoch Cathedral.

The war diary of Captain Rose is of great historical interest, particularly as it is complemented within the collection by photographs of places and incidents recorded in the text. The diary covers a relatively short period, from the Cameronians mobilization in late July 1914 to 22 October 1914 when Captain Rose was killed in action near Ypres, but it records the epic initial period of the war - the BEF retreat from Mons, the subsequent BEF counter offensive to the River Aisne, and the race to the sea, to fill the open flank, with the Cameronians redeployed to the area of Ypres.

An edited version of the war diary has been produced with expansion of military abbreviations and the addtion of maps, historical context and relevant photographs and extracts from documents within the Capt Rose collection. The diary may be accessed from the link at the beginning of this paragraph or from the right navigation panel.

The Capt Rose collection photograph albums and other documents *** can be viewed in the Historylinks Image Library (link at left navigation panel). It is recommended that the 'Groups' drop down menu (see banner tag on Image Library homepage) is used to access the first image of a photograph album or set of documents. Once the first image has been displayed, the 'previous next' facility at top left of the Picture Page can be used to 'turn the page' within an album or document set.

*** It is acknowledged that the majority of, the photographs in the three photograph albums were taken by a fellow Cameronians officer, Lieutenant Robert Cotton Money, who later served with great distinction retiring in the rank of Major General. Copyright of the Money photographs is now held by the South Lanarkshire Council Museums Service, which has granted permission to Historylinks for website and museum display of the photographs on the premise that the albums, with their handwritten descriptive detail, were given by Lieut Money to the Rose family without precondition.

Memories of Childhood in Dornoch 1939-45

A short book by Lorna Currie (nee Macrae) about her Memories of Childhood in Dornoch 1939 - 1945.

This is one of the publications available in the museum reference library. (Heritage Society members can also gain access to a loan copy) .

It is well illustrated and a fascinating insight into life in Dornoch seen through the eyes of a child during the war years.

Last updated: 6 July, 2010

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