Preparations are well underway for an exciting Dunollie event – our Scottish Women Collectors day on Saturday, 7th September. This event will take place at the Rockfield Centre in Oban from 10am until 4.30pm and will showcase stories of Miss Hope MacDougall as well as other Scottish women collectors, historians, and more. There will also be live demonstrations of traditional Scottish crafts including natural dyeing, spinning, and basket weaving.

The inspiration behind the event, Miss Hope MacDougall, was daughter, sister, and finally aunt to the last three successive Chiefs of the Clan MacDougall. Hope dedicated her life to her passion, which was documenting the social history of Scotland’s Highlands and Islands, and devoted years to amassing her collection, along with a handwritten inventory, extensive archival research, and her own photography. Her collection includes household items and gadgets, textile production tools, agricultural equipment, items from travelling and fishing communities, among many other topics. When Hope moved to Ganavan house in 1966, when she was 53 years old, she transformed her home into a museum where she proudly displayed her collections and welcomed in guests from far and wide. They now reside at Dunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds and we are so excited to share more of them with you at this event, and in future exhibitions.

This is a Sharing Stories event, during which a range of speakers will deliver papers on topics from the founding of the Highland Folk Museum to the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute, to female archaeologists and collectors. Each talk will last around 20 minutes each, with a tea and coffee break mid-morning, and a lunch break at 1.30pm.

After lunch, there will be time to observe the demonstrations on natural dye practices, spinning, and basket weaving. These are all topics which Hope documented extensively in her archive research and collections, and which represent the varied craft industry of Scotland’s highlands and islands.

Tickets are free and include a light lunch: https://www.dunollie.org/event-details/scottish-women-collectors-a-shari...

Please come along and learn about some of the women who contributed to the documentation of Scotland’s rich history, along with some of the traditional crafts which defined the country for so long.