Books about Highland Heritage online from Am Baile

09 January 2011

Gradually more and more books and articles are being made available on-line for free downloads. Am Baile, Highland Council's bilingual website, has featured illustrations, rare books and documents, short films, audio clips, interactive games and comics relating to the history and culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Am Baile has included around a hundred books and articles, some of which relate to heritage. Extending this further, they have now introduced the 'External Book Collection' on their website, with around 250 links to a wide range of historical books and pamphlets about the Highlands. These books are available on various websites worldwide and they have brought them together for easy access.

Both are well worth exploring. Some of the gems at your fingertips in Am Baile's collection include the 1890 sale catalogue of Skibo Castle, 'Ancient Wells in the North and their Folklore', 'Archaeological finds in the East of Moray', and 'Druidical Circles'. External links include  J. Williams' entertaining 'An Account of Some Remarkable Ancient Ruins, lately discovered in the Highlands and northern parts of Scotland' from the 1770s', W. J. Watson's classic 'Place-names of Ross and Cromarty', and much more.

Am Baile has also created a new list of subjects called Counties  where you will find materials relating to the different Highland counties - useful if you are doing some regional research.

Other features on Am Baile are also well worth exploring. These include indexes for several newspapers, a much needed feature for anyone doing research into recent events. The papers include:

•The Inverness Journal (1807 - 1849)
•The Inverness Advertiser (1849 - 1885)
•Scottish Highlander (1885 - 1898)
•Inverness Courier (1879, 1898 - 1901, 1920-1939)
•John O'Groat Journal (1836 - 1887)
•Gairm (1952 - 2002)

A large number of oral history tapes and transcripts are also available, including the Black Isle Heritage Memories tapes from ARCH. The site also includes maps and plans, and of course a number of photographs.