From the archives: Curator for Inverness Museum and latterly joint Inverness County and Burgh Librarian wore many hats over her career – Margaret (‘Meg’) MacDougall was famed for her inexhaustible knowledge on local history, Jacobite relics, clans and tartans she also had an outstanding authority on Inverness silver
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Margaret (‘Meg’) MacDougall was curator for Inverness Museum and latterly joint Inverness County and Burgh Librarian until her death on Saturday, January 9, 1960.
Born and raised in Inverness, Margaret had a vast knowledge of old Inverness and how families were connected to the area.
Famed for her inexhaustible knowledge on local history, Jacobite relics, clans and tartans she also had an outstanding authority on Inverness silver.
As a committee member of the Old Inverness Festival, her wealth of knowledge on local trade and craft guilds was put to good use. Margaret was adviser and sole script-writer for the Pageant held in the Inverness Islands and was in charge of the Old Inverness Silver section of the exhibition as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Margaret was at one point head of the Citizens Advice Bureau, a Fellow in the Society of Antiquities (Scotland), a member of the Inverness Field Club, and a member of the Culloden Committee for the National Trust.
On top of her commitments to various committees, Margaret was dedicated to her love of history and passionately collected and archived her findings. She often typed out her research but also kept a large number of handwritten notebooks and manuscripts.
The Highland Archive Centre’s collection includes her vast correspondence on clan tartans, and her notes on a wide array of subjects. These included local place names and incidents, Inverness entertainment, buildings of historical importance such as Abertarff House, various local schools and churches, Inverness tradesmen, the Kessock Ferry, witchcraft, folklore and superstition, the Clachnacuddin Stone, the role of the hangman and executioner, unpublished minutes of Inverness Town Council, 1689 – the list goes on and on. These are but a handful of the varied topics that Margaret researched and archived.
Both her specific and extremely broad knowledge were appreciated by locals and visitors alike.
Margaret was a much-respected figure both for her intelligence and sharp wit but also for her approachability and good will. On her death, an appreciation was added by “C.I.F” to the Inverness Courier’s obituary, January 12, 1960, which concluded: “Yet even in her specialist studies, her learning was ever matched by wisdom, and both were ever spiced with fun, Christian humanist, questing scholar, loyal friend and good company, Margaret MacDougall was all these. Many are they who, even in their sorrow, will think of affection and pride upon her example.”
The collection of Margaret MacDougall (HCA/D390) that is held at the Highland Archive Centre includes maps and plans, newspaper cuttings, photographs as well as vast amounts of research notes and many articles written by Margaret on a variety of subjects. The centre plans to reproduce some of these articles in the Courier over the coming months, interspersed with its own regular articles.
• The Highland Archive Centre is open by appointment. To make a booking or to enquire about remote archive or family history research, email archives@highlifehighland.com, call 01349 781130 or visit here.
