What are we getting up to in 2025 ?
What do you want to be involved in through 2025?
What heritage activities do you want to see in 2025 ?
Winter lectures
2.30pm, Rockfield Centre, Oban – open to all, free to members
(you can renew your membership online here)
January – Local Crannogs by the Crannog Centre : January 11th 2025, 2.30pm Rockfield Centre, Oban
CRANNOGS OF ARGYLL, SCOTLAND, ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENTS AT LOCH TAY
LAHS is so delighted to be welcoming Rachel Backshall from the Crannog Centre to explore the heritage of the Crannogs of Argyll, Scotland, then focusing on Loch Tay and the archaeology done there, and then how this has lead to the design and build of the museum, and the reconstructed buildings at the Crannog Centre.
February – Clan Campbell and Branches – how genealogy and DNA research can provide new insight. Graham Holton, Teaching Fellow, Centre For Lifelong Learning Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies February 8th 2025, 2.30pm Rockfield Centre, Oban
Clan Campbell was a dominant force in Argyll from the 14th century, with many branches such as the Campbells of Argyll, Glenorchy, Breadalbane and Cawdor. Genetic genealogy, using DNA testing, is beginning to help many present day Campbells rediscover their ancestral identity by identifying from which branch they descend. This research has also uncovered some surprising results. The talk will introduce some of the methods used and what has been found so far.
March 8th 2025 – ‘A roof o’er their heads’: the archaeology of the Glencoe townships – Derek Alexander, Head of Archaeological Services, National Trust for Scotland
Events in Glencoe on 13th February 1692 cast a long shadow, now being illuminated by a well-publicised series of archaeological excavations by the National Trust for Scotland.
April 12th 2025 – Dr Domhnall Uilleam Stiubhart, Senior Lecturer of Sabhal Mor Ostaig will be leading our second John MacFarlane Memorial lecture of Gaelic in the Landscape in April on Johns maternal Grandfather – Detective Inspector John MacCallum (1851–1926): his life, times, songs, and manuscript
After his death, Detective Inspector John MacCallum—maternal grandfather of Brigadier John MacFarlane—was praised as Bàrd Taobh Loch Éite, the Bard of Loch Etive-side, a remarkable man who had ‘a first-hand knowledge of Gaelic folk songs which was almost unrivalled in the North.’ This paper explores John MacCallum’s life and legacy: his youthful hardships, his exciting thirty-year career as a plain-clothes detective with the Marine Division of the City of Glasgow Police, and, most significantly, his lifelong dedication to the collection, preservation, and choral arrangement of Gaelic folksongs, particularly for the Glasgow Gaelic Choir. I shall examine the various music and song manuscripts he compiled, focusing especially on the enigmatic ‘Book 6’, which may be John’s transcription and reimagining of a much older Gaelic folksong collection. Through examining his biography and his major cultural contribution to Highland folklore, we can begin to understand why John MacCallum dedicated his life so fully to the musical traditions of his native district.
Potential Summer activities
- Behind the scenes at Kilmartin Museum
- Luing archaeology
- Practical Field Archaeology
- Glencoe Archaeology Summer project
- what else would YOU like to suggest
August – Argyllshire Gathering heritage tent : a new display is needed
November – St Conans Kirk Christmas Tree festival – we need a heritage based tree .. can you help ?