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Rare photos reveal Father Christmas of 1909 and day Scotland reached -27C

6 December 2024, 09:24 | Updated: 6 December 2024, 11:19

A Scottish museum has released a set of rare photographs dating back more than 100 years which give a glimpse into the nation's rural past during the festive season.

The five images, from the Scottish Life Archive, can be downloaded as a set of Christmas cards.

The National Museum of Rural Life, based in South Lanarkshire, said this is the first time they have been made available for free and offer a "unique glimpse of Scottish Christmases past".

The photographs are more than a century old and include wintry scenes, an eccentric Father Christmas from Fife, and a family portrait by one of Scotland's earliest woman photographers.

Pioneering photographer Lady Henrietta Gilmour took up the craft after the birth of her seventh and last child in 1889.

She captured more than 1,000 images of Scottish country life, including a tender portrait of her children sledging in the grounds of Fife's Montrave House in 1900.

Also from Fife, Henry Watson was snapped as Santa in Burntisland in 1909, wearing a fake beard and long fur-trimmed coat decorated with dolls and toy animals.

Two snowy scenes also capture the extreme winter of 1895, when Braemar in Aberdeenshire marked the lowest ever recorded temperature in the UK at -27.2°C.

The Scottish Life Archive was established in 1959 as a way of preserving and documenting material culture and histories relating to rural life in Scotland.

In later years it expanded to include evidence of not only country life, but maritime, urban and industrial life.

It contains a large collection of photographic negatives, slides and prints, and can be viewed by the public upon appointment.

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Dr Ailsa Hutton, curator of modern and rural history at National Museums Scotland (NMS), said: "The Scottish Life Archive offers remarkable insight into all aspects of Scottish life, with 300 years of documentary and illustrative material.

"I am thrilled to have an opportunity to shine a light on this rich resource, and Scotland's fascinating rural history, through these magical festive photographs.

"Whether it's a quirky Santa Claus or a record-breaking snowy winter, I hope people enjoy sharing a little bit of Scottish rural history this Christmas."