Other collections
The collection in Elgin Museum comprises some 36,000 items. Most of the objects relate to Moray. Our active collecting policy is restricted to objects that link directly with the people and place of Moray, but historically the Museum has acquired objects from around the world.
Among the objects and collections not mentioned under specific topics are:
Natural history – in the Rear Gallery we have a woodland display and a wild cat and a black cat. In store we have more taxidermied birds, and collections of butterflies, moths and eggs, mostly dating from Victorian times.
Costume and textiles – we have a collection of ladies’ clothing from around 1850 together with underwear and accessories, army and local uniforms and men’s hats, costume jewellery and ephemera, samplers and embroideries.
Boats – the collection includes the last Spey coracle, a log boat (dated to 1060 AD by C14) and a model Zulu.
Ethnography – one reason for the need for ever increasing space by the Museum founders was the amount of “stuff”, from Buddhas to a shrunken head, brought home by local people who travelled or worked around the world and donated to Elgin Museum. Not all the collectors were men: Mrs Levack voyaged with her sea captain husband and Miss CF Gordon Cumming travelled the world including the South Seas, both collecting items of interest on their travels which have been donated to Elgin Museum.
Local history reference material – papers and paraphernalia relating to local Trades, companies (such as Watson’s Sawmill), societies (such as the Morayshire Farmers’ Club) and families (such as Grant of Wester Elchies).
Temporary exhibits – upstairs, the cabinets are used for changing displays, often of objects selected by a volunteer, or with a to link with an event or anniversary.