Elgin Museum

Conserving the Spey Coracle

         

We’re excited to confirm that thanks to support from AIM Museum Fundamentals funded by Pilgrim Trust and The Julia Rausing Trust we will be able to conserve the last Spey Coracle in Moray!

The coracle, also known as a curach, is a boat which at one time would have been a familiar sight on the fast-flowing River Spey. Thanks to an award of £11,000.00 from AIM Museum Fundamentals funded by Pilgrim Trust and The Julia Rausing Trust we can now secure the future of this unique item which is over 200 years old. Elgin Museum was one of just 13 recipients in this first round that was open to museums from across the UK.

Ours is the last known example of this kind of boat in Moray. Made of wicker, animal hide, horsehair, wood and metal, it is now showing its age, having been on display in the museum since at least 1868. The AIM Fundamentals grant will be used to stabilise these materials, preventing further deterioration, and conserve the boat so that it can continue to be enjoyed as a key part of the museum’s collection. We are also grateful to The Coracle Society for additional funding for this project. The work will be carried out by the Scottish Conservation Studio based at Hopetoun House, Edinburgh.

Coracles are known to have been used on the River Spey from the 15th Century, although this style of boat has been in use in various forms since prehistoric times. On the Spey, these open boats were used for fishing, transportation, and latterly, transporting timber down the river. The craft is steered and propelled with a broad-bladed wooden paddle, using a sculling figure-of-eight motion, and a guide rope was used to help float pine timbers down from the Cairngorms to the coastal boatyards. This dangerous, inefficient practice was banned in 1728 when large, manned rafts came into use.

Museum volunteers are collaborating with staff and pupils at Speyside High School in Aberlour, helping to strengthen community ties to their river heritage through this significant and unique artefact. A donation from the Innes Clan Society, an American-based group with links to this ancient Moray family, will be used to support our outreach activities associated with the conservation project.