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Fonn 's Duthchas: Land and Legacy

What do an 'exploding sporran' and a Gaelic text messaging guide have in common?

Both were highlights in this fascinating showcase of the history, culture, music, language, geology and geography of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Part of the major Highland 2007 programme, this national touring exhibition reflected the roots, values and cultural heritage of a creative and freethinking people. It featured iconic objects, paintings and manuscripts from the collections of National Museums Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland, and from important collections in Highland and Island museums.

The exhibition featured Sir Walter Scott's Rob Roy manuscript - a passage for which was inspired by the deadly sporran on show. Other objects of interest included Antonio David's charismatic portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie and a diary, written on playing cards, chronicling the final Jacobite defeat at Culloden.

The exhibition explored the relationship between land and people and the romanticised view of Highland culture. It explained how age-old barriers of distance and geography have been broken down and why new-found confidence and optimism pervades the region.

Fonn 's Duthchas exhibition book

Buy the book online! Explore the Fonn 's Duthchas exhibition, featuring iconic objects and issues from highland clearances to recent population increases, in this stunning book. Narrated in both Gaelic and English by Professor James Hunter.

This exhibition was on display at National Museum of Scotland in 2007.