The Bute Museum

Overview

Bute Museum's collections are,in the main, concerned with the Island's past and the wildlife that might be seen there today.  The very distant past is well represented in the Natural History room's collection of rock samples showing evidence of Bute's complicated geology.  The Island is cut by several faults with the main one being the Highland Boundary Fault which marks the edge of the Midland Rift Valley with the Highlands to the north.  First evidence of man on Bute is shown in a fine collection of Mesolithic microliths and later Neolithic settlers have left considerable quanties of stone tools and pottery from a wide variety of cairns and settlement sites.  A cist containing the skull and bones of a young Bronze Age woman was excavated in 1962 on Inchmarnock, a small island off the west coast of Bute.  Beside her lay the scattered beads of a jet necklace which has been recently restrung and displayed beside a facial reconstruction from her skull.  An  outstanding collection of Iron Age artefacts and metal working implements which came from an excavation at Dunagoil Fort in the south of the Island is well set out.  History begins with the coming of Christianity which brought Celtic saints to Bute.  The remains of their chapels sited all over the Isalnd provided a source of carved stones now on view.  Excavations of Rothesay Castle moat yielded military items now on show.  Viking raiders attacked the Island and its Castle on many occasions and the Museum has a rare Viking sword hilt found at Ettrick Bay.  Farming and fishing provided employment for most people, but the 19th Century saw the rise and decline of a substantial cotton, spinning and weaving industry which is well explained.  The coming of the steamboat with fast cheap travel brought a new industry - Tourism.  Cases of recent bygones and steamer models are worth a nostalgic look.  Bute's part in two World Wars is well documented with  photographs and artefacts. 

Back to the present day, the Natural History room displays cases of large and small mammals and birds from a wide variety of habitats show today's wild occupants of Bute.  Records of the flora and insect life are carefully kept, while a display of wild flowers is on show during the season.  Children can enjoy various natural objects set out on the Touch Table.  The Museum houses a Library and Lecture Room with a fine collection of books, documents, photographs and archival material relating to Bute.