Perth & Kinross Archive has announced the acquisition of a significant manuscript containing historical accounts of the Macgregor clans in Rannoch, compiled by the renowned 19th-century Gaelic scholar Paul Cameron of Pitlochry. The manuscript, purchased through a successful grant application to the National Fund for Acquisitions, traces the family histories of two Scottish clans that settled in the Rannoch area, the Macgregors and the Stewarts.

‘It is universally allowed by the oldest Macgregors in Rannoch by their traditional history, that the family of Ardlarich is no other than the idendical family of Macgregor; although it is not easy at this remote period to assertain with due certainty when or how they got possession there[…]’

The family histories were initially collected in the 1830s by Lieutenant Alexander Macgregor of Wester Tempar, Rannoch, who was employed to gather information on the families of Macgregor in Rannoch. The manuscript also contains additional notes and corrections made by other members of the Macgregor family after it came into their possession. Paul Cameron, who compiled the manuscript, was an active member of the Gaelic Society of Perth and collected many examples of work by Perthshire Gaelic composers.

The manuscript is of great value to those interested in tracing family connections to the Rannoch area and provides a unique source of information for those interested in the local and social history of Rannoch. It may also help to inform a broader understanding of life in Scottish loch-side settlements. The manuscript is currently on display on the first floor of the AK Bell Library in Perth until the end of July.