Outlander author Diana Gabaldon in the Highlands to make secret trip to tiny Jacobite museum
Ms Gabaldon came up close with Jacobite relics during the trip.
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon has touched down in the Highlands to lend her support to a little museum with a big Jacobite story.
Ms Gabaldon made a secret trip to West Highland Museum in Fort William on Friday to see its collection of Jacobite artefacts as it seeks to expand to cope with a huge rise in visitor numbers.
The museum now attracts more than 60,000 visitors a year and “urgently” needs to grow its premises.
Ms Gabaldon, whose hugely popular Outlander series is partly set around the time of the 1745Jacobite Rising, said she fully supported the museum as it looked to the future.
Ms Gabaldon said: “I loved the museum, it is beautiful. It has enormous numbers of fascinating things, which are all very well curated.
“There is a lot of stuff and it is quite a small building and the exhibits are quite close together. So the problem is there is not a lot of room for people to move around in great numbers. I am very happy to support the expansion.”
During her visit to the museum, which was closed to the public for the day, Ms Gabaldon was taken through the 18th-century broadswords on show. The tour was carried out by Paul Macdonald, of Macdonald Armories, who specialises in recreating weapons, such as those used in the Highlands at the time.
Mr Macdonald showed her a replica of the sword used by Lochaber man Big Duncan Mackenzie, who fought alongside Lochiel’s men throughout the ‘45, and who sliced through a Redcoat’s head at the Battle of Prestonpans. The sword is complete with a rolled edge where it struck the helmet.
Ms Gabaldon was then taken up an “enormous hill” to look at the grave of Gaelic bard Iain Lom before being presented with some beers from the Glen Spean brewery to give to her husband, Doug
The couple headed to the Highlands after visiting their youngest daughter and grandchildren, who live in Edinburgh.
Ms Gabaldon’s visit to the Highlands comes shortly after it was announced the final series of Outlander will air on television next year. Meanwhile, she is writing the tenth book in the Outlander series and working on the Blood of My Blood Series, the prequel to Outlander, which is also being aired on television as she writes it.
She said: “Starz decided they didn’t want to do Outlander any more because they are famous now and get a lot of interesting offers, which you can’t do if you are working full time on a television show. They wanted to be free to go on to pursue other opportunities. I don’t blame them in the least.”
Vanessa Martin, from the West Highland Museum, said the planned expansion was a “once-in-a-century” opportunity to secure the future of Lochaber’s heritage in a sustainable way.
She said: “ The museum is a victim of its own success - space is insufficient, environmental controls are failing, and accessibility is limited. Climate change, deteriorating infrastructure, and lack of suitable facilities threaten our ability to conserve, interpret and share our nationally significant collections.
“Staff and volunteers work in cramped and inaccessible conditions, while overcrowding diminishes the visitor experience. Without redevelopment, the museum risks a period of managed decline — losing momentum, morale and the ability to meet community and national expectations.”
It is hoped to rebuild and enlarge a derelict wash-house by the museum site to create a three-storey centre for learning, research and community use. A second extension, over two storeys, will expand the museum space, which will be surrounded by a landscaped garden under the plans.
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