A set of five photographs have been released from the Scottish Life Archive to provide insight into how Christmas was celebrated more than 100 years ago.
The National Museum of Rural Life decided to unveil the group of rare festive photographs and each of them is more than 100 years old.
The photographs include record-breaking snowy scenes, an eccentric Father Christmas and a family portrait by one of Scotland’s earliest woman photographers, Lady Henrietta Gilmour.
She took up photography after the birth of her seventh child and was a pioneer, capturing more than 1,000 images of Scottish country life.
That includes a portrait of her children sledging in the grounds of Montrave House in Fife in 1900.
The picture of Santa also shows insight into how Christmas was, with the eccentric Father Christmas photographed in 1909 wearing a fake beard and long, fur-trimmed coat decorated with dolls and toy animals.
Two others are from the extreme 1895 winter when the lowest ever temperature recorded in the UK was found at -27.2 degrees Celsius in Braemar in Aberdeen.
It was a particularly harsh winter across the UK that year with average temperatures reaching just more than 1C and was declared a ‘Little Ice Age’.
The photographs have now been turned into Christmas cards which are free to download and share from the Scottish Life Archive.
It was set up in 1959 as a way of preserving and documenting history relating to rural life in Scotland.
Dr Ailsa Hutton, Curator of Modern and Rural History at National Museums Scotland, said: “The Scottish Life Archive offers remarkable insight into all aspects of Scottish life, with 300 years of documentary and illustrative material. I am thrilled to have an opportunity to shine a light on this rich resource, and Scotland’s fascinating rural history, through these magical festive photographs.
“Whether it’s a quirky Santa Claus or a record-breaking snowy winter, I hope people enjoy sharing a little bit of Scottish rural history this Christmas.”
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