From Wikipedia:

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of Western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa, being the only living species of deer to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In many parts of the world, the meat (venison) from red deer is used as a food source.

The red deer is a ruminant, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetic evidence indicates that the red deer, as traditionally defined, is a species group, rather than a single species, though exactly how many species the group includes remains disputed. The ancestor of the red deer probably originated in central Asia.

Although at one time red deer were rare in parts of Europe, they were never close to extinction. Reintroduction and conservation efforts, such as in the United Kingdom and Portugal, have resulted in an increase of red deer populations, while other areas, such as North Africa, have continued to show a population decline.

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These animals all once lived in the forests of Scotland, but they became extinct as the forest declined and they were hunted. The beaver has been reintroduced. Wolves, bears and boars could survive if returned to suitable wild land.

1 Wild Boar
Sus scrofa (modern skull)

2 Brown Bear
Ursus arctos (modern skull)

3 Wolf
Canis lupus (modern skull)

4 Beaver
Castor fiber

Little is known about this ancient skull.
It was previously thought to be a specimen found in 1788 during peat digging at Marlee Loch near Blairgowrie, but new evidence has cast doubt on this.

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Date: 31 January 2026
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Aurochs are the wild ancestor of domestic cattle. Destruction of forests and hunting over thousands of years led to their extinction. The species survived in Britain until the Bronze Age.

This skull was found at Chapleton Moss, east of Forfar, Angus in 1790.

From Wikipedia:

The aurochs (Bos primigenius; /ˈɔːrɒks/ or /ˈaʊrɒks/; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) in bulls and 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached 80 cm (31 in) in length.

The aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna. It probably evolved in Asia and migrated west and north during warm interglacial periods. The oldest-known aurochs fossils date to the Middle Pleistocene. The species had an expansive range spanning from Western Europe and North Africa to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia. The distribution of the aurochs progressively contracted during the Holocene due to habitat loss and hunting. The last known fossil remains were found in Bulgaria that date to the late 17th or early 18th century.

There is a long history of interaction between aurochs and humans, including archaic hominins like Neanderthals. The aurochs is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic petroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian reliefs and Bronze Age figurines. It symbolised power, sexual potency and prowess in religions of the ancient Near East. Its horns were used in votive offerings, as trophies and drinking horns.

Two aurochs domestication events occurred during the Neolithic Revolution. One gave rise to the domestic taurine cattle (Bos taurus) in the Fertile Crescent in the Near East that was introduced to Europe via the Balkans and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Hybridisation between aurochs and early domestic cattle occurred during the early Holocene. Domestication of the Indian aurochs led to the zebu cattle (Bos indicus) that hybridised with early taurine cattle in the Near East about 4,000 years ago. Some modern cattle breeds exhibit features reminiscent of the aurochs, such as the dark colour and light eel stripe along the back of bulls, the lighter colour of cows, or an aurochs-like horn shape.

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Date: 31 January 2026
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Born in Findo Gask in Strathearn, Lawrence Macdonald spent most of his long career in Rome. His clients were Scottish aristocratic tourists stopping in Rome as part of the ‘Grand Tour’ across Europe.

From Wikipedia:

Lawrence Macdonald sometimes Laurence Macdonald (15 February 1799 – 4 March 1878) was a Scottish sculptor.

Macdonald was born on 15 February 1799 at Findo Gask in Perthshire, Scotland to Margaret Morison, a nurse, and Alexander Macdonald, a violinist.

He was apprenticed as a stonemason with Thomas Gibson, who was then building the Murray Royal Asylum, outside Perth. Around this time he was also commissioned by Robert Graeme, the laird of Garvock to carve a coat of arms on the front of Garvock House. Macdonald then travelled to Edinburgh with a letter of introduction from Graeme to the architect James Gillespie Graham. On 26 February 1822 he entered the Trustees’ Academy, Edinburgh. During this time he also worked as a decoratorative carver for Gillespie Graham.

In late 1822 he travelled to France with the Oliphant family of Gask. He then went to Rome where he set up a workshop and remained for the next three years. While there he executed several busts, among others that of the John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl. In 1823, along with Gibson, Severn, and other artists, he founded the British Academy of Arts in Rome, of which he continued as a trustee until his death.

He returned to Edinburgh in 1826 and exhibited work at the Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts. He also produced busts of Professor John Wilson and George Combe, the phrenologist and founder of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, for which MacDonald produced work.

In 1829, he sent his bust of John Marshall, MP, to the Royal Academy, and he was a frequent contributor to the succeeding exhibitions. In the autumn of 1829, he exhibited in the Royal Institution, Edinburgh, his colossal group of ‘Ajax bearing the dead body of Patroclus and combating ‘an warrior’ and other works; and he was second to his friend Charles Maclaren, editor of The Scotsman in his bloodless duel with Dr. James Browne, editor of the Caledonian Mercury, fought near Edinburgh in November 1829, which arose partly out of an article in the Mercury (6 November) on Macdonald’s works and the Scotsman’s criticisms upon them. In the same year he was elected a member of the Scottish Academy, where in 1832, he exhibited several busts, including those of John Gibson Lockhart and the Earl of Erroll; but he seldom contributed here, and resigned his membership in 1858. He appeared in the list of honorary members in 1867. At this time he is shown as living at 10 Cumberland Street in Edinburgh’s Second New Town.

In 1832 he returned to Rome, where he occupied a leading position as a sculptor, chiefly producing portrait busts, aided by his elder brother, John, and his son, Alexander. His bust of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, is now at Chevening, Kent, and a copy is in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

He also executed busts of Walter Scott (1831), Fanny Kemble, and Sir David Baird. and James Gillespie Graham. Among his ideal works are ‘A Girl and a Carrier Pigeon,’ (1835), and ‘Eurydice,’ (1849). His ‘Ulysses recognised by his dog,’ shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1855, was much admired, and became the property of Lord Kilmorey.

He died in Rome on 4 March 1878.

Several sculptors trained under him, including William Brodie.

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Marble
Artist: Lawrence Macdonald (1799 – 1878)
Date: 1844

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From Perth Museum website:

Mary spent considerable time in Perth and Kinross, and both her and her family have many links to this region. During her reign, she spent time at Huntingtower Castle and Edzell Castle. Most famously, she was held prisoner in Lochleven Castle for 11 months in 1567-8, where she finally signed her abdication from the throne before making a daring escape under cover of darkness. From there she made her way to exile in England, and would never see her homeland again. Perth is a fitting location to explore her last letter and legacy.

As part of this exhibition we are collaborating with the National Library of Scotland on a series of events, and activities. More information on the display and a programme of events are detailed below.

The National Library of Scotland’s OUTWITH programme has been kindly supported by The Gannochy Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and the NLS Foundation, as well as P F Charitable Trust, Stichting Teuntje Anna (TA Fund), The Ettrick Trust, William Grant Foundation, Murdoch Forrest Charitable Trust, The Scottish Book Trust and by supporters of the National Library’s Centenary Appeal. The Perth component of OUTWITH was also generously supported by the Evelyn Ferris Mudie Trust and Perth and Kinross Council.

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Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: John D. Stewart (active 1878–1887)
Date: 1883

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Date: 31 January 2026
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Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: David Octavius Hill RSA (1802 – 1870)
Date: 1826

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Date: 31 January 2026
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From Perth Museum website:

Horatio McCulloch’s Highland landscapes were romantic and dramatic, ground-breaking works for their time. This oil painting, with the mountain, Ben Venue in the background, was inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s poem, The Lady of the Lake (1810). After the poem was published, Loch Katrine in the west of Perthshire, became a major tourist attraction.

During his lifetime, Horatio McCulloch (1805-1867) became the best-known and most successful landscape painter in Scotland. His works were part of a wide-ranging cultural shift which reframed the Scottish Highlands as an empty wilderness, a modern conception which disregarded the Highland communities that were being denuded through the social and economic forces of the Clearances, and contributed to the erasure of Gaelic language and culture. We live with the legacy of this orchestrated conception and the idea of the Highlands as an expansive and empty wilderness is still used to promote Scotland and Scottish products.

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Brown (1798–1874)
Date: 1842

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Date: 31 January 2026
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Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: William Brown (1798–1874)
Date: 1842

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Date: 31 January 2026
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This oil sketch of the 4th Duke of Atholl’s gamekeeper was painted by Landseer, Queen Victoria’s favourite artist.

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Perth Museum, Perth
Material: Oil on millboard
Artist: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802 – 1873)
Date: 1824

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Date: 31 January 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
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Focal Length: 52mm
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Shutter Speed: 1/60s
ISO: 200
Licensing: Image of a Perth Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.