Our Gaelic Language Plan supports our commitment to the aspirations and objectives included in the National Gaelic Language Plan and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

Find out how we care for collections of national and international importance, preserving them, interpreting them and making them accessible to as many people as possible.

Discover the story of Scotland at war within the walls of Edinburgh Castle.

This Scottish manufactured motor car was once the cheapest new car on the British market.

A small display that brought together key objects from an important time in Scottish industrial history.

We provide expert advice on collections, their identification, care and management. We also offer wider skills training to museums in Scotland.

With the introduction of rationing, the threat of air raids, and the loss of so many workers through conscription, daily life looked and felt very different for people at home in Scotland during the Second World War.

Lynx stones were considered by the Ancient Greeks to be the urine of the European lynx which solidified into precious stone. When burned, these fossils emit a smell similar to cat's urine, explaining their connection to the lynx myth.

Learn more about what’s changed to help you plan your visit.

Three dramatic barkcloth masks offer an insight into the traditional beliefs and celebrations of the Elema people from the Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea, at the turn of the 20th century.

Find out everything you need to know about visiting the National Museum of Rural Life.

Use one of our ten-minute activities with your class today, with suggestions for how you can extend.

Rarer than the tiger, the Scottish wildcat is Britain's last native cat species. Find out more about this elusive feline and the efforts being made to ensure it has a future.

Help protect remarkable objects and be the first to hear about the stories they hold.

Join us for our monthly Relaxed Morning for anyone who would appreciate a calmer visit to the museum.

Join us for a relaxed after-hours visit to Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Wylam Dilly, one of the world’s two oldest surviving locomotives, celebrated her bicentenary in 2013. Built in 1813, she used to pull coal along the Wylam Wagonway to the river, near Newcastle upon Tyne.

This detailed model of Stephenson’s groundbreaking steam locomotive represents a major step forward in the history of transport.

The island-hopping Britten-Norman Islander is one of the most versatile aircraft ever built.

James VI and I was a hugely significant Stewart king, but has been overshadowed by his notorious relations: his predecessor in Scotland, his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots; in England, his cousin, Elizabeth I; and his successor in both kingdoms, Charles I.

1939 saw the start of a conflict that would change Scotland and the world. Discover Scottish stories related to different aspects of the Second World War - life on the Home Front, the development of technology driven by the conflict, and personal memories of some of the people who lived through it.

Join us on the Magic Carpet as we explore the museum through interactive songs, rhymes and sensory play.

Find out about our collection of aero-engines and propellers on a curator-led tour of our Object Store.

Communications, transport, industry, engineering, energy and medicine: how have scientific and technological inventions changed our lives?

We aim to share our collections and our expertise as widely as possible. Our research is shared through exhibitions, publications, national and international loans of our objects, and our learning programme.

Built in a dedicated model-making workshop during the late 1870s, this working model is a scale version of the famed Corliss steam engine.

Inspired by the wildlife often spotted around the museum site and the animal residents at our farm, willow artist Anna Cross has created a beautiful collection of willow sculptures for you to discover as you explore outdoors.

Come and meet lots of animals out on the farm!

This Byzantine sardonyx bowl mounted on a 16th-century gold stand is truly a magnificent object.

In 2014, something very special was found in Galloway, South West Scotland. This short animation is designed to introduce children and families to the Galloway Hoard.

Discover a fascinating clock that kept time in a whole new way and find out how our assistant conservator of technology has strived to keep it accurate.

On 30 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War, two sailors gave their lives in the service of their country. Discover their story here.

We now know that ammonites are extinct marine molluscs that lived between 240 and 66 million years ago. Yet, folklore tells a different story...

Get inside the story by joining as a Member today.

Get Energised was a science, engineering and technology engagement programme which ran until June 2019.

This splendid sword was a gift to celebrate a historic military victory over the ‘Tiger of Mysore’.

This targe, or shield, was presented to Prince Charles Edward Stuart before Culloden, but abandoned when the Prince fled the field.

This beautiful medieval bishop’s crook and silver-gilt case, or Coigreach, are associated with St Fillan of Perthshire, and are among our most important medieval church artefacts.

This Nimrod XV241 served with the RAF from the early 1970s until March 2010.

How can you travel around the world without leaving Scotland? By visiting our World Cultures galleries.

This Persian leopard is a male that was born at Bristol Zoo in 1994. He eventually found a home at Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany where he died at the advanced age of 17 years old.