Archaeology

There are over 1800 items of archaeological material. Including 200 Romano-British finds from Buchlyvie Broch and 20 local beakers and cinerary urns with associated human remains. Important acquisitions through Treasure Trove in recent years include the early Christian grave slab from Ballangrew Farm and the Bronze Age palstave from Stoneyacre Farm.

Agriculture

The Smith has an extensive collection of early agricultural equipment and materials from the early 18th century.

Ceramics

The Smith’s collection of Scottish pottery was used to illustrate J Arnold Fleming’s standard work on the subject, 'Scottish Pottery', first published in 1923, and re-published in the 1970s.

Military

Stirling was a barracks town, after the Stuart court moved in 1603, and until the Argylls moved out in 1964. 'Searching for the Deserter' by artist Hugh Collins (1834-1896) shows a typical scene in a local house, where the Black Watch are looking for an absentee soldier. Desertion was punishable by flogging and imprisonment.

Numismatics

The museum has a large collection of coins, communion tokens and bank notes covering many different countries. There are 3000 communion tokens, mostly for Scottish churches, but with a concentration on the central belt of Scotland and covering the secession of 1743 and the disruption of 1843 which resulting in the fragmentation of the Protestant churches. In addition there are collections of Greek and Roman coins as well as Medievil Scottish money. The museum also has a good collection of Stirling Bank notes and notes from the American War of Independence and its civil war.

Photographs

The Smith has over 3000 important local photographs, showing Stirling from the time cameras came into general use in the 1870s onwards. This image shows salmon fishers on the River Forth with their fishing nets.

Postcards

The Smith has a collection of over 500 local postcards, mostly of the kind on sale to visiting tourists. This valentine’s card from the National Wallace Monument has a heart of forget-me-nots.

Scientific Instruments

The Smith has a small collection of 18th and early 19th century maritime instruments, including this ship’s compass, 1764, which is of French manufacture and was used to guide the slave ships of Captain James Forrest of Alloa ( fl. 1740-1810)

Sporting History

Horse Racing, Golf, Football and Curling the Smith collections include the world's oldest football and curling stone

Tartan

The Smith has a fine collection of old ‘hard’ tartans, woven in Wilson Mills, Bannockburn, in the period 1760-1820. After the Disarming Act of 1746, the weaving and wearing of tartan was forbidden in the Highlands. Bannockburn was the first place to seize the initiative in the Lowlands, and Wilsons built up a world-wide trade by 1830.