Gold mourning ring linked to famous Black Isle figure Hugh Miller set for Cromarty display after amazing South Africa beach find
A LONG-LOST mourning ring, engraved with the name, birth date and death date of Victorian-era Scottish geologist, writer and social justice campaigner, Hugh Miller, is to go on show in his Black Isle home town for the first time this month.
It was, remarkably, found on a beach in South Africa in 2022.
The ring is set to go on display at Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum in Cromarty for the first time this month.
• South Africa gold ring find sends ripples of delight back to Black Isle
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The ring was found by local metal detectorist, Cornell Swart, on a beach in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa.
Mourning jewellery was common in Miller’s time, and this ring, made of 18 carat gold, features the inscription ‘In Memory Of’, which would likely have been filled with black niello, and on the inside it is delicately engraved with ‘Hugh Miller Born Octr 10th 1802, Died Decr 24th 1856’.
Visitor services manager at Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum, Debbie Reid, said: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase the ring to the public. It has an incredible story behind it which deserves to be shared and the fact that it has remained hidden all this time is remarkable.
“There is some mystery as to how the ring ended up in South Africa. Photographs of Hugh Miller’s children show his daughter, Harriet, wearing a ring which is very similar to the one found. We know from old records that Harriet travelled to Australia in 1870, and her children returned to the UK in 1884. Many routes to Australia would have stopped in Southern Africa during this time, so it is possible the ring was lost on one of these journeys, but we will never know for certain.”
After the ring was found, it was very generously donated through the Friends of Hugh Miller Group to Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum in Cromarty, where it will now be on display for the very first time. It will be housed next to a mourning brooch already in the collection and the story of its discovery is hoped to attract many visitors to the site.
Alongside the mourning ring, Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum is also hosting a pop-up exhibition in collaboration with Carrick Artists Collective, from March 21 to 4 May. Carrick is a place Hugh Miller once explored, and this exhibition will highlight the beauty of Carrick and the link between these two places.
Donations and events like this help support the National Trust for Scotland’s vision to care for, share and protect Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage, as outlined in its strategy launched in 2022, and contributes to its engagement objectives to provide access and enjoyment for everyone.
For more information about Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum, visit https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/hugh-millers-birthplace.
In June 2022, an unusual email dropped into the inbox of The Friends of Hugh Miller, the Scottish charity that works to honour Hugh Miller’s legacy. The message was from Cornell Swart, a local to Gordon’s Bay near Cape Town, South Africa, saying that she had found a gold mourning ring bearing Miller’s name and dates on her local beach.
“I was hunting on the beach, and I noticed a small area that had lost a lot of sand,” said Swart.
“Initially I found some old pennies and buttons, and that prompted me to stay in the area and check it more thoroughly. I got a very faint, deep signal, and I dug down in between rocks and pebbles where I finally found the ring. From the first moment I saw it I knew it was special – when I realised it had historical significance I was over the moon.”
Swart looked up the name and dates from the ring online, where she learned who Hugh Miller was and found the contact details for The Friends of Hugh Miller charity.
She very generously donated the ring to the charity.
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