Reprint hope for fossil hero book

By Steven McKenzie Highlands and Islands reporter, BBC Scotland news website

Hugh Miller's family home in Cromarty is now a museum

An influential book on fossils written by a Highlands naturalist could be reprinted for the first time in more than a century.

Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone was said to have been admired by scientist Charles Darwin.

The Friends of Hugh Miller charity, which has 90 members across Britain, is prepared to finance the venture.

The book was first published in 1841 and only Victorian copies are available to collectors.

Martin Gostwick, of the Friends of Hugh Miller and property manager at the Hugh Miller Museum and Birthplace Cottage in Cromarty, said the project could take two to three years before realising its ambition.

He said an "everyman" version was printed in the 1920s, but The Old Red Sandstone had "not seen the light of day" in more than a century and a move to reprint it was welcomed.

The plan to reprint the book also involves the National Museums of Scotland.

It said the idea was in the "very early stages".

The venture was discussed at a "local heroes" event held in Cromarty in recognition of Mr Miller's work.

April's celebration helped to mark the bicentenary of the Geological Society of London.

Mr Miller, a skilled stonemason and writer, was born in Cromarty in 1802.

His study of fossils and rocks around his home has been credited with contributing to a greater understanding of the history of the Earth.

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