By Emma Seith

THOUSANDS OF historic Scottish films are to be made available on the Internet for the first time, including footage of Dundee ranging from the funeral of a jute baron in 1901 to the Beatles’ concert at the Caird Hall in 1964.

The Scottish Screen archive was set up in 1976 with the aim of preserving moving images of Scotland in the 20th and 21st centuries, and contains up to 3000 hours of footage.

Among the 32,000 items in the archive are documentary, newsreel, shorts, educational, advertising and promotional films, amateur and professional productions.

It is hoped that the online access will lead to a wider audience and help in the location of more films for the collection.

Some of the most famous footage became available online for the first time yesterday.

Examples include the first X-ray demonstrated by Dr John Macintyre in 1896, and Queen Victoria strolling around the grounds of Balmoral in the same year.

Scottish Screen’s website is www.scottishscreen.com