Sample Our Collection

1997.194.1

Off-white damask tablecloth with fringed edges said to have been made from spun bog cotton.

The fibres of bog cotton, or Common Cottongrass Eriophorum augustifolium, were used to stuff pillows and children’s mattresses, for wound dressings during the First World War, and in wicks for candles. The short, fragile fibres are, however, almost impossible to spin pure. A tradition collected by Alexander Carmichael in the nineteenth century set the task: “Canach an t-slèibhe/No maiden could get a man of old till she had spun and wove and sewn with her own hands a shirt of the canach. This was the marriage test!” (CW89/112 f.23v). There are a pair of stockings in the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall that are labelled: “made from bog cotton”. This reflects another tradition that a bride should wear bog cotton stockings on her wedding night. In the 1851 Great Exhibition catalogue (page 82) there is an entry from Inverness: “Linsey-woolsey made of cheviot wool and bog cotton. Bog cotton fibres can be spun if combined with other, longer, fibres like wool, linen or cotton.”

1997.202.1

Cheese press or fiodhan.

Cheese vat

Courtesy of Mrs Meena Knapman

Probably made at the end of the 19th century by Donald MacLean of Whitehouse, Cornaigbeg, this wooden vat (known in Gaelic as a ‘fiodhan’) would have been used until the 1950s to make cheese.

Standing 165 mm high and with a diameter of 250 mm, the staves are bound with two iron hoops. Holes have been drilled in the sides and base to allow the whey to drain out.

The curds wrapped in muslin would be put in the vat and the lid placed on top. This would be weighted with stones or screwed down in a cheese press for about a week.

Tiree in 100 Objects – 37 – Cheese Press

The History of Tiree in 100 Objects

1997.195.1

Knickers made from a flour sack

Photograph of a pair of knickers made from a flour sack.

Knickers made from a flour sack

These women’s knickers were made in Tiree from a flour sack in the first quarter of the 20th century. The isolation of the crofting community on Tiree made it necessary to make do with the materials to hand.

The knickers were sewn by machine with flat seams and decorated with hand-made tatting round the legs. The waist may have been elasticated or tightened with a drawstring.

Flour was purchased in 140 lb (65 kg) sacks made from closely woven cotton. The seams would have been unpicked and the material plastered with black soap (‘siaban dubh’) to remove the printing before putting it outside to bleach in the sun. The flour producer’s name, Harter, is still visible.

Tiree in 100 Objects – 35 – Underclothes

The History of Tiree in 100 Objects

1997.179.1

Black and white photograph of six Tiree craggans.

Six Tiree craggans photographed by George Holleyman between 1941 and 1943, and published in the paper ‘Tiree Craggans’, by G. A. Holleyman, in Antiquity 21, December 1947, pp 205-211. On the original slide, the craggans are captioned individually: 1 from Sandaig, 2 from Balevullin, 3-6 made by Hugh MacNeil in 1942.

x41.jpg

1997.179.8

Marion MacDonald churning butter at Sandaig

Photograph of Marion MacDonald churning butter at Sandaig in the 1940s.

x36.jpg

Courtesy of Ms Linda Gowans

Marion MacDonald was photographed by George Holleyman churning butter outside her thatched house in Sandaig during World War II. The churn consists of a narrow wooden barrel (about 300 mm wide and 650 mm tall) and a plunger. At the end of the plunger is a wooden disc with holes drilled in it.

Milk would be left to stand in a metal basin and the cream skimmed off using a saucer or clam shell into an earthenware butter crock. The cream would be strained through muslin into the scalded churn and agitated using the plunger.

Once the butter had formed, it was put into cold water then slapped between the hands to remove excess liquid. The remaining buttermilk would be drunk or used for baking.

Black and white photograph of Marion MacDonald, Sandaig.

Marion MacDonald is pictured churning butter outside her thatched house in Sandaig, Tiree. The churn consists of a narrow wooden barrel (about 300 mm wide and 650 mm tall) and a plunger. At the end of the plunger is a wooden disc with holes drilled in it. Milk would be left to stand in a metal basin and the cream skimmed off using a saucer or clam shell into an earthenware butter crock. The cream would be strained through muslin into the scalded churn and agitated using the plunger. Once the butter had formed, it was put into cold water then slapped between the hands to remove excess liquid. The remaining buttermilk would be drunk or used for baking.

1997.175.2

Black and white photograph of Mannal.

View of Mannal looking south with two men in a horse-drawn cart and children playing at the side of the road. (Original photograph 1997.178.1)

e3.jpg