Book `George Washington Wilson in the Hebrides` by Donald MacAulay.
Photographs dating from c. 1870 to 1908 portraying the Hebrides through landscape, ships, buildings, people and their activities. Detailed commentary explaining building features, activities, clothes etc
Book `The Book of Barra` ed. by John Lorne Campbell.
Local and religious history, schools, customs and topography, agriculture, fishing and other industries, literature, the Crofters` Commission (1883), Norse Place-names, flora and fauna, and index of persons and places.
Book `Scottish Country Life` by Alexander Fenton.
Crofting History – ploughing, harvesting, threshing, drying and grinding grain; root crops, tools, drainage, the shieling, grass and hay, diary products, farm buildings, livestock, fuel, transport, crafts and trades, fairs and markets, food and drink. Pages 25, 45, 174 & 203 refer to Tiree.
John and Christina MacPhail of Balinoe
Photograph of John and Christina MacPhail of Balinoe.
Courtesy of Mrs Mairi Campbell
John MacPhail (Iain Eacha’ Ruaidh) and his wife, Christina (Hutty Nèill an Tuathanaich), of Balinoe are pictured with a standard plough used for preparing the ground for sowing corn and potatoes.
Out of his working clothes, the crofter is celebrating the end of his spring ploughing. The polished ploughshare is oiled and ready to be returned to the implement shed until the autumn when it will be used for opening potato drills.
The plough is hitched to two exceptionally well-bred Clydesdales of the Tiree type. Introduced in the 1870s, Clydesdales were crossed with local ponies to produce lighter and faster draught animals for which Tiree was famous in the early 20th century.
Black and white photograph of John and Christina MacPhail of Balinoe.
L-R: John MacPhail (Iain Eacha` Ruaidh) of Balinoe and his wife Christina (Hutty Neill an Tuathanaich) with a plough drawn by two exceptionally well-bred Clydesdales of the Tiree type. Out of his working clothes, the crofter celebrates the end of his spring work. Note the polished ploughshare is oiled and ready to be returned to the implement shed till next spring. (Crofting details supplied by Donald MacIntyre, Gott)
Printout from Flora Celtica website: `Seaweed as a fertiliser`
Historical and current uses of seaweed in farming and gardening, including practical tips.
Colour photograph of Hugh Archie MacLean, Donald MacLean and Lachie Brown, 2001
Re-seeding a field at Kilmoluaig in 2001 after a lapse of 90 years. L-R: Hugh Archie MacCallum, Kenovay, Lachie Brown, Balevullin, and Donald MacLean, Kenovay.
Colour photograph of Donald MacLean, Kenovay, 2001
Donald MacLean, Kenovay with tractor and trailer spreading shell sand on a field at Kilmoluaig in 2001.
Colour photograph of Donald MacLean, Kenovay, 2001
Donald MacLean, Kenovay spreading shell sand on a field in Kilmoluaig ploughed for the first time in 90 years in 2001.
Photocopy of handwritten `Jotting about Tyree` by John MacFarlane, Heylipol School.
Document detailing various aspects of Tyree life in 1873, written for the information of the Duchess of Argyll by the headmster of Heylipol School in 1873.
Petition from Poor Persons in Tyree for Aid to Emigrate
Transcription of a petition for assistance to emigrate appended to ‘Crofts and Farms in the Hebrides’ by the 8th Duke of Argyll.
This petition was sent in 1851 to Sir John MacNeill, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the Relief of the Poor in Scotland. Sir John was married to a daughter of the 8th Duke of Argyll, who appended the petition to his ‘Crofts and Farms in Hebrides’ addressed to the Napier Commission of 1883.
A hundred and thirty-six islanders signed the petition. Ninety-nine of them were landless cottars; the remainder were small tenants, of whom only four paid rent over £10 a year. They represented the class of islanders that the Duke was anxious to clear from his estate.
Around a third of the petitioners were given assistance to emigrate with their families on board the ‘Conrad’, ‘Birman’ and ‘Onyx’ in July 1851. Another twenty-seven families from the island left with them.
