Hector MacPhail talking about apprentice sailor Iain MacArthur
Sound clip in English of Hector MacPhail talking about apprentice sailor Iain MacArthur of Roisgeal in Caoles.
Hector MacPhail of Ruaig tells the story of the first voyage of Iain MacArthur from Roisgeal in Caoles on his uncle’s sailing ship. He was made to turn out in foul weather to change sail and to sew up the bodies of his fellow crew members after a fever had gone round the boat.
Photocopied letter to the Duke of Argyll from Lachlan MacQuarrie dated 22/12/1863 (Bundle 1541).
Letter to the Duke of Argyll from Lachlan MacQuarrie dated 22/12/1863 about the souterrain at Greenhill.
The souterrain in Kilkenneth in 1918
Photograph of John MacIntyre and his son Colin at the opened souterrain in Kilkenneth in 1918.
Courtesy of Mr Colin MacKinnon
John MacIntyre (Iain Chailein Mhurchaidh) and his son, Colin, are pictured here at the souterrain in Kilkenneth opened by chance when ploughing in 1918. It was later covered over.
Less than a mile away, a Y-shaped passage was exposed in the 1890s in the sand dunes at Tràigh Ghrianail. Measuring 9.2 metres long, 1 metre wide and 1.5 metres high, it was known locally as An Taigh Falaichte (the hidden house) and used for shelter by those working on the shore. It has since disappeared.
Similar underground structures were built on the mainland around 200 AD. They may have been used as byres or stores, or as places to hide from raiders.
Black and white photograph of John MacIntyre at the souterrain in Kilkenneth around 1920.
John MacIntyre at the rear of the horse and his son Colin at the opened souterrain in Kilkenneth around 1920.
Hardback book `The Souterrains of Southern Pictland` by F. T. Wainwright.
Excavation reports of two souterrains at Ardestie and Carlungie in Angus and a summary of what is known about about all recorded souterrains between the Dee and the Forth.
Click here to open the sound file s1998-276-3b.mp3.