Black and white photograph of harvesting in Kilmoluaig in the 1920s.
Harvesting in Kilmoluaig in the 1920s. L-R: Maggie Campbell`s uncle Donald Archie; uncle Alick; Neil MacDonald, Kilmoluaig (Murdoch`s father); Maggie`s father Donald MacKechnie; John Lamont, Balevullin; great-aunt Bella MacLean, Kilmoluaig; aunt Marion and grandfather Alexander MacKechnie.
Black and white photograph of Balevullin Sunday School in 1944.
Balevullin Sunday School in 1944.
Black and white photograph of a dead killer whale on Crossapol beach.
Dead killer whale on Crossapol beach in 1989.
Black and white photograph of a lobster boat.
Lobster boat from Balephuil laden with with creels.
The Fever Hospital at Heanish
Photograph of the Fever Hospital at Heanish.
Courtesy of Mr Alasdair MacArthur
From the middle of the nineteenth century, Sanitary Laws were applied on Tiree to keep the island clean and infected patients were isolated. In 1892 the Sanitary Inspector visited the island and cautioned “several parties in regard to dung heaps in my opinion too near to houses”.
In 1893 three people died from typhoid which affected Balephuil. In 1895 an epidemic of scarlet fever swept through Tiree. The County Medical Officer, Dr. McNeill, had recommended the building of an isolation hospital on the island in 1893 and in 1905 the Fever Hospital was built in Heanish.
Made of corrugated iron lined with wood, it comprised two-bedded wards set at each end of the building with a kitchen, nurse’s room and bathroom in the centre. Outside was a washhouse, mortuary, disinfecting room and coalhouse. It was last used in the 1940s and sold in the 1960s as a private house.
Black and white postcard of Heanish machair and old the Fever Hospital.
Heanish machair and old the Fever Hospital. (Original postcard in Filing Cabinet 8 drawer 2)
Cardboard seed box stamped `The British War Relief Society`.
Cardboard box measuring 180 mm x 120 mm x 70mm and stamped with `The British War Relief Society – A gift of seeds from the United States of America` and found in the Nutts` house in Balemartine.
Ruaig Public School Log Book 1919-1953.
Ruaig Public School Log Book for 14th January 1919 to 26th June 1953.
Balemartine Public School Log Book 1916-1933.
Balemartine Public School Log Book for 22nd April 1916 to 5th May 1933.
Mr R. M. Percy at the Hynish bulb farm in the 1950s
Postcard of the Hynish bulb farm in the 1950s.
Courtesy of Mrs Mary MacKinnon
In the early 1950s the West of Scotland Agricultural College’s horticultural adviser R. M. Percy suggested an experiment in bulb-growing to Walter Hume of Hynish. The experiment showed that the light sandy soils of Tiree were well suited to growing daffodil, tulip, narcissus and hyacinth bulbs.
Encouraged by this success, a number of crofters formed a Hebridean bulb-growers association and launched into bulb-growing as a commercial enterprise, supplying mainland hot-house growers with bulbs for forcing. Initially the economic prospects looked good as the yield per acre was high.
However, the bulbs were decimated by diseases and ravaged by pheasants, mice and slugs. Reinvigorating spent bulbs took longer than expected and markets became more difficult to find. Nowadays the only reminders of the bulb experiment are patches of daffodils growing wild in the fields.
Black and white postcard of the bulb fields at Hynish.
Postcard of the bulb fields at Hynish.
Funeral procession at Soroby graveyard in the 1920s
Photograph of a funeral procession on its way to Soroby graveyard in the 1920s
Courtesy of Ms Rachel Wylie
Before World War II, coffins were made locally from lengths of sarking. MacArthurs’ shop in Scarinish supplied bundles containing black cloth, white cloth, a stack of embossed lead strips, eight handles and cords, and a black plaque, which were taken to the coffin-makers to complete the job.
On the day of the funeral, the mourners would gather outside the house where the coffin would be placed on two dining room chairs. After a short service the procession, traditionally composed only of men, would set off for the graveyard.
The coffin was carried on a bier by relays of men. They were accompanied by a basket containing cheese, oatcakes and whiskey to refresh the mourners on their journey which could be several miles long.
Laser print of a black and white photograph of a funeral procession on its way to Soroby in the 1920s.
Funeral procession on its way to Sorobaidh graveyard. (From Myra Lamont’s photograph album of the 1920s.)
