Black and white photograph of crofters carting marram grass for thatching.
Two crofters carting marram grass for thatching behind Ben Hough in the 1930s or 1940s.
1999.113.24
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Sample Our Collection
1998.107.3
Black and white photograph of Lady Victoria Campbell.
Lady Victoria Campbell in the door of the annexe to the Lodge, known in the family as `The Crystal Palace`, probably photographed in the 1890s or early 1900s.
1998.107.1
Photocopied letter from estate factor Hugh MacDiarmid dated 13/7/1905 about a soup kitchen in Moss.
Letter from estate factor Hugh MacDiarmid dated 13/7/1905 to Donald MacDonald, teacher at Heylipol School, about a soup kitchen in Moss started by Lady Victoria Campbell for the benefit of scholars
1998.70.11
Five horse rosettes and ribbons.
Three tartan (one with white bead work) and two red and blue horse rosettes and extra ribbons used for decorating horses shown at Agricultural Shows (see photo D3 – 1997.159.14)
1998.72.1
Leaflet about St Columba and Tiree by the Rev. Robert Higham.
Acoount of Columban settlements on Tiree.
1998.77.1
Newspaper article about Dr John Holliday ‘The Happiest Man in the World’.
Article about Dr John Holliday’s new post as Tiree’s GP in The Sunday Post, 1988.
Click here for the full article
1998.51.1
Typewritten township history of Barrapol by Neil Brownlie.
Township history of Barrapol and The Land giving position and descriptions of houses and ruins wnd who lived in them.
2003.35.3
Metal tin containing empty ointment boxes, empty lozenge tins and a pin-on apron. It also used to contain sterile dressings.
1999.110.4
Shearing sheep at Heylipol Farm in the 1940s
Photograph of sheep-shearing at Heylipol Farm in the 1940s.
Courtesy of Mrs Cathie Omand
From left to right, farm manager John Hume, factor Iain MacLaren, Lachie MacFarlane of Hynish and Neil MacLean of Heylipol are clipping black-faced sheep at Heylipol Farm using hand shears in the 1940s. Hogs are sheared at the end of May or the beginning of June. Sheep with lambs are sheared in July when the weather is warmer.
Crofters would send their best Cheviot fleeces to the Scottish Wool Growers mill in Brora on the Moray Firth to be made into blankets or spun into hanks known as ‘snath Gaidhealach’ (Highland wool). Wool prices plummeted in the 1980s coinciding with increasing use of feather duvets.
In Tiree nowadays, Suffolk tups (rams) are commonly put to ‘mule’ ewes, a black-face/Blue Leicester cross. The Blue Leicester input maintains the quality of the fleece and produces a larger lamb.
Black and white photograph of sheep-shearing at Heylipol Farm in the 1940s.
Sheep-shearing at Heylipol Farm in the 1940s. L-R: shepherd John Hume; factor Iain MacLaren; Lachie MacFarlane, Hynish; Neil MacLean, Heylipol Farm.
2003.32.1
Whalebone post sockets from the broch at Vaul
Photograph of whalebone post sockets from the broch at Vaul.
Courtesy of Mr Nicholas Redman
These whale vertebrae, photographed by Nicholas Redman in 2003, are two of the four excavated from Dùn Mòr at Vaul by Dr. Euan Mackie in the early 1960s and now stored at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.
The vertebrae were positioned two on each side of the rectangular hearth set in the centre of the floor of the broch. They had been perforated in the middle and doubtless used as post sockets. The best preserved vertebrae would have held an 8 cm thick post.
Situated too close to the hearth to be roof supports, the posts were probably used to support some sort of roasting spit or a frame for a cooking cauldron.
Three black and white photographs of whale vertebrae from Dun Mor, Vaul.
Whalebone post sockets excavated from Dun Mor, Vaul, by Dr Euan MacKie in the 1960s and now stored at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. (2 photographs not displayed in Filing Cabinet 8 drawer 2)