Three original copies of Look and Learn magazine, 1967, containing an article about tea clippers ‘The Romance of the Clippers’, which includes reference to Captain Donald MacKinnon, Heanish, who sailed the ‘Taeping’ to victory in the Great China Tea Race of 1866. Accession includes an enlarged photocopy of the article.
Click here to view 2016.51.1
Ensign 3 1/4 folding camera used by Angus MacLean, Scarinish, in the 1920s. badly damaged and non-functioning.
Photocopy of a typed transcript of a taped interview with sisters Margaret MacKinnon and Katie MacKinnon, Heanish, by Calum MacKinnon of Seattle (and Balinoe), in 1991 at Braeside, Heanish.
Extract: “Auntie Maggie and Auntie Katie agreed to do this tape interview with me on a cold April’s day in 1991. I had dropped by Braeside on the way back from a buisness trip in Europe. It was mostly Auntie Maggie who did the talking with Katie chipping in with the odd comment. They talked about their childhood living on the island and life during the war years.”
Click here to view transcript 2016.45.1
Book ‘Twentieth-Century Crofting Schemes on Tiree and Coll’ by Bob Chambers, 2016, with foreword by Prof. Donald Meek, Caoles. Shortly before and shortly after WWI, over 100 new crofts were created on Tiree and Coll, and almost 40 existing crofts were enlarged. The impact on the islands was enormous, wide-ranging and long-lasting, particularly on Tiree.
The Soldier’s Bible. Postcard printed with the story of a young soldier who is caught playing cards during a church service, and who later explains that he has neither Bible nor Prayer Book and that each card represents a scene from the bible. Made famous by a hit song by Texas Tyler in 1948.
Telegraphic instrument for tapping out and receiving telegram messages at Scarinish Post Office between 1888 and 1930. Originally from Skye and probably operated by Margaret Robertson (Mona’s mother), who is listed as the telegraphist in the 1911 census of Tiree. There is a key for sending messages and a sounder for receiving. Known as a KOB set (key on base), it is marked “20 ohm” on the base. The lever of the mechanism is steel and unmarked. From the estate of Angus MacLean, The Coolins, Scarinish.
Wood-handled brass Post Office seal imprinted “Balemartine P.O”, plus sticks of sealing wax in their metal container.
Home-made, brass, cigarette lighter, made by Iain MacKinnon, Vaul, in the 1930s, using parts from an old grease-gun.
Metal dessert spoon engraved with ‘NAAFI’ on the handle and encrusted with dark substance. Found in the ground in a stackyard in Barrapol in 2016, it would originally have been part of the cutlery stock of one of the RAF NAAFIs on Tiree (probably Hough) during WWII, but has since been used for mixing paint/varnish/glue on the croft.
Wooden picture of a windmill made up of pieces of inlaid wood veneer (marquetry) by Derek Clarke, Balemartine, around 1970. Derek Clarke and Brian Jefferson worked for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which took over responsibility for the airport equipment from the RAF in 1968. From the belongings of Angus MacLean, Scarinish.
