Kate MacDonald of Balephuil
Photograph of Kate MacDonald standing on the ‘tobhta’ of her house in Balephuil in the 1940s.
Courtesy of Ms Katina MacDonald
Tiree’s thatched houses are built with double walls, between five feet thick and six or seven feet high, filled with sand and rubble known as the hearting. Since the roof rests on the inner wall, the top of the hearting and outer wall form a wide ledge known as ‘an tobhta’.
When the walls are un-mortared this can be left open and grass and sometimes flowers grow there. In summer the dogs would often lie there in the sun and sometimes sheep would climb up to graze.
Nowadays the spaces between the stones are usually filled with mortar so that the walls can no longer ‘breathe’ and the tobhta is sealed with concrete.
Black and white photograph of Kate MacDonald of Balephuil taken in the 1940s.
Kate MacDonald of Balephuil standing on the tobhta of her house, taken in the 1940s.
Black and white photograph of Kate, Colin and Katina MacDonald of Balephuil in 1929.
Kate MacDonald, her uncle Colin MacDonald (Cailean Fhearchair) and her daughter Katina MacDonald of Balephuil in 1929.
Black and white photograph of Morag Campbell of Balemartine and Katina MacDonald of Balephuil during WWII.
L-R: Morag Campbell of Balemartine, unknown airman and Katina MacDonald of Balephuil in 1941.
Black and white photograph of Cathy Gunn`s mother, Eilidh MacNally, Eilidh MacDonald and Kate MacDonald.
Balephuil, 1953. L-R: Mrs MacKay (Cathy Gunn`s mother), Eilidh MacNally, Eilidh MacDonald and Kate MacDonald. Note the rotary quern at the door.
Black and white photograph of Neil MacDonald in 1930.
Neil MacDonald (Niall Iain Mhic Dhomhnaill Mhoir) of Balephuil known as `the strongest man in Tiree`, photographed in 1930.
Black and white photograph of Effie MacKinnon in 1929.
Effie MacKinnon outside her house Taigh Oighrig in Balephuil in 1929.
Black and white photograph of Sandy Kennedy, Moss.
Sandy Kennedy of Moss with a horse and cart, probably taken in the 1930s.
Colour photograph of Alasdair MacDonald`s house in Kilmoluaig in the early 1980s.
Alasdair MacDonald`s house in Kilmoluaig during renovation work in the early 1980s. Note the overlapping turves or sgrothan laid on top of the rafters.
Black and white photograph of a group of men sheep-dipping at Hough in the mid-1930s.
Sheep-dipping at Hough in the mid-1930s. L-R: John Cameron (Iain Mhurchaidh), Balevullin; Sandy Cameron (built Mary Cameron`s house in Balevullin); Sandy`s brother Murdoch Cameron; Donald MacKinnon, Hough, his father; John MacDonald, Balevullin (John Alec`s grandfather); Donald Archie MacLean, Millhouse (father of Eairdsidh, Teon and Allina).
Colour photograph of Bella MacKinnon and Reg Knapman on Balevullin beach in the early 1990s.
Bella MacKinnon and Reg Knapman collecting carrageen on Balevullin beach in the early 1990s.
