Isabella MacLean of Kilmoluaig using a cheese press
Photograph of Isabella MacLean of Kilmoluaig using a cheese press.
Courtesy of Ms Linda Gowans
Isabella MacLean was photographed using a cheese press in Kilmoluaig by George Holleyman, an archaeologist posted to RAF Tiree during World War II. The press was made in the local smiddy. The screw, which turns through an iron hoop set into a large stone, tightens on to the wooden cheese vat, removing excess whey.
Rennet was used to curdle the warmed milk and sometimes salt was added or caraway seeds. The curds were squeezed by hand, wrapped in muslin, put in the cheese vat and pressed. The whey would be fed to calves.
After two to three days, the press would be screwed down another turn. The cheese would be left there for a week then put on a shelf to dry and form a skin. It would be ready for eating in a fortnight.
Black and white photograph of Isabella MacLean, Kilmoluaig.
Isabella MacLean is pictured here using a cheese press made in the local smiddy. The screw, which turns through an iron hoop set into a large stone, tightens on to the wooden cheese vat, removing excess liquid. Rennet was used to curdle the warmed milk and sometimes salt was added, or caraway seeds. The curds were squeezed by hand, wrapped in muslin, put in the cheese vat and pressed. The whey would be fed to calves. After 2-3 days, the press would be screwed down another turn. The cheese would be left there for a week then put on a shelf to dry and form a skin. It would be ready for eating in a fortnight. The cheese press is part of An Iodhlann`s collection.
The ‘Mary Stewart’ in Scarinish harbour in the 1930s
Photograph of the schooner ‘Mary Stewart’ in Scarinish harbour in the 1930s.
Courtesy of Mrs Netta Martin
Taken in the early 1930s, this view of Scarinish harbour shows the topsail schooner ‘Mary Stewart’ in her final resting place. For the previous thirty years she had traded up and down the west coast carrying coal and other cargo.
Also anchored in the harbour are two lobster boats. Commercial lobster fishing began on Tiree after 1880 when the railway to Oban was opened, allowing shellfish to be sent live to the London markets for the first time.
Said to have been originally built as a church, the building in the background was used as a store by the owners of the ‘Mary Stewart’. It was pulled down to make the road to the pier during World War II.
Black and white photograph of Scarinish harbour.
Scarinish harbour with the Mary Stewart, probably taken in the 1930s. The building in the background was originally built as a church, then used intermittently as a prison and latterly as a store by the owners of the Mary Stewart. It was pulled down to make roads during World War II.
The Whitehouse MacLeans with a horse-drawn reaper in around 1920.
Photograph of the MacLean family from Whitehouse with a horse-drawn reaper.
Courtesy of Mr Angus MacLean
The MacLean family from Whitehouse, Cornaigbeg are pictured cutting corn with a horse-drawn reaper. This was a tremendous advance on the sickle and scythe. Use of the scythe needed strength and skill and one man could cut only a quarter acre in a day.
Two men sat on the reaper, one to guide the horses which walked beside the standing corn while the other tilted the reaper’s platform when enough corn for a sheaf had gathered. He then pushed it off with an angled rake. The sheaves were tied by people following behind the reaper.
Binders pulled by three horses replaced the reaper. Mechanically operated implements drawn by tractors eventually took over after World War II.
Black and white photograph of cutting corn at Whitehouse.
Cutting corn by reaper at Whitehouse, Cornaig. L-R: Donald MacLean (Big Donald), Charles MacLean (Curly), Tom MacLean, Hector MacLean (Curly’s father), Donald MacLean (father of Tom and Big Donald), unknown, Murdoch MacLean (Curly’s brother).
Cutting corn by a reaper was a tremendous step forward from the sickle and scythe. Sickle work was done mainly by women. Four or five would work together cutting handfuls of corn at a time which were then tied together by the men. The scythe had a blade approx. 2.5 ft long (85 cm) and was handled by the men. A man could cut fully a quarter acre in a day.
The reaper was powered by horses. A cross-member board 4 ins by 2 ins (10 cm x 5 cm) and 4.5 ft long (137 cm) was bolted to the cutting blade of the reaper by hinges, allowing it to operate up and down. Ten strips of wood 4 ins by 1 in (10 cm x 2.5 cm) and 2.5 ft long (75 cm) were placed at 4 inch (10 cm) intervals at right angles to the cross-member. A pedal which was attached to the cross-member was pressed down by the worker’s right foot. This allowed the corn to gather on the platform. He then released the pedal and the platform tilted to the ground. The corn was finally pushed off with the tilting rake. Enough corn to make a whole sheaf then lay on the ground in readiness for the people following behind to tie it. Note the central figure, Hector MacLean, has a tilting rake specially designed to remove corn from the platform.
Binders pulled by 3 horses replaced the reaper. Mechanically operated implements drawn by tractors eventually took over.
The Coaling Station at Brock
Photograph of a coal puffer beached on Gott Bay at Brock in the 1930s.
Around the middle of the 19th century, when local peat deposits had run out and peat was no longer readily available from adjacent islands, coal was shipped to Tiree in sailing smacks and schooners owned and sailed by Tiree men.
Later in the century and into the 1900s, coal was brought in by steam-driven lighters known as puffers. As there are no secure harbours in Tiree, the puffers, like the schooners before them, were beached at spring tides on several of the sandy bays around the island.
The coal was discharged into horse-drawn carts of a half tonne nominal capacity. One such coaling station was at Brock on the east end of the island.
Black and white photograph of the coaling station, Brock.
Photograph from a small album from Silversands, Vaul, titled `The Coaling Station, Brock` of a puffer discharging coal into horse-drawn carts, probably taken in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Around the middle of the 19th century, when local peat deposits had run out and peat was no longer readily available from adjacent islands, coal was shipped to Tiree in sailing smacks and schooners owned and sailed by Tiree men. Later in the century and into the 1900s, coal was brought in by puffers. As there are no secure harbours in Tiree, the puffers like the schooners before them were beached at spring tides on several of the sandy bays around the island. The coal was discharged into horse-drawn carts of a half tonne nominal capacity. One such coaling station was at Brock on the east end of the island.
Black and white photograph of Mannal.
View of Mannal looking south with two men in a horse-drawn cart and children playing at the side of the road. (Original photograph 1997.178.1)
Iain MacFarlane
Photograph of Iain MacFarlane with Eachunn the cat.
This photograph of the late 1920s or early 1930s shows Iain MacFarlane when he was working as ‘am buachaille’ or herd boy in the east end of Tiree. Herding was done by boys when they left school at 14 and sometimes by old men.
As the common grazings and many fields were unfenced, their job was to keep cattle, sheep and horses within the township boundaries and out of the crops. Until wire fencing was introduced in the 1890s, fields were sometimes enclosed with turf or stone walls.
From May to October, Iain would have stayed in a ‘bothag’, a small round building constructed of stone and roofed with turfs over a timber frame. He died at sea at the beginning of World War II.
Black and white photograph of Iain, the herd boy, with Eachann the cat.
Photograph from a small album from Silversands, Vaul, titled `Iain, the herd laddie`, identified as Iain MacFarlane, (brother of Lachie MacFarlane of Hynish) by Chrissie, Lachie`s widow. Iain died at sea at the beginning of WWII. Probably taken in the late 1920s to early 1930s.
Outside the general store in Scarinish in 1910
Photograph of Calum MacLean, Hugh MacArthur and Peter Anderson outside the general store in Scarinish in 1910.
Courtesy of Mr Angus MacLean
Calum MacLean, Hugh MacArthur and Peter Anderson are pictured in 1910 outside the shop in Scarinish owned and run by Hugh and his brother Dan. As well as a general store, the building contained a Post Office and a hardware department upstairs
Calum MacLean (Calum Bùidsear) from Moss opened a butcher’s shop in Scarinish in 1930s on a site previously housing a baker and cobbler. The business was taken over by Donald and Nan MacLean in 1953.
Peter Anderson came to Tiree in 1886 as the island’s first gamekeeper. A keen ornithologist, he published ‘The Birds of the Island of Tiree’ in ‘The Scottish Naturalist’ in 1913
Black and white photograph of Scarinish shop in 1910.
Scarinish shop, 1910. L-R: Calum MacLean (butcher in Scarinish), Hugh MacArthur (partner in shop), Peter Anderson (gamekeeper). (Original photograph 1997.178.1)
D. & H. MacArthur’s shop
Photograph of D. & H. MacArthur’s shop in Scarinish at the beginning of the 20th century.
Courtesy of Mrs Flora MacKinnon
Situated in Scarinish close to the ferry terminal, D. & H. MacArthur’s was the main shop on the island. It comprised a general store, a Post Office and a hardware department upstairs. The MacArthur family lived on the top floor.
The lean-to structure on the left is Taigh an t-Sàil where preserving salt was stored. Salted meat or fish would be packed in large barrels similar to those in the foreground. The wicker baskets to the left of the main doorway were used to import pan loaves from Glasgow.
There was no running water in the building but a well and pump outside. In 1948 disaster struck when a fire which began in the back paraffin store destroyed the shop. A new Co-operative store was built on the same site.
Black and white photograph of D & H MacArthur`s general store in Scarinish taken in the 1930s.
Situated in Scarinish close to the ferry terminal, D & H MacArthur’s was the main shop on the island. It comprised a general store, a Post Office and a hardware department upstairs. The MacArthur family lived on the top floor. The lean-to structure on the left is Taigh an t-Sàil where preserving salt was stored. Salted meat or fish would be packed in large barrels similar to those in the foreground. The wicker baskets to the left of the main doorway were used to import pan loaves from Glasgow. The building burned down during World War II and a new Co-operative store built on the same site.
The Remembrance Service in 1921
Photograph of the Remembrance Service at the War Memorial in Scarinish in 1921.
Courtesy of Mrs Jean Lindsay
Picture of Hugh Cameron watching the Remembrance service held on Tiree at the Scarinish War Memorial.
Black and white photograph of Hugh Cameron at the 1921 Remembrance Day service.
Hugh Cameron (right) with two pipers, Hugh MacArthur of Tullymet and Hugh Campbell of Port Glasgow, at the 1921 Remembrance Day service at the War Memorial in Scarinish.
Black and white photograph of the Kirkapol Chapels in 1912.
The Kirkapol chapels with Lady Frances Balfour`s samoyed, Vaul, in the foreground, taken in 1912.
