Minidisk recording of Alasdair Sinclair and Duncan Grant talking to Dr John Holliday in An Iodhlann on 21/1/2004.
Alasdair Sinclair of Brock and Duncan Grant of Ruaig talk to Dr John Holliday in January 2004 about their Tiree connections and early memories of Ruaig, Brock and Soa, about Hugh Lamont (Eòghann Iain) from Ruaig, the postal service, Brock ceilidh house, thatched houses, quarrying stones at Brock and the tools used, handmade lintels, and collecting seaweed and birds’ eggs from Soa.
Black and white photograph of Iain MacKinnon`s croft house in Kilmoluaig.
The thatched house of Iain MacKinnon (Iain Chaluim) in Kilmoluaig.
Black and white photograph of Iain MacKinnon`s croft house in Kilmoluaig.
Chimney detail of Iain MacKinnon`s (Iain Chaluim) thatched house in Kilmoluaig.
Colour photograph of Calum MacKinnon of Kilmoluaig.
Calum MacKinnon (1890 – 1984) outside his thatched house at Kilmoluaig.
Colour photograph of Iain MacKinnon`s croft house in Kilmoluaig.
Iain MacKinnon`s (Iain Chaluim) thatched house in Kilmoluaig.
Thatching at ‘Cnoc Bhiosta’
Photograph of Lachie MacLean, Iain and Hugh MacKinnon thatching at ‘Cnoc Bhiosta’ in Kilmoluaig.
Courtesy of Mrs Fiona Munn
Lachie MacLean, Iain and Hugh MacKinnon are pictured here thatching Iain’s house at ‘Cnoc Bhiosta’ in Kilmoluaig. Initially, the thatch is laid over a layer of turfs or sgrothan which are pinned or tied to the roof timbers.
The main roof timbers, ‘ceanna-mhaidean’ or couples, usually of oak, run from the inner wall head to the apex of the roof. Those at the rear are about a foot shorter making the back of the roof slightly steeper than the front. The couples are held together by one or two timbers, making an A-frame.
On top of the couples two or three purlins run lengthwise along the house, over which is laid a layer of finer branches, often hazel. The upper purlins are joined by short lengths of wood which give the roofs their distinctively round shape and allow the thatchers to stand easily on the top.
Colour photograph of thatching at Iain MacKinnon`s croft house in Kilmoluaig.
Thatching Iain MacKinnon`s croft house in Kilmoluaig. L-R: Lachie MacLean, Kilmoluaig; Iain MacKinnon (Iain Chaluim), Kilmoluaig; Iain`s brother Hugh MacKinnon (Eoghann Chaluim), Crossapol.
Black and white postcard of a cottar`s cottage in Scarinish.
Cottar`s cottage in Scarinish.
Postcard of a thatched house in Moss that was the site of a famous shebeen.
In the Statistical Account of 1845, the Rev. Neil MacLean wrote: ‘There are two licensed inns in Tiree, but it is to be observed that several low illicit tippling houses…have been springing up of late in this island.’
A few years later, the Duke removed the licence from Tiree, after a woman died on her way home after drinking at the inn at Croish in Kilmoluaig. While alcohol could not then be sold legally, there were a number of houses, or shebeens, where whisky could be bought if you were known to be trustworthy.
The most famous of these was run by Màiri Ann an Righ in Moss. She was undisturbed by the Argyll Constabulary, partly because she was very careful to whom she gave a bottle.
Colour postcard of a detail of a Tiree thatched house.
Colour postcard of a detail of a Tiree thatched house showing recessed window and thatch tied down with stones..
Piece of rubble from the old hall at Crossapol.
Piece of concrete rubble from the old hall at Crossapol.
