O/S map sheet LXIV.11.
Map of Cornaigbeg area at a scale of 25 inches to the mile (1:2,500).
1997.213.7
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Tag Archives: cornaigbeg
1997.192.2
Photocopied newspaper article about brothers A. and R. MacCallum from Cornaigbeg.
Obituaries for two brothers from Cornaigbeg, Private A. MacCallum who was killed by gunshot in France on 12/3/1916 at the age of 30 and Seargeant Robert MacCallum who died in action as Beaumont Hamel on 13/11/1915 at the age of 32.
1997.194.1
Off-white damask tablecloth with fringed edges said to have been made from spun bog cotton.
The fibres of bog cotton, or Common Cottongrass Eriophorum augustifolium, were used to stuff pillows and children’s mattresses, for wound dressings during the First World War, and in wicks for candles. The short, fragile fibres are, however, almost impossible to spin pure. A tradition collected by Alexander Carmichael in the nineteenth century set the task: “Canach an t-slèibhe/No maiden could get a man of old till she had spun and wove and sewn with her own hands a shirt of the canach. This was the marriage test!” (CW89/112 f.23v). There are a pair of stockings in the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall that are labelled: “made from bog cotton”. This reflects another tradition that a bride should wear bog cotton stockings on her wedding night. In the 1851 Great Exhibition catalogue (page 82) there is an entry from Inverness: “Linsey-woolsey made of cheviot wool and bog cotton. Bog cotton fibres can be spun if combined with other, longer, fibres like wool, linen or cotton.”
1997.195.1
Knickers made from a flour sack
Photograph of a pair of knickers made from a flour sack.
These women’s knickers were made in Tiree from a flour sack in the first quarter of the 20th century. The isolation of the crofting community on Tiree made it necessary to make do with the materials to hand.
The knickers were sewn by machine with flat seams and decorated with hand-made tatting round the legs. The waist may have been elasticated or tightened with a drawstring.
Flour was purchased in 140 lb (65 kg) sacks made from closely woven cotton. The seams would have been unpicked and the material plastered with black soap (‘siaban dubh’) to remove the printing before putting it outside to bleach in the sun. The flour producer’s name, Harter, is still visible.
1997.175.6
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.
1997.172.1
Black and white photograph of Willie, Alick and Nancy MacLean of Cornaigbeg.
L-R: Willie, Alick and Nancy MacLean who built Corraire, Cornaigbeg in 1915.
1997.172.2
Black and white photograph of Peggy MacEachern in 1940.
Peggy MacEachern with a calf outside Creag Mhor in Cornaigbeg in 1940.
1997.172.3
Black and white photograph of Leipan, Felag, Mairi and Peggy MacEachern in 1940.
L-R: Leipan (Archie), Felag, Mairi and Peggy MacEachern in 1940.
1997.172.4
Black and white photograph of Felag, Mairi and Peggy MacEachern in 1940.
L-R: Felag, Mairi (sister-in-law) and Peggy MacEachern in 1940
1997.172.5
Black and white photograph of Archie MacEachern and Donald MacLean.
Archie (Leipan) MacEachern and Donald MacLean, Ard Beg, outside the smiddy at Creag Mhor, Cornaigbeg.