Photocopies of three letters from Alistair MacNeill to the Hebridean Trust written in 2002.
Memories of Hynish in the 1940s and 50s: the interior decoration of 4, Upper Square, neighbours, listening to the war news on the wireless, RAF airmen including Preston Potts.
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.”
The interior of an officer’s Nissen hut
Photograph of the interior of an officer’s Nissen hut at the RAF station on Tiree in World War II.
Courtesy of Mr Mike Hughes
This photograph shows the inside of an officer’s Nissen hut on Tiree during World War II. The Reef, the central area of the island, was requisitioned by the Ministry of War in 1940 to build the RAF Station which became operational in 1941.
Some four thousand RAF personnel were housed in hundreds of Nissen huts around Crossapol and Hough. The Nissen hut was designed in 1916 by Peter Nissen, a Canadian mining engineer, and was used extensively by the Allies in World War II in the construction of new facilities.
The hut consisted of sheets of corrugated steel bent into half a cylinder and closed at the ends with semi-circular masonry or wooden walls. Because the curved sheets stacked easily together, one hut could be packed on to a three ton truck. Six men could assemble one in four hours, although the record time was 1 hour 27 minutes.
Black and white photograph of the inside of Nissen hut during World War II.
The inside of an officer`s Nissen hut on Tiree during World War II. (Photograph from Mike Hughes in Filing Cabinet 2 drawer 1)
Pottery candlestick sold as a souvenir from Tiree.
Pottery candlestick with cream, brown and green glaze and the words `From Tiree – Dinna burn the caun`le at baith ends`. Stamped on underside with `Longpark Torquay`.
Brass candlestick.
Video recording of `The Home Show` in 1995.
The Home Show visits Iain Chaluim and the gnome house in Kilmoluaig.
Colour photograph of quilt from Balephetrish.
Quilt made from old shirts and pyjamas that originally belonged to Hector MacPhail`s mother at Balephetrish, photographed in 1978-9.
Colour photograph of quilt from Silversands.
Quilt from Silversands photographed in 1978-9. The `Turkey red` material dated around 1880-1990. See T39 for back of quilt.
Colour photograph of quilt from Silversands.
Quilt from Silversands photographed in 1978-9. The `Turkey red` material dated around 1880-1990. See T38 for back of quilt.
Colour photograph of quilt from Silversands.
Back of quilt from Silversands, dated around 1880-1990 and photographed in 1978-9. See T37 for front of quilt.
