Transcript of a Police Report submitted to Tobermory Procurator Fiscal by John McDougall (Constable) charging Hugh Campbell with assault and Hugh Campbell, John McDonald and Neil Brown with Breach of the Peace in November 1877. Hugh Campbell (apprentice shoemaker, Cornaigmore), Neil Brown (son of Susan MacDonald, Cornaigbeg) and John McDonald (farm servant to Neil McLean, Cornaigmore) are accused of fighting at John McCallum’s croft in Cornaigbeg.
John McCallum (crofter, Cornaigbeg), Jannet McCallum or Thomson (sister of John McCallum, Cornaigbeg), Dugald McLean (cotter, Cornaigbeg) are named as witnesses and provide statements. John McCallum refers to the night of 12 November as being Hallowe’en [in the old calendar].
Audio cassette recording of Hector Campbell of Garaphail interviewed by Margaret Bennett of the School of Scottish Studies.
Hector Campbell of Garaphail and Comrie talks to Margaret Bennett of the School of Scottish Studies about Gaelic songs and poetry, the music sailors from Ireland and the islands made at sea, the connections between Tiree and Skye, his boyhood, New Year, Halloween and May Day, superstitions, the weather, herbal remedies, fishing, seaweed as food, the changes in crofting practice, what happened when someone died, dances, washing days and health.
Mabel Kennedy talks to Dr John Holliday in October 1998 about the interior decoration of the house at Main Road Farm in Balephuil where she lived until she went to work in service in Glasgow in 1926.
The floors of the house were made of concrete although, at that time, some must still have been beaten earth and clay. Earthen floors were considered warmer for children’s feet than concrete or flagstones and were kept clean by a sprinkling of shell sand every day except Sunday.
The walls inside were painted twice a year with whitewash made from seashells. The difficulty and expense of obtaining household goods on a remote Hebridean island encouraged the resourcefulness of the local people who would make do with the materials to hand.
