Calendar for 2000 by Bernard D. Smith with colour photo of Traigh Bhi.
Photo of Traigh Bhi and Kennavara on front of calendar.
2000.4.8
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Tag Archives: kennavara
1997.82.1
Nine Transcripts of Feis lecture `Columba`s Other Island?` given by Prof. Donald Meek in 1997.
St. Columba and early Christianity in Tiree.
1997.51.1
Photocopied extracts from book `Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland` by John Gregorson Campbell.
Tales and traditions collected entirely from oral sources by John Gregorson Campbell, minister of Tiree from 1861-91.
1997.49.1
Petition from Poor Persons in Tyree for Aid to Emigrate
Transcription of a petition for assistance to emigrate appended to ‘Crofts and Farms in the Hebrides’ by the 8th Duke of Argyll.
This petition was sent in 1851 to Sir John MacNeill, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the Relief of the Poor in Scotland. Sir John was married to a daughter of the 8th Duke of Argyll, who appended the petition to his ‘Crofts and Farms in Hebrides’ addressed to the Napier Commission of 1883.
A hundred and thirty-six islanders signed the petition. Ninety-nine of them were landless cottars; the remainder were small tenants, of whom only four paid rent over £10 a year. They represented the class of islanders that the Duke was anxious to clear from his estate.
Around a third of the petitioners were given assistance to emigrate with their families on board the ‘Conrad’, ‘Birman’ and ‘Onyx’ in July 1851. Another twenty-seven families from the island left with them.
1997.48.1
Photocopy of book `Argyll Estates Instructions` 1771-1805 edited by Eric Cregeen.
The instructions given by John, the 5th Duke of Argyll to his Chamberlain in Mull and Morvern and his Chamberlain in Tiree with an introduction by Eric Cregeen.
Available to read online here: National Library of Scotland
2002.4.7
Kelp ridge at the foot of Kennavara.
Photograph of an old kelp ridge at the foot of Kennavara.
Kelp is a general name for long-stemmed brown seaweeds, of which, it is estimated, there are over 300,000 tonnes around the shores of Tiree. Its ashes were a rich source of the soda and potash needed to make soap and glass, and to bleach linen.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was unable to import alkalis from Spain and the price for kelp ash soared from £2 to £12 a ton. The estate encouraged people to come to Tiree to work in the booming industry and the population reached 4,450 in 1831.
Kelp was cut with a sickle from the rocks at spring low tides, dried on stone ridges by the shore and then burnt in the summer in long U-shaped pits. These ridges and pits can still be seen around the shore, particularly at Craiginnis, and between Kennavara and Traigh Bhì.
Colour photograph of kelp-drying ridge at Kennavara.
Old ridge at the foot of Kennavara once used to dry kelp.
2001.207.2
Photocopy of agreement between Wilson Simmers and Archibald MacDonald, 1871.
Agreement between Wilson Simmers, owner of the wrecked schooner `Philorth`, and Archibald MacDonald regarding the sale of the schooner for £105. The wreck of the `Philorth` lay on the beach at Kennavara, Tiree.
