Thirteen colour photographs and page of information for a Primary School project for the Royal Highland Show Schools Shield 1994-5.
Thirteen photographs of P6/7 interviewing various food producers on Tiree and working on the questions plus a board-mounted page of information for a project for the Royal Highland Show Schools Shield 1994-5; poster for the Royal Highland Show 1996.
Comb-bound report of P6/7` s conclusions from their interviews for a project for the Royal Highland Show Schools Shield 1994-5.
Report by P6/7 on what they learned from interviewing butcher Donald Archie MacLean, farmer Archie John MacLean and crofters Alasdair MacInnes and Janet Paterson.
Audio cassette recording of Margaret Green of Mannal talking to Maggie Campbell in 2000.
Margaret Green of Mannal talks to Maggie Campbell in 2000 about her childhood holidays in Mannal and playing with the other children on the shore, the people who lived in Mannal, the fishing boats and sharing the catch, fishing for sea-bream in June, her blind great-grandfather whose house was set on fire during the Clearances, a story about the curse put on the factor of the time, visiting relatives and friends, and returning to Glasgow laden with parcels of eggs, butter, cheese, potatoes and sometimes a chicken.
Audio cassette recording of Iain MacDonald of Balevullin talking to Maggie Campbell on 9/10/2001.
Iain MacDonald of Balevullin talks to Maggie Campbell about his childhood memories of Tiree, how people were more self-sufficient, growing potatoes, milking cows and churning butter, helping his uncle Murdoch, a butcher, deliver meat around the island in a pony and trap, the community spirit of shearing day, picture night at the Reef, coastguard drill and some of the people of Balevullin; Iain also discusses his work as a Highland dancer, judge and piper at the Highland Games.
Audio cassette recording of Neil MacLeod of Kilmoluaig talking to Maggie Campbell in November 1998.
Neil MacLeod of Kilmoluaig talks to Maggie Campbell in November 1998 about his schooldays, his work with the Post Office delivering mail in Cornaig at first by bike and then by pony, the general running of the Post Office, the difficulties during blackout in World War II, posting boxes of eggs and potatoes from Tiree, the introduction of the red mail vans in 1956, other postmen, the different ferries and the change in the pace of life.
Hector J. C. Campbell of Cornaigbeg in the 1970s
Photograph of Hector Campbell of Cornaigbeg setting up potato drills in the 1970s.
Courtesy of Mrs Mairi Campbell
Hector J. C. Campbell on his tractor in the fields at Corrairigh. Hector is setting up the potato drills, this picture was taken in the 1970s.
Colour photograph of Hector J. C. Campbell of Cornaigbeg in the 1970s.
Hector J. C. Campbell setting up potato drills at Corrairigh in Cornaigbeg in the 1970s.
Planting potatoes at Middleton in the 1920s
Photograph of Alasdair MacDonald planting potatoes with Lizzie MacArthur, Effie and Mary Ann MacDonald at Middleton in the 1920s.
Courtesy of Mr Lachie MacDonald
Taken in the 1920s, the photograph illustrates a standard plough used to prepare the ground for sowing corn. Because of the fine sandy soil in most of Tiree, a ridger was not successful.
The women followed in the furrow planting potatoes from the supplies heaped in their sack aprons and the ploughman made a second furrow to cover them. This process was repeated leaving a 45 cm space between the planted furrows for the grubber.
The Middleton seaweed factory operated by the North British Chemical Company can be seen in the background. Known locally as the Glassary, it ceased operation in 1901 and was demolished during World War II.
Black and white photograph of Alasdair MacDonald planting potatoes at Middleton in the 1920s.
Planting potatoes at Middleton, with the Glessary (as it was known) in the backgound in the 1920s. L-R: Lizzie MacArthur, Middleton and Greenhill – aunt of John MacArthur, Middleton Farm; Effie MacDonald, married to the late Archie Walker, Coll and Kenovaay, Tiree – aunt of Lachie MacDonald , Middleton; Mary Ann MacDonald – aunt of Lachie MacDonald, Middleton; Alasdair MacDonald – father of Lachie MacDonald, Middleton. The photograph illustrates a standard plough used to prepare the ground for sowing corn. Because of the fine sandy soils in most of Tiree, a ridger was not successful. Instead, the standard plough was used and the women followed in the furrow with supplies of potatoes heaped in their sack aprons. The ploughman made a second furrow to cover the potatoes. The same process was repeated thus leaving an 18 inch (45cm) space between planted furrows to allow the grubber to be used.
Audio cassette recording of Hugh MacLean of Barrapol talking to Maggie Campbell in October 1999.
Hugh MacLean of Barrapol talks to Maggie Campbell in October 1999 about his boyhood and schooling at Sgoil na Mòintich, his work on the farm, a spell in the Merchant Navy and 40 years as clerk to Tain Committee, old burial places, old farming methods using horses, harvesting, changes in the weather, planting potatoes, Tiree-made shoes, storms and tornadoes, New Year festivities, whisky, the Glassary and Curtis-Stanford. Tha Iain Aonghais a’ bruidhinn ri Magaidh Chaimbeul anns an Dàmhair 1999 mu na daoine agus àiteachan ann agus mun cuairt Cill Moluaig, feum crotail airson aodach a dhath gu dearg, diofrach thobhtaichean mun cuairt Loch Bhasapol far am b’ àbhaist bradan agus bric a bhi, mac fear-uasal Dhòmhnall ’IcIllEathain a bha na fhear-brathaidh airson an Ruis, mar a fhuair ‘An Green’ ainm, na cathaidhean gainmhaiche a b’ àbhaist a bhi ann, uisge air a tharraing a tobraichean, ag obair air na croitean le eich, a’ cur coirce, neipean agus buntàta, a’ toirt sìol don mhuilinn ann an Còrnaig agus cion nan daoine far an robh iad uaireigin gu math lìonmhor.
Audio cassette recording of John MacKinnon of Kilmoluaig talking to Maggie Campbell in October 1999.
John MacKinnon (Iain Chaluim) talks to Maggie Campbell in October 1999 about the people and places in and around Kilmoluaig, the use of lichen to dye cloth red, various ruins in the area around Loch Bhasapol where there used to be salmon and trout, the son of Sir Donald MacLean who spied for Russia, how the Green got its name, the once frequent sand drifts, the water drawn from wells, working crofts with horses, planting oats, turnips and potatoes, taking grain to the mill at Cornaig and the scarcity of people where they were once so plentiful. Tha Iain Chaluim a’ bruidhinn ri Magaidh Chaimbeul anns an Dàmhair 1999 mu na daoine agus àiteachan ann agus mun cuairt Cill Moluaig, feum crotail airson aodach a dhath gu dearg, diofrach thobhtaichean mun cuairt Loch Bhasapol far am b’ àbhaist bradan agus bric a bhi, mac fear-uasal Dhòmhnall ’IcIllEathain a bha na fhear-brathaidh airson an Ruis, mar a fhuair ‘An Green’ ainm, na cathaidhean gainmhaiche a b’ àbhaist a bhi ann, uisge air a tharraing a tobraichean, ag obair air na croitean le eich, a’ cur coirce, neipean agus buntàta, a’ toirt sìol don mhuilinn ann an Còrnaig agus cion nan daoine far an robh iad uaireigin gu math lìonmhor.
Lifting potatoes at Ruaig
Postcard of the potato harvest at Ruaig in the mid-1920s.
Courtesy of Mr Angus MacLean
Potatoes were first grown in the Hebrides in 1743 when they were brought back to South Uist from Ireland by MacDonald of Clanranald. His tenants were unwilling to plant them and brought the crop to his house as they refused to eat them.
However, by 1800 potatoes had become the main food crop in the islands, including Tiree. They produce three to five times as many calories as grain from the same area of land. Potatoes are also a much more dependable crop than oats and barley, which can be flattened overnight by a storm.
Dependable, that is, until 1846, when the fungus causing potato blight caused widespread starvation in Europe. It is said that West Hynish was the only area of Tiree to be unaffected. This postcard shows Nancy and Alexander MacInnes in the foreground harvesting potatoes in Ruaig in the mid-1920s.
Black and white photograph of potato lifting at Ruaig.
Lifting potatoes at Ruaig, c. 1925-6, with Nancy and Alexander MacInnes in the foreground (Duncan MacInnes`s aunt and great-uncle).
