Digitised copy of Letter from Malcolm McLaurine, chamberlain of Tiree, to James Ferrier, 22 Mar 1803. James Ferrier was one of the Principal Clerks of Session. Also included is an incomplete copy of this letter.
In this letter McLaurine discusses cutting down the farms of Scarinish, Hianish [Heanish] and Balemartine and opposition to the plans to establish four mail lands from tenants of Barapoll [Barrapol] and Kenovar. McLaurine names Archibald McLean as being the most active protester and mentions that the inhabitants do not wish to ‘adopt any improvements inconsistent with their old customs & habits’ and that ‘their old hereditary customs and practices must be sacrificed’. McLaurine ascribes the inhabitants aversion to crofts and fishing as being due to ‘the idleness and laziness of their habits’. McLaurine also mentions the removal of ‘whisky delinquents’ to ‘upper Canada’.
Transcript of a Christmas carol ‘Thainig e troimh an Speur‘ composed by Alistair MacNeill, Hynish and North Berwick, in collaboration with Joan Smith and Martin Wilson, for Banavie School Gaelic Choir in 1976. A duet performance of the carol won a trophy at the National Mod in Inverness. The transcript includes lyrics in Gaelic and English, and the musical score.
Composition by Alistair MacNeill, Hynish and North Berwick, titled ‘The games we played’ about his memories of the games that he and other children at Hynish and Balemartine School played in the 1940s and 1950s.
Scanned copy of the front cover of a Welsh 1942 calendar used by LAC John Roberts, Wales, when he was stationed at Tealing and Kinnell during WWII. Notes written inside include his days off and when parcels were received. John was stationed at RAF Tiree during 1944-45.
Scanned copy of a Christmas card posted from RAF Tiree to Wales in 1944. It reads “From daddie with love to little Heddus [who was born only 8 weeks previously] and Mum”. The poem in Welsh translates roughly as “With hope that your Chirstmas will be full of song / To snow, or not to snow, may your world be purely white”. LAC John Roberts was stationed on Tiree in 1944-45.
Photographs of a baptism in Abhainn Bhi, Balephuil, ca 1970
Three colour photographs showing stages of an adult baptism at the bridge over Abhainn Bhi, the stream that runs out of Loch a` Phuil at Balephuil, around 1970. Before a baptism, the stream would be temporarily dammed so that the water was deep enough for an adult to be submerged when being tipped backwards by the minister. Unknown participants. Found in Flora MacArthur`s house (now demolished) at Sandaig 2010. Original in filing cabinet 9 drawer 3.
Letter in The Scots Magazine, Dec. 2009, from “Barrow Boy” Peter MacLeod (b. 1933) about his childhood on Tiree ca 1936.
Photocopy of a page from The Scots Magazine, Dec. 2009, showing a black & white photograph of a very young Peter MacLeod with his wooden wheel-barrow in Ruaig School playground ca 1935/36, and his letter to the magazine in 2009. The letter tells of the coal puffers beached at Gott Bay and collecting cow-pats in summer for fuel. Peter was the son of the Head Teacher at Ruaig School and was born on Tiree – he classed himself as a Tiree man and spoke Gaelic. He became the Manager of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Argyll Square, Oban. Now retired.
Newspaper photographs of Tiree Agricultural Show, July 1937
Photocopy of a newspaper cutting showing three photographs from the Tiree Agricultural Show in July 1937. Top photo shows line-up of horses and their handlers. The first two horses on the left, plus white dog, are with Mary MacKinnon`s father, ?? MacKinnon (Parkhouse). The middle photo is of Malcolm MacArthur and calf. Malcolm was the shepherd to Crossapol & Balephetrish common grazings from 1922 onwards. The bottom photo is a general shot of the show.
Cine-film footage of the Muir family holiday on Tiree in the 1960s, transferred to DVD. Mrs Christian Muir (the lady with the dog, who gets a kiss from her husband) and their kids Iain, David and Kenneth, came to Tiree on a family holiday in 196?. The donor, Alex Newbery, found the film in Mrs Muir`s attic while clearing it out. She`s sure that they stayed at Salum or Ruaig.
Small paper christmas card from late 1800s-early 1900s. Colour picture of holly/mistleto(?) being transported by horse and cart along a snowy lane. “Seasons Greetings” on front. Greeting and prayer on side, and poem by Clara Simpson. Signed by “M Surann” or “Ms Susann”.
