Audio cassette recording of Hugh MacLean of Barrapol talking to John Donald MacLean in May 1998.
Hugh MacLean (Eòghann Dhòmhnaill Eòghainn Mhòir) of Barrapol talks to John Donald MacLean (Teòn Dòmhnall a’ Mhuilinn) about shipwrecks around the Tiree coasts, seamen’s burial grounds, fishing, shooting cormorants and geese, seaweed as food, the changes in people’s diet and children’s toys, his first bike, self-taught pipers and fiddlers, the genealogy of Pipe Major John MacDonald, the names of Kennavara’s cliffs and caves, and Heylipol School. Tha Eòghann Dhòmhnaill Eòghainn Mhòir a Goirtean Dòmhnall a’ bruidhinn ri Teòn Dòmhnall a’ Mhuilinn mu na luing-bhriste a tha mun cuairt cladaichean Thiriodh, cladha na maraiche, iasgach, a’ sealg sgairbh agus geòidh, ùis feamainn na biadh, na h-atharrachaidhean ann an biadh dhaoine agus dèideagan cloinne, a’ cheud rothair a bha aige fhèin, pìobairean agus fidhlearan a ionnsaich iad fhèin, Màidsear Pìobaireachd Iain Mhic Dhòmhnaill, ainmeannan agus uaimh Cheann a’ Bhara agus Sgoil na Mòintich.
Audio cassette recording of Neil MacKinnon of Balevullin talking to Maggie Campbell in February 2001.
Neil MacKinnon of Balevullin talks to Maggie Campbell in February 2001 about the kelp industry on Tiree in the 1800s and the Glassary, collecting, drying and processing tangle over the last 30 years, the best places to find tangle and payment for it past and present; he finishes by talking about ‘feamainn dearg’ which he now collects, where to find it, how it’s processed and its uses in cosmetics.
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.
Minidisk recording of Alasdair Sinclair and Duncan Grant talking to Dr John Holliday in An Iodhlann on 21/1/2004.
Alasdair Sinclair of Brock and Duncan Grant of Ruaig talk to Dr John Holliday in January 2004 about their Tiree connections and early memories of Ruaig, Brock and Soa, about Hugh Lamont (Eòghann Iain) from Ruaig, the postal service, Brock ceilidh house, thatched houses, quarrying stones at Brock and the tools used, handmade lintels, and collecting seaweed and birds’ eggs from Soa.
Audio cassette recording of Jean MacCallum, Balevullin talking to Maggie Campbell in 2000.
(Continued from AC238) Jean MacCallum of Balevullin talks to Maggie Campbell in 2000 about pilgrims preaching in Balevullin School and about going to church, the names and location of various rocks and cliffs near Balevullin, carrageen and fishing, how crofting now is not as close to nature, Easter and the different moons, potatoes and crops that used to be grown, natural fertilisers, the faster pace of life now, Cattle Shows, Clydesdale horses and knitting.
Photograph of the remains of the seaweed factory at Middleton.
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
The kelp forests around Tiree are the fourth largest in Scottish waters. This abundance fuelled the seaweed industry on the island which, for a hundred years, produced alkali for soap and glass manufacture, and for bleaching linen.
Undercut by cheap foreign imports, the industry slumped from the 1830s until the 1860s when the North British Chemical Company appointed as manager a brilliant young chemist, Edward Curtis-Stanford. He arrived in Tiree in 1864 to supervise the building of the factory at Middleton, known locally as the Glassary.
Until 1901 the factory extracted iodine and alginates from the tangles, selling the residual charcoal as fertilizer and deodorants for earth closets, and using the gas produced by the process to light the buildings. Most of the factory was demolished in 1941 to provide the foundations of the runways built at the Reef for the RAF station.
Black and white photograph of the old seaweed factory at Middleton.
The old seaweed factory at Middleton in the early 20th century.
Photocopied letter by Edward Curtis Stanford written on 3/1/1864.
Account by Edward Curtis Stanford written on 3/1/1864 about the previous year on Tiree and the difficulties he experienced building the seaweed factory at Middleton.
