Digitised copy of a stone rubbing, undated. Below a foliated cross and flanked by plant scrolls is a two handed sword of the type known as a claymore. The quillons of the claymore end in quatrefoil and there are slight traces of decoration on the scabbard. This stone has the earliest known representation of a claymore (Monumental Sculpture by Steer & Bannerman). The grave is located in Kirkapol, in the little graveyard (An Cladh Beag). A record for this grave is available on the Tiree Graves website. The rubbing comes from Lord Archibald Campbell’s collection of monument rubbings.
From the archives of the Dukes of Argyll at Inveraray Castle, made available through the Written in the Landscape project.
Digitised copy of a stone rubbing, undated. Shows a galley with a furled sail and below that two pairs of opposed beasts, surrounded by an overall pattern of plant scroll ornament and an interlaced design. Above the rubbing is a partial rubbing, showing a long oblong mark and an interlaced design. The grave is located in Kirkapol, in the little graveyard (An Cladh Beag). A record for this grave is available on the Tiree Graves website, which describes the design as being from the Iona School, 14th-16th century. The rubbing comes from Lord Archibald Campbell’s collection of monument rubbings.
From the archives of the Dukes of Argyll at Inveraray Castle, made available through the Written in the Landscape project.
Article ‘Inspired by Tiree’ by Mavis Gulliver revealing how her children’s novel ‘Cry at Midnight‘ evolved. Scottish Islands Explorer magazine, Sept/Oct, 2014.
Homemade iron anchor, weighted with a sandstone block, used for flounder fishing. Found at Milton. There would have been three anchors/weights to hold the net on the seabed: one at either end and one in the middle. There is no sandstone on Tiree, suggesting that the weight was made elsewhere.
Two flakes of worked quartzite from a dune blow-out at Traigh nan Gilean, Kennavara (NL 94668 41595). Collected by John Wombell during a North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS) field trip in June 2017.
Palm-sized round brown pebble with deep straight grooves on both sides. An Iron Age multifunctional tool: the grooves were used as a ‘strike-a-light’, the edges for hammering, and the flat surfaces for rubbing hide. Found near the top of Dun Mor, Vaul, on 27th July 2005 by holiday-maker Kenny Nelson. It may also have been used by sail-makers for sharpening their needles.
Paperback book `The Ross of Mull Granite Quarries` by Joan Faithfull.
The story of the once thriving granite quarries on the Ross of Mull. Includes information about Skerryvore pages 39-42, and a photo of Tiree’s Hynish Pier page 31.
