This month's museum pick...

The Highland Folk Museum

By Caroline M. Jackson

Exterior of Black House. Photo by Hamish Jackson

The Highland Folk Museum in the Speyside village of Kingussie (pronounced ‘king-yew-see’ from the Gaelic, meaning ‘head of the pinewood’) is well worth a visit for history buffs and those claiming Scottish ancestry. The museum is a far cry from relics laid out on dusty shelves. Costumed personnel recapture Highland life as it would have been lived over 200 years ago.

My first port of call was a visit to the Black House which originated from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Stooping to walk from the sunlight into this thatched house was quite a contrast. At first I could hardly see in the dark interior and the smell of smoke, called ‘peat reek’ was quite overwhelming.  Sitting beside an open peat fire in the central hearth, our friendly guide whom I shall nickname Morag, sat on a low short-legged stool so that she would be below the worst of the smoke. In her melodic soft Scottish accent she told us a little of what life would have been like in this abode.

A family of about 10 would have lived here. Large families were common because many children died of diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis. They would probably have made their own clothes – tweed or wool skirts and a woolen plaide which keeps your shoulders really warm. Traditionally a mutch – a close-fitting linen cap - would be given to the bride as a present from her future mother-in-law on the day of the wedding. The crofters would drink whisky and ale made out of heather. This would be drunk especially on the evenings when they had a ceilidh – a homely gathering to enjoy a chat, music, tales and Gaelic songs.

In the dresser, the dishes are tipped and the bowls and cups are upside down. This precaution was to keep the crockery from getting covered in soot which contains potash.  Because there were no chimneys and not even a vent in the roof, the smoke clung to the turf. But even this was not wasted. Once or twice a year the man of the house would brush the soot from the roof to be used as fertilizer on his crops. It is surprising to note that the ‘black’ houses were not so named because of the presence of black soot. They were called ‘black’ to distinguish them from the ‘white’ houses which were built after the 1850’s.

Providing light especially during the long dark winter months was a necessity. The children would collect reeds from boggy areas and the inside core of the reeds were often used as a wick in the cruisie lamps filled with fish liver oil. Mutton fat candles were made by pouring rendered down fat into candle moulds made from tin.

Cooking was done in heavy cast iron pots, the biggest one being the three-legged pot which was usually suspended over the open flame by means of pot chain.

The family slept in box beds and they often slept sitting upright because lying down was associated with death. A drawn curtain across one side of the bed assured privacy and protection from drafts.

The windows were very small with wooden shutters to keep out the wind and the rain. During the winter they often stacked peat in front of the windows just to seal in the warmth even more. The Black House has two thick unmortared walls and if you look outside, you will see the roof actually starts half way along the wall and leaving an outside lip – an ideal place in the summer when they would have taken their sewing and work outside. The space between the two outside walls is filled with sand and small pebbles which act as a drain for the rainwater coming off the thatch. If you feel the inside of the walls (up to six feet thick), you will find it bone dry even when it’s pelting down with rain.

Adjacent to the living quarters was the byre, home to the tenant’s livestock which would usually be a couple of cows and some sheep. In winter, the warmth of the cattle was as efficient as central heating.

In the summer months of July and August, crofting families would head to the sheilings – small huts – where they would find grazing for their cattle.

Photo by Hamish Jackson

For me, the highlight of the Folk Museum was the black house, but it was also interesting to walk through the rest of the grounds. While I spent my childhood in a Glasgow tenement, it was strange to think that my Highland ancestors had probably used many of the everyday implements on display. Pot scrubbers were made from heather. The Quaich, a crafted drinking vessel is a shallow cup with handles at each side was made of wood, horn, silver or tin. Milk from ewes and cows was made into crowdie, a soft cheese.

A section of the museum is also devoted to the way of life of the Tinkers who specialized in tin and silver-smithing and roamed the countryside selling pots and pans and basketry. Their history can be traced back to the Iron Age. 

On leaving the Highland Folk Museum, I sensed that I had really touched my Scottish ancestry and over the next few days, the smell of smoke on my sweater was an aromatic reminder.