N0 225  THE CROFTER’S BARN.   23^rd Oct, 2012.

Recently I had a visitor in passing from Banff in the Rockies in Canada, Janet MacLeod, a direct descendant of Peter Campbell of Achnacly in Brubster, who died in 1840 and lies in Reay Old Cemetary. Fifth generation. With her were copies of 70 pages of old writing, saved for generations and surfacing last March on the death of her father. The record on one page said

“Robert, Dolly, Barbara, Peter  and Andrewina  sailed

                                from Thurso for America 14^th June, 1848.”

 An all too familiar and sadly frequent story of crofters making their way to foreign lands to seek fame and fortune. Some achieved it.

The 70 copied pages, some very faint and difficult to read, are now with the (Caithness Archive Centre, Tasglann Ghallaibh  -  correction if in time rather than  Highland Archive,)  in Wick Carnegie Library, a gift from Janet to Caithness and a fund of information which will take a goodly bit of digesting, a gold mine for the Family History Society  And others.

 The pages included a long 1700 word three-page letter from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, written by W.G., QuarterMaster of the 78^th Regiment, to his great friend Peter Campbell, Achnacly. I have given a copy of the letter to the Family History Society for their next Journal issue . W.G. suggests possibly William Gunn, and there were many Gunns in Brubster and the surrounding area then.

 This letter was written by a man in the field, and is not a potted version of Waterloo written by a historian long years later. It is all the more interesting for that. These 70 pages set me off again awandering!!

  Brubster has long intrigued me, another crofting area now empty but easily visited. So I went looking for Achnacly.  It lies in Brubster just over the Bridge across the Forse River and on the lower side of the road towards the Achnacly Leans.  Now R.S.P.B. territory!!!  Achnacly is now roofless, abandoned, a monument to a multitude of long gone crofters.

   There again I found examples of the use of flagstone which I have referred to recently. I wanted for some time to mention the hallans of many a byre where the cattle were tied by the neck all winter. Achnacly supplied me with worthwhile examples though there are still plenty to be found in older steadings.

So I photographed the old byre at Achnacly with the hallans still as straight as ever. Good ones too. Stalls about 6 feet across for two cattle, hallans about four feet high and four feet front to back, embedded into the floor with perhaps half as much again out of sight. At the head of the stalls against the stone walls were the cribs to hold the cattles’ feed.

The floor would have been of flagstones too but by the time of my visit well overgrown with grass, nettles and weeds. Achnacly steading was occupied well after 1848 and on into our own time, though latterly farmed from another homestead near by in Brubster.

 The living room was small with two fireplaces, one at either end, probably two rooms at least. There was just the one dwelling as far as I could make out on a too brief visit, though an outside sleeping building was possible but with no fireplace unless it was in the centre of the room with smoke getting out in the old fashioned manner through a hole in the roof.

  The house fireplaces had square cut flagstone lintels set above them, one large single piece of thick stone set vertically and very load bearing. Chimneys were built into the thick interior stone walls, unlined. There were no gable end fireplaces or chimneys, so I reckon the house would have been very warm and snug with byres or stables at either side of the main dwelling.

 Cupboards of flagstone were built into the walls, shelved. Here and there was a stone nook at floor level, handy no doubt for odds and ends.

I found no sign of a grain drying kiln. Peter Campbell did grow some grain, but not much. He could have had his grain dried by a neighbour.

 Peter’s Cambell’s story emerges from the 70 pages, spead over from 1808 when he was making payments to Kelp-burners all over Caithness  from Dunbeath to Duncansbay and all along the North Coast,  to 1840. It is not my remit at present to look into his life story but quite a bit of Caithness History is in it. Perhaps we will dip into it from time to time, it reflects crofters’ lives of many years ago.

 

THE CROFTER’S BARN.

The versatility of flagstones is quite profound. In days of yore people made use of what came to hand, and in Caithness flagstone was not difficult to find. Crofters in particular made use of many odd bits and pieces, getting over their priceless poverty in their own ways!!

Apart from the ubiquitous drystone dykes other uses but still on field fencing was to put a large flat stone upright into the coping of the dyke. Built well down and embedded into the main part of the dyke, the top protruded about 18 inches above the top of the coping. It had a hole hammered through it, and through the hole a wire was passed, then strained tight. Thus an arrester wire could be put on top of a dry stone dyke without needing wooden fence posts at all. This could only be done with plain wire, barbed wire did not do so well!!  I have never seen barbed wire used, possibly it might be done, but a bit awkward to work with I would think!!!

The best example of these flagstone upstands I know of lies down the Brims Mains road, left hand side as you head towards the sea. Quite old, but still in place on top of very good stone dykes.

Fence posts of flagstones were made. It required a suitable quarry or flagstone beach to provide the right kind of stone, splitting into thicker but narrower lengths than the ordinary flagstone used in flagstone dykes. The best examples I know of are in Tankerness in Orkney, and are still functional. I think some might be in Badryrie a little off the Causeymire Road on the Achavanich to Shepherdstown to Lybster Road. Certainly if one goes the couple of miles over the heathery track to that silent village. You will be well rewarded by the many uses they made there of flagstone. It is a long time since I was there. What I do also remember there, and there are other places too, was the thin flagstones we called shed covers, light enough not to bear too heavily on the roof rafters.

There is a perfect example of such a roof at Willie Mowatt at Burwick in South Ronaldsay. Not just a relic of the past and crumbling into dust, but a functional roof. Under each seam between the shed covers lies a thinner strip to make all waterproof, just as today we roof with slates but with a different overlapping system.

This house was the original residence built by his Caithness Mowatt forebear and great grandfather in 1862. It is now superseded by a newer house, built no doubt as time and money made possible. The old house is part of his Burwick Smiddy complex, preserved in Heritage and well worth a visit from all old blacksmith enthusiasts. And younger ones too!! It is preserved as a blacksmiths and open to visitors.

Willie, honoured with an M.B.E.,  has spent his entire life working the forge and is the last in the line of traditional blacksmiths to do so. Now at the age of 87 (2012) and in his witty and charming way, Willie talks much about the origins of the 'Smiddy' and his memories of a life at the forge. The old house roof also shows an example of a square skylight cut into a shed cover and a pane of glass cemented in place, watertight, no frame, no planning consents needed!! Such a skylight was common enough, many still to be seen on old Stroma houses. The attics of many of these house were so low that you could only enter them bent double, but they slept many a family.

 The square pane of glass, about 12 inches square at most, could also be fitted and sealed with pitch or thick tar, frequently redone. Pitch or tar could also be used to coat and seal the seams between the shed cover flagstones.

Finally, a bit mundane but workable, were flagstone water troughs in the field or at the steading. Thick good quality stone, cut and grooved again as were the water tanks, sealed with a bit of cement or lead if you could get it.  They lasted a long time and some are still around, a bit worse for wear in most cases but memorials to the past.

We can but salute our crofter forbears for their skills.

No 20.  Dry Stone Dyking. The Linkie Hole.

The Crofter many a time made a little money working elsewhere to eke out his few acres. He could usually turn his hand to any task, and frequently he was very good at it.

  Among many jobs dry stone dyking was one. It was a job he could do in his own time, when it suited him rather than the onerous time keeping of harvest when the full squad was needed at yoking time and had to be time kept. This he did too, but dyking he could do on his own time and at his own speed.  Dry stone dyking was, and still is, an art form. Some people are magic, some the dyke might fall down behind them!!  I jest of course!!

 To watch a skilled dyker at work was magic. A stone chosen and measured by eye, lifted and set in the right place, always, no fiddling about to find the right one. His eye would be quite un-erring in choice.

There are so many aspects of dyking that I could not enumerate them all. One that springs to mind was making a Linkie Hole through a dyke. This allowed the shepherd to move the sheep from one field to another, or out onto the rough grass or hill grazing for the night. It was a cheap amd workable gate, easily made, as easily repaired.

The site would be well chosen, preferably where the ground was dry such as on a small rise. Never in a corner of a field, the ground would get too muddy with passing feet.

.

There was an art form also in moving the sheep. The best shepherd was a pipe smoker. He could herd the sheep to the hole, get one old dodger ewe who acted as leader to go through, then stand back, take out his pipe, clean it, fill it, light it, have a few contemplative puffs. Meanwhile the sheep would work away at going through, no pushing or dog barking which only made matters worse and slowed down the whole process, apart from a possible squeeze injury which could at times be fatal.   Lambs followed their own mothers through in turn.

A fag smoker was no use as a shepherd, no time, too quick, too pushy!!! My apologies to all fag smoking shepherds, I only speak from my own experiences!!! .

The Linkie Hole was about three feet wide, four feet high, good stone buildt on either side wall to withstand the brushing of many ewes going through. Small stones were of no use, good solid stones had to be chosen with square corners. Some Linkie Holes had flagstones set into the sides which protected the dyke from the erosion of many sheep brushing past. A lintel stone capped the hole, then it was bult over the top to run with the rest of the dyke. A not too heavy half sized thinnish flagstone did service as a door or gate, set aside when open, set across when not. There was usually two posts behind which the flagstone sat to save it from falling over and protect it from smashing.  Alternative to the posts was a heavier flagstone, half the height and which was leant against the big one when in place. It usually did well enough.

Another treat in dyke building, quite unusual , is to be found between Lyth Cossroads and Hastigrew, Barrock Mains and left side of the road.

Every 25 yards of the coping approx there is a rectanguklar block which is about 18 inches long and 12 inches high. Well chosen stones, square built, laid flat. A heavy stone is set vertically against either end, continuing then into the coping.

I was challenged long go to tell what it was. Not a measuring point for ploughing starts, the field ran the other way anyway. At the time I did not know, had not in fact seen them.

As any one who has built a dyke knows too well, getting coping stones to sit upright at first till you get going is not easy, especially with thin stones. the top of the dyke usually has flat tabling stones to set the coping upon, butted tightly edge to edge.

On these Barrock Mains blocks a dyker could set up two of these blocks 25 yards apart, which were secure in themselves. Then, starting from each end, he could place his coping between the two blocks to meet in the centre, at which point he could hammer drive in his final stone as a wedge. The 25 yards length gave sufficient grip that a section of coping could stand on its own between the blocks and not rely on other stones to keep them upright. That section of dyke was built long, long ago, 150 years at least. It still stands as good as new.

THE CROFTER’S BARN. pb 12.10.2012

  The versatility of flagstones is quite profound. In days of yore people made use of what came to hand, and in Caithness flagstone was not difficult to find. Crofters in particular made use of many odd bits and pieces, getting over their priceless poverty in their own ways!!

Apart from the ubiquitous drystone dykes other uses but still on field fencing was to put a large flat stone upright into the coping of the dyke. Built well down and embedded into the main part of the dyke, the top protruded about 18 inches above the top of the coping. It had a hole hammered through it, and through the hole a wire was passed, then strained tight. Thus an arrester wire could be put on top of a dry stone dyke without needing wooden fence posts at all. This could only be done with plain wire, barbed wire did not do so well!!  I have never seen barbed wire used, possibly it might be done, but a bit awkward to work with I would think!!!

The best example of these flagstone upstands I know of lies down the Brims Mains road, left hand side as you head towards the sea. Quite old, but still in place on top of very good stone dykes.

Fence posts of flagstones were made. It required a suitable quarry or flagstone beach to provide the right kind of stone, splitting into thicker but narrower lengths than the ordinary flagstone used in flagstone dykes. The best examples I know of are in Tankerness in Orkney, and are still functional. I think some might be in Badryrie a little off the Causeymire Road on the Achavanich to Shepherdstown to Lybster Road. Certainly if one goes the couple of miles over the heathery track to that silent village. You will be well rewarded by the many uses they made there of flagstone. It is a long time since I was there. What I do also remember there, and there are other places too, was the thin flagstones we called shed covers, light enough not to bear too heavily on the roof rafters.

There is a perfect example of such a roof at Willie Mowatt at Burwick in South Ronaldsay. Not just a relic of the past and crumbling into dust, but a functional roof. Under each seam between the shed covers lies a thinner strip to make all waterproof, just as today we roof with slates but with a different overlapping system.

This house was the original residence built by his Caithness Mowatt forebear and great grandfather in 1862. It is now superseded by a newer house, built no doubt as time and money made possible. The old house is part of his Burwick Smiddy complex, preserved in Heritage and well worth a visit from all old blacksmith enthusiasts. And younger ones too!! It is preserved as a blacksmiths and open to visitors.

Willie, honoured with an M.B.E.,  has spent his entire life working the forge and is the last in the line of traditional blacksmiths to do so. Now at the age of 87 (2012) and in his witty and charming way, Willie talks much about the origins of the 'Smiddy' and his memories of a life at the forge. The old house roof also shows an example of a square skylight cut into a shed cover and a pane of glass cemented in place, watertight, no frame, no planning consents needed!! Such a skylight was common enough, many still to be seen on old Stroma houses. The attics of many of these house were so low that you could only enter them bent double, but they slept many a family.

 The square pane of glass, about 12 inches square at most, could also be fitted and sealed with pitch or thick tar, frequently redone. Pitch or tar could also be used to coat and seal the seams between the shed cover flagstones.

Finally, a bit mundane but workable, were flagstone water troughs in the field or at the steading. Thick good quality stone, cut and grooved again as were the water tanks, sealed with a bit of cement or lead if you could get it.  They lasted a long time and some are still around, a bit worse for wear in most cases but memorials to the past.  We can but salute our crofter forbears for their skills.

.

THE CROFTER’S BARN. pb 12.10.2012

  The versatility of flagstones is quite profound. In days of yore people made use of what came to hand, and in Caithness flagstone was not difficult to find. Crofters in particular made use of many odd bits and pieces, getting over their priceless poverty in their own ways!!

Apart from the ubiquitous drystone dykes other uses but still on field fencing was to put a large flat stone upright into the coping of the dyke. Built well down and embedded into the main part of the dyke, the top protruded about 18 inches above the top of the coping. It had a hole hammered through it, and through the hole a wire was passed, then strained tight. Thus an arrester wire could be put on top of a dry stone dyke without needing wooden fence posts at all. This could only be done with plain wire, barbed wire did not do so well!!  I have never seen barbed wire used, possibly it might be done, but a bit awkward to work with I would think!!!

The best example of these flagstone upstands I know of lies down the Brims Mains road, left hand side as you head towards the sea. Quite old, but still in place on top of very good stone dykes.

Fence posts of flagstones were made. It required a suitable quarry or flagstone beach to provide the right kind of stone, splitting into thicker but narrower lengths than the ordinary flagstone used in flagstone dykes. The best examples I know of are in Tankerness in Orkney, and are still functional. I think some might be in Badryrie a little off the Causeymire Road on the Achavanich to Shepherdstown to Lybster Road. Certainly if one goes the couple of miles over the heathery track to that silent village. You will be well rewarded by the many uses they made there of flagstone. It is a long time since I was there. What I do also remember there, and there are other places too, was the thin flagstones we called shed covers, light enough not to bear too heavily on the roof rafters.

There is a perfect example of such a roof at Willie Mowatt at Burwick in South Ronaldsay. Not just a relic of the past and crumbling into dust, but a functional roof. Under each seam between the shed covers lies a thinner strip to make all waterproof, just as today we roof with slates but with a different overlapping system.

This house was the original residence built by his Caithness Mowatt forebear and great grandfather in 1862. It is now superseded by a newer house, built no doubt as time and money made possible. The old house is part of his Burwick Smiddy complex, preserved in Heritage and well worth a visit from all old blacksmith enthusiasts. And younger ones too!! It is preserved as a blacksmiths and open to visitors.

Willie, honoured with an M.B.E.,  has spent his entire life working the forge and is the last in the line of traditional blacksmiths to do so. Now at the age of 87 (2012) and in his witty and charming way, Willie talks much about the origins of the 'Smiddy' and his memories of a life at the forge. The old house roof also shows an example of a square skylight cut into a shed cover and a pane of glass cemented in place, watertight, no frame, no planning consents needed!! Such a skylight was common enough, many still to be seen on old Stroma houses. The attics of many of these house were so low that you could only enter them bent double, but they slept many a family.

 The square pane of glass, about 12 inches square at most, could also be fitted and sealed with pitch or thick tar, frequently redone. Pitch or tar could also be used to coat and seal the seams between the shed cover flagstones.

Finally, a bit mundane but workable, were flagstone water troughs in the field or at the steading. Thick good quality stone, cut and grooved again as were the water tanks, sealed with a bit of cement or lead if you could get it.  They lasted a long time and some are still around, a bit worse for wear in most cases but memorials to the past. We can but salute our crofter forbears for their skills.

.