The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House

Author(s): Werner Kissling

Source: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland , 1943, Vol. 73, No. 1/2 (1943), pp. 75-100
Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844358

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of
Great Britain and Ireland

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 75
THE CHARACTER AND PURPOSE OF THE HEBRIDEAN BLACK HOUSE
By WERNER KISSLING, Dr. Jur. (Kbnigsberg)
I. PHYSIOGRAPHIc FEATUrRES AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CoNODITIONS IN THE HEBRIDES
It is unnecessary to enter here upon a description
of the series of geological processes responsible for the
formation of the Hebridean Archipelago and the
existing structure of the Highlands of Scotland and
northern and western Ireland. On both sides of the
North Channel, wliich separates Ireland from Scot-
land, the high-lying land is chiefly composed of very
old indurated rocks. The bulk of the Scottish
Highlands consists of metamorphic schists and
gneisses with abundant igneous intrusions, of which
some are of Tertiary Age. Tertiary igneous rocks,
however, figure prominently only on a small part of the
mainland and in the northern half of the inner group
of islands. They occur largely as superimposed
layers of basaltic flows, which result in a natural
terracing of the hillsides. The oldest formations, on
the other hand, which represent some of the oldest
Archaic rocks (Lewisian Gneiss) in Europe, appear at
the surface throughout the outer islands, forming
both the low-lying comparatively flat land along the
western coasts and the rugged mountains falling
sharply to the sea on the east. The Outer Hebrides
-Lewis and Harris, the two Uists and Benbecula,
and Barra and the neighbouring islets-are separated
by a deep channel, the Minch, from the Inner
Hebrides and the north-west mainland, where the
same complex of rocks builds extensive tracts from
Cape Wrath to the Sound of Sleat.
Much of this high-lying land in the extreme north-
west of the British Isles may once have constituted
mere promontories on the south-east fringe of an
ancient continent extending westward far beyond
the countless islands of the Outer Hebrides. At this
time the greater part of England, which is essentially
lowland, and of central Europe was submerged. It
is probable that the inconceivably old Lewisian rocks
of the north-west Highlands and of the western
islands formed part of this ancient north-western
continent, which has since subsided beneath the
North Atlantic Ocean. What is now a long chain
of islands, the Outer Hebrides, was then evidently one
continuous land mass. By the successive sub-
mergence of valleys the original land later became
1928, Vol. I, p. xix.
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
divided and subdivided into a long series of islands,
large and small, separated by rivulets and channels
up to eight miles in width. Viewing this " Long-
Island" chain from its highest summit (Clisheam,
2,622 ft.) in North Harris, A. Carmichael' wrote that
it resembled " a huge artificial kite stretched along
the green Atlantic Ocean, Lewis forming the body,
the disjointed tail trending away in the blue haze
and terminating in Bernaray of Barra." It stretches
from N. Lat. 580 31', at the Butt of Lewis, to N. Lat.
560 4'8', at Barra Head, and is about 120 miles long,
its greatest width (about 25 miles) being in the Isle
of Lewis. Three of the larger islands, known as
South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist, form in
reality one island, from the Sound of Eriskay to the
Sound of Berneray: twice a day the straits which
separate Benbecula from its neighbours between half
tide and highwater are left virtually dry by the
running tide.
The coast-line of many of these islands along their
eastern seaboards is extremely rugged and is indented
by narrow sea lochs of great depth, studded with
rocks and islets. These fjords are generally believed
to have originated as submerged valleys, gouged out
by the direct action of the Pleistocene ice. The
more shallow inland lochs, which are scattered over
the surface in great numbers and are of the deepest
blue colour, are also due to glacial agency. Of the
diversity of scenery, A. Harker (1941) writes: " . . .
perhaps most characteristic is an intimate interlacing
of land and water, both salt and fresh. Fjord-like
sea lochs, often indescribably intricate, are especially
numerous along the eastern seaboard. In association
there is an abundance of small promontories, islands
and reefs. Unlike Skye and the mainland across the
Minch, raised beaches are absent. The tract indeed
is one of subsidence and not uplift, and direct evidence
is supplied in various places by the occurrence of
'drowned' peat extending down to low-water mark
or even lower. The fjords themselves are 'drowned'
valleys, and sometimes give place inland to brackish-
water lochs and, finally, to fresh-water lakes "
(p. 105). Everywhere on lower ground the rocks are
iceworn, smoothed and rounded. At higher levels
the face of the land is more irregular and the scenery
more rugged. The colour of these rocks, which are
of very variable composition, ranges from dark to
pale grey, according to the predominant mineral.
 76 WERNER KISSLING
In places the uniform grey is relieved by recurring
streaks of glaring white quartzite.
In consequence of the hardness of these rocks, the
processes of weathering and soil formation are
extremely slow and the soils, like other palaeogenic
soils, are therefore shallow; the climate, normally
one of the most important factors influencing soil
formation, is also extremely adverse. The type of
vegetation depends largely upon the same two
factors: the climate and the mineral matter derived
from the underlying rock. The outlying islands,
like the western coastal strip of the Highlands, are
fuliy subjected to the influences of the Atlantic
climate. The prevalent south-west-winds bring an
abnormally mild winter and cool summer. They also
maintain a high atmospheric humidity which, com-
bined with slight changes of temperature, frequently
produces a persistent slow drizzle.' On flat ground
and on gentle slopes, wherever water cannot readily
escape, there is an extensive development of wet acid
peat, covered by a carpet of moss or " blanket bog"
(dominated mainly by Scirpus caespitosus), " the form
of vegetation to which all other types tend to give
place in this climatic region " (Tansley, 1939, p. 707).
But innumerable rocks stand out above this carpet
of moss, and in places there are pools in the peat
with characteristic marginal reed-swamps. Only on
rocky outcrops and on the steeper slopes is the
vegetation heathy or grassy.
The islands are mostly treeless. At one time,
however, probably during a very remote drier period,
pine and birch, the remains of which are found
embedded in the peat, must have spread over most
of the region. There is even evidence of the existence
of forests in the Hebrides within historical times,
especially in the sheltered valleys and glens of the
Isle of Skye. The deterioration of the climate during
the first millennium before Christ was in fact not
altogether unfavourable to the growth of forest.
Its disappearance from the more continental parts
dates only from the early seventeenth century, and
was due to human influence. The western islands,
however, must have been largely cleared of trees
by exposure to constant violent winds2 and the
salt spray of the Atlantic, and by the gradual forma-
tion of a continuous sheet of " blanket bog."
The islands may be considered as belonging to
1 Although the outer islands do not have such a high
rainfall as the more elevated regions on the mainland, the
number of rain days p. a. is high, and the rainfall is on the
whole fairly evenly distributed throughout the year.
2 " At the Butt of Lewis, the northernmost point of the
Hebrides, 29 per cent. of the winds for the whole year
exceed 24 m.p.h., and in January the percentage of these
strong winds is 48." (Tansley, 1939, p. 41.)
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
three zones: an eastern mountainous region, rising
in places to well over 2,000 ft.; a sandy, flat and
shelterless coastal tract, lying but little above sea-
level on the west; and an intervening lochy belt,
also low-lying and covered mainly by peat. The
highest land to the east is mainly rocky and heathy.
There are, however, patches of peat at the higher
altitudes as well as on the lower slopes, peat in fact
occurring wherever drainage is not quite free. The
Atlantic border presents an entirely different appear-
ance. It is fringed by grassy stretches of typical
' machair' (level land), bounded by a gleaming
expanse of white sand, across which an occasional
stream wends its way towards the sea. The inter-
vening zone shows some of the characteristics of each
of the others, large rounded rocks breaking through a
natural carpet of grass and peat.
Of the three zones, only the machair is suitable for
cultivation. The intervening zone may be cultivated
in places, especially where the peaty soil has become
admixed with shell-sand from the shore. The
blanket bog of which the zone mainly consists is
unsuitable for cultivation on account of its wetness,
acidity and lack of certain mineral salts. Cultivation
is therefore favoured neither by the soil nor by the
climate. Both factors, however, favour pasturing and
all three zones offer a large proportion of rough
grazing land. The other natural source of food is
fishing and these two, pasturage and fishing, con-
stitute the basic resources of the islands.
Cultivation has, however, been practised from
ancient times in most of the islands. The inhabitants
are Scottish Gaels, descendants of the Irish Goidels
who had long been tillers of the soil. Solinus writes
that in his time (c. 200 A.D.) the inhabitants of the five
islands of the Hebude& grew no crops and lived on
fish and the milk of their cattle. Nothing definite
can be said about the origin of these earlier inhabitants
of the Hebrides, but probably they were non-Gaelic.
Early Irish records, which give the name and
location of non-Gaelic subject communities in every
part of Ireland after their conquest by the Goidels,
represent the Fir Iboth (i.e., Men of Ebuda) as
descendants of an ancient population in the lower
valley of the Shannon (counties of Galway, Tipperary
and Limerick). E. MacNeill (1937, p. 75) thinks it
possible that an ancient branch of pre-Gaelic inhabi-
tants of the Ebudae preserved its identity in Ireland,
" by forming, so to speak, a fisherman caste on the
banks of the Shannon."
Various reasons have been advanced to explain
why the islanders, despite the difficulty and uncer-
3 From the original name Ebuda, which may have once
been applied to Lewis only.
 The Characeer and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 77

tainty involved in raising a good harvest, should of crops. They were a pastoral people and the
have given such prominence to cultivation of corn communal method lent itself to pasturage, which
crops as a means of support, and why, despite the is in fact still generally carried out on this basis.
abundance of fish, so little prominence has been given The fact that the Gaels later adopted the same
to fishing, which has never been fully exploited as method for agriculture was probably due to the
a source of income. The explanation seems to be limited amount of arable land available, although
that they had a long-standing preference for culti- parallels to the Scottish runrig system, in which the
vation and, unlike the earlier inhabitants mentioned community worked common property under common
by Solinus, had from early times not taken to fishing rules, are indeed found in other Celtic lands. But
as a principal occupation (de Calan, 1895, p. 95). these instances occur in Ireland and Wales, where
In other words, the Hebridean was presumably arable land can also not be indefinitely extended.
carrying on old traditions in turning to cultivation As a result of these arrangements, people were
notwithstanding its frustrations, whereas he had to drawn into groups, which formed the rural com-
make a virtue of necessity in becoming a fisherman, munities or " townships." In spite of some tendency
the conditions along these stormy coasts, with their to dispersal after the breakdown of the runrig system,
strong tides, being such that only fishermen by such group settlements have remained the general
tradition would have faced them from choice. rule to the present day, isolated farms being rare.
The small pieces of arable land which the Hebridean The number of people in, any one community is
leases are known as crofts " ; he is therefore limited by the poverty of the soil, since a given
generally described as a " crofter-fisherman." area will only support a very slight population.
Although the crofter does not own (in perpetual A " townland," which was a farm unit containing
private ownership) the ground he cultivates, fixity meadow (machair), green pasture (in the peaty zone)
of tenure now gives him a practical guarantee of and " muirland " (mountain moorland), as well as
continued possession of his croft1 and thus the land under cultivation, might cover quite a large
security of a home. Formerly the arable portion of area. The actual arable portion might, however, be
the land occupied by the community was periodically small, and the whole capable of sustaining only three
redivided, as new generations came forward, on a or four families. In the mountainous regions the
share-and-share-alike basis among the joint tenants. habitable areas are furthermore limited in extent by the
In the very old system of runrig husbandry2, which narrowness of the glens and coastal strips; peninsulas
was at one time general throughout the islands and and islets also prohibit any grouping into large
has persisted in remote districts down to modern centres of population. The nature of the ground in
times, a field from the common land was temporarily most cases does not permit houses to be placed close
allotted to each individual for utilisation. From to one another and they therefore form somewhat
this system emerged a permanent division of the scattered hamlets, seldom compact villages. While
arable land among individuals and the present conditions in the ports of call on the east now tend
permanent holding of separate crofts. When the to become more modern, the life of the crofter is
individual was only a temporary occupant, or (as still spent almost wholly behind the mountains on
later) a tenant only at the landlord's will and liable the machair side, where the hamlets and small villages
to be removed at any time, he naturally lacked the are mainly situated.
iticentive of a private owner to make his home on In nearly every ancient hamlet there are to-day a
what was for him but a temporary domain. More- number of two-storeyed, slated houses, but the
over, the relative importance of a small piece of majority are thatched as before. The walls are
arable land as a means of supporting himself and his built of local stone, with or without lime mortar,
animals was also not sufficient to incline him to make and are generally very thick, but with few exceptions
his home upon it. all dwellings nowadays have windows, a fireplace and
The pasture on which the people mainly depended a chimney; these are included in all the newer huts
was exploited in common both in ancient and modern and have been added recently to most of the older
times. Solinus tells us of the earlier inhabitants of ones. Since security of tenure has been assured,
the Ebudae, who lived on fish and milk, that the land the dwellings have tended to afford more than the most
belonged to the community. Unlike the Scottish pressing needs of a mere shelter and a hearth. Some
Gaels, the Ebudeans did not take to cultivation still present the characteristic features of the ancient
type of " Black House " (Tigh dubh), which continued
1 See the Crofters' Holdings Act of 1886. to fulfil its purpose in the nineteenth century culture
2 See Carmichael (1928) and Skene (1880, vol. III, pp.of the Hebrides, although one now seldom hears the
378-
394). islanders refer to a house as a " Tigh dubh," the original

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 WERNER KISSLING

form in all its purity having almost disappeared islands, although of the same dry-stone construction'
from the islands. were stout enough to withstand unprotected the full
force of the Atlantic gales. The country offers an
II. TH:E BLACK HousE unlimited quantity of useful building stones of all
Black Houses had thick walls of stone and earth. shapes and sizes: granitic, hard and durable, if
In the outer islands, mainly in the west of Lewis, the carefully selected they can be laid in such a manner
walls were from four to six feet thick, and composed that the walls are perfectly stable. No mortar is
of two shells, the space between which was filled with needed; earth and turf are used in its place to seal
earth and turf or rubble. They were low and of the the walls. Houses of venerable age as well as of
comparatively recent construction, with only their
double walls of earth and stone, effectively withstand
the onslaught of winds and provide calm and shelter
from the violence outside. The rounded corners and,
sometimes, end wallswhichgivethese houses a rounded-
rectangular or ovate-oblong form, leave nothing on the
outer surface to catch the wind. Whether or not this
" tendency to circularity " is to be explained as a stage
in development from an earlier type of dwelling in the
islands, it is undoubtedly suited to the conditions in a
windy district, where man has lost the natural
protection of his forests, and is dependent on
a b stormproof shelter.
On the neighbouring mainland wood is rare, and
the difficulty of procuring timber in the western
islands is reflected in the poor, frail roof of the
SCALE I N FEET
Black House; it simply rests on the top of the solid
0 S 20 4 walls. The rafters are thin: where heavier timber
after Thomas was employed it was generally drift timber, great
FIGURE I.-Plan of ' Tigh Dubh,' with 'Crub,' St. Kilda. logs and trunks of trees not to be found anywhere
(a) Doorway. (b) Window cut into wall (later addition). in this region, scarred by marine molluscs, evidently
(c) ' Crub ' or wall-bed. carried northward from the tropical Atlantic by the
same heightall round,usuallyforming onemain,roughly Gulf Stream. Sometimes also bog timber was used.
rectangular, long and narrow room (Fig. 1). On the F. L. W. Thomas (1869), who gave his account of
outside the walls were rounded at the corners and the Black House when there were thousands of
of the " battered " type: bei'ng thicker at the base unspoilt examples in the Hebrides, says: "The
and vertical on the inner side, they seemed to lean couples may be undressed arms of trees bound
inwards (see Fig. 9, B). together with straw- or heather-ropes; other branches
Samuel Johnson thus describes the wall of an or sticks are laid longitudinally on these .
ordinary Black House, as he saw it in the western (p. 160). Aage Roussell (1934) describes the roof of
Highlands in 1775: '" A hut is constructed wi'th a house in Lewis as follows:
loose stones, ranged for the most part with some " Simple couples of slender boards stand on the inner edge
tendency to circularity. It must be placed where of the wall or are sunk a little way into it. There is neither
wall-plate nor pole-plate nor any other connection with the
the wind cannot act upon it with violence, because masonry. Only in the widest houses is there a tie beam, and
it has no cement ; an~d where the water will run it is merely nailed to the side of the rafter. Having regard
easily away, because it has no floor but the naked to the moist Atlantic climate one wonders at the slight
ground. The wall, which is commonly about six pitch of the roof; perhaps they fear the might of the gale
more, and have therefore laid a thatch on without sharp
feet high, declines from the perpendicular a little
angles, just as the corners of the walls are rounded. Along
inward "'. As no) comment was made about the walls the rafters lie five ridge-like purlins and across them the
being unusually thi'ck, or havring two facings, it may
poles which carry the actual roofing of heather and straw.
be assumed that on the mainland Black Houses The roofing is thickest at the middle of the rafter, so that
might have a single wall of no more than ordinary the whole roof is smoothly rounded and the ridge problem
simply does not arise " (p. 14).
thicknless.
Unlike the mainland houses, those of the outer Roussell, who is an architect, considers the lightly-
built rafter roof a very suitable construction. There
' 1925 edition, p. 39. is no need for a more solid ridge roof with posts to

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 79
bear it, since in the Hebrides the material used for
thatching is light in weight and the couples, if not
too slender, provide sufficient stability to support the
actual roofing.
The roof was of a rounded hip form at the ends,
conforming to the shape of the walls. This type of
roof, with thatched ends, is natural for houses with
rounded end walls, especially where the construction
is of masonry without mortar. Referring to the
same type of peasant house in Ireland, Ake Campbell
(1937), -observes:
"The houses with thatched gables sometimes have rounded
corners so that the base foundation may have an almost
oval shape on the outside, while the inside room may be
rectangular in form. . . . It is evident that the oval house
form and the thatched gables complement each other.
They could have existed together from a very early stage
in building traditions. In a windy district the rounded and
thatched gables are suitable, as the house will be more
streamlined " (p. 212).
A high pitched roof would certainly not have with-
stood the winter gales unless protected by stone
gables.
The thatch overlapped the inner but not the outer
shell of the walls. This interesting feature, especially
marked in houses in Lewis and also found in very
old houses in Ireland, has been much discussed.
Thomas (1869) says:
"The walls, rounded at the angles, are from 5 feet to
7 feet in thickness, or they may be considered as two walls,
with the interspace filled in with rubbish; and the effect
of this great thickness is that the roof rests on the inner
edge, leaving a broad terrace on the top. This is an impor-
tant archaic feature, and although it may be explained by
want of skill in the builder, I am inclined to suppose that
the practice originated when the climate was much colder
than at present, and has continued in use ever since " (p. 155).
The thick walls and small roof might well have
been adopted for warmth; but there has been no
fundamental change in the generally mild climatic
conditions during the last two thousand years.
Protection from cold would not, then, have been an
important consideration to the builder in the Black
House days. As to the factors of wind and rain,
he would scarcely have gone to such lengths to
protect himself from one at the expense of protection
from the other. Had the climatic considerations
been of prime importance, the disadvantage of the
rounded thatched roof in a rainy district would have
been too obvious to be overlooked. As to the failure
of the roof to overlap the walls, A. Mitchell (1880)
mentions that " such rain as does not simply wet the
roof or fall through it, runs down into the body of
the wall " (pp. 54-5). The same feature is noted by
Campbell (1938) in houses on the island of Achill
(Co. Galway), in connection with which he says:
" Outside this wall . . . another loose wall was run
up, and the space between the two filled with sea
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
sand, and then this was roofed . . . and covered
with heath, which covering did not reach over the
outside wall, and form an eave, but rested on the
middle between the walls, and the moisture from
above passed, as it should, through the intervening
sand " (p. 184). Mitchell supposes that, in conse-
quence of this practice, the walls of the Black House
are of necessity damp, and goes on to say:
" If this feature were to be accepted as indicative of the
intellectual state of the people, that state would certainly
be of the lowest. . . . In point of fact, however, this plan
of roofing the Lewis houses is not an expression of want of
mind or want of knowledge. The people who adopt it know
perfectly well the effects and advantages of making the roof
throw the rain over the wall. Why they do not act up to
the measure of their knowledge may be a puzzle, but it is
beyond all question that it does not arise either from want
of capacity or want of culture."
According to information received by G. H. R.
Gibson,2 the stones of both the inner and outer
facings of the walls of properly constructed old Black
Houses were set sloping slightly downwards towards
the outside, thus considerably reducing percolation
of rain water into the interior of the house and
facilitating drainage outwards. Whether or not the
method was at one time a universal feature of Black
Houses is uncertain; neither Mitchell nor Thomas
mention it, and although definite evidence has been
observed in a few surviving old dwellings, it is not
conclusive. There are Black Houses of a more
complex and probably very old variety, characteristic
of the island of Lewis, consisting of two (or more)
parallel structures clustered together (see Fig. 2).
There are even examples of two or more complete
dwellings, each with its own barn and sometimes
porch, having separate roofs but common adjoining
walls (see Fig. 3). Drainage of these common walls
by means of sloping stones could only be into the
core from both sides and would obviously tend to
make the interior of both the adjoining parts
extremely damp. Thus, just where drainage was
doubly necessary, the method would have been
particularly ineffective. But whether the feature
was general or not, and whatever its efficacy, we
would be no more justified in assuming that the
early builder of the Black Houses purposefully used
this device in order to drain the walls, than in
assuming that he placed the stones in this way
merely in pursuance of an established custom, and
happened to achieve such benefits as resulted from
it quite unintentionally. The facts at least suggest,
however, that little importance was attached to the
drainage of the walls in early Black House days.
1 loc. cit.
2 Quoted by editorial in Caiedonian Medical Journal
(1925), p. 217.
 80 WERNER KISSLING

SCALE IN FEET

0 S 10 2-0 30 40 so
after Thornas

FIGURE 2.-Plan of 'Tigh Dubh,' west side Lewis. More complex type consisting of three parallel structures.
(a) Main dwelling. (b) Porch. (c) Barn.

It remains to be considered whether any mechanical
advantage was gained by placing the roof only upon
the inner facings of the walls. Roussell (1934) thinks
there are constructional reasons for this type of
roof: c. . . in the Hebrides house the entire weight
of the roof is taken down to the walls, not upon the
thin shell which forms a very unstable covering, but
into the core of earth and turf'" (p. 43). Although,
as pointed out by Roussell, the roof was lightly built
and covered with light materials, when rain-soaked
its weight must have been considerable. Perhaps
experience had shown that greater stability was
achieved by directing the weight onto the upright
inner wall, which would then carry the downward
thrust, while the battered outer wall would act as a
buttress opposing the outward force arising from the
absence of tie-beams. If instead the roof had rested
on the outer walls, the latter would have had to
carry both the outward and the downward forces
and might not long have withstood the strain.
Sound though this early building practice was from
the mechanical point of view, it again cannot be
assumed that these considerations caused the practice
to be adopted in the first place.
The early builder of the Black House was no doubt
fully alive to his various requirements and to the
advantages and drawbacks of his means of meeting
them, even if the importance either of the drawbacks
or the advantages for an active people, who were
then building only for the immediate future and were
not much concerned about permanence, is easily
over-estimated. In any case, however, it is impossible
to explain every feature of the Black House solely
on practical grounds. The gabled form of house,

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 81

'Y~ ~~~~~~~'

SCALE IN FEET

0 5 10 20 30 40 50
after Thomas

FIGURE 3.-Plan of Ruin of Creaga, Don Carloway, Lewis. Cluster of two complete dwellings with separate entrances.
(a), (a'). Main dwellings. (b), (b'). Barns. (c) Porch.

which would have afforded protection to the roof,
was never attempted. The more or less hipped style
remained a distinctive feature of the Black House.
When the roof was tied by tie-beams, as sometimes
occurred (mainly in the wider houses) there was no
mechanical advantage in placing it only on the
inner facings of the walls; yet it was not then
extended. Perhaps the difficulty of obtaining timber
in sufficient lengths played some part here; but the
obvious inference is that the builder was bound by
custom, to which he clung as closely as practical
circumstances would allow.
The thatch was of heather, fern or bent-grass (a
very tough grass mainly used in Uist) and was laid
on without great care or skill. Straw was hardly
ever used, since the type of agriculture suited to the
region yielded little. Reeds were also avoided;
they were considered unholy, and therefore unlucky.
The rough thatching was held down by horizontal
and vertical heather, or by hay-ropes intertwined
with each other, the vertical ropes weighted at the
ends by stones, which often rested on the top of the
outer wall. This type of rope work can look extremely
decorative, though all hope of neatness was precluded
by the nature and poor quality of the covering
material. Although it may be premature to generalise,
it seems that, as suggested by Campbell (1937, p. 228),
this rope method of thatching, found mainly along
F

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 82 WERNER KISSLING

the coast of the Atlantic and North Sea, often
associated with a low rounded type of roof, belongs
to a tradition quite distinct from that of the more
widely distributed and neater rod or scollop type
used generally upon roofs with a ridge and of higher
pitch. In the north of Ireland, where layers of sods
were first placed on the roof, the thatch was fastened
to these by rods and twigs. Inthe Outer Hebrides,
on the other hand, if sods were used at all the thatch
was " loosely piled thereon and kept down by straw
ropes" (Thomas, 1869, p. 160). As a rule, however,
turfs were only used to cover the outer edges of the
walls. It was from the grassy wall tops that access
was gained to the roof for thatching and roping.
This explains, incidentally, the presence of two or
three steps built into the wall beside the door; we
may presume a lack of ladders attributable to the
scarcity of wood.
Summarizing the characteristics of these houses
which (in Dr. Johnson's words) were no more uni-
form than palaces, we can say that, with their low,than
walls, they stood firmly on the ground; their plan was road-side-simply a line of rough stones to mark it
rounded-rectangular; the walls, rounded at the
corners, had a receding slope from the ground
upwards; their roofs had no perceptible ridge and
,did not reach the outer edges of the walls; with
-their thatched gables, the roofs continued the rounded importance of the sloping floor for the draining of
contour, so that the houses looked like mounds, and
-sometimes took on an elongated ovate form. Built
-entirely from the local material, they so harmonised
-with the background that they seemed part of Nature.
There was only one room. The floor was of earth, purpose is another question. Once a year only, in
typically of two levels, the lower end being used as
a cow-byre, the upper end, with its open hearth, as
the dwelling for the family. Thus man and beast
not only lived under the same roof, but shared a
single room. This arrangement, which certainly
provided the simplest and most convenient way of
keeping the animals under constant supervision,
reveals the extreme importance of the part played
by animals in the people's lives. Similarly the value of House the step (which corresponds to the edge of the
the animal and the convenience to man presumably
account for the fact that the same arrangement
can be traced in all the main regions of Europe and
beyond (e.g., in North Africa), in fundamentally
different climates and among widely varying peoples.
Almost frdm the beginning of the Christian era it is
known to have occurred widely throughout north-
western Europe. Its continued hold in Celtic areas
such as Scotland, Ireland, Cumberland and Wales
cannot be considered apart from the persistence of
a larger body of traditional customs, thoughts and
usages formerly of more widespread European
distribution, which in this border region had retained
some measure of their former connection with the
realities of life. That this ancient house arrangement
was characteristic of the Celtic Highland Zone of
Britain in no way implies that it originated there
(Peate, 1944, p. 82).
A photograph given by Roussell (1934, p. 13) of
the village of Mealahost in Lewis clearly shows hbw
all the houses there stand on a pronounced slope.
Level building sites were avoided, and houses were
so placed upon sloping sites that one end was higher
than the other'. Thomas (1869) mentions that in a
ruin in Harris the floor was " so steep that a cask
would have rolled from one end to the other"
(p. 160). The upper end of the room was barely
separated from the part reserved for the animals,
through which the house was entered; in a house
described by Thomas as typical of the west of Lewis,
the upper end was marked off by a row of stones
but a few inches high (see Fig. 10, B). Mitchell
(1880), also referring to the Black House of Lewis,
writes: "The separation is nothing more decided
solidthe curb-stone of a foot-pavement on a country
off" (p. 51). In the ruin of a croft in the village of
Bragair (Lewis) examined by Roussell (1934, p. 28),
the space for the family was raised by a stone step
built about 18 inches above the byre floor. The
the byre is easily appreciated, and the stone step
would help to prevent the quagmire in the animals'
portion from encroaching upon the living quarters;
but whether it was originally devised for that
spring, was the byre cleaned out (through the end
wall, which was partly broken down), and the growing
layer of manure removed for use on the land. John
Mathieson (1928), speaking of St. Kilda and quoted
by Roussell (1934, p. 29), writes: " So high has the
floor become by this time that it was with difficulty
that man or beast entered." Jorwerth Peate (1940)
concludes from this that in the Hebridean Black
penllawrl normally dividing the Welsh Long House
into an upper and lower end) " cannot be explained
there as a simple method of preventing the liquid
manure from running to the upper end " (p. 94). It
seems indeed unlikely, in view of the small importance
apparently attached to efficient drainage, that the
step was designed for this purpose.
More recently the custom was to have plank
partitions between living room and byre, but these
were rarely carried quite up to the top. Thomas
(1869) says: " There is a prejudice against shutting
1 ' passage ', lit. ' the head of the floor ' (Peate, 1940,
p. 65).

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black HomWse 83
out the cows from a view of the fire," which burns
openly on the floor in the portion of the room where
the family lives; " and one luxurious old fellow
describes the pleasure he found in hearing the sound
of the milk as it squirted into the tub " (p. 157).
In the remote island of St. Kilda the inhabitants,
according to Thomas, " instigated . . . by the hope
of decreasing the great mortality among their
children," abandoned some of the time-honoured
fashions of their ancestors and amongst other innova-
tions introduced, worst of all, " a most inhuman
stone wall, shoulder high, effectually cutting off
crummie1 from a view of the fire, unless when standing
on her hind legs " (p. 158).
For a proper understanding of the benefits accorded
to animals and of their " human " treatment, one needs
to appreciate the close association of man and animal
in the Celtic mind. " No race conversed so intimately
as did the Celtic race with the lower creation, and
accorded it so large a share of moral life," writes
Renan in his Poetry of the Celtic Races (1896, p. 21)2.
iHow intimately it entered into the life and folklore
of the Scottish Gaels is known from many pastoral
poems, and from many sayings and fables of the
animal world, which have left their impress on the
minds and language of the people. The tender care
which the Hebridean took of the cow shows the same
feeling of sympathy towards animals that runs
through his imaginative compositions: her place was
near the fire, from which all were to benefit. Also,
in view of the important part which the milch cow
played in the everyday life of the Hebridean and of
her exchange value3, it is not surprising to find the
precious animal much to the fore in the thoughts of
its owner, and one can understand his feelings when
it was impressed upon him that there should be a
partition between man and his animals.
Yet a lingering notion that fire had the power to
repel evil spirits from man and from his domestic
-animals, which survived in the Hebrides, as in other
1 The cow.
2 Renan points out that by the word " Celtic " he
,designates " not the whole of the great race which,
at a remote epoch, formed the population of nearly
the whole of western Europe, but simply the four groups
-which, in our days, still merit this name as opposed to the
Teutons and to the Neo-Latin peoples." He then enumerates
the four groups, as: (1) the Cymry; (2) the Bretons;
(3) the Gaels of the North of Scotland; and (4) the Irish.
(The word 'race' is used by Renan in the philological and
historical, not in the anthropological sense.)
3 Private ownership of cattle made an early appearance.
Being movable property, the cow was almost the only
commercial object which everyone was willing to receive
immediately. " A girl is given so many cows as her dowry
and they are paid for in sheep, poultry, implements and
garme,at,s." (Transl. from de Calan, 1895, p. 92.)
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
parts of Christian Europe, down to modern times,
may partly account for the disinclination to cut off
the cow from the fire. Such ideas, belonging properly
to pre-Christian ages, clearly underlay various tradi-
tional acts performed with fire as late as the beginning
of the nineteenth century, although their originally
profane intention seems to have been subordinated
to religious thought and ceremony. Fire, which
according to ancient faith had been the source of its
own strength, seems to have been regarded as a mere
symbol of divine power, shining with spiritual light,
attracting benevolent rather than repelling evil
spirits, and inspiring faith and trust in the good.
But the people had perhaps not abandoned faith in
the fire itself, and were still expecting practical
*wonders from these supposedly symbolic perfor-
mances; in venerating their sacred fires they were no
doubt clinging to a form of ceremony which was the
product of an older faith. It is thus plausible that
the Hebridean did not dare to cut off his animals
from the light of the fire, even if he probably had
only a vague notion of all that fire was supposed to
do in the past. On the other hand he had a very
definite idea, of the nature of the evil influences
which might affect the cow's life and well-being: it
was to safeguard the cows against " witchcraft, evil
eye and murrain " that the Hebridean used to place
bramble or ivy on the lintel over the byre door
(Carmichael, 1928, Vol. II, pp. 275, 280).
The practical aspect is, however, considered the
most important by Peate (1940): " Even though it
has been traditionally held that the cows must see
the fire and that 'warmth increases the yield of
milk' it is probable that the convenience of housing
the complete stock under one roof had much to
commend it to our ancestors" (p. 79). This con-
venience has indeed probably been the decisive
argument in isolated rural communities, in the Celtic
region and neighbouring parts of Europe and far
afield, where the " house-cum-byre " has also been
retained (as in the poorer districts of the Karst
region, from the peninsula of Istria down intoAlbania),
in the southern Russian plains, among the Volga
Finns, on the lonely beaches of Angern in Latvia,
and in Esthonia. (Haberlandt, 1926, Vol. II, pp.
420-7.)
The dependence of the custom upon practical
advantages is emphasised by the fact that this type
of lay-out has persisted through the ages in more or
less temporary constructions throughout south-
eastern Europe: for instance among the shepherds
of Arcadia, in Montenegro and northern Albania, and
even more widely among the nomad Vlachs,4 who
i ibid.
F 2
 84 WERNER KISSLING
still make a temporary home of them when they
come down from the mountain country with their
herds for the winter and early spring. It may be
said that the ancient Black House, like its counter-
part in Ireland, also served in a sense as a temporary
habitation, since there was formerly an annual
migration' of the inhabitants, with their flocks and
herds, from their winter homesteads to the moorland
" shielings " (equivalent to the Irish " booleys," or
milking places) for the summer. E. Estyn Evans
(1943) thinks that the Irish kitchen-byres were
related to the booleying system, which cc helps to
explain the absence of the dairy in permanent dwell-
ings which formerly had to serve as winter houses
only, most of the dairy work being done in summer "
(pp. 55, 60). That the customary lay-out of the Black
House was ihfluenced by the seasonal movement of
the inhabitants and by the transfer of dairying pro-
cesses in the most productive season to the summer
pastures is certainly rendered more probable by the
ancient association of this form with more or less
temporary dwellings among which may well have
been the earliest representatives of the custom of
the undivided house.
To make room for the cattle, the Hebridean family
occupied as small a space in the house as possible.
The same reason was given to Thomas by the people
of St. Kilda for having their bed places in the wall.
The domestic quarters, always at the upper end of
the house, took up anything from about one-third of
the shared room, as in houses of a very old type in
western Lewis, to two-thirds, as in the ordinary Tigh
dubh. In the latter, the upper end was again divided,
by a piece of furniture or a low wooden partition,
into two sections, with the fire in one part and the
beds in the other, at the far end of the room. With
this arrangement, the fireplace, which was generally
in the middle of the floor, was somewhere near the
centre of the house (Fig. 10, B); it was never put
against an end wall. The more or less central position
of the fireplace, associated often and from early
times with the simplest hut types and also commonly
found throughout south-eastern Europe, was a
characteristic feature in the lay-out of the rounded-
rectangular Black House, with its rounded roof-ends,
of the ovate-oblong type of peasant house in Ireland,
and of some of the Welsh Long Houses (Campbell,
1937, pp. 207-82, and Peate, 1944, p. 52). It made
it possible for the family to gather round the fire,
and at the same time to keep an eye on the aniMals
1 See Section III, below.
2 Campbell's use of the term 'oval house ' has been
criticised as misleading (Lochlainn, 1940). The term ' ovate-
oblong ' is here substituted for these types, since they are
-nver, strictly speaking, oval.
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
and on the entrance door. Only at a later stage of
development, when the animals no longer shared the
people's dwellings, was the fire placed near or against
an end wall.3
The fire was made directly on the earth floor, at
a spot sometimes marked by a few pebbles or flags
of stone. There was no chimney, and as peat is the
fuel in the islands, it was not easy to make the fire
draw. The only outer door, which opened into the
byre, was on the side of the house protected from the
prevailing winds. The use of two doors opposite one
another for the regulation of the fire, common in
ancient Irish houses and also frequently found in the
Welsh Long House, was not as a rule practised in the
Black Houses. There were no windows, but there
was usually at least one small hole at the bottom of
the roof to admit the light. The outer door, in
conjunction with this skylight4, could be used to
regulate the circulation of air and to provide an
effective draught for the fire. The position of the
fire would therefore appear to have been related to
this system and to have depended on that of the
door; the best place for one or more skylights
could be found later by experience. Slight differences
in local conditions would explain the variability
of their respective positions.
The skylight thus served to some extent as a
smoke-hole. Samuel Johnson writes5: " No light is
admitted except at the entrance and through a hole
through the thatch, which gives vent to the smoke.
The hole is not directly over the fire, lest the rain
should extinguish it; and the smoke therefore
naturally fills the place before it escapes." In
assuming that this hole through the thatch was
primarily intended as a smoke-hole in spite of its
inefficiency as such, Johnson perhaps did some
injustice to the common sense of the inhabitants.
A hole directly over the fire would have constituted
a danger to the roof. Moreover, Thomas (1869), after
stating that as usual " there is no smoke hole, nor
other windows than two small holes in the thatch,
so that only a ' dim religious light ' pervades the
place on the brightest day," says of the absence of a
hole in the ridge of the roof that " the custom arises
from the desire to keep in the smoke until it fills and
saturates the vault of the roof " (p. 155). When
the thatch was so saturated with peat tar that the
smoke could no longer find its way out through the
3 Transitional stages in the movement of the fireplace
from its central position to an inner partition and eventually
to the end wall are indicated by Campbell, 1937, pp. 229,
if., for some cases in Ireland, and also, by Sigurd Erixon,
1938, p. 166.
' Gaelic fairleus, from far, ' over,' and leus, ' light.'
5 1925, p. 39.
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 85

roof, it was taken off and the soot collected for use as which forms a common centre. The first peat is laid, down
manure.1 According to Mitchell (1880): in name of the God of Life, the second in name of the God
of Peace, the third in name of the God of Grace. The circle
" the thatch is removed every year for the sake of the is then covered over with ashes sufficient to subdue but not
soot it contains, which is regarded as a valuable stimulating to extinguish the fire, in name of the Three of Light. The
manure. In order to increase the deposit of soot in the heap slightly raised in the centre is called 'Tula nan Tri,'
thatch there is no smoke-hole; and further with the same
the Hearth of the Three. W, hen the smooring operation is
object, the straw is heaped thickly on at the top, so that complete the woman closes her eyes, stretches her hand, and
the roof does not finish in a sharp ridge, but is more or less softly intones one of the many formule current for these
semicircular in its outline. The inside of the house, there- occasions."
fore, is a constant cloud of peat-reek, which the eyes of
those who are unaccustomed to it cannot tolerate. The In the old Irish cottage the turf fire is to this day
lowest possible seat accords the best means of partial escape never allowed to go out (Evans, 1943, p. 68), a prac-
from this irritation.. Such smoke as is not deposited in the tice which undoubtedly belongs to the same tradition;
thatch oozes out over the whole roof, giving the house,
and Peate (1940) says that with " the undying fire
when seen from a distance, the general appearance of a
dung-heap in warm, wet weather. The object of the roof
of the Scottish Isles should be compared too the
is not simply to protect from rain and cold, but to accumulate Welsh practice of covering up the fire each night
soot, and it is consequently never completely water-tight. (anhuddo) " (p. 92). Until comparatively recently it
After heavy rain the water comes through and blackens was traditional to extinguish all the fires in a town-
everything on which it falls, bringing with it the glistening
ship on special occasions, when they might be
pitchy pendicles of soot which usually fringe the rafters."
rekindled from a sacred fire, lit in turn from a " neid-
Especially when the utilisation of large quantities
fire " (Tein-eigin) produced by the friction of wood or
of seaweed as kelp occasionied a dearth of other
iron against wood.3 Carmichael4 says: "The neid-
manure in certain places, as during the eighteenth
fire was resorted to in imminent or actual calamity5,
and again during the nineteenth century, the retention
upon the first day of the quarter, and to ensure
of open fires without chimneys to maintain a manure
success in great or important events." Writing in
supply from this alternative source became a necessity.
1899 he proceeds to say that he has " conversed with
Over the gently smouldering fire, now and then
several persons who saw the neid-fire made," and
fanned to a bright flame, the kettle was suspended
that " many cults and ceremonies were observed on
by a hook on an iron chain hanging from the rafters.
the occasion, cults and ceremonies in which Pagan
This hook or crook was certainly of prehistoric origin
and Christian beliefs intermingled." But, if the
(Erixon, 1938, p. 157). Hanging from a peat-stained
ceremony of the " smooring," performed with such
beam beside the fire there was also an iron " crusie "
care and solemnity, indicated a latent belief in fire
or oil lamp, not long ago the only method of illumin-
as a source of its own strength, among the crofters
ation. Like the hook, it seems at one time to have
and fishermen of the islands to-day there can be few
been found throughout western Europe, but since
capable of appreciating the satisfaction it gave to
it burned fish- or seal-oil, it probably belonged
their forefathers. It is probable that the original
essentially to coastal disfricts (see Plate III).
meaning faded from the people's minds even before
Thomas observed that the fire never went out: at
the ceremony became obsolete.
night it was subdued by " smooring." This still
Nevertheless, a deeply rooted traditional feeling
appears to be the practice in more remote districts,
must have accompanied the practice of maintaining
and in view of the scarcity of wood has obvious
a perpetual " glowing fire," before it declined. The
advantages. The association of the custom with a
use of the Gaelic word Aingeal ('angel') for the fire,
picturesque symbolic ceremony shows that it stemmed
shows that angels were thought to be in charge of
from a long-standing tradition. The ceremony can
it, and that the idea had not survived without under-
only be understood as a religious act, in the setting
going a change compatible with Christianity. The
of the religious ideas of the past. Carmichael2 writes
marvellous within Nature herself had become but a
in 1899:
miracle of divine power, the newly kindled fire a
" The embers were evenly spread on the hearth . . . and symbol " to remind the people that they, too, like
formed into a circle. The circle is then divided into three
the fire, need constant renewal mentally and physic-
equal sections, a small boss being left in the middle. A peat
is laid between each section, each peat touching the boss,
3 See Jones, quoted by Peate (1940, p. 92), on the custom
of 'borrowing' fire from what was known as 'living fire'
i A similar practice is known in parts of Ireland (Evans,
1943, p. 93), where small stone or turf 'soot houses ' were (tdn byw) in Wales.
even erected on purpose for thatch smoking. These had- 4 1928, Vol. II, p. 369.
roofs of rafters and scraws (strips cut from undecomposed 5 In the Hebrides (Martin, 1703, p. 113) and also until
matted surface layers of peat). recently in Ireland (Sayce, 1933, p. 139), mainly in the event
2 1928, Vol. 1, p. 234. of sickness among the cattle.

F 3

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 86 WERNER KisSLING
ally " (Carmichael, 1928, Vol. I, p. 231). The simple
awe experienced before the time of Columba changed
into the spirit of prayer in which a fire or a crusie
light was kindled.
The fire was the social and family centre; around
it, and not around a table, the family sat for their
meals. Furniture was meagre and scanty, poverty
and isolation compelling the people to make every-
thing themselves, and the scarcity of wood and other
materials contributing to exclude all but the barest
essentials. Habits connected with the seasonal move-
ment of the household to the hills probably also
played a part. Chairs and stools were rare and
tables almost unknown.' The men sat on a wooden
bench, or a mere plank supported on piles of stone
or turf against the wall of the room next to the door,
where they were in a convenient position to intercept
any intruder. The women sat apart from the men,
on low stools grouped round the fire, while the
children crouched between them in the warm ashes
thickly strewn upon the ground. The staple item
of their meals was usually porridge or gruel, with
rye-, oat-, or barley-bread, and was served in a square
wooden dish, centrally placed in front of the fire on
a small stool, a stone, or an old box (such as some-
times drifted up on the beach), or even a clod of turf.
Round it the family gathered in a circle, helping
themselves with horn spoons, or perhaps with a
single spoon, handed from one to another. Milk,
preferably sour, is thought to have been passed round
in a rough earthenware vessel. Each member of the
household could drink directly from this, or might
have- his own drinking cup of wood, with a sheep-skin
bottom.
The scene must have* been similar to the even
simpler custom met with in Ireland, where the whole
family gathered so closely that the food dish, in
their case a shallow basket, could be collectively
supported on their knees. Campbell (1937, p. 234)
considers that at least in western and northern
Ireland a table did not form part of the original set
of furniture. H. Hubert (1934, p. 270), in attempting
to visualise the Celts feasting in their circular or
rectangular dwellings in Gaul and Ireland, gives a
very similar picture. Both in Ireland and in the
Hebrides a table is sometimes lacking to this day,
which suggests that in the Hebrides the old method
of feeding from a common dish was an ancient
custom, perhaps brought from Ireland. The absence
of a table may therefore be interpreted as traditional
rather than due to the environment. The survival
3 Thomas (1869, pp. 159-160) considers that the High-
lander of the Hebrides did 'not habitually regard these
as among the necessaries of life; in the shielings, the bare
earth is made to serve as table, chair and bed.
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
of this Celtic custom in parts of Ireland and the
Hebrides down to modern times has no doubt been
encouraged by both lack of materials and by poverty
and isolation, but had it already been the custom to
sit around a table, tables and chairs would probably
have continued to form part of the normal household
furniture; indeed a dresser, which is a more elaborate
piece of furniture, made an early appearance and
has been retained ever since. The dresser was
formerly placed across the room so as partially to cut
off the lowest third, or animals' section, from the
area occupied by the family. According to Thomas
(1869, p. 156), the space immediately behind the
dresser was dedicated to the calves, since here they
benefited most from the warmth of the fire. Later,
when the animals' quarters were segregated by a
partition, the dresser was placed on the other side
of the fire to separate the living from the sleeping
area.
In the early undivided houses, when people also
slept in recesses in the thickness of the wall, the
younger members of the household simply lay on
certain parts of the floor which were marked off by
stones. When Thomas visited the islands (1867)
these bed recesses (crubachan), which were generally
placed in the walls on either side of the fireplace,
were evidently almost obsolete, although he met
persons who remembered using them in their youth.
In St. Kilda, however, where they have been longest
in use, he found such a wall-bed in a house which had
been built comparatively recently. He describes this
crub (Gaelic for " crouch ") as a large boot-shaped cell
(Fig. 1), into which one had to crawl through a hole
in the wall about two feet from the ground. The
interior was high enough at the head end to allow a
person to sit upright, but became both lower and
narrower towards the foot. The built-in wall-bed
of the Black Houses in the Outer Hebrides was
similar to the cailteach which was common in Central
and Northern Ireland, and had counterparts also in a
wider area along the North Sea (Campbell, 1937, pp.
233-4; and Erixon, 1938, p. 170). A point of
special interest is that the wall-beds of the Black
Houses were apparently roofed in simply by over-
lapping stones. This feature seems to link the
Black House with the most ancient form of dwelling
in the Scottish islands, the stone-roofed circular
beehive hut, called bo'h in Gaelic (Fig. 9A), which
was built on the same principle (Thomas, 1869,
p. 157; and Kissling, 1944, p. 135). But when
Thomas visited the islands, wall-beds had been
almost entirely replaced by crudely fashioned wooden
bedsteads, sometimes built with a roughly contrived
"roof " which kept off the rain drizzling through the
thatch above. The more substantial partition be-
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 87
tween the animal and human quarters appears to have
developed pari passu with the gradual disuse of wall-
beds and the Aubstitution of bedsteads inside the room.
In the evening, after the day's work, the men,
women and children of a neighbourhood resorted to
one of the larger houses of a township, to sit and talk
together round a blazing fire, often from sundown into
the early hours of the morning. These were the
hours of ceilidh, when songs were sung, stories told
and news exchanged. The Hebridean has ever
listened keenly to the ancient tales and poems
which have been carried on by word of mouth from
generation to generation. Mythological features and
wholly Celtic ideas and characteristics are apparent
in this oral literature of the Gaels, and hearing its
modern expression through the crofters and shepherds
of the islands one detects much of the imaginative
instinct which inspired its original creators. It was
for the ceilidh that story-tellers, poets and singers put
their materials together and trained their powerful
memories. To his saints and to typical Celtic heroes,
such as Fingal and Ossian, through whose lives he
could appreciate the religious traditions of his an-
cestors, the Hebridean may have owed an inward
strength required to meet the conditions of life
imposed by his environment, and " if these flights of
imagination did no more than render a little more
supportable many sufferings which are said to have
no remedy, that after all would be something."
(Renan, 1896, p. 59). He was profoundly religious
and profoundly moral. The formal dogma of the
Church played a constant part in his practical life.
Yet side by side with his Christian faith he had
retained traces of religious consciousness far older
than Christianity, which from his childhood attracted
his reverence and delight showing themselves in many
local practices and customs as well as in the stories
of innumerable ceilidhs. This prepossession of the
simple folk with the mysteries and ideals of their
Celtic ancestors was not a useless devotion. It dwelt
with the people as a pious sentiment characteristic
of the Gaels, who seem always to have lived an
intensely religious life. It favoured the fantastic,
with all its hopes and fears, its joys and disillusion-
ments. It loved to- feel and did not care to see. It
preferred inward inspiration to a prosaically rational
and usnenchanted life. Nurtured by instinct and habit,
it has been a source of strength as well as of weakness
to the people. If, indeed, as a result of his inclination
towards the ideal and concentration upon the past,
the Hebridean's desire to improve the material
conditions of his life has remained more or less latent,
it can equally be said that., since he often found
himself destitute of the means of satisfying such a
desire, he could ill have dispensed with that heritage
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
of memories and idealism which gave him his motive
for living.
The ceilidh also gave stimulus to thought and scope
for discussion. The evening ceilidh has been variously
described as "literary entertainment," by reason of
its traditionally high pretensions, and as a form of
gossip,1 because it was the human rather than the
intellectual interest on which the talks turned.
Probably there was a proportion of both. According
to J. F. Campbell (1890, p. iv ff.), Carmichael in 1898,
and verbal descriptions by the people themselves
whom these authors quoted, the conversation usually
led from general talk to higher themes, until a story
was told and discussed. The Gaelic spoken though not
" classical Gaelic," was scrupulous. Talking simply,
with dignity and spirit, grave or humorous (but much
averse to grossness), the Hebridean loved to shine,
to evoke admiration, at these gatherings. His solemn
tone and manner showed his regard for the punctilio
of bygone days, but his eagerness betrayed his keen
pleasure in discussion. Some point might start an
argument, in which all would share before the story
was resumed. Early myths, with much of the
fantastic in them, also spoke with great fidelity of
scenery and places in the Gaelic Highlands and of
habits and ideas belonging to the actual everyday
life of the Gael, thus enabling the people to look
with satisfaction on their humble circumstances.
The scene at such a gathering, in the darkness of a
lowly home beside the cattle, lit up through clouds
of peat reek by the flicker of the fire, must have been
most congenial in its perfect simplicity: the house-
wife spinning, her grown-up daughters sorting raw
wool and dragging it through carding combs, women
knitting and teaching the younger girls, while men
were twisting heather, grass and horsehair into ropes
and mending nets. The ceilidh was neither gay nor
dismal; in these rough shelters of the Black House
days there was contentment. Many songs were sung
in which all joined, and sometimes too, before the
night was done, there were pipe music and dancing
in the Black Houses.
III. THE BLACK HOUSE AND THE SHIELINGS
The general migration of the township population,
with their flocks and herds, to the summer pastures
in the hills, which took place annually on the first
of May, seemed to provide an inner driving force in
the people's lives, and profoundly influenced their
habits of community life. Carmichael, an eye-witness
who was intimately acquainted with the people and
conditions in the outer islands at the close of the
nineteenth century., writes2:
1 ceilidh means 'gossiping,' ' visiting.'
2 1928, Vol. I, p. 190.
F 4
 88 WERNER KISSLING
" On the first day of May the people of the crofter town-
land are up betimes and busy as bees about to swarm. This
is the day of migrating, ' bho baile gu beinn,' from townland
to moorland, from the winter homestead to the summer
shieling. The summer of their joy is come, the summer of
the shieling, the song, the pipe, and the dance, when the
people ascend the hill to the clustered bothies, overlooking
the distant sea from among the fronded ferns and fragrant
heather, where neighbour meets neighbour and lover meets
lover. All the families of the townland bring their different
flocks together at a particular place and drive the whole
away. This miscellaneous herd is called 'triall,' procession,
and is composed of horses, cattle, sheep and goats. In the
' triall ' the sheep lead; the cattle foilow according to their
ages; then come the goats and finally the horses with creels
slung across their backs laden with domestic gear of various
kinds. The men carry burdens of spades, sticks, pins,
ropes, and other things that may be needed to repair their
summer huts, while the women carry bedding, meal and
dairy utensils. When the people meet, they greet each
other with great cordiality, as if they had not seen one
another for months or even years, instead of probably only
a few days before. The men give directions . . . the women
knit their stockings and sing their songs, walking free and
erect as if there were no burdens on their backs or on their
hearts, nor any sin or sorrow in the world as far as they are
concerned."
On arrival at the pasture ground, the huts were
repaired and the cattle sent out to graze, every man's
stock separately, in accordance with his proper
8ouming, the number he was entitled to graze in
commQn with the other.occupants of the townland.
"Should a man have an 'oversoum,' he may arrange
with a man who has an 'undersoum,' or with the townland
at large, for his extra stock. Every facility is given to a
man in straits, the consideration of these intelligent crofting
people towards one another being most pleasing. The
grazing arrangements of the people, complex to a stranger,
but simple to themselves, -show an intimate knowledge of
animal and pastoral life."
The people then resorted to their sheiling feasts
which they shared with friends and neighbours:
" The frugal feast being finished . . . every head is
uncovered and every knee is bent as they invoke on man
and beast the 'shepherding of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob.' As the people intone their prayerfs on the lonely
hill side, literally in the wilderness, the music of their even-
song floats over glen and dell, loch and stream, and is echoed
from corrie and cliff till it is lost on the soft evening air."
This first day of May was one of the important
occasions when in the past the home fires were
extinguished and the people and cattle passed through
the neid-fire, to guard them against misadventure on
their way to the mountain shielings. From the
communal migration nobody seems to have stayed
behind: the houses were practically cleared of
household goods, and completely deserted. Records
sometimes speak of the men returning, after finishing
the repairs of the cattle-pens and living huts at the
shielings, to see to the harvest; it is also sometimes
mentioned that the people started on their seasonal
migration only after they had finished the tillage.
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
The fact, however, that the day was usually fixed
and that the crofters returned to the home-pastures,
now rich and green again, on the same date every
year, suggests that at the onset of the shieling season
little or no further thought was given to the claimb
of agriculture. It will be recalled that pasturage is
eminently favoured by the soil and climate, and that,
together with fishing, it predominated in importance
over other means of livelihood. All factors thus
seemed to conspire to preserve a communal method
of exploiting the land (de Calan, 1895, p. 357 if),
for it is just in those types of work where " a mere
gathering-in is sufficient " that the communal system
has persisted. The common pasture remained
common, and the habit of working together on sea
and land also continues to the present day.
The underlying spirit of co-operation is certainly
manifest in the grazing arrangements. The mode of
equalising the stock consisted in a series of provisions
which, though appearing somewhat complicated to
the outsider, were carried out " amicably, accurately
and skilfully," according to Carmichael.' In con-
sonance with this background of pastoral activities
is the custom of building the mountain huts in
groups. The following description of such settlements
refers mostly to the island of Lewis and to the personal
observations of Thomas and Carmichael.
The shielings stood close together, in the most
sheltered spots, up to twelve or more miles from the
townland homes. Two types of hut were used:
the oblong timber-roofed airidh and the circular
stone-roofed beehive-shaped bo'h which is of extremely
archaic construction.2 Both types occurred singly or in
pairs comprising a dweI1in' and a dairy. " Invariably,"
says Carmichael,3 "two or three strong healthy girls
share the same shieling," the boys presumably sharing
a single bo'h. " Here they remain making butter and
cheese. . ." Thomas (1867) gives these details of an
inhabited mountain dairy (see Figs. 9A and 1OA):
"A very low interior doorway admitted from the
dwelling to the dairy, which was about 6 feet square on
the floor, but roundish externally. The furniture and
utensils were a stoup for carrying water; a heap of
chickweed brought from the farm and given as an
alternative to the cattle; a cream-tub; three milk
or cheese tubs, covered by slaty stones; and a
crannachan or churn. In one of the niches were
backbones of fish, as sweetmeats for the cows, and in
the other a Loineid or frothing stick. The occupants
were three young women. . . "(p. 162).
There were also more complex forms of clustered
bothan, apparently developed from the simple type,
1 Quoted by Skene (1880), Vol. III, p. 393.
2 For its relationship to the Black House see Kissling (1944).
3 Quoted by Skene (1880), Vol. III, p. 388.
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 89

tA 9~~~~

SCALE IN FEET
L i I I
0 5 10 20 30 400
after Thomas

FIGuRE 4.-Plan of stone beehive huts ('Bothan '), Uig, Lewis. Clusters of varying complexity.
A. 'Bo'h' with porch which can be entered from either side (Gearraidh, Aird Mhor). B. Composite 'Bo'h' (Gearraidh,
Aird Mhor): (a) dwelling-rom; (b) churn room; (d) porch. C. 12 adjoining huts, in 3 suites, the most complex clustered
Bothan found (Gearraidh na H'airde Moire).

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 90 WVERNER KISSLING

but these have only been found derelict or in ruins. The full bearing of seasonal nomadism on the
Some, such as that shown in Figure 4, A, had a people's manner of life cannot be estimated without
single room and a porch for additional shelter from comprehensive analyses in the cultural sphere, not
the wind. Others (see Fig. 4, B) were composite, con- merely of tangible objects such as buildings and their
sisting of a dwelling room, churn room and dairy; the functions, but of the ideas associated with them.
most complex example that has been found consists " It is strange," writes Evans (1943, p. 52) with refer-
of twelve adjoining beehive huts, in three separate ence to Ireland, " that scarcely any attention has
suites, which may have been the residence of three been given or any importance attached to this
families (Fig. 4, C). aspect of the Irish past, despite its direct bearing on
In the west of Lewis, at a time when these clustered the social and cultural as well as the economic develop-
mountain huts were only found abandoned and none ment of rural Ireland, on language and literature,
but the simplest types of bothan were kept in use as music and the arts. From rare memories or survivals
shielings, Black Houses of a complex type and very of the custom . . and by analogy with transhumant
early in style (such as those outlined in Figs.,societies
2 and overseas, we can envisage the part played by
3) still survived as dwellings, and they were being booleying in ancient Ireland where its wide occur-
built in clusters on the arable farmland (Curwen, rence was facilitated by the presence of scattered
1938, P1. I). This Lewis variant of the Black House, mountain masses in all parts of the island." The same
with barn and porch and a fixed place for the quern, might be said of Scotland, especially the Outer
emphasises the agricultural pursuits of the occupants Hebrides, where the importance of this aspect of the
and recalls the steading of a settled farmer. The crofter's life was, despite his partiality for cultivation,.
consistent absence of a dairy from all the examples even more accentuated.
that have been examined, which is the more remark- In the absence of extensive research into the
able on this account, can be readily understood in people's manner of thinking and feeling, it may at
view of the continued migration to the shielings. The least be said of the Black House that (leaving aside
agglomeration into clusters seems to have carried on, some archaic structural features for special con-
or mirrored, the characteristic grouping of the ancient sideration) it illustrated a degree of simplicity of
dwellings in the hills: " In the good old days, when lhabits on the part of its occupants, and a disregard
the lands were runrig, the tenants of the same farm for comfort, which poverty and neglect do not seem
dwelt in an agglomerated heap of cottages, called a to explain. It is now clear in retrospect that the origi-
Creaga. . . " (Thomas, 1869, p. 156). One Creaga nal arrangement, according to which the animals.
accommodated two or more families, which formed were taken under the family roof, was perfectly
the social unit, exploiting in common arable land adapted to the people's mode of life in shieling-
and pasture. times. It had real merits in its time and place, and
These house clusters may be regarded as the custom rather than poverty had made it almost a
nuclei of the townlands. At an earlier phase, necessity. Being used essentially as winter habita--
however, these old communities may have tion, the Black House did not, in former times, need
" shifted anchorage " from the mountain pastures to to fulfil the requirements of a complete farmstead..
she plains. Such a shift would have rendered neces- Because of the practice of doing most of the dairy
sary the practice of transhumance, for although the work in the summer pastures in the hills, the dairy was
sandy plains provided ample pasturage, their produc- naturally situated at the shielings. Moreover, the
tivity could only be maintained by alternation with crofter with two dwellings already on his hands
the richer mountain pastures, often at a considerable might naturally be reluctant to undertake the upkeep
distance from the arable farm. This hypothesis at of an independent shelter for the animals. One is,
least presents a simple explanation of the two ele- therefore, led to regard the original lay-out and
ments of the farm. In any case there can be no doubt fundamental feature of the Black House, which
of the influence of the shieling custom in maintaining rendered it little more than a " kitchen-byre ", as
the simple lay-out and limited function of the Black logically connected with the shieling system and
House. Moreover the unmistakable similarity in depending on it.
form of the settlements in the mountains and in the It was only with the gradual disuse of shielings,.
plains at least suggests that whatever change may during the latter part of the nineteenth century, that.
have led to the adoption of rectangular houses in the the Black House lost its place and limited function
past, it did not cause a break in the social tradition. and was no longer adequate. When at last the
Whether foreign influence was needed to effect the peasant was securely established on his croft, a.
architectural transformation of the beehive structures crofter-tenant's house had to fulfil the requirements
is an interesting question (see Kissling, 1944). of a family dwelling and a farmstead. Lacking a.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 91
valid purpose, its familiar setting was left to sentiment
alone, which soon became half-hearted and eventually
discarded it. Robbed of its central feature, the old
Black House was doomed to disappear. By degrees
the character of ceilidh also changed, and with these
gatherings passed the old environment and focus
of true community life.
IV. BLACK HOUSE TYPES IN SOUTH UIST AND
ERISKAY
Today the Hebridean has abandoned the original
distinctive feature of the undivided house and made
other arrangements. The cattle no longer share his
dwelling, but are kept quite apart. An isolated case
is known where a cow still recently shared the people's
dwelling, separated only by a partly broken-down
partition of rough pieces of wood. The house was
much dilapidated,- and the survival of the custom
was probably due to poverty in this case, although
not necessarily elsewhere (see Peate, 1940, p. 64).
In South Uist and Eriskay, byre and stable now
stand, as a rule, entirely detached from the house,
with no architectural relationship between the two nor
any attempt at forming a yard. Plate I (centre)
shows a form of grouping of dwelling house and byre
which is unusual for houses with thatched ends.
The croft as it now stands consists of two rounded-
rectangular buildings with independent roofs, joined
together end to end, one forming the living room and
the other, on slightly lower ground, the byre, where
the cattle are kept separate from the inhabitants.
This, however, was not the original arrangement.
The separate byre is a recent addition, built against
the end wall of a typical old Black House. The two
parts of the present establishment have their separate
entrances and are connected by a door-way through
the wall of the original building. Thus the crofter
has established a method of internal access to his
cows.
This croft lies close to the edge of a wide, gently
sloping beach thrown up above the normal tide marks
by Atlantic storms. A few yards away, on the side
near the sea, there is a stone wall against which sand
and shingle deposits have accumulated, to sonle
extent protecting the entire house. The deposits
appear to be stabilised at the height of the thatch
of the low-lying buildings behind. The house faces
east, its doorways sheltered from the prevailing winds.
The walls of stone and earth are about 6 ft. high
throughout and 3- ft. thick at the base, decreasing
in thickness towards the top. As usual they-have
an inner and an outer facing, built entirely of undressed
stones of every size and shape, with a core of earth
and turf but without mortar. There is no regularity
in the masonry, except perhaps round the doorway
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
in the eastern long wall of the dwelling proper, the
stones for which seem to have been carefully selected.
A point of interest in the wall construction is that
some, at-least, of the stones in the outer facings are
definitely set slanting downwards towards the outside.
It has been impossible to discover whether this had
been done on purpose, so as to shed rain water from
the roof which, placed as traditionally (see Section II),
on the inner faces of the walls only, conducted all the
water into the core of the walls.
Both dwelling and byre are roofed with a thatch
of wheaten straw, the contemporary substitute for
heather, fern or bent-grass, formerly the only materials
used for Black Houses in the islands. The thatch
is loosely laid on and the whole roof covered with wire
netting and with an old fishing-net, which are kept
taut and held down by means of stones; ordinary
rope usually taking the place of skilfully twisted
heather and plaited straw. The roofing, like the
corners of the house, is smoothly rounded; there are
no gables. The rafters are supported on the inner
facings of the walls, leaving the tops of the walls
partially uncovered. The section left on the outside
is about the average width for an ordinary Black
House in the Hebrides: it is not the broad terrace
of the Lewis house, which has much thicker walls.
In both, however, the roof rests only on the inner
facings. The doorways, which extend to the full
height of the walls, are covered bv lintel stones laid
on the grassy wall tops.
The dwelling has three narrow windows, which
have been simply cut down into the front wall and
have no upper covering on the outside. The largest
of them has a kind of lintel stretching across the inner
wall, where the window-frame is placed (see Fig. 6).
The windows are later additions. There is the usual
skylight (see Fig. 5), in the thatch just above the wall,
but no other opening in the roof for the passage of
smoke. The entrance was formerly through the
animals' portion of the building, but in 1934 it led
directly into the dwelling room, which was undivided,
but had bed-places screened off by pieces of furniture
at the far end. A board partition, of the same height
as the wall, which probably used to separate the lower
from the upper end of the room, had been put against
the near end wall, with its doorway opening from the
present dwelling into the byre. The open fireplace,
formerly somewhere near the centre of the house,
had been moved towards the near end wall, where it
still retained its normal position close to the byre-door.
It is of the simplest form, marked only by an iron
chain and a hook hanging fronm the rafters to suspen
the pot.
Clearly this type of house, with its rounded thatched
ends, in spite of being rather recently built and
 92 WERNER KISSLING

Photo: W. Ki88&n
FIGURE 5.-Skylight in Black House of oldest type, South Uist (see Plate I, top left).

modified in certain respects, still retains the essential
character of the old Black House.
The outbuildings (Plate I, bottom right), which
stand at a little distance from the house, are constructed
in the same style as all the older dwellings. Their
tendency towards roundedness is sometimes reminis-
cent of the older hut type as represented by the oval
airidh described by Curwen (1938, p. 278). Some
of them would perhaps be worth investigating,
especially since they may formerly have been the
human dwellings.
A turf house built in the traditional style is shown
in Plate I (top), and is of interest since it may be
the last of its kind. This turf-building technique,
common in modem shieling huts, has been generally
abandoned for permanent human habitations and is
now applied mainly to small outbuildings used for
storage or as chickenhouses. Curwen recently drew
attention to the existence of turf houses on the main-
land, where they were commonly found in the
eighteenth century. Some of them, although
apparently not the shieling ones,. were oval (Curwen,
1938, p. 272). The position of the " fairleus,"
which in this case is insignificant in size and at the
very base of the roof, encroaching upon the wall, shows
how the old skylight has led to the modem window
(see Figs. 5, 6).
In striking contrast to the example shown in Plate I
(bottom left), with its unkempt and dilapidated roof,
the renewal of which had possibly been put off through
lack of easy access to thatching material', stands the
old croft shown in Fig. 7, which has a thick warm
thatch made of local heather and kept in good repair.
Evidently it was a typical old Black House, but it
has been considerably restored. The interior was
not inspected, but obvious innovations are the two
chimneys instead of smoke-holes, a window (see
Fig. 8) and, most significant of all, a roof just over-
reaching the outer edges of the mortared walls. As
in many of the older houses, on the windward side
there is only a small hole in the wall, which could be
closed with a stone from the inside.
All. the surviving dwellings of this type retain to a
more or less marked degree the earlier sub-rectangular
character of the Black House. Some have rounded
end walls (see Plate II, top left); others are not quite
so rounded, hut they are never strictly rectangular.
All have walls of the same height throughout, and
thatched roofs with more or less rounded ends. All
are of the " central hearth or " central chimney
type (Evans, 1943, p. 58, and Campbell, 1937, p. 208),
even though a fire-place may have been inserted
later in the end wall (see Plate II, top right).
In the course of the last century these ancient
dwellings have been gradually replaced by small
cottages in which the traditional character of the
Hebrides house is well maintained. The lay-out has
no longer been determined by the desire to house the
1 The house is near the- machair, but the use of bent-
grass from this zone for thatching is now prohibited by law.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black Homee 93

Photo: W. Kis8lig
FIGuRE 6. Window cut into wall of Black House, South Uist (see Plate I, centre right), 1934.

cattle under the family roof, but in their simplest
form these cottages are only single-roomed buildings,
with central fireplaces and thatched ends. The
development of houses of the cottage type (see Plate
II, centre and bottom) in modemn times is comparable
with that of the surviving type of Black House in
many respects: for instance, the original single room is
divided by wooden partitions or partition walls, there
are windows, chimneys and more substantial roofs,
all of them representing important steps towards
meeting modem needs. But many of these humble
dwellings share some of the shortcomings of the Black
Houses, as well as their merits. Partly with the
idea of combating the damp, the dry-stone walls
have in many cases been mortared over inside and
out, but where the roof still fails to overlap the outer
walls (see Plate II, bottom right) this practice has
made matters rather worse. Dampness remains a
serious evil. A cottage illustrated in Plate II
(bottom left), shows how the crofter can best deal
with each type of wall. In the whitewashed house,
which has been mortared, the roof is brought to the
outer edges of the walLs, whereas where the roofing
only covers the inner walls, as in the outbuilding,
the dry-stone work is left. The old porous dry-stone
wall, especially if the stones are placed slanting
downwards and outwards, looks after itself and is
generally less damp if left alone than if superficially
mortared or plastered.
This croft with its happy blending of the present
with the past, is rather an exceptional one in that
some attempt has been made to form a yard. The
degree of planning suggests a somewhat more.
prosperous crofter.
Down to the end of the last century, the Hebridean.
houses, despite their apparent shortcomings, were
simple and harmonious, having developed spontan-
eously out of a pattern of living in the past. By their
connection with the people's natural way of living,
their occupations and traditional culture, they
satisfied important psychological needs. But in
recent years, the Hebridean has not escaped the
invasion, on a growing scale, of housing methods and
house types which can only be called " modern,'>
and are ill-adapted and even hostile to the people's
manner of life.- In nearly every ancient hamlet
there are already a number of such disharmonious
buildings, out of all accord with the background, and
sometimes roofed with corrugated iron, which are
scars on the wild landscape of the islands. With their
greater comfort and hints at amelioration in some
respects, it can hardly be denied that these houses.
have in some ways benefited those among the islanders.
who accepted them as the cheapest possible immediate.
solution to their pressing problems. But the people-
do not love these houses as they did the old-time,
unpretentious little dwellings which, with ruder
comforts, had the familiar friendliness of the Gaelic
household. Nowhere could the drawbacks of the
exclusive consideration of health and comfort, as.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 94 WERNER KISSLING

Phoff: W. Ki.ling

FIGu-RE 7.-Back view of Black House type, South Uist (restored and modified).-

exemplified in houses built to uniform specifications,
be more evident than in the Hebrides. If once the
traditional form were entirely abandoned, it would be
increasingly regretted.
The design set out in Figs. 9 (C-E), 10 (C, D) and
11 is an attempt to assist development of the
traditional form to meet the Hebridean's present
needs. Since it was first published in a preliminary
form (Kissling, 1944), it has been possible to amplify
and amend it on the strength of a number of comnients
and suggestions which have been received from
various quarters. It should supply practicable devices,
,some of which could perhaps also be applied in
adapting older houses.
The first great evil of damp is to be overcome by
the special construction of the floor and walls. The
foundations are of concrete and a concrete raft is
also laid under the floor (Fig. 11). On this and over
the wall foundations is laid a horizontal damp-
course of heather, on which are built the walls and
floor. If desired, further damp-proofing may be
obtained by laying more than one course of heather
(each course being 3 ins. thick), alternating with 3 in.
rafts of concrete, a procedure which would also bring
added warmth. The floor consists of a final raft of
.concrete, 8 ins. thick, which can be finished to a
smooth surface for mats and rugs, or wax-polished.
The walls are built of an outer battered facing of the
local stone, laid in dry courses, and an inner facing of
peat blocks, which may be whitewashed on the inside.
It is important that nothing other than lime wash
should be used on the walls, either inside or out,
since other preparations (e.g., tar) may tend to
retain moisture in the blocks or stones. The walls
and chimney, also of local stone, are to be built in
the most economical way possible and with all
precautions to keep out damp. No plaster is used
on the ceiling: timbers may be left roughly shaped
and creosoted, and all joists can be left exposed.
On the inside of the roof, however, an asbestos lining
may be used both to exclude damp and dirt and for
added warmth; it may be fixed directly to
the undersides of the roof timbers. The whole
house is surrounded by a paving of flagstones
some nine inches below floor level, to drain away
rain-water.
Concerning the persistent problem of roofing, thatch
is strongly recommended, despite the difficulty of
access to materials in some districts, as best fromi the
point of view of warmth, appearance and economy.
It is carried over the outer walls, which also carry
the weight of the roof, there being no apparent advan-

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The, Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 95

Photo: W. Ksadsng

FIGUTrRE 8. Rough sah window on sheltered front of South

Uist Black House (see Fig. 7).

tage in adhering to tradition in this respect. For
small outbuildings there may be no objection to
following the old custom, provided that the walls are
also built in the old way, with the stones slanting
downwards towards the outside.
The next great drawback of the existing dwellings-
crowding and the absence of privacy-is to be
overcome in the new house by its larger size and two
storeys, and by the division of each storey into
separate rooms. General comfort is to be increased
by the better floor and proper chimneys and windows,
both the ground floor rooms being heated.
A shed containing a copper and a bath present, in
the cheapest and most efficient way possible, a neces-
sary minimum of bathing facilities.
It must be left to the individual builder, who may
be either a crofter or a cotter, to decide his own
particular needs. He may incorporate a dairy, or, if
the situation demands it, he may wish to add a porch.
As seen from Figure 9, C, the house remains of the
central chimney type and has thatched ends. The
whole can be constructed with local labour and local
materials (although the crofter wishing to build
his own house may possibly be still unaccustomed to
the use of concrete) with the exception of
the doors and the window-frames, which would have
to be obtained from the mainland. Such im-
portations are, however, cut down to a minimum
in the plan since the Hebridean cannot afford to
depend more than absolutely necessary on outside
labour or materials.'
1 The writer wishes to express his thanks to Mrs. V.
Eastwick-Field for kindly executing the drawings and for
her suggestions and comments, and to the Building Research
Station of the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research for their valued advice.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
96 WERNER KISSLING

A I JE A I

.kv ... ~jc -,-' cA t: 4?

SCALE IN FEET

0 5 0o 20 0 4'0

I f

/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~rw . b\Ms .E wecFeu

SCALE IN FEET

n C Al (C d t s s a A a B).

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Character and Pnrpo8e of the Hebridean Black Houwe 97

STONES E BYRE

DAIR E HEARTH:4 (LATER

IRE T ADDITION)I I
X

* AB

SPC OWSRO X EROWOF

STORE ~ ~ ~ TO

I'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5

XWAS

1% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BEDROOMI

SCALE IN FEET

1098?6543210 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Drawings by Mrs. V. East
FIGURELE 10.-Plan of beehive huts, old B
A. Beehive huts. B. Old Black HIouse. C, D. Ground floor and first floor plan of new Hebrides house onl traditional lines.
drawn to same scale as A and B.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
98 WERNER KISSLING

HEATHER. FERN
OR BENT THATCH

BEDROOM

L =---1 ? ? e I CONCRETE LIN E L

EAVES X B f

W-~~~~CNRT LNTL-

WNDOW BOARD

B. .
PEAT JNNER WALL

CONCRETE FLOOR WITH

HEATHER DAMP-PROOF SASHED
BOX FRAME
COURSE

WATER TABLE _'=f=f==.'_i

'_ ' 7/K //>D >/4K> EXTERIOR

SCALE IN FEET
t I | t I i - I I i t - r | 1 , 4
O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Drawinzys
FIGURE 11.-COnStrUCtiOnal details of new house on traditional lines.
Aw WValls, roof, floor, damp course a!nd water table. B, C. Details of sash w indow.
This content downloaded from
46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The, Character and Purpose of the Hebridean Black House 99

References

DE CALAN, Ch. ... ... ... ... 1895 "Les Highlanders," La Science Sociale, Vol. XIX, Paris.
Caledonian Medical Journal ... ... ... 1925 August.

. . . . . . . . . . . 1938 "Notes on the Irish House," Folkliv, No. 2.

CAMPBELL, Ake ... ... ... ... 1937 "Notes on the Irish House," Folkliv, Nos. 2, 3.

CAMPBELL, J. F. ... ... ... ... 1890 Popular Tales of the West Highlands. London: Alexander Gardner.
CARMICHAEL, Alexander ... ... ... 1928 Carmina Gadelica. London and Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
CURWEN, E. Cecil ... ... ... ... 1938 " The Hebrides: A Cultural Backwater," Antiquity, Sept.
ERIXON, Sigurd ... ... ... ... 1937 " Some Primitive Constructions and Types of Lay-Out with their
Relation to European Building Practice," Folkliv, Nos. 2, 3.
... ... ... ... 1938 " West European Connections," Folkliv, No. 2.
EVANS, E. Estyn ... ... ... ... 1943 Irish Heritage. Dundalk: Tempest, Dundalgan Press.
HABERLANDT, A. ... ... ... ... 1928 "Die Volkstiimliche Kultur Europas in ihrer geschichtlichen Ent-
wicklung," Buschan's Illustrierte V6lkerkunde (Stuttgart), Vol. II,
No. 2.
HARKER, Alfred ... ... ... ... 1941 The West Highlands and the Hebrides. Cambridge University Press.
HUBERT, Henri ... ... ... ... 1934 The Greatness and Decline of the Celts. London: Kegan Paul.
JOHNSON, Samuel ... ... ... ... 1925 Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides. London: Philip Allan. (Recent
edition of Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland,
1775).
KISSLING, Werner ... ... ... ... 1944 " House Traditions in the Outer Hebrides. The Black House and
the Beehive Hut," Man, Vol. XLIV, 114.
LoCHLAINN, Colm 0 ... ... ... ... 1940 " Folkliv, 1937, 2-3, 1938, 2," review in The Irish Book Lover,
January.
MACALISTER, R. A. S.... ... ... ... 1928 The Archceology of Ireland. London: Methuen.
MACNEILL, Eoin ... ... ... ... 1937 Phases of Irish History. Dublin: M. H. Gill.
MARTIN, M. ... ... ... ... ... 1703 A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. London: Andrew
Bell.
MITCHELL, Arthur ... ... ... ... 1880 The Past in the Present. Edinburgh: David Douglas.
PEATE, Iorwerth C. ... .. ... ... 1940 "The Welsh House," Y Cymmrodor (London), Vol. XLVII.
... ... ... ... 1944 The Welsh House. Liverpool: Brython Press.

RENAN, Ernest ... ... ... ... 1896 Poetry of the Celtic Races and other Essays. London: Walter Scott.
ROUSSELL, Aage ... ... ... ... 1934 Norse Building Customs in the Scottish Isles. Copenhagen: Levin'
and Munksgaard; London: Williams and Norgate.
SAYCE, R. U. .;. ... ... ... 1933 Primitive Arts and Crafts. Cambridge University Press.
S-KENE, William F. ... ... ... ... 1880 Celtic Scotland. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas.
TANSLEY, A. G. ... ... ... ... 1939 The British Islands and their Vegetation. Cambridge University
Press.

THOMAS, F. L. W. ... ... ... ... 1857 " Notice of Beehive Houses in Harris and Lewis," Proc. Soc. Ant.
Scot., Vol. III.
... ... ... ... 1869 " On the Primitive Dwellings and Hypogea of the Outer Hebrides,"
Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., Vol. VII, No. 1.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 100 WERNER KISSLING

Description of Plates

Plate I.-T)WELLINGS AND OUTBULDINGS OF BLACBK HOUSE TYPE (SouTH UIST).

Top: Turf houso of oldest type.
Centre: Croft with unusual end-to-end arrangement of dwelling and byre.
Bottom: Left: Old croft, far from heather zone, with unkempt thatch.
Right: Outbuildings (possibly former dwellings).

Plate II.-CROFTS AND COTTAGES OF TRADITIONAL CHARACTER (SOUTH UIST AHD ERISEAY).
Top: Modified Black House types, with chimneys and windows.
Centre: Recently built houses of the cottage type.
Bottom: Left: Croft illustrating different phases in adaptation of the ancient type of building.
Right: Fisherman's house, illustrating unsuccessful modification of the old type; the walls have
been superficially mortared, but the roof does not overlap them.

Plate III.-CRUsIE OIL LAMP AND BLACK HOUSE INTERIOR.

A.-Crusie oil lamp, with wick of reeds.
B.-Black House interior; note pot-hook over fire (photo 1934).

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
J.R.A.I., Vol. LXXlII, 1943
Kissling, Hebridean Black Ho?me

._ . _ . . _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.... . .

...~ B. ..... ...

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Poo W. Ki8m

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
J.R.A.L., Vrol. LXXIII, 1943 PaeI
Kissling, Hebridean Black Houwe

. . . ~~~~~~~~~~~.. .:. :. . o. ?. . . . . . . . . . e.. . . . .

.... : : . - | X | ! . .....~~~~~~~~~~~... ....... ... ....;

* ; : ... : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~......... . O..O . .

. .: ::': .. - .r.l .. < -, .;f~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...... ..

i1#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . . . . . ._
.... ... .. ._

.wR'~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ht. W. Ki8din

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
J.R.A.I., Vol. LXXIII, 1943 Plate III
Kissling, Hebridean Black House

n | _ | - | | | | | R | m ' ..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .... . ifl

_.. .2.k~ .L~;.~~~.~~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~ .~~ ~~.~~.~~,~~ .~~ ~~.~~.~~.~~.~~ ~~2~~~~:.~' '~;..~.~... .-e. 4. ..\{:'. %
A

* . . . . 'X,.~~ ~ ~~~~~~. .., .. . ... . .. X

Photo: W. J8halsng
B

A. CRUSIE OIL LAMP. 13 BLA( K HOUSE INTERIOR.

This content downloaded from

46.106.242.59 on Thu, 14 Mar 2024 06:49:46 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms