Really, Really Old Stuff

We had planned on returning home the Monday after the Hebridean Celtic Festival, however someone* waited too long to purchase ferry tickets and all of the Monday ferries were sold out. So, we had to stay on the island even one day longer than we had originally planned. It turned out all right, though. Because everything was closed on Sunday (see last post) we still had the three National Trust sites to visit. First up was the Callanish (or Calanais in Scots Gaelic) standing stones.   

Callanish standing stones

This stone circle was erected sometime around 2900 - 2600 BC in an area of the island that was near the sea (great for catching fish/shellfish) and surrounded by what was then terrific grazing fields and fertile ground for growing barley. Similar to Stonehenge in southern England and many other standing stones, Callanish was probably a center for gatherings as well as religious site of some sort. 

Callanish

The site comprises of a center ring (not quite a true circle) with long stone lines running east-west through the center of the huge central stone. The western half of the ring is a true semi-circle, but the eastern half is somewhat flattened. Inside the stone ring is a small chambered tomb. There is evidence of other structures to the east, but nothing of the structures themselves have ever been located. 

A single stone at Callanish

The center stone at Callanish

The stones were first studied in the 17th century, but not until the late 19th century were the stones scientifically studied. Up until them many believed the 12 stones of the ring symbolized the signs of the zodiac. It wasn't until the 1970s that in and around the stone ring received a proper archeological excavation and the scientists realized the stones were much taller than originally thought. The cairne (burial chamber) in the center of the stone circle was found to have at one time been a tall structure with a roof and probably used for 15 to 20 generations. 

Callenish

The evidence showed that at some point in the second millennium the carne was destroyed with a hoe-like tool and burned. The best guess is that this was another tribe ensuring that no inconvenient ancestors would trouble the new caretakers of the stone circle. 

Artsy view of Callanish

Enough about all that history stuff! Here's a picture of me hugging the center stone, the tallest of the Callenish standing stones. It was over 20 feet tall! 

Center stone of Callanish

Moving from the really, really old stuff of the bronze age and into the really old stuff of the iron age, we visited a broch. The broch dates back to around 600 BC and is a remarkably well preserved three-story stone roundhouse. In it's prime this roundhouse would have been a fully enclosed, conical home with a thatched roof. 

Carloway Broch

Even half demolished, it was amazing how much it sheltered you from the wind the moment you stepped inside. This particular broch, Dun Charlabhaigh (Dun Carloway Broch) is especially interesting as it seemed to have several separated rooms within the main chamber. There is also lots of evidence that this particular broch was used as a home well past its prime. 

Ground, first, and second floor at Carloway Broch

A Lewis legend says that in the 1600s members of the Clan Morrisons of Ness sheltered within the broch after being caught red-handed on the lands of nearby Clan MacAulay during a cattle raid. The Morrisons barricaded themselves inside and only surrendered after Donald Cam MacAulay climbed the outer wall of the tower and threw burning heather in through the rood and smoked them out.  If this story is true, the walls were still fairly in tact in the 1600s. 

After climbing out of the ground floor, Carloway Broch

The last visit of the day was to a classic Hebridean Blackhouse, the typical longhouse built for farming families in the mid 1800s. This is old stuff, but only about 50 years older than the 3-story terraced Victorian house in which we are currently living.

Hebridean Blackhouse

The longhouses were built of stone with thatched roofs. The family lived on one side of the long house and, particularly in winter, the animals (cows and chickens) lived on the other side. 

Entrance to blackhouse

The family slept all together in 'bed boxes' and the home was heated by peat fire. For those of you who don't know, the marshy lands of much of Scotland is made up of peat, a dense, nutrient-rich brick-like mud that burns efficiently and is a readily available, renewable resource. 

A pile of peat!

It was very dark inside the blackhouse, but the photo below is of the communal room where the family would have cooked, eaten, entertained, and spent most of their time whilst indoors. The Scottish country line-style dancing was said to have evolved in these black houses. Since there were no ballrooms (or large room of any kind), they created dances that used the length and not the width of the room to its advantage.

Interior hall at blackhouse

The last photo in this post is of the peat fire that was actually lit and heating the house during our visit. Everywhere we went during our week on Lewis we kept seeing farmers cutting peat out of their fields. Bill loves peaty Scottish whiskeys and got this great idea to buy a brick or two of Lewis peat and use it to smoke some meat back in England. Alas, we couldn't find peat anywhere in the shops. We finally asked at a few places and learned that it's illegal to sell it; even though it's a renewable resource, there is a finite amount of it to go around. 

A few people suggested we pull over and ask the next person we see cutting peat out of their field if we could have a brick or two. This day was our last chance, and of course, we didn't see anyone on our drive to ask. While we were at the blackhouse Bill noticed a big pile of peat bricks set up to be used in the fire. Bill asked the attendants at the visitor's center if there was a farmer nearby where he could ask for a brick of peat, but the employee did us one better - he grabbed a bag and put a few bricks in from their pile. Huzzah! 

Coal fire inside blockhouse

And the next day we caught the 6:00AM two-hour ferry back to Ullapool and embarked on an additional eight hour drive all the way back home. Unfortunately the long trek home pretty much undid all of the chill that we obtained during our holiday. Oh, well! At least we can say we've been to the Butt of Lewis - I mean, how many people can say that?! :-) 

* I plead the 5th so as not to incriminate myself!