Monday 28 May 2007

Blackhouses

A blackhouse is a mistranslation of the Gaelic words for thatched house: taigh thugaidh. To someone who knows a little Gaelic, it may sound like 'taigh dubh' which means black house.

A blackhouse used to be the common form of housing in the Western Isles until the 1950s. It consisted to two thick walls, with a thatched roof on top. The top end housed the humans, the bottom end the animals. Very cosy and very smelly. Not because of the animals, but because of the peat that was being used for fuel.

The Arnol Blackhouse (named after the village where it is located) is a restored version of the original residence at 42 Arnol.
42 Arnol

People were only too glad to be out of a blackhouse. Don't think they were all smelly and dirty in those days. Mrs B has shown me the image of her grandfather in the late 19th century, looking very smart in a white shirt.
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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 18:17

    Thanks for the info.....I was curious. I suppose that is my one thing I will learn today........LOL.
    Hugs
    Carrie

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  2. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 18:49

    Guido ,that was interesting ,thanks for the info ....love Jan xx

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  3. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 18:53

    Not too many years ago, I told Jesse I wanted to build a housebarn (that's what it's called here, but they are few and far between) and have a bunch of animals.  He patted my head and walked away.  LOL

    ~Amy

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  4. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 19:03

    Interesting! :o) Thank you for sharing. ;o)
    Lisa

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  5. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 19:16

    This is so interesting Guido!  I'm surprised to see they were used until 50 yrs ago. They look like they would be so old!! No windows...that would bug me.
    Very interesting lesson.
    Pam

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  6. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 19:56

    I think I remember reading about black houses in school....
    Linda :)

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  7. Anonymous28 May 2007 at 21:31

    The families must have got used to the smell, but it`s great to see how others lived thanks.
    bella xx

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  8. Anonymous29 May 2007 at 04:33

    How interesting!  Thank you for sharing this!

    be well,
    Dawn
    http://journals.aol.com/princesssaurora/CarpeDiem/

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  9. Anonymous29 May 2007 at 18:08

    Thank you for explaining Blackhouses for me.Very interesting. I have heard of this type of dwelling before but i can not think where.
    love and hugs
    Katie

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  10. Anonymous29 May 2007 at 23:52

    Odd looking houses.  They remind me of the Indian mound houses in this country.  I did not know it was the peat they burned for fuel that made them smelly rather than the animals lodged in the bottom.  Since I never got in on any peat burning or buffalo chips fuel either!  But lots of cedar and pine wood!  Gerry  

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  11. Anonymous30 May 2007 at 21:06

    Wow that looks like an interesting place.

    Jenny

    http://journals.aol.co.uk/jmoqueen/MyLife/

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