Around the Fire

It hardly seems possible but the last woman to tend this hearth fire moved from here in the 1960’s. This ‘Black House Arnol‘ built in the 1880’s on the Isle of Lewis is now protected by Historic Scotland. It is a reminder of a lifestyle that was typical for many families of Crofters. This is the place of shelter, community, of storytelling and music.

Remnants of hearth fires in one form or another have been in all of the housing structures we have visited on this Scottish tour, from the bronze age right through to palaces and more recent homes who moved them from the center of the room to the side with a mantle piece. This simple one provided real comfort to me and I sat on the bench next to it for a long time.

I entered through the low doorway and found my way down the passage into the family section with a peat fire burning brightly in the center of the room and a kettle hanging above. The room was about 14 x 18 feet and had a table by a window, a hutch with china, bench seating on one wall with blue flowered thick cotton covers and a fiddle hanging on the wall.

The adjoining room has two beds built into the walls, sort of like canopy beds with upholstered material across the top and curtains.

Although the whole interior is dark stone, it feels very cozy, warm and dry. Outside there was a fenced area with a pond and ducks and geese and a small barn.

It may be difficult to see in the photo, but there is a rounded thatch style roof and thick stone walls. There was an area for livestock and storage and a living area. The peat hearth fire was the source of heat. A fellow was tending one in the main room when I walked in. It has a distinctive smell (as Islay whiskey drinkers well know) and the smoke rises up and goes through the thatch and some small windows.

He told me the thatch is removed and changed each year. The section in the room with the fire turns very black and must be replaced to keep an air flow. They used to clean it around July 1st & 2nd because that was when the potato plants were starting to flower and the blackened thatch was used around the plants to prop them up and give them extra nutrients.