An RCAHMS archaeological team has completed a detailed survey of the virtually-inaccessible island of Borerary, in the St Kilda archipelago, uncovering evidence of a farming community possibly dating to the Iron Age. From the BBC, 17 June 2011:

The remains of a settlement which could date back to the Iron Age has been uncovered on a remote Scottish island, according to archaeologists.

It was previously thought Boreray in the St Kilda archipelago was only visited by islanders to hunt seabirds and gather wool from sheep.

Archaeologists have now recorded an extensive agricultural field system and terraces for cultivating crops.

They have also found an intact stone building buried under soil and turf.

Read the rest of the story here. Much more information, including pictures, is available on the RCAHMS website.

RCAHMS surveyor Ian Parker said, “This is an incredibly significant find, which could change our understanding of the history of St Kilda. This new discovery shows that a farming community actually lived on Boreray, perhaps as long ago as the prehistoric period. The agricultural remains and settlement mounds give us a tantalising glimpse into the lives of those early inhabitants. Farming what is probably one of the most remote – and inhospitable – islands in the North Atlantic would have been a hard and gruelling existence. And given the island’s unfeasibly steep slopes, it’s amazing that they even tried living there in the first place.”

During the late 1990s archaeologists from Edinburgh University excavated four sites around Uig. Recently the directors of the excavations, Dr Mike Church now at Durham University and Dr Simon Gilmour, director of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, have been awarded funding from Historic Scotland to produce a book
detailing all of the excavation results. Together with Dr Claire Nesbitt, also of Durham University, they are currently working on this monograph which will be published by The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

The sites included in the volume are:

• An Dunan a small natural island at the north end of Tràigh nan Srùban which was in use from the Iron Age to the Post-Medieval period;
• Gob Eirer, a promontory stack connected to the mainland by a small strip of land on the north shore of the Camas Uig which was occupied during the Bronze Age;
• Guinnerso, a Post-Medieval relict landscape on the Aird Uig peninsula;
• Beriero, a Blackhouse village above Tràigh nan Srùban dating to the Medieval or Post-Medieval period.

This volume, which it is hoped will be completed by 2012, will bring together the evidence from all of these sites to try to understand how people lived and died in Uig in the prehistoric past and to consider how the sites fit into the rich archaeological heritage of the Uig Landscape.

More information on the project is available on the project website which will be updated as results become available. Meanwhile, everyone is invited to two free events:

A Site Visit at An Dunan and Bereiro (map)
2pm on Saturday 28 August
Meet on site; park at the Community Centre and walk or share cars to Crowlista if possible.
Wear walking shoes or wellies and waterproofs if need be.

An Illustrated Talk at Uig Community Centre
7.30pm on Tuesday 31 August
hosted by Comann Eachdraidh Uig, with a tea

[Bobby] Fischer declared “chess is war on a board”, and at that moment in history it certainly seemed like it. But then it always has. If all games are to some degree a surrogate for violence and war, no game so closely compares to a set-piece battle as chess. Two opposing armies line up to march across the board, foot-soldier pawns in front, officers behind. Every chess-set shows a society at war. Whether that society is Indian, Middle Eastern or European, the way the pieces are named and shaped tells us a great deal about how that society functions. So, if we want to visualise European society around the year 1200, we could hardly do better than look at how they played chess. And no chess pieces offer richer insights than the 78 mixed pieces found on the Hebridean island of Lewis in 1831, and known ever since as the Lewis Chessmen.

You can listen to it and download the MP3 (right click and save link as) and the transcript here:

Listen | Download Audio | Transcript

The rest of the series is worth a listen too, of course; the Vale of York Hoard was particularly good.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been delving into the book of place names collected by the very first Ordnance Survey of the 1850s to find out for myself what’s actually there and to work out how much import can be given to the entry that states that the Chessmen were found in Mealista, in the ruins of Taigh nan Cailleachan Dubha. The Place Names book is easily accessible, on microfiche in the Stornoway Library.

I have to say that it’s an example of meticulous paperwork, a colossal amount of painstaking effort must have gone into its compilation but to the 21st century eye, it looks fussy and overdone. It’s handwritten and ruled out in column after column: place name; its correct spelling; any other known variation of the spelling; the location; the English “significance” i.e. translation of the name; the names of the person or persons who were the authorities for the information and of the Ordnance Survey Clerks who wrote it all down and, finally, a column for comments.

We used to be advised as students not to use it as a reliable source as the information was only as good as the knowledge of the informant and also, because its accuracy could have been compromised in translation. There’s a long time since I last looked at it and this time round, I found its main impact, apart from its painstaking “clerkery,” was the sheer volume of place names in the parish of Uig. Going through the pages nearer home, I felt as if I was meeting old friends as place names jumped out at me from the screen, names I used to hear in daily conversation, which are now rarely, if ever, aired.

I was also intrigued by the names of the local informants of the 1850s. I would really like to go back to it and list them all down to see how many can be identified with the help of the census returns. I found my great, great grandfather, Murdo Macleod, Gisla, (Murchadh Ghioslaigh) and his neighbour and brother-in-law, John Macdonald, (Iain Laghach) reeling off names. That pinpoints the collecting of place names to before 1853 and the Gisla clearance, after which all the Laghach family but two ended up in Quebec.

From memory, I was sure that the Chessmen were noted in the pages relating to the Ardroil area although the name Ardroil wasn’t in use in its present form as early as the 1850s. The farm was known initially by variations of Eadar Dha Fhadhail, such as Ederol. The entry about Chessmen is there, under the place name “Bealach Ban.”  It reads, “A glen on the south side of Camus Uig, it is composed of sand. A few years back a number of carved Ivory images of horses, sheep and other animals were found in this glen. Signifies white glen or pass.”

The authorities for the information are named as John Mackay, Donald Murray and, from the Ordnance Survey, John Morrison. There was nobody indigenous left in Ardroil to impart the place names, they had all been forcibly removed over ten years before the survey and are to be found, household by household, in census returns in Swainbost in Ness, including the widow and family of Malcolm Macleod, the finder of the Chessmen. I haven’t been able to identify Donald Murray, not a surname ever found much in Uig, although there was a Murray family in Crowlista in 1851, Kenneth, not Donald, Murray from Borve, married to Catherine Macdonald, nighean Mhurchaidh Bhain. The most likely explanation is that Donald Murray may have been a Gaelic teacher, possibly in Crowlista, which had a school long before the 1850s. I can make more of the John Mackay: he could have been Iain Macaoidh, ancestor of the Crowlista Mackays, who would have been in his late seventies at that time. But again, we can’t be sure as the name John Mackay comes up in the Survey, in other villages, as the Ordnance Survey clerk.

Now to Mealista, which I had never looked at before and which I found, via the parish of Lochs, which is interposed with upper Uig in the Microfiche reels, and after skimming through Islivig and Breanish, both with interesting information, given by the easily recognized names of long term residents, John Macaulay, Islivig, Donald Macleod, Breanish and Malcolm Mackay, schoolmaster in Breanish. The two entries I found among the Mealista names with additional information other than the actual place name were very relevant to what I was looking for, Teampull Mhealastadh and Tigh nan Cailleachan Dubha, information for both given by Christopher Macrae and Alan Ross, with OS clerk, John Mackay this time.

The Teampull Mhealastadh entry reads: “On the seashore in Mealastadh village. This is an old graveyard in the village of Mealasta, at present there are only a few interred in it, as the inhabitants have left this village. There has never been a church or any kind of meeting house in or about this place as far as can be ascertained.” This is nothing short of shoddy information with two place names mixed up. Cladh Mhealastadh is the old graveyard on the sea shore, the teampull, chapel, is quite separate and at a distance from it, and, as for ascertaining whether there ever was a church about the place, there is no room for doubt on that score with the Mealista chapel, down to its very length and breadth, recorded in the Report of Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland corroborating the oral tradition of the parish.

Translation has weakened the strength of the original Gaelic, “dh’fhalbh na daoine as a’ bhaile,” to the bland English, “the inhabitants have left this village.” Leave it they had, over ten years before, under duress, so that when the Ordnance Survey came round, there were only strangers there. Christopher Macrae came from Kintail, and he had lived in Harris as recently as 1846, we know from census information that he had come to Mealista in 1848 , to the farm which was then a part of the large sheep farm of Hushinish. As for Alan Ross, his is a very well-known name in Lewis history. He was from Lochs, a Gaelic teacher, catechist and later Inspector of Poor for the parish of Lochs, with his home in Keose. He’s not listed as working with the Survey, nor was he the teacher in Breanish, so we can only speculate on what he was doing in Mealista at the time. We’ll never know but we can be sure that neither informant had much local knowledge, other than hearsay. Mealista “exiles” living down the road in Breanish would surely have known more but none of them were informants and then again, we have to remember that the OS were collecting place names, not recording history, although it would have been more useful to us now if some of the effort and space taken up by their elaborate columns had been used to do so.

The entry for Tigh nan Cailleachan Dubha from the same source reads: “A nunnery which was occupied by the order of the Black Nuns, and concerning which no information can be obtained, beyond a number of chessmen having been found in its ruins about 70 years ago which were in good preservation. They were sold to a society of antiquaries in Edinburgh and brought a good price. Nothing remains of it but the site.” Don’t both Mealista entries, with their insistence on no further information, have a casual “don’t bother us” air about them? The Bealach Ban entry, although inaccurate in the detail, clearly ties the find spot of the Chessmen to the obscure hollow in Ardroil machair and also, what dyed in the wool Uigeach, either in 1850 or nowadays, would leave sheep out of things?

The evidence for Mealista, in this Mealista v. Ardroil case, is the Place Name book entries and Captain Ryrie’s remark, both from strangers to Uig, who can have had only brief contact here. On the other hand, there’s contemporary evidence for the Bealach Ban: the minister in the vicinity at the actual time of the find, writing his report for the Statistical Account within four years; Donald Morrison, An Cubair Ban, from the Loch Resort area and living in Stornoway, who died in the 1840s and who produced the first written account of the oral tradition of Uig; the known facts concerning Malcolm Macleod, the finder; plus the rich oral Gaelic tradition handed down to us over generations. Doesn’t the case for Mealista close itself with that essentially Scottish verdict: Not Proven.

As for the Place Name book, my verdict on that is the same finishing as it was at the start: it’s not a reliable source for local history, but is a valuable treasury of Gaelic place names. What looking through it has done, is to leave me with a re-awakened sense of the devastating impact clearance had on Uig. These two fertile villages, with their evidence of early civilisation, and many more, were emptied of their people and left with no one but strangers to speak for them.

©Anna Mackinnon

The National Trust for Scotland is recruiting for an Archaeologist based in Inverness and on St Kilda. St Kilda has an outstanding historic environment dominated by 19th & 20th century remains with a time-depth that belies the archipelagos remote North Atlantic position and it is the only mixed heritage site in the UK. Working with volunteers and visitors, this is a rare opportunity to work on a remote and spectacular island archipelago.

The post holder will be required to monitor archaeological remains, undertake practical interventions and supervise volunteers and contractors as necessary; to update the Sites and Monuments Record, produce reports and undertake research; and to liaise with Historic Scotland, part-funders for this post, and other partners and stakeholders in the management and conservation of the World Heritage Site.

To be successful in the role, you will have a degree in archaeology or related subject, strong communication skills, be a team player and have a proven track record in field work and conservation, with experience of building recording and practical building skills considered as an advantage. In addition, you will be self motivated and capable of living and working in a remote environment, and on occasion, working alone. The post also includes some weekend and evening work.

Applicants must also be confident in their personal physical abilities as the role requires considerable crossing of remote, rugged terrain in all weathers. Vehicular access to many parts of the island is not possible or appropriate for conservation reasons.

For more details and to apply see the job advert; the closing date is 26 Feb 2010.  St Kilda is also seeking a volunteer mousecatcher.

The Island of Lewis offers a remarkably wide field of investigation to ethnologists in view of the marked diversity of types. Dr Beddoe, whose authority will be acknowledged, suggested that one of these types, “a short, thick-set, snub-nosed, dark-haired and even dark-eyed race” was probably aboriginal and probably Finnish. Have we here the descendents of the so-called Pigmies? The Laplanders or true Finns have certainly some physical affinities with the short and dark type of Lewisman (a type which is but sparsely represented on the island); while the gammar or huts of the Lapps, as described by travellers, bear a resemblance to the Luchruban [as the island is also known] structure, as it must have been originally designed. Customs lingered in Lewis as recently as the 18th century, or even the 19th century, which have elsewhere been regarded as peculiar to Lapland. And Professor Sven Nilssen (The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia) shows convincingly I think that the pigmies of tradition and dwarfs of the Sagas belonged to the same race as the Laplanders of the present day. Moreover the well-authenticated traditions in Shetland about Finn-men apparently offer corroboration of the view that the “little men” of this island were of Finnish or Lapponic origin. The Firbolg, the short dark men of Irish tradition who were driven from Ireland to the Hebrides by the Tuatha de Danaan, represent, not improbably, the same race.¹ Dun Fhirbolg in St Kilda may be of some ethnological value.

It is a noteworthy fact that while Highland folklore is full of the Famhairean (the Irish Fomorians) or giants, there is an absence of complimentary Luchrubain or dwarfs. How is this to be accounted for? May it not be that they are represented by our old friends the fairies, who, by the way are sometimes called the Daoine Beaga, the ancient name of the Pigmies Isle?  It is impossible to elaborate this suggestion here, but I may mention one fact concerming the Lewis fairies. One of their names is Muinntir Fhionnlagh, translated as the Finlay people, a title which as applied to fairies baffles Lewis folklorists. I venture to suggest that this name means “the little Finn people” and that it unites the Finnish aborigines with the “good little people” of fairy lore who dwell in the bowels of green hills, like Luchruban, and practice uncanny arts like the Lapland wizards.

Note: 1. It may be observed that in Foley’s Dictionary one of the Irish names for pigmie is Leappacán. [hence Luchrubàn and Leprechaun]

A more recent examination of Eilean nan Luchrubain (with pictures) was carried out by the STAC project, 2003-5.

From Dave Roberts, first published in Uig News. Thanks to Andrew McVean for the photo of Carol Knott excavating at Kneep Headland.

In the middle of January fragments of human bones began to appear in large numbers on the surface of the sand at Kneep headland. The location was very close to the three burials that were examined there in January 2009. I called the local authority Archaeologist Deborah Anderson to report them. This is what anyone who notices any eroded human bones, or any archaeological remains, should do. She organised with Historic Scotland for an archaeologist to visit the site, and assess the situation. Carol Knott came out and proceeded, with my help, to excavate the burial. We spent a very cold few days on the job.

Until a report is published it is not wise to make statements about e xactly what was found. However we can say that there was a disturbed grave that contained an incomplete adult skeleton, and below that there was what appeared to be a complete skeleton of a baby. Whether the two were associated, and whether the burials took place at the same time, at this stage it is not possible to say. At the moment, it is very difficult to be certain about the date of the burials. Because of their position I would guess that they are probably Bronze Age, and associated with the already dated Bronze Age cairn.  This would make them very roughly 3000 years old. Analyses of the bone and soil samples and radio-carbon dating would answer these questions. Unfortunately, in the present economic climate it may not be possible to carry out a complete analysis of the remains from either the 2009 or the 2010 excavations.

Once again these recent discoveries highlight the importance of the Cnip headland as a place to respect, as it is a significant ancient burial ground.

These two skeletons bring to 16 the number of burials found at Cnip headland so far.  information about the 2009 excavation is given here. That was almost exactly a year ago: it’s the winter winds that are exposing the burials.

The cause of my sadness is the mill’s decline,
Not getting what I need for my baking.
-Calum Ruairidh Bhàin (Calum Mackay, Bragar)

The Norse Mills of Lewis by Dr Finlay Macleod (Acair, 2009) is surely the most comprehensive volume imaginable on our horizontal mills – including their construction and use, context in world history, references in bàrdachd, photos and a complete (?) annotated list of all known mills on the Island.  Uig has the greatest concentration.  An exhibition of Dr Finlay’s research opens in the main gallery at An Lanntair in Stornoway on 12 October.

The book is available in English or Gaelic from local shops, our museum, Acair or directly from us for £15, p&p free.  Below is an example of a single mill entry, in this case our Muileann a’ Mhinisteir (the Minister’s Mill) on the north edge of Glen Valtos (illustrated above and more pictures here).

Muileann a’ Mhinisteir

This one is located high above Gleann Bhaltois in what seems to be rather an unusual site for a mill. It is west of a stream running south from Loch a’ Gheòidh and above a sheer drop where the stream cascades down the north side of the glen.  From below, it seems a most precarious situation. On site, little remains of the small underhouse which is built into the rock with large stones. The lower millstone rests with its atypically small rynd-bed. A second lower millstone is broken in two, with one half used in the wall and the other half inside, with clear jumper chisel cut-marks on its eye. The lade is well-built, with a stone base and a good drop; it runs west of the stream and there is a dam on the loch. NB 075346.

We have extracted from Dr Finlay’s book a list of the 67 recorded Uig mills to visit, for you new millbaggers.

A stone mould for a crusie, an oil lamp of ancient design once in common use throughout the Hebrides.This mould, of unknown provenance, is in our museum collection but unfortunately we don’t have a crusie itself, much as we would love to.  (This piece is the first in an occasional series on objects in our collection.)  From Highland Folk Ways, Isabel F Grant (1961):

Crusies were mainly used in the islands and the coastwise districts because fish oil was the usual illuminant (although mutton fat might be used). The crusie consisted of two leaf-shaped vessels, the upper one fixed on a ratchet above the lower one, so that the drip should be caught and the crusie could be tilted forward to use every drop of the oil. I have been told that peeling the rushes which were used as wicks was one of the children’s jobs. A thin sliver of the outside was always left to prevent the pith from breaking. Occasionally square crusies were made with four lips and I have been told that these were used by craftsmen.

To make crusies a thin plate of iron was hammered into a mould and some Highland blacksmiths had such a mould in the corner of their anvils, but I had a crusie-mould made of stone that came from the island of Tiree. Crusies vary much in shape, some clumsy, others elegant, and also in the amount of iron used in their making. A few have decorative curley-worleys on the back of the crusie. I have, however, twice come across crusies made out of a natural knot of firewood, one of the many devices for economising the use of iron, and I have seen a prehistoric stone lamp that had evidently been used in later times. Middle-aged people [in 1961] can remember when crusies were still sometimes used to light byres or threshing barns.

One notable difference in the Hebrides was the use of bird oil in the lamps.

A study of the crusie, particularly in its Zetlandic form and Norse origins, was made by Gilbert Goudie for the Scottish Society of Antiquities and published by in the Proceedings of the Society of 23 January 1888:

The Crusie, like many articles indispensable at one time in domestic use, has passed quietly out of view, superseded by more modern appliances. Too common, too trivial for the notice of the historian, it has left in its demise scarcely so much as an epitaph. The name, and a vague impression of what it may have been, is perhaps all that is known of it to the younger grade of the present generation.

Turning to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th edition, we find the following description of the primitive lamp of this country:-

The simple form which was used down to the end of the eighteenth century, and which as a ‘crusie’ continued in common use in Scotland till the middle of this century, illustrates the most elementary and most imperfect arrangement of a lamp. Here, as in the lamps of antiquity, the oil vessel lies immediately behind the burning point of the wick, with which the oil is about level when the reservoir is full. The wick is a round soft cord or fibrous mass. Such a lamp has no merit but simplicity. The light is thrown only forward and to the sides, the back being entirely in shadow. The wick, being a round solid mass, takes up the oil equally at the centre and circumference; but to the outer edges of the flame only is there any access of air; consequently combustion in the centre is imperfect, resulting in a smoky, unsteady flame, and a discharge into the atmosphere of the acrid products of destructive distillation. Further as the level of oil sinks in the reservoir, the wick has to feed the flame a greater distance by mere capillary force, and, the supply thus diminishing, the light decreases in proportion.

Such is the latest, and probably the fullest and most authentic description of the old Scottish lamp available for general readers; and though imperfect, and with some slight misunderstandings, it is fairly accurate. But no drawing is given, and the precise form and dimensions are open to conjecture.

In the Rhind “Lectures in Archaeology,” 1876, Sir Arthur Mitchell alludes to the rapid extinction of the crusie, and two examples are figured. Since then attention has twice been directed to it before English societies; but though vast numbers of these lamps were, at no great distance of time, in use in Scotland, and several stray samples have found their way into the Museum, no account of them has ever appeared in the Proceedings of this Society. I desire therefore to put a description on record here, based upon personal acquaintance with the illustrated by examples in the Museum and in my own possession here exhibited.

The examples in the Museum are the following, viz:

Crusies of Iron, with Hooks for Suspension.
1-7. Crusies (one with iron stand) localities unknown.
8. Crusie, Lindores, Fifeshire, 1876.
9. Do. Burraland, Sandwick, Shetland.
10. Do. Shetland, probably Fair Isle, 1883.
11. Crusie, Sumburgh, Shetland, 1883.
12. Do. Stonybrake, Fair Isle, Shetland, 1883.
13. Do. Upper shell, locality unknown.
14. Do. North Uist
15. Do. Burra Isle, Shetland, 1887.
16. Do. Aboyne, 1883.
17. Do. Brass, with initials, Dundee, 1883.
18. Do. Square-shaped, locality unknown, 1883.
19. Do. Iron, with wooden pin, locality unknown. 1884.

Of these nineteen the localities of nine are known, five of them being from Shetland, and the rest from different parts of Scotland, viz. Lindores, Dundee, North Uist, Aboyne. Not a single example comes from south of the Forth, though it is as nearly as possible certain that the lamp in this form was common from one end of the country to the other. In the Shetland Islands, as may be inferred from the predominance of preserved examples, it was in constant if not universal use, under the local name of kollie, until within a quarter of a century past, when a tin lamp, in form resembling a coffee pot, was introduced, supplanted in turn by a cheap form of the ordinary paraffin lamp.

In every case of the examples shown, it will be observed that the crusie consists of an upper and under shell, the upper acting as the oil reservoir, and the under one serving the purpose of catching any dripping or overflowing from it. The under shell and the upright back were usually made in one piece. The upper shell was a separate and somewhat smaller vessel, suspended on the toothed or notched bar which projected forwards from the back, at right angles, or on an upward incline. The back was always bent forwards at the top, and terminated with an attached hook, so as to adjust itself to the centre of gravity when in suspension. The kollie in Shetland was always the manufacture of the village or district blacksmith and never, so far as known, imported. Its successor, the tin lamp, was the work of the tinker.

Attention is directed to the simple but ingenious contrivance for keeping the oil for consumption at a nearly uniform level while the waste by burning of the wick goes on. This is accomplished by the mere movement from notch to notch on the projecting bar of the upper shell which contains the oil supply. The effect is to elevate the back and, by consequence, to depress the front of the shell, thus equalising the level of the oil at the front of the nozzle from which the burning wick protrudes, so long as the oil lasts. The writer of the article in Encyclopaedia Britannica, before referred to, seems unaware of this contrivance, and represents the wick, which the oil is low, as being fed by mere capillary action. The wick was usually of cotton, or native worsted yarn [and in the Highlands, the pith of rushes] and as it gradually burnt down, was trimmed and pushed to the front of the nozzle by a slight wooden pin, which, for the purpose, lay in reserve in the upper shell. When not carried in the hand, the kollie was usually hung upon a nail, or suspended on a cord, by the small iron hook which formed the upper portion of the back. In many specimens this hook has now perished.

In the course of last Session of the Society, I placed in the Museum a decayed and wasted specimen of the Shetland kollie, but one possessed of some special interest.  This specimen was picked up in the island of Houss (Burra Isle), Shetland, in 1877, cast out of doors, discarded, useless. The owner, Mr John Inkster, now deceased, informed me that it had been made about fifty years previously by a smith in the parish of Dunrossness, well known to myself; from whom, curiously enough, I had secured the veritable stone mould in which, in his early days, he had played the village Vulcan, in the manufacture of kollies as occasion required. In this mould then, which is also now before us, and added to the Museum, I have therefore confidence in believing that the lamp in my hands was made more than half a century ago.

Some friends, whose opinion was entitled to respect, were for a time sceptical regarding the claims of this stone to be a crusie mould. A similar stone from Orkney, which had been long in the Museum, had been regarded, in the absence of more definite proof, as a mould for metal mirrors of primeval type. The subsequent arrival of a similar mould, in 1884, from the island of North Uist, and of another, since then, from Orkney, couple with my own personal testimony, put the matter beyond a doubt.

Separate moulds are recessed in either side of the stone. The large is obviously for the first rough shaping of the sheet of iron; the smaller, which is more distinctly formed to the outline of, especially the upper shell, is for completing the later stages of manufacture. After all this lapse of years, it will be observed that the lamp, expanded and battered by use and exposure, still coincides pretty closely with the matrix in which it was originally hammered out.

The measurement of this crusie is as follows, viz: – Total length or height of back, 7½ inches; length of upper shell, 5½ inches; depth of cavity of uppoer shell, 1 inch; width of upper shell, 4½ inches. The undershell is very slightly larger than the upper.

It may be stated, without entering into further details of measurement, that most other crusies known are of the same general type and dimensions, though it will be understood that the taste of the maker, quantity of metal at command, and the requirements of the purchaser would have a varying effect in every individual case. Usually crusies were of thin iron, but an article of a higher class was occasionally produced of copper.  Another variety is that in which the upper shell is covered with a metal lid attached to the upright back by hinges, of which several examples are in the Museum

In the Shetland Islands, up to a recent period, imported oil was almost unknown. Oil, of home manufacture, from fish livers, was the article in almost universal use…

In the foregoing remarks I have used indifferently the better known Scottish word crusie, and the the peculiarly Shetland term for the same thing, kollie. The latter may seem somewhat barbarous, but its origin is pure. It is the simple Icelandic kola; and here etymological science comes in to the aid of archaeology, for the occurrence of this primitive unadulterated root word in such early writings as the Sturlunga Saga, Vilkins maldagi and the Gisla Saga, proves the enormous antiquity of our humbe kollie, even if there were no other evidence; and indicates besides that in Orkney and Shetland its introduction is due to Northman influence rather than to the Scottish side.

It is scarcely necessary, in conclusion, to allude to the Greek and Roman lamp, which both in metal and in the graceful forms of pottery, is essentially of the same type, though less complete. Lamps similar to those under consideration were known from the earlies times in Italy and other countries; and in recent times in Iceland, the Scilly Isles, in France, Algiers and elsewhere. It ought to be observed, however, that the Continental form, like the ancient Roman, has only a single shell, whereas the special characteristic of the modern Scottish form is that it is double-shelled… The notched bar, for the regulated suspension of the upper shell, marks the uniqueness, so far as known, of the Scottish crusie.

A number of archaeological finds collected by the McVean family in Uig and handed to Museum nan Eilean for Treasure Trove are on loan to Uig Museum and currently on display.

Several of the artefacts were found at Mealista eroding from a midden on the beach.  There is a bronze-age barbed and tanged arrowhead made of flint (1800BC-800BC), which is large compared to others found in the Western Isles and may have been imported. Flint does not occur locally other than as beach pebbles left behind as glacial alluvial. There are also two small banded sandstone tools:  one is a flake and may have been used as a blade and the other may have been used as a crude scraper for the preparation of animal skin.  The bird beak may be simply the remains of someone’s meal but could have been used as a piercer to make holes in cloth and leather. The other bone shows no sign of any use.

The second set of finds consists of two stone tools and 15 fragments of pottery from Traigh na Cille on Pabbay Mor. The round tool has peck marks that run around the middle of the pebble; we cannot be sure what its function was. Perhaps it was used as a rubbing tool or the rough surface was created to hold rope in place as a weight. The oval shaped pebble has peck marks in the centre on both sides. Had the people who made it intended to pierce it and use it as a net weight? Again we cannot be sure of its function.  The pottery is from a cylindrical pot that tapered at its base. It is pierced with several holes; were these holes for a running repair, perhaps where a split in the fabric had occurred? Or were they used as hanging points, for suspending the pot over a fire? The pot was certainly used on a fire as you can see heavy sooty deposits on the surface. Dating the finds precisely is difficult, but they come from the late bronze/early iron age period (800BC – 600AD).

Under the law of Treasure Trove in Scotland, the Crown can claim, on behalf of the nation, any object or coin found in Scotland under the laws of Bona Vacantia. These laws apply to all newly discovered finds and to all old finds which have not been reported, whether they have been found by metal detecting, by chance, by fieldwalking or by archaeological excavation. Finders have no ownership rights to any finds they make in Scotland and all finds, with the exception of Victorian and 20th century coins, must be reported to the Treasure Trove Unit for assessment. Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway acts as the local liaison (more information here).

The objects are open for interpretation while they await formal assessment by the Treasure Trove team, so come along to offer your suggestions.  Thanks to Museum nan Eilean and especially Mark Elliot for arranging the loan.