Under Reconstruction
by Bob • 3 September 2017 • 0 Comments
Please Note: This site is currently undergoing updating, redesign and reconstruction.
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Comann Eachdraidh Uig
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The Old Lewis House: A View from 1902
by admin • 17 February 2012 • 2 Comments
The Report on the Social Conditions of the People of Lewis (1902) by the Crofters Commission gives a detailed account of the traditional Lewis blackhouse, which agitated the minds of reformers from Sir James Matheson onward, and the measures taken from about 1880 to improve it, particularly with regard to sanitation.
Read more →Walrus Notes
by admin • 5 February 2012 • 0 Comments
Reef Gallery
by admin • 4 February 2012 • 0 Comments
A Letter from Dolly Doctor
by admin • 28 January 2012 • 0 Comments
A short letter from Dolly Doctor to another great Uig historian, Murdo Macleod (Murchadh Chaluim Sheoras, Crowlista and Glasgow), about the old Stornoway Castle and DD’s activities with the Old Folks Association and his Folk Museum.
Read more →Suileachan: the Reef Monument
by admin • 26 January 2012 • 1 Comment
Work is underway in Reef on a new commemorative landmark commissioned by the Bhaltos Community Trust to mark the impact of land reform in Uig and throughout the island. The monument has been designed by Will Maclean and Marion Leven, who also created those at Pairc, Aignish and Gress.
Read more →FilmG 2012: The Uig Collection
by admin • 24 January 2012 • 2 Comments
This year’s entries to the FilmG Gaelic Shorts competition include (as usual) several with Uig connections, including an atmospheric look around the Established Church at Baile na Cille, just prior to its imminent renovation.
Read more →A Comment on Pew Graffiti
by admin • 23 January 2012 • 0 Comments
We’ve been recording the abundant pew graffiti in Baile na Cille church – it’s a common phenomenon, evidently. Here are some thoughts on the motivation behind the scratching.
Read more →Congested Bulls
by admin • 20 January 2012 • 0 Comments
One of the popular schemes of the Congested Districts Board (1898-1912) was the provision of bulls, rams and stallions, on loan, to crofting parishes where the stock was in need of improvement. Uig did particularly well on the bulls, it seems.
Read more →Uig in Old Norse
by admin • 18 January 2012 • 4 Comments
Enormous thanks to Angus Macdonald for this splendid map of Uig, with Norse place names.
Read more →Old Mangersta
by admin • 13 January 2012 • 3 Comments
Mangersta, like most occupied townships in Lewis, was relotted in 1849, with 15 crofts laid out and tenancies and rents allocated. Here we give the full tenant list for 1849-50, with tenancy and family changes up to the (voluntary) clearing of the village in 1872, when the people went mostly to Doune Carloway.
Read more →Spring Cleaning in 1851
by admin • 9 January 2012 • 0 Comments
The late 1840s were years of desperation in Lewis (as elsewhere), with much of the population near to starvation and dependent on ‘destitution meal’ from the Proprietor. The solution that presented itself was assisted and effectively compulsory emigration; here are the numbers fixed on for emigration from Uig in 1851.
Read more →A Late Hogmanay
by admin • 9 January 2012 • 1 Comment
This recent Hogmanay fell on a Sunday, so the fireworks in Stornoway finished at 11pm on New Year’s Eve, and most celebrations were delayed to the Monday. Forty years ago, the same applied.
Read more →Twitchers of 1865
by admin • 28 December 2011 • 0 Comments
From the Royal Edinburgh Society, an account of birds observed or discussed by Professor Duns during a visit to Lewis in 1865, when birding was largely about shooting. Includes a comprehensive species list and a theory on why house-sparrows dislike blackhouses.
Read more →26 Treasures, including some Chessmen
by admin • 1 December 2011 • 0 Comments
26 Treasures brings together 26 writers, responding in 62 words to selected objects from the National Museum of Scotland. Amongst the inspirations are the Uig Chessmen. Exhibition on at NMS from 1 Dec 2011 to 29 Jan 2012.
Read more →The Chessmen in New York
by admin • 20 November 2011 • 1 Comment
Following their Scottish tour, which culminated in a day’s ceilidh in Uig, some of the Chessmen have gone over the water for a winter at the Met.
Read more →Cleidir Fank, 1975
by admin • 21 September 2011 • 1 Comment
Cait’ a’ bheil seo?
by admin • 19 September 2011 • 7 Comments
This photo of a lovely blackhouse was taken by DJ Maclean, who was headmaster at Valtos School. It is obviously somewhere in Lewis, though not necessarily in Uig and we certainly can’t place it.
Read more →Long Sermons and Sharp Pen-Knives, and Baile na Cille Notes
by admin • 9 September 2011 • 0 Comments
Baile na Cille Church is in private ownership now and renovation work will start fairly soon, but with the public opening as part of Doors Open Days we’ve had an opportunity to explore the building in some detail. One of the most personal touches is the large variety of names and initials carved on the pews by (mostly) boys.
Read more →Rev MacFarlane’s 25th Anniversary
by admin • 5 September 2011 • 0 Comments
A fine photo of Baile na Cille kirk session. Taken in 1976 at the 25th Anniversary presentation for Rev Angus Macfarlane, Baile na Cille. Rev Macfarlane retired in 1979, at which point the congregation merged with that of the Miavaig church.
Read more →The Chessmen: Home for a Day
by admin • 5 September 2011 • 0 Comments
Six Lewis Chessmen from the collections of National Museums Scotland and the British Museum are to go on display for a short time at Uig Museum on Tuesday 13 September. All welcome, admission free.
Read more →Stac Dhomhnaill Chaim in 1849
by admin • 30 August 2011 • 0 Comments
This drawing of Stac Dhomhnaill Chaim – the fortified rock on the Mangersta coast, in which Donald Cam Macaulay lived – is from 1849 and shows the crumbly access to the stack even then.
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