III. NOTIC BEEHIVF EO E HOUSE HARRIN SI LEWISD SAN ; WITH TRA- DITION"E EACH-UISGE,TH F SO WATER-HORSER "O , CONNECTED THEREWITH. BY COMMANDE . THOMASL . W . F R , R.N. (PAR) I. T e studenTh f Iriso t h antiquitie s awarei s , that unde name rth beef eo - hive houses, cloghauns, oratories, &c., the ancient habitations of the Irish people exis considerabln i t e number goon i d d an spreservation I ; do not learn that this class of dwellings is now inhabited in any part of Ireland, but in Lewis and Harris we have buildings identical in form and size, where they are the summer abodes of the people at the present day, so that we witness in the Long Island the expiring modes and habits of the Celtic race as they have been practised for two thousand years. stationes wa I d last summe border e Forese th th n f f Harris,o r o so t — a mountainous region bar f treeso e t witbu ,h abundanc f excelleneo t pasture ,wholl w whicno s yhi abandone o sheedt d deerpan . Alonl al g the shores, the ruins of the cottages and the deep furrows of the "feannag"—most inappropriately called "lazy-beds, e inventoth s a " r of that term would find, if he had to carry the seaware that serves for manure on his back from the shore up the steep and rugged brae—are seen, and the green sward still springs where the cattle have pastured and tros rud a tortuoud ha d: en an ma fooe sf th o tdike , followin e coasth g t at the distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile, enclosed what was the farm fromooe mth r hill o r . Loch Meabha narroa s gi w creek running five- sixth mila f seo inte lands stiloi th t i l; green upon both shores from the labours of a former peasantry, but a solitary gamekeeper's lodge is now the only sign of human life. I was informed that on the moor, about hal mila f e fro e heam th f thido s loch, circulaa ther s ewa r house,' roofed entirely with stone and without a bit of wood in its construction. 8 12 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO YO On visitin place gth e indicated, .I foun beehive-houseso tw d thef o e m on ; (Plate X. quits ,i fig) 1 e. complet othee walle entired th th ean f t r so bu , (fig ) alon2 . eyardw remaife e sa situate ar t apart n; bu d the e an d,yar most romantically unde sheltee th rlaud-cliffa f ro , and, aalways si e sth e neighbourhoocaseth n i , f gooo d d pasture e grounTh . s heri d s a e rugged as usual, the (so-called) boulder clay is scraped up into a thousand little hills, and huge transported blocks of gneiss are scattered far and near. These " bothan," as they are called in Lewis, are from a short distance hardly to be distinguished from the granite blocks around, and in fact I was unsuccessful in rinding them on my first search. I lay before the Society plans and drawings of these interesting objects: No. 1 is entire—it is 18 feet in diameter on the outside, and 9 feet in height; ground-plae th irregulan a n s i (fig ) 3 . r circle e bas walle e th ear th ;t a s fee6 r to thick5 e thicknesth , s being fille witn di hjumbla f stoneeo s and turf. Abov heighe singla feeeth 3 e stone n i f th t o e t ar courses , and approximate in a conical or beehive form, to the apex, where the top is covered by a single stone (fig. 4). The doorway is rudely square, fee3 broadt2 higd n amorphouhan a : s sla f gneissbo n ,ma suca s ha could easily lift, serve e interiodoora r Th dfo . r chambe s sub-circulari r plane n shorteslongesti e th feeth 7 fee 8 n ,i d n t i t an t, diametersn I . sectio e chambeth n s sub-conicali r , rising almost perpendicularlr fo y feet3 , then quickly closing int centree oth , feewher6 heightn s i ti t ei . whole Th buils ei f rougo t h untrimrned block f gneisso s e debrith , f o s the glacial period. A very little utove ihu floor are four recesses or rude cupboards, frohala fooa md fooa f o an squaret tt . No, 2 is about four yards from No. 1, and the roof has fallen in, but the wall e stil ar sfee5 l n heighi t t I differt (fig. , 5) firsts1 . fro, No m thachambee walle th th tf o s r begi o closnt fron ei base-linee mth d an ; secondly havinn i , gprolongatioa n (fig , probabl6) . ysleeping-placea n o , one side. The chamber of No. 2 is circular in plan (fig. 6), and 6 fee n diameteri e west th t n a celsidO .s l i e 4| feet long, from 1£ to 2 feet broad, and 2 feet 4 inches in height: an elevation of this cell is shown on the drawing marked 5. The sides of the cell are forme placey db d rooe stonessingly th b f d ean , stones laid acrosse Th . e roug e th cel en r heath s ho i d l f larga faco d f eo e (naturally placed) transported bloc f gneissko t I migh. doubtee b t d whether anythino s g BEKU1VK HOUSES (BOTHAN) MKAUBAQ, FOREST OF HAKRIS Projr.ed'Lpr. <>i the i'-cci(jty ANTIQUARIE9 12 SCOTLANDF SO . rude could be a bed-place, yet the man is supposed to be still alive who r otheo e f thes o rlighe on th e n i tfirsw bothan,sa t s mothehi 1 r being the wife of the tenant of Meabhag. Besides, the following information, which I had from an eye-witness, throws considerable light on the domestic arrangement dormitoriad san l requirement e lasth t f raco s f eo modern Highlanders, andI believe s a , f tho ,e ancient Pict Scotsd an s . districe Th Barvaf o tLewie th Lewin sy i sb , peoplsis e themselves, con- sidered to be inhabited by a race distinct from those in the rest of the island—that is, they are dark, short, square, ugly, large-bellied, and with much cunning tinder a'foolish exterior; themore saib e yar o edt back- ward than the rest, so that the " Taobh s'iar" (Taobh n'iar), " west side," which does not include Uig, is proverbially connected with dirt and slovenliness n thiI .s par f Lewio t s alone remain custoe sth leavinf mo g a hole in the thickness of the wall for a dormitory: it is flagged of course, about 3 feet broad, and a foot and a half high, and long or deep . Intin e oli thio t sn strangma enoug a r e fo hhole e persoth o , wh n would sleep gets in " feet foremost," sometimes by the help of a rope from above s heahi , d e e moutholelyinth th t f a ;go h tho holr o e fee5 r to frodormitory4 e floor mth e I presumb . y ma e this custom must hav verea y remote origint enablei d fore o t an ide,n on s m a su f ao of the domestic arrangements that took place in the most ancient stone dwellings in our island. 'nod di t y morfinI an d e bothae vicinitth n i nf Loc o y h Meabhag, thret bu e westwardmilee th o st , nea lakra e from whence runs Avon Suidh, is the ruin of a both, remarkable for a combination of the circular or beehive house with the oblong square or ordinary form. e squarTh dwelline parth f o t g containe dchambea f rfee 5 9- x Jt with small cupboards on three sides; it was roofed with timber; the walls are fee8 thicknesn froi o tt m5 verd san y rudel side yf thi on eo built o s T . square a" circular and stone-roofed building has been attached, and it contains a sleeping-place like that described in No. 2. A. doorway but inche2 1 s wide allows communication wit e squarth h e chambers i t I . difficult to conceive a ruder dwelling, yet it must have been inhabited to a late period, for the remains of the thatch and rafters are still there. 1 Both, pi. Bothan. I VOL . III. PAR . T 130 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF I learn froassistanty m r MorrisonM , , himsel a nativf f Lewiso e , that in summer the people, usually women, leave their permanent cottages by the shore, and come with their cattle to grassy spots, called in Gaelic gearraidhean, n Norsi 1 e setters. Thes usualle ear y beside burea th t na bottom of some glen or valley, and here they remain making butter and cheese from July till August, during which time they dwell in these circular stone-roofed houses, called boths, bothan n timber-roofei r o , d ones, called airidh, aridhean bothe consideree Th .sar muco ds h superior airdhsthe to ,tenant thathe thi tto Bernera sday s(in ) cast lotthemsfor . bothe seldoe Th sar m larger tha n fee n diameterte i t coveree ar d dan , entirely on the outside with green turf, except at the top, where a stone is placed or removed at pleasure.