Blackhouses In Garenin On History To Island Of Lewis Outer Hebrides Of Scotland

Tour Scotland short travel video clip, with Scottish music, of traditional blackhouses on ancestry, genealogy, history visit to the village of Garenin, Scottish Gaelic: Na Gearrannan, on the Island Of Lewis, Outer Hebrides. The origin of the name blackhouse is of some debate. It could be less than 150 years old and may have been synonymous with inferior. On the Isle of Lewis, in particular, it seems to have been used to distinguish the older blackhouses from some of the newer white houses with their harled stone walls. There may also be some confusion arising from the phonetic similarity between the dubh, meaning black, and tughadh, meaning thatch. The blackhouses on Lewis have roofs thatched with cereal straw over turf and thick, stone-lined walls with an earthen core. Roof timbers rise from the inner face of the walls providing a characteristic ledge at the wall head or tobhta. This gives access to the roof for thatching. Both the animals and occupants shared the same door, living at different ends of the same space. Several long ranges, or rooms, were usually built alongside each other, each one having its own ridgeline giving them the very distinctive look of the Lewis blackhouse. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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