Highland Folk Museum

We have always been fascinated by museums that collect buildings, as well as objects.  The first I can remember seeing with Bill was Greenfield Village in Michigan, where Henry Ford put his buildings collection. Since then, we have visited  every one we have found. So it was a given that the Highland Folk museum would be on our list when we had a non-rainy day.

The Highland Folk museum is divided into four sections: Aultlarie Croft, Balameanach, a traditional village, Pinewoods and Baile Gean, a settlement from the early 1700.  Most of the buildings are originals transported and rebuilt on site.  A very few are new, built from pictures of the times.

Harvested grain and wheat were stored on a wooden platform on these stools.  They allowed for air circulation, while the rounded tops helped keep vermin out of the crops.

Shepard's Bothy surrounded by stone walls. 

A local talking to the tourist.

Steam powered tractor; they have two of them.

The crofters were mainly farmers and shepherds, who worked for the land, paying rent to the landowner.  We've seen several examples of the crofters thanking the landowners for lowering the rents on years when the crops were not good.

A Highland cottage, rebuilt from a 1929 picture.

A Box bed kept one warmer by closing the door. We saw several variations of this style, with this one being the most posh.

The village houses and shops were more substantial in build and style.  There is a school, church, Tweed makers cottage, tailor's shop, blacksmith and Joiner's workshop.

The Clock makers workshop, where he also repaired bicycles.

A home furnished in 1920's style.  

The Tailor's shop,  complete with his hand drawn patterns.

The Joiner's workshop owned by Donald Fraser.  Since I have Frasers in my family tree as well as carpenters, I've claimed him as a relative!

A walk through the pinewoods brought us to sawmill from the Ardverikie Estate.  It was originally powered by water, but is now set up without the power.

It's not a real person, though I had to look twice to be sure.

Baile Gean is a 1700's township which has been excavated and moved to this site.  The houses were, we thought, very primitive by comparison to others we have seen.  It made us realize why people were maybe more willing to take a chance in the assorted British colonies, even if one had to become indentured to make it there.  Seven years service with a chance to then be your own boss, as opposed to staying here and working for someone else forever.

An upper middle class house; only 25 extended family members would live here, as well as the cows on one side during the winter.  The box beds in this house slept 5, so no rolling over allowed!

The smaller the house, the poorer the people.

A docent in the largest house, where a fire was always kept going, meaning the  people always were breathing in smoke.  No wonder they died young as a rule.

Smoke would come through the roof, as there was no chimney.

The interior walls of some of the houses was wattle and daub, which would keep some of the cold out.  There was no lighting, except for the doorway and the fire.  This small room had a window which opened onto the entry area. All the floors were dirt.