Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-08-22


From the @. James 0asstta
Iwill describe typical Idrigal house, which
h occupied BY the aged daughter and three
gr0wn-up grandchildren Of fisherman named
John Macdonald, who has been dead for many
yearA Tho croft upon which It stands slopea
southward toward the bay Of Dig. and IL one OF
some $50 that belong to Major Fraser, of XII.
tent and ns az rssSsr In
than 20; temporary reduction Of Is per cent
on that sum having, however, been conceded
Near the center II the
sticky mud; and amid the slough are two very
sman stacks OF corn. each about nine feet high
cred with old nets to prevent their beinS scat.
Tered TO the winds. Close at hand Is the
house. building of rough, unmortared stone
and very tkickiy rooted; ' fiTst, With sday.
Of heather, and finally with fragments of coarse
door is broken, and will not shut properly; there
ls NO CHIMNEY; and the sole window, consisting
11 mora s tsa pane Of glass has an area Of mol
way, ana nom small hole in the low roof
.a OF peat smoke escape; and when en-.
terea the nut could not for several minutes
fumes that rose from a scanty fire smouiderine
on the door in the middle Of the gloomy room.
AZ iast my eyes became accustomed to the
semfoarkness, and was able to make out the
forms OF the inmates Of the howell. They sat
huddled together on low black settle, warm.
ing themselves, and greedily watching bat.
tered pot that, suspended from an improvised
tripod ABOVE the fire, contained q quantity OF
thin broth, the main Ingredients of which
were, as afterward discovered, potatoes and
shared the poor peoples meal Of broth and
Saten cake, while the smoke curled upward and
the Whole IN with sR t6ap
fshing-nets and the tattered oilskins on the
walls, an interior which Teniers would have de.
me scene. There was no table; but at one end
OF the room there was shaky dresser on which
was arranged poor display Of cracked crockery
ana rusty Tins. The inside of the house was
divided by means of rotten partitions about
SIX Ieet In height into three small chambers.
one peing the living room, second bed room,
PED room the clothes were simply old rags and
sacklng, barely sufficient to cover poor human.
iy, and the floor Throughout was formed, SO
house of the Macdonalds was a palace in COM
parlson with some Of the huts visited else
where. One had neither door nor window. I
crawled into it through an irregular aperture
less than three feet high, and found myself
mong some ducks that were picking up scraps
floor was Uttered The sole tenant Of this hovei
was an old woman who had hacking cough.
In another hut the rain.water dripped from the
which seven people sat crouching.
one might reasonably expect TO find that the
people VINO live In such wretchedness are
ENoA1oN "uo ~ ikiooAlhs. But tney are not.
They are q thick-set, Intelligent race, and some
of the girls are models of b1xomness althoug b
before middle-age all the women become with
cred. They are long-lived, too. Their faults
are that they are Idle and saturated with super
stition and prejudice. In only one out Of at
least score of crofters' houses which entered
did see any sign that the inmates regularly
devoted themselves to remunerative home en-
ployment. In that one, two women were
weaving home-spun tweed. aud capital cloth
they made on their awkward loom. am glad
10 pc able to say that most of the Skye land-
lords wear this tweed when they can get it: but
II there were a wider demand there would
be larger supply, and the islanders would he
proportionateiy benefited. Until quite recently
there were weavers in almost every township,
and the art might be easily revived. The
cr01ters can now get cheaper material for the M
selves from Manchester, and it is almost excltl.
siyely the richer classes who use tweed Of the
island.