Mary Ann's Cottage

[badger]

This will be opening again in June as usual and I wondered whether any orgers would be interested in becoming guides. It's only a few hours once a week in the afternoon and those who do it enjoy it - meeting visitors and telling them about Mary Ann and crofting. There are still many people who knew her and of course many more who know about crofting life so if any of you feel like helping out please PM me. If you don't know anything about it you can soon learn and it's very rewarding.

If you have never been there (and if you're local then it's time you did) you can read a bit here
http://www.caithness.org/community/museums/maryanncottage/index.htm

I'm always shocked by how many local people say they haven't been which is a shame. It's not a museum, it's Mary Ann's home as much as possible just like it was when she left having lived there most of her life. It was a hard life with few luxuries but they were healthy and content which is more than can be said for many these days.

[Torvaig]

I was born in my grandparents "but an' ben" which was just like Mary Ann's and which had all the acoutrements needed for the croft. The cottage was left empty for many years after my grandparents died but luckily it was bought by someone who wanted to live in it and it was so good to see a light in the window once again.

The main room was a kitchen/living room which housed the rayburn (used for all the cooking and baking) a dresser to hold all the dishes and several ornaments, a table and a mixture of armchairs and kitchen chairs. Grandad's armchair was next to the fire and next to his chair was the pail of peats for topping up the fire.

There was a shelf above the rayburn which held a couple of brass candlesticks, the tea caddy and various bits and pieces. Above the shelf was a large oval mirror and below was a long brass rod used for keeping towels, dish towels and socks dry! Along with the rail on the rayburn itself, the laundry dried as quick as in a tumble drier!

From this room there was a door to the "closad" which, although very small, housed two double beds end on to each other, a large chest of drawers and a kist. We were never allowed to look in the kist on our own but did get to see what was in it when supervised by Gran. It contained the Seaforth kilt etc., belonging to my Grandad. He fought in the first World War along with his two brothers, at least one of whom has their photograph in "The Sword of the North", a book written comemorating the role of Caithness in the war.

Only Grandad came back.

Through in the other end of the cottage was the "ben" room housing a double bed, another kist and I think a dressing table or maybe another chest of drawers. This room had an open fire which was used during the winter or when some of the family came back to Caithness for their holidays. It was the "good" room!

There were various outbuildings; a piggery, a byre (Gran milked the "coo" and made butter and crowdie) an outside lavatory (called 'e peedie hoosie) a stackyard for the hay, a "green" with clothes ropes for the washing and round the side of the house, a large barn which housed some machinery belonging to a neighbouring farmer. We also had a rope hung from the rafters on which was a board with notches in it to make a seat for our swing.

There have been various additions to the cottage in the past few years but it has been done sympathetically with a sun room and extra rooms at the back and the "but an' ben" part can still easily be seen. There is also a small park in front of it and lots of trees for shelter; still a lovely home.

My daughter did make a bid for it at one time when on the market but missed it by just a few hours! Never mind, there's time yet!

[Torvaig]

12598 This is the family helping out at hay time. The nearest white cottage in the distance is my grandparents "but and ben". Us kids played hide and seek while the adults worked and occasionally we were allowed to help by making the "simmons" with which to tie down the stacks. Hope this picture works; I'm no expert....

[Torvaig]

12599 This is my Grannie and Grandad Rosie in front of the cottage in the snow. Grandad smoking his pipe as usual and Gran havng a laugh holding a rifle and pretending she is in the home guard!

[Torvaig]

12600 This is grandad (Alexander Rosie) in his Seaforth's uniform.

[Kevin Milkins]

Thanks for sharing that with us, Torvaig.

Although I have taken family over to Mary Ann's cottage I have not had a look around myself yet, I am going to give myself a few hours and do the job properly this summer.

[pat]

Had the pleasure of getting to know Mary Anne in her latter years, lovely lovely lady, always happy, smiling, a good word for and with everyone, always time for a cup of tea and catching up on any news.

Torvaig - a rayburn, how modern - can remember granny's (really gg) cooking facilities and heating, it was shiney that had to get steel wooled to keep it gleaming and the rust away, other parts blackleaded. There was part of the fire open so you could see the peats burning and the other half was a lovely oven that produced the best baking. Above the fire under the mantlepiece was a long brass pole, at the bottom around the fire was a brass pole fender which granny ensured was polished every day and always gleaming - these poles were used to warm our clothes in the mornings or to dry something fairly quickly but if a visitor arrived the items were whipped away before you could blink!
Running cold water only in the house, if granny wanted 'fresh water, not tap water' you had to take the yoke, buckets and off over a field away to the well for the 'fresh water' which was used for drinking and cooking, tap water was for washing! Well water tasted so cold and fresh, no chemicals, but you did not waste a drop of the fresh carried water or you would have to do the trip again.
Eggs - had to go outside search under the bushes if the hens had not laid enough in the henhouse, then check they were fresh - no date stamps.

[Beat Bug]

All these nostalgic tales remind me of my Granny & Granddad back in rural Ireland. Takes me back many years to my youth. Outside loo, searching for eggs, baking butter, milking the cow etc. etc. Today's youngsters have missed out on a magical era, albeit a hard one. I'm glad I was part of it!

[pat]

Mary Ann's cottage is well worth a visit, the memories it evokes for those of us of a certain age and so much for the younger generation to look and question the changes there has been in really such a short time in history.

Helps them to put those television programs about living as they did 100 years ago more into focus.

No television, no internet, news came by word of mouth usually when visitors arrived, postie was the other carrier of matches/hatches/dispatches as well as telling you who your letters were from!

Take a wee step back in time and visit Mary Ann's cottage, enjoy the peace and quiet too.

[John Little]

I enjoyed my visit there last year - and met Mary Ann's grand-daughter very briefly. A comfy wee place which must have taken a lot of hard work to keep that way.

I particularly liked the description of the horse who insisted on having his pandrops...

[Westsider3]

I'm not a horse but I remember getting pandrops form Mary-Ann too when I was a little girl! She used to take our milk in from the milkman and I would collect it on the way home from school some days!

[badger]

Thanks for all those lovely memories, comments and pics. It is well worth a visit and many people come after seeing the former home of another, rather more well known, elderly lady just up the road. Quite a contrast !

No volunteers coming forward yet but I'm still hoping :roll: