Most people in remote areas were obliged to learn a variety of trades and crafts. There was no slater, joiner or woollen mill nearby to turn to in time of need. Only richer people could afford to employ tradesmen from outwith their community. Even today the crofter often does his own house and boat repairs and the woman of the house her own knitwear.
The blacksmith was the most important craftsman in a highland community. His work entailed the shoeing of horses, the making of metal agricultural tools and other implements used in the fishing industry. Other craftsmen included weavers, shoemakers, tailors, coopers, boat builders, wheelwrights, joiners, masons and harness workers. Wandering craftsmen (the 'ceardean') were common in the Highlands, creating their own intricate silver patterns.
The thatcher was the skilled house-building craftsman. Women crafted crude pottery for use as crockery. Very skilled basket weavers existed where brushwood was plentiful. Cooking and dairying utensils were made to meet local needs. Much heavy domestic work was done by the women. A crofter's wife early last century was reputed to have carried a boll of corn (about 140 lbs or 60 kg) from Diabaig to Red Point, a distance of six miles along a very rough track!
Spinning, weaving and knitting were skilled trades, as was the use of natural dyes in cloth. By the 18th century, a small professional tartan weaving industry arose in the Highlands to supply the Highland regiments.
Read the text then answer the following questions.
Questions
- Why were people in remote areas obliged to learn a variety of trades?
- Who was the most important craftsman in the community and why?
- How reliable is the evidence that 'much heavy domestic work was done by women'?
- What encouraged the growth of the tartan weaving industry?