Friday 26 August 2011

Tigh na Cailleach Rebuilt

Here it is the house rebuilt for the wee people of Glen Lyon. Using techniques which I learned in Slovenia,(thanks to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust) we built a double skin wall with corbelling at the top to support a 300 year old chunk of oak which had a slope of about 5cms from front to back to shed water. On top of that we laid flat rocks then covered the whole roof with peaty turf which is quite acidic and will help to preserve the wood. The helpers were Alex and Ashley Dudley Smith who provided the food, Tom and Pauline Beel who brought the wood, and Mel O'Flynn who took some great photos. All carted rocks from the burn up to the site off and on for two days.
Just as we had laid the last turf in walked Sharon MacLeod, a Canadian living in Boston who is an expert in Celtic literature and traditions. She  sang a very moving and beautiful song of welcome in Gaelic. This was an amazing coincidence, a happening from the other side of the world from a lady who knew of the stones but had never seen them before. We all went home feeling tired and very happy.
Thanks also to Jamie Grant for some of these photos.
Only afterwards did we notice the face on the guardian rock in the doorway.

3 comments:

Blanche Haddow said...

Brilliant. You have all done a lovely and magic job and I see the face!

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Anonymous said...

What a great experience!! Go the Canadian !!