Important Events in Hebridean History
Iron Age Wheelhouse
Main Article
I am helping my father build this wheelhouse. The family helps too, of course, and the others from the village, but we are the ones who know the language of stone. My father is the best stone master in the island. He chooses the stones one by one, like a woman choosing beads for a necklace, each one for its own place and purpose. Then we cut a circle in the ground, sometimes deep down, and he makes the stones rise into the air, forming walls and piers and lintels, with seven chambers all around, and seven domed stone roofs. Then we make a wooden roof over the space in the middle, as high as three men, and seal it against the winter storms with turf. Only my father can make a house this big with so little wood, such is his skill.
Last we make the hearth, a square of stone in the centre of the floor. Soon it will be the living heart-beat of the household, and will never grow cold, as long as the house has life. But first the sacrifices will be made, and the quarters of the sacred beasts will be buried sunwise around the walls, and under the fire. May this house be a good place, safe from all evil spirits.
My father is getting old now, and his hands give him pain. With every year I grow in strength and skill, and one day I will be the best stone master in the land. Then I will marry a chieftain's daughter, and build for her the finest house there ever was.
Tha mi a' cuideachadh m' athair a' togail an taigh-cuibhle seo. Bidh an teaghlach a' cuideachadh, mar bu chòir, agus na daoine eile anns a' bhaile, ach 's ann againne a tha eòlas air cànan nan clachan. 'S e m' athair an t-àrd-chlachair as fheàrr air an eilean. Bidh e a' taghadh clach ma seach, mar bhean a' taghadh grìogagan airson seud-muineil, gach tè airson a h-àite agus a h-adhbhar fhèin. An uair sin bidh sinn a' gearradh cearcall anns an talamh, uaireannan domhainn sìos, agus bheir e air na clachan èirigh suas dhan adhar, a' cruthachadh ballachan agus laimrigean agus àrd-dorsan, le seachd seòmraichean timcheall, agus seachd cruinn-mhullaichean cloiche. An uair sin bidh sinn a' dèanamh mullach fiodha tarsainn air a' bheàrn anns a' mheadhan, cho àrd ri triùir fhear, agus ga dhùnadh bho stoirmean a' gheamhraidh le fòid. Cha dèan duine ach m' athair taigh cho mòr ri seo le cho beag de fhiodh, sin cho sgileil 's a tha e.
'S e a' chagailt an rud mu dheireadh a nì sinn, ceàrnag cloiche ann am meadhan an làir. Ann an ùine ghoirid 's e cridhe na dachaigh, agus chan fhuaraich e gu bràth, fhad 's a bhios beatha san taigh. Ach an toiseach bidh na h-ìobairtean air an dèanamh, agus bidh ceathramhan nan ainmhidhean coisrigte air an tiodhlacadh deiseal timcheall air na ballachan, agus fon teine. Gum biodh an taigh seo na àite math, air a dhìon bho gach droch spiorad.
Tha m' athair a' fàs sean a-nis, agus tha cràdh na làmhan. Leis gach bliadhna tha mise a' fàs ann an neart agus eòlas, agus latha air choireigin 's mi an t-àrd-chlachair as fheàrr a bhios san tìr. An uair sin pòsaidh mi nighean ceann-cinnidh, agus togaidh mi taigh dhi cho grinn 's a chunnacas a-riamh.
Associated Locations
This event is associated with some locations in the Hebrides. For more details on these, see the list below, or go to the Interactive Explorer.
