NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER 43
The Beehive Cells
A Pastoral Site
I set out for my most recent walk in this area last August.
From the gate to Morsgail Lodge, a three-mile walk leads to
the shieling known as Airighean Tighe Dhubhastail set in a
pastoral site straddling a peaty stream. Here I find the ruins
of four houses, their stone covered with yellow lichen, along
with a double beehive cell.
I wanted to see this beehive because of an evocative drawing
of it in Proceedings of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries. e
drawing was part of a report on a visit to the shieling made
by Captain FWL omas in the 1850s. e following is a
paraphrased version of the Captain’s report:
‘Being Sunday, stayed at Kinlochresort, we thought to
improve the occasion by visiting the shielings in the
neighborhood. Along with the gamekeeper we were soon at
Tighe Dhubhastail. Here was a bothan in which the family
was at home. e bothan was double of the usual beehive
shape, with the dwelling and dairy attached. A doorway,
easily closed with a mat, led to the boudoir within.’
‘Close to the door was the fire, the smoke escaping through
a hole in the dome. In the circular wall were three niches
containing drying cheeses. e occupants were three young
women, dressed in printed cotton gowns, and, being Sunday,
they had finished their toilette at the burn to good purpose.
Some eight of us packed into the hut while frothed milk was
handed about.’
Entrances are Intact
In the years since the captain visited, the cell domes have
collapsed, but their entrances are intact. is allows me to crawl
into the boudoir, the main dwelling chamber (unfortunately
there are no young women in printed gowns to greet me). I also
find the spot where the drawing of the beehives was made.
I would like to camp in this beautiful spot, but there’s
another place still to see; the beehive cells at Fidigidh. I head
west across the moorland, zig-zagging to avoid evil-looking
swamps, until I see several bumps on the terrain. I have
reached Fidigidh, where two shielings sites lie along a stream- Fidigidh Uachdrach and Fidigidh Iochdrach (Upper and
Lower Fidigidh).
At the former are a half dozen cells, many still intact. To the
south, at the latter, I find ten cells, most of them fairly
ruinous. Standing between the two sites is something
amazing; the most impressive beehive cell of them all, the
massive Bothan Ruadh.
Captain omas also visited these shielings when they were
occupied. Accompanying him was Henry Sharbau, who
made a drawing of Lower Fidigidh. (Sharbau would later
become the chief draughtsman of the Royal Geographical
Society.) What follows is a paraphrased version of omas’
report from the 1850s:
‘We strolled up the burn of Fidigidh till we came to 20
dwellings scattered along the banks of the burn; groups of cows,