44 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORERNOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016
The Beehive Cells
Page 42: A shieling at Fidigidh
Uachdrach.
Page 43: The ruins of the old
Ardveg house.
Below: The ‘new’ house at Ardveg,
built in 1934, beyond the ruins of
the old.
Photographs taken by the author,
Marc Calhoun.
with their attendants, spread about. We selected
a good position for sketching, and very soon a
boy was sent to us with the offer of milk. His
stock of English was not good, and he could
only speak of the group of huts as the city.
Shortly a damsel brought us a bowl of milk.’When It Was Alive
Most of the cells Sharbau sketched are in
ruins, but I am able to find the spot where he
made his drawing. Oh how I wish I could have
seen this place when it was alive. anks to
Sharbau, and Captain omas, we have some
idea of how it used to look.
My quest for shielings in the Morsgail Deer
Forest is done for the day. I have covered
eight miles, and it’s time to find a campsite. I
have no doubt where that will be. e night
will be spent in another favourite place, one
full of shielings and only three miles away -
the Ardveg.
From Fidigidh, an hour of bog-hopping takes
me to Hamanavay, where I cross the river to
make the mile climb to the Ardveg. e Estate
has just been sold and I have been told the new
owners are in residence, so I decide to pay
them a visit before setting up camp.Inspired Me
With his tales of the MacDonalds and
MacLennans, who once lived in the Ardveg,
Alasdair Alpin MacGregor made this remote
hamlet immortal in e Haunted Isles. at
book inspired me to camp in the Ardveg back
in 2001. I was fortunate to return in 2013 for
the book launch of John MacDonald’s An
Trusadh, Memories of Crofting in the Ardveg.
Under the bright sun of a late summer
afternoon, the wind keeping the midges
away, I arrive to find three of the new owners
in residence: Julie and two of her children.
After pitching my tent near the old
blackhouses, I am treated to supper in the
‘new’ Ardveg house (built by John
MacDonald’s father in 1934); a roaring coal
fire warming cold toes.
In the twilight, after enjoying true island
hospitality, I return to the tent. The deer are
barking as I settle in and there are no midges.
I need to get some rest for tomorrow will be
a long day. There are several shielings in the
Ardveg with beehive cells I plan to visit
before making the long walk up to Uig,
where I hope to find another campsite
under Hebridean stars.