{"id":4344,"date":"2023-04-16T20:57:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T20:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/?page_id=4344"},"modified":"2025-09-09T11:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:29:19","slug":"village-histories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/stories\/village-histories\/","title":{"rendered":"Eachdraidhean nam Bailtean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

These stories are excerpts taken from Bill Lawson\u2019s Croft History books.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are now almost sixty Croft History books, all available in our shop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of these Croft History books begin with a word picture and history of the general area, usually told by someone who grew up in that area, and a selection of these stories are available here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Village groups<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Browse the extracts below, or use the links below to read histories from individual islands.<\/p>\n\n\n

AGM<\/a>\nChristmas Gift<\/a>\nConcert<\/a>\nEmigration<\/a>\nFamily Tree<\/a>\nGenealogy<\/a>\nHarris<\/a>\nHebCelt<\/a>\nHebCelt Festival<\/a>\nHistory<\/a>\nIsle of Harris<\/a>\nLewis<\/a>\nLimited Time Offer<\/a>\nLive Music<\/a>\nNorth Uist<\/a>\nScalpay<\/a>\nSpecial Offer<\/a>\nSt Kilda<\/a>\nStories<\/a>\nTradition<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

A Look Back on Ahmore (part 2)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
North Uist<\/a><\/div>\n\n
With Mrs Chirsty MacLean (daughter of Neil son of Alex son of William) It was working on the land that was the livelihood of the crofters in Ahmore. The children would be helping, looking after the animals, milking, clearing the byre, going out to the back of the hill looking for the animals in the […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Ahmore (part 1)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
North Uist<\/a><\/div>\n\n
With Mrs Chirsty MacLean (daughter of Neil son of Alex son of William) Ahmore was a part of the tack of Orinsay. A lot of people had it at first, but when it was made a part of the tack, many of the people were sent away, and the place went under sheep. Ahmore was […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Grimshader (part 2)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Lewis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Torquil MacRae Fishing When I was older we would go fishing for haddock with the little boat. My uncle had a big boat, with four oars in her, and we would go out with four at the oars and another steering. I was so young then \u2013 only about fourteen. There was an old […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Grimshader (part 1)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Lewis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Torquil MacRae Early Day’s I began my life on this very croft. I was born on 21st July 1923, and there was no minister here at that time. It was in 1924 that Malcolm MacIver came, and it was Rose who was here in 1923, so I was more than a year old before […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Tolsta (part 3)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Lewis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Jessie MacLeod (widow of Roderick MacIver) Our family My husband was from Tolastadh. He was sailing with the New Zealand Shipping Company. He was away for long trips. Our daughter was born in March and her father didn\u2019t see her again until November. I\u2019m sorry to say that soon after he left, he was […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Tolsta (part 2)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Lewis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Jessie MacLeod (widow of Roderick MacIver) Fishing The people here had their own boats, going out with small-lines, but they had boats in Stornoway too. My father had a boat, the Dove and one called Clan MacLeod, and there used to be boys from Point working as cooks on them \u2013 galley-boys \u2013 Angus […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Tolsta (part 1)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Lewis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Jessie MacLeod (widow of Roderick MacIver) Schooldays We had two teachers \u2013 Mary Jane Smith from Holm and Maggie Mary MacLeod. The headmaster was from Uig, Mr MacLean. We had a teacher from Point too – she was married to Allan Cameron. They didn\u2019t speak Gaelic to us, and we had no English going […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Manish (part 3)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Harris<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Donald MacDonald (Domhnall Sh\u00e0m), Horgabost Leaving Manish We came to the machair on the 28th of May 1937. I remember it as though it were only yesterday. It was two years before that that the machair was broken up into crofts. There were 8 crofts in Horgabost and 20 in Seilebost. There were so […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Manish (part 2)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Harris<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Donald MacDonald (Domhnall Sh\u00e0m), Horgabost Houses In my grandfather’s day, the cattle were in the house along with them; my great-grandmother’s sister lived beside our own house, and she had the fire in the middle of the floor. When she stoked the fire in the morning on a still day, you had to go […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

A Look Back on Manish (part 1)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
Harris<\/a><\/div>\n\n
with Donald MacDonald (Domhnall Sh\u00e0m), Horgabost Schooldays The longest distance I was ever away from home when I was at school was on the day of the King’s Coronation on the 12th of May 1937. The Manish schoolchildren were taken to Scarista sands, and that was the first sands I had ever seen! To me […]<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
All Village Histories<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Explore Further<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Tell us your story<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
If you have a story of family members who left the Western Isles and settled in another part of the world, and would like the … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

Emigrant Stories<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
The first recorded emigrations from the islands took place in the mid-1700s. The first recorded emigrations from the islands took place in the mid-1700s in … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
\n

The People of the Western Isles<\/a><\/h4>\n\n
The history of modern people in the Outer Hebrides begins with the melting of the icesheets and the arrival of Mesolithic Man. The oldest site … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These stories are excerpts taken from Bill Lawson\u2019s Croft History books. There are now almost sixty Croft History books, all available in our shop. Many of these Croft History books begin with a word picture and history of the general area, usually told by someone who grew up in that area, and a selection of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5941,"parent":4339,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4344","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nVillage Histories - Hebrides People<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/stories\/village-histories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Village Histories - Hebrides People\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These stories are excerpts taken from Bill Lawson\u2019s Croft History books. There are now almost sixty Croft History books, all available in our shop. Many of these Croft History books begin with a word picture and history of the general area, usually told by someone who grew up in that area, and a selection of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/stories\/village-histories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hebrides People\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T11:29:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1238\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/\",\"name\":\"Village Histories - Hebrides People\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-16T20:57:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-09T11:29:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"gd\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"gd\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1238},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/village-histories\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/stories\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Village Histories\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hebrides People\",\"description\":\"Discover your Hebridean roots\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hebridespeople.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"gd\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Village Histories - Hebrides People","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/stories\/village-histories\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Village Histories - Hebrides People","og_description":"These stories are excerpts taken from Bill Lawson\u2019s Croft History books. There are now almost sixty Croft History books, all available in our shop. Many of these Croft History books begin with a word picture and history of the general area, usually told by someone who grew up in that area, and a selection of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/stories\/village-histories\/","og_site_name":"Hebrides People","article_modified_time":"2025-09-09T11:29:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1238,"url":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/","url":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/","name":"Village Histories - Hebrides People","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-16T20:57:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-09T11:29:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"gd","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"gd","@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Harris-West-Tarbert.jpg","width":2000,"height":1238},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/village-histories\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Village Histories"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/","name":"Hebrides People","description":"Discover your Hebridean roots","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"gd"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4344"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15156,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4344\/revisions\/15156"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hebridespeople.com\/gd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}