Blackhouses

   I'm reading Peter May's crime novel The Blackhouse set in the Isle of Lewis, and very good it is. Early on, the narrator Fin - a Lewisman who is now a detective in Edinburgh - describes an old blackhouse on his parents' croft, its dry-stone walls and thatched roof, the peat fire that would have burned day and night, the building that once gave shelter to man and beast alike.

    On Lewis last summer we visited the blackhouses at Gearranan - that link will tell you more about them - dwellings which were occupied up to the 1950s, though some have now been turned into holiday cottages with 'mod cons' such as underfloor heating. Here's a look at how they used to be:

That's the loom above left, as along with crofting and fishing, weaving Harris tweed would have been a source of income.

   I'm not yet far enough on with the book to discover the significance of the blackhouse to the story, but already I'm recognising Peter May's descriptions of that distinctive Lewis landscape and way of life.