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The crofting cycle began in the depths of winter, as gales lashed the islands and heavy seas pounded the coast casting up piles of seaweed on exposed beaches. This was a crop that never failed and one that was extremely important to the crofter, for when rotted it made excellent manure. In the short dark days of winter men and women alike were busy piling seaweed in mounds above the high water mark "laying up waar" they called it. During a lull in the storm it was loaded into kishies, carried up the steep path from the beach, and dumped in huge waar middens which were left to decompose until voar by which time they were ready to spread over the rigs. For weeks at a time outside work was impossible in winter but there was plenty for the crofter to do indoors. The oats were thrashed to separate the grain from the straw, then the ears were winnowed to remove the chaff. Before milling the grain had to dried it the kiln while in the case of bere the grain had to be hummelled (put into a tub and pounded with a shovel to loosen the anns or remains of beards) before being made ready for grinding in the quern or in the water mill. Winter was hard on the animals. For the cattle in the byre feeding was
a scanty diet of straw and hay, cabbages and turnips. The lambs wintered in the
lamb house, fed daily with hay, potatoes and cabbage cut up small. But for the
older sheep there was no such favoured treatment. They had to shelter from rain
and blizzard in the lee of a stone wall or in the dubious shelter of a peat bank
where they could frequently be buries under drifting snow. They could survive a
surprisingly long time, remaining alive by eating the wool off each others
backs. For much of the winter the ground was frozen so the only source of food
was seaweed and when the tide began to ebb lines of sheep could be seen making
for the beach. |
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