The Immeasurable Wilds: Travellers to the Far North of Scotland

Erbusaig, near the Kyle of Lochalsh. A Kyle Pharmacy postcard sent in 1920. Most of the houses in the distance are thatched as well.

Crofter's House. A Valentine image, the card sent in 1903.

Another of Erbusaig, a Kyle Pharmacy postcard.

Interior of an Orkney Cottage. A Thomas Kent image, c.1918.

Crofter's Cottage, Fort Augustus. A George Washington Wilson image.

A Native Cottage & Lingia Island, Eriskay. Note the lovely stacks to the left of the house.

Ben Cruachan from Glen Nant, with a thatched cottage bottom left. An early 20thC postcard. I think passengers can be seen boarding a coach at the bottom as well.

From a 1927 tour made on motorbikes, photographer unknown. This a house at Sconser on Skye.

A private photograph taken on 15th August, 1935. "A Black House, Upper Duntulm (Chimney recent addition)."

Crofter's House, Staffin, Skye. I think one of the children is doing a handstand! A card published by D. Macintyre, Portree.

West Bay, Portree. A lovely GWW photo of a clachan. Note the cas-chrom (foot plough) placed in the foreground. 

Cottages, Loch Duich. A postcard by Valentine, the image registered in 1906.

Crofter's House, Stornoway. A pre-WW1 postcard published for WJ Telmie, Stornoway.

A Highlander's Cottage. A postcard sent in 1906.

Crofter's House, Skye. A Valentine postcard, the image registered in 1895

The blacksmith's house at Kinlochewe was much photographed. Sometimes he appeared in the doorway, but this example does not show any inhabitants. Ben Eighe can be seen in the background.

A Lone Shieling, Aultnasuth, Kyle of Lochalsh. A postcard published by the Kyle Pharmacy.

Highland Interior, Aberfoyle. An early 20th century Young's Series postcard.

A photograph dated 1955, and titled "Skye Post Office." Photographer unknown.

An interesting Valentine postcard, c.1870. In 1861, Queen Victoria rode the 15 miles from Balmoral to Glen mark with her husband, Prince Albert. They refreshed at a spring there, before continuing on to Invermark Lodge where they spent the night. After Albert's death, a memorial was erected  at the site of the spring, which can still be visited. It is not clear why this cottage is called "The Queen's Cottage". Presumably she/they visited it at the same time.

A Crofter's House, Mallaig. An early 20thC postcard, the photoby H. Walker. If you look carefully you can see two children in front of the barn on the right.

Arrochar and Loch Long. A pre-WW1 published by Gilchrist & Sons, Alexandria. Only one house, in the foreground, is thatched. I doubt if it is now!

Castle Bay,Barra, from South-east. A GWW postcard. A remarkable array of houses in the foreground, all neatly thatched apart from the one using an upturned boat as a roof.

A Skye Crofter's House. GWW. An albumen photograph.

The highest inhabited house in Scotland is not in the Highlands, but rather at Wanlockhead in Dumfries. This Valentine photograph was registered in 1909.

This house has a splendid grass roof. Place unknown - Shetland?

By 1929, an extension had been added, but without a matching thatched roof. The thatching on the smaller wing on the right appears to have been unified.