Collection: Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Early collection in North Uist & how CEUT was started

  1986 marked the centenary of the 1886 Crofters Act which came about following the Napier Commission Report. Paible School, situated on the west of the island, organised an event to commemorate the Centenary. Photographs and artefacts related to Crofting were donated to the exhibition at Paible School and the whole enterprise achieved a Saltire Award.

  The interest, expressed by the local community in this event, led to the recruitment of local people motivated to set up a Comann Eachdraidh. This was organised by Donald MacAulay, a teacher at Paible School. In 1987 Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath was formed and the first constitution approved and signed. A committee structure was approved and various committees have met each month since.

  Photograph Collection

  Paible School donated the photographs collected to Comann Eachdraidh. Therefore Initially Comann Eachdraidh concentrated on collecting photographs as storage space was an issue.

  When Highlands and Islands Development Board set up a Village Hall Project Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath received funding to hire Lochmaddy School during July and August from 1988. A photographic exhibition was mounted in the school refreshments provided and a rota of Comann Eachdraidh volunteers organised. The aim was to attract more photographic donations and to encourage people to become members of Comann Eachdraidh. This was very successful over a 3 year period.

  The photographic collection continues to expand. Each exhibition prompts people to donate photographs. We organise regular photographic exhibitions choosing a variety of themes. A group of volunteers has undertaken responsibility for the maintenance and management of the archive and Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath is in the process of digitising the archive. The Archive is our main source of income with individual orders and media interest.

  Comann Eachdraidh successfully applied for funding from Museums Galleries Scotland to update the catalogue of photographs, to digitise the collection and to purchase new albums. A group of volunteers under the direction of a funded officer undertook this project. The funding was for a limited period but the work is ongoing with new photographs being added. Links have been established with individual island communities to assist with identification of people in the photographs.

  Artefacts Collection

  However the crofting artefacts from Paible School were then also donated to Comann Eachdraidh when the temporary hut they were stored in became unsuitable, and other local people also expressed a desire to donate objects. This issue led to an informal agreement with Museum nan Eilean on Benbecula to share the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar store at Torlum. Collecting continued over the next few years expanding from crofting to other areas of island life.

  In the early 1990s Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath launched a bid jointly with the Uist Arts Association to set up a Heritage/ Arts Centre based in a disused historical building in Lochmaddy. This bacame Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre.

  Various exhibitions over the next few years resulted in further donations, most relating to island life and occupations. We received some very large significant donations including a traditional Grimsay boat. Funding was achieved to renovate her.

  The Carn Chearsabhagh 3 year project received Lottery funding from 2004 and was nominated for the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize in 2006. The project also funded a Heritage Officer, for that period. This project brought in more contemporary artefacts from the 1960s to the 1980s as it increased CEUT and the museums profile locally and more community members became involved.

  The issue of available space in the Torlum store restricted the size of artefacts we could accept but smaller items have been entered. We successfully applied for funding from Museums Galleries Scotland to employ a Collections Manager, Mark Haxby, for 1 day a week for 1 year in 2018. A group of volunteers assisted Mark to update the system and enter the information on to the Adlib system. This is now complete which addresses the issue of documentation raised in our last application.

  The Collection continues to be held in Torlum but, as per the Forward Plan, there are plans to prioritise the Collections store in Carinish School as the first capital works.

  Accordingly an Emergency Plan for the transition period is now being prepared with a group being drawn from across the organisation being put in place.

  The location of the Torlum store on a separate island and the issue of space has resulted in our purchase of an school building no longer in use, Carinish School. The long term aim is to relocate our collection to Carinish School. The existing situation is that we now must phase the renovation of the school to create an area designed to house our collection of artefacts, paper archive and photographs.

  Oral Recordings

  Throughout the existence of Comann Eachdraidh oral recordings have been undertaken focussing on reminiscences, stories, poetry and song. Gaelic speaking students were employed over the summer vacations to record and transcribe recordings. Many were studying Gaelic, History or Celtic Studies at University. This important aspect of our history has continued to the present day when many recordings have been made for the WW1 exhibition.

  Guthan nan Eilean houses the majority of these recordings. St. Andrews University has compiled an archiving system for Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath with funding from MGS.

  Disposals

  We have not undertaken disposal of any accessioned artefacts.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The collections currently held by CEUT comprise material gathered and collected by ComannEachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath (CEUT) from when it was established in 1987 until the present day.

  The artefacts collection owned by Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath comprises some 800 artefacts illustrating the social, domestic, economic, cultural and religious life of North Uist. Its strengths lie mainly in the field of domestic, social life, agriculture, fishing and the sea. The material belongs in date mainly to the 19th and 20th centuries. Significantly CEUT owns the Grimsay-built boat, Morning Star.

  Other important artefacts include a traditional cart, smithy objects (such as large bellows), Post Office sorting tables, the dock and punishment table from Lochmaddy Sheriff Court, a dresser and the recently acquired piano belonging to Erskine Beveridge.

  In addition Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath holds a wide-ranging photographic collection of some 6000 prints and transparencies, mainly copies of the originals, as well as paper archives many relating to families from North Uist, crofting and fishing, local festivals and special events. A recent addition to the collection is the Runrig Archive of images and printed memorabilia charting the Runrig band’s history from their formation in 1973 to 2007.

  An important collection of oral interviews from the 1980s is also held. CDs and DVDs, such as Uistory and Uist Bards, have been produced for sale, as have key publications and, over the past four years, an annual oral history pamphlet. More recently the current World War One HLF funded exhibition has collected a sizeable oral archive, intended for publication in 2016.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2023

  Licence: CC BY-NC