"The Habost
bothan was built in 1935. There were none in the village before then.
Prior to the Habost bothan, the men used to gather in Iain Dubh Alasdair
Mhòir's house. Unfortunately, they usually created a bit of a noise -
especially if they had a keg of beer in. Therefore, they decided that
they would build a local bothan. The men aimed to finish building it
before the end of 1935 so that they could celebrate the New Year there.
Everyone in the village paid 5 pence towards the cost of the building -
some people contributed money despite the fact that they would not wish
to use it.
"The stones for the building were taken from the Drùim Buan on the moor.
Ruairidh Ròigean transported them to Habost in his lorry, and the bothan
was being built as the stones arrived at the site. It was said that
another load of stones had been collected on the moor but they were
never taken to the bothan site. Apparently, someone had taken them to
build a house for himself, but we never found out who it was.
"Many people were opposed to the idea of building the bothan. The Board
of Agriculture were very hostile to the idea: they maintained that the
land belonged to them. No-one from Habost was able to buy anything in
the Board's store at the time in case they were buying material for the
bothan. Iain and Tormod a' Bhogha, from Lionel, were doing alterations
to their own house at that time. It was they who managed to get timber
for the bothan from the Board store. They left it outside the store and
the Habost boys collected it with their bicycles when it got dark.
"Originally, the bothan floor was clay. There was also a partition
dividing the bothan into two rooms. Benches ran along each wall and a
fire sat in the middle of the floor. There was also a wireless which was
kept in a wall cupboard. The wireless, I recall, was manufactured by Pye.
It was Pharoah who ordered the set and collected the money for its
purchase. I seem to remember that everyone paid six pence each for the
wireless. The cupboard would be locked every night and someone took
responsibility for the key. At first the bothan was just used for a
ceilidh. The men would listen to the wireless, and play draughts and
cards. Sacking was sewn onto the walls and wallpaper was put on top of
that. There were no 'pin-ups' or anything like that. I can still
remember quite clearly what it looked like in those early days. The
outside door was given to us by Dòmhnall Ròsag. The door had originally
been on 'Taigh a Rudha'. That door was on the bothan for many years
before it was replaced.
Angus MacKenzie |
"We
continued to regularly visit the bothan until the war started. It
was not used much during the war years, other than by some of the
locals going there to listen to the wireless in order to hear the
latest news about the war. Even that stopped after a while. The
young boys kept the bothan going during this period by going in
there occasionally. Also, the boys who were home from the war would
sometimes obtain a keg - they would sometimes get it filled at the
Air Force canteen in Lionel.
"After the war ended and
all the boys came home, they managed to obtain some 'bogey', lined
it with hardboard and painted it. After a few years a cement floor
was also put down. The bothan was very cosy and comfortable and
everyone got on well together. Village meetings were also sometimes
held there, such as when they were choosing grazings committees and
the like. |
"Some time after the
bothan was built, an official from the Board, in Edinburgh, came to see
this 'club-house'. When he eventually managed to see the simple stone
building he realised that the Board had been rather over-sensitive. No
more was said about the matter. He didn't actually get inside the bothan:
no-one knew where the key was!
"Shortly after that, the bothan began taking in barrels of beer, and the
men were using the place more regularly. A few years later (in about
1950) whisky became available. Sometimes the bothan was very quiet and
at other times, when the sailors were at home, you couldn't get a seat.
There would be much talk and stories about the olden days.
"I remember the night Alasdair an Tiger got married. Dolaidh Noraidh was
going to take them over to Eoropie in the bus. When he came into the
bothan Coinneach Alaic and Kong (two hefty men) were standing, one at
each end of the bothan, and they started throwing him from side to side.
They were quite happy after drinking from a '4 1/2'. When Dolaidh
arrived in Eoropie he said, "that was a very rough trip."
"There was a dartboard and other games, such as cards, available for us
to play. Another pastime was 'housey-housey' and bingo. From
time-to-time we would each provide a sack of peats and a bottle of
paraffin. Later, we began using coal. There was also a Tilley lamp.
"For a bit of fun we would occasionally throw a 'caoran' at each other -
when we had nothing better to do! There was many a time when someone
would leave the bothan with a black eye. Someone would sit near the door
so that no-one could get out. It was good fun. If someone headed for the
door in order to try to escape, he would be pelted with pieces of peat.
"Murdo Morrison (Pharoah) once wrote a song for the bothan. I remember
it well; we always made him sing it. There were some great singers
amongst the bothan crowd. Iain Chalum Màiri was good at singing. Tormod
Sheonaidh Ailein also had a good voice and he knew lots of songs.
Geinidh, from Fivepenny, used to sing when he came to the bothan. Iain
Morrison, from Adabrock, and Fiuraidh, from Habost, at one time sang
songs all night. We all remember it well and we still talk about it.
"In 1959 a new floor was put in, as well as new seating, wallpaper and a
partition. It looked really good and these were the last alterations
which were done to the place.
"Iain Thàididh often came into the bothan after he'd been out fishing.
He always left the fish he'd caught in a bag hanging on his bicycle
outside the bothan. Iain was quite tired after spending the whole day
fishing. He had fallen asleep on the bench. Later on, Biagaidh came in
with a crab. He also had several flounders which we cooked, one after
the other, on the stove. When Iain woke up he noticed the remains of the
fish and enquired where they had come from. He was informed that they
were found in the ditch near taigh Choinnich Point. He was rather
suspicious about the explanation and he went outside to check on his
catch. There were only two flounders left in the bag. He got rather
angry and went back inside the bothan to confront the men. There was a
flounder cooking on the stove at that very moment. Iain picked it up and
threw it at Rodaidh Ròigean who happened to be sitting nearest to him.
He got the flounder across his face!" |
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