18
‘Black House’, the Western Isles
•Divided by box beds.•Kists for blankets.•No toilet
• No chimney • Soot build up.• Earth floor.• Kists for clothes.•Little furniture.
HEALTH
• Bovine TB – living with cattle.• Enteritis and stomach upsets –
known as dung fever.• Bronchitis and other lung problems
– smoke.
POST 1850
• Windows with glass• Stone or wood floor• Fireplace with possibly a range• Clean water• Slate roofs• Inside toilets still not widespread in
1930s
TASK
Complete Activity 1 of your work booklet = • KU ‘describe’ question • ES ‘How Useful’ question
WHAT EVIDENCE QUESTIONS
• These questions will form part of your examination of Unit 1.
• The question always asks you to pinpoint the evidence, found in the sources, which supports a certain point of view.
The most vivid description would not do justice to the extraordinary and disgusting filth of Roag near Dunvegan. The people barricade themselves up behind their cows in the farthest and smallest end of the hut. There the whole family sits in dirt, and smoke, and darkness. They stare from morning to night into a peat fire. They appear quite contented to have no clean air or clean water. They must be instructed, and assisted to escape these conditions, and encouraged to emigrate.
I saw our houses swept away and the people being driven out of the countryside to the streets of Glasgow and to the wilds of Canada, such as them that did not die of hunger and smallpox while going across the ocean. I have seen the women putting their children in the carts which were being sent from Benbecula to board an emigrant ship on Loch Boisdale. Almost everyone was crying. Bailiffs and constables gathered behind them and made sure they boarded the ship. Some men showed boldness and looked for adventure but for most it was a loathsome day.
Source B
Source A
We settled in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. Many Scots emigrated because of the better living prospects that life in Canada offered them. Unlike some emigrants, we had no difficulty in settling down as we had two uncles and an aunt to welcome us. Scottish emigrants received a special warm welcome from the Canadians. I met hundreds of Scottish, mainly Highland, emigrants in Vancouver. All of our family in Canada stayed on at school till they were fourteen. None of us regretted leaving Uist.
Source C
The easiest and clearest way of answering these questions is by the using a table..
Evidence to support the view that emigration was beneficial for emigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Evidence that disagrees with the view that emigration beneficial for emigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
• Always make sure that you have put the full details from the question into the titles of your table.
• Once this is ready, read Source A carefully and take out the evidence which supports the view that emigration was beneficial.
• Insert this into your table making sure that you have labelled where the information comes from.
Evidence to support the view that emigration was beneficial for emigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Evidence that disagrees with the view that emigration beneficial for emigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Source A = ‘ The people barricade themselves up behind their cows in the farthest and smallest end of the hut.’
A = The whole family sits in dirt, and smoke, and darkness.
A = They appear quite contented to have no clean air or clean water.
A = They must be instructed, and assisted to escape these conditions, and encouraged to emigrate.
B = No evidenceALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOU INDICATE WHERE
THERE ISN’T EVIDENCE IN A SOURCE
Then…
• Complete the other side – evidence that does not support the claim in question.
TOP TIPS
• Label all quotes correctly with the letter of source. No labels = no marks.
• No mark is given for ‘no evidence’ comment, but marks will be deducted if you miss it out!
• If it is worth 6 marks, you need 6 points overall – between both columns.
In the centre of the cottage is heaped dirt and stones in which is fixed small iron bars, leaving a small hollow as a grate for fire. There is no chimney but a hole in the roof. The dirt floor is full of holes retaining wet or dirt. In one corner is a box nailed to the wall with a great many blankets. Into this box creep as many as it can hold. In this house stood another box containing milk, oatcakes, broth, etc and eating utensils.
Source A was written by a visitor to the Highlands of Scotland in 1847.
How useful is Source A as evidence of rural housing conditions? (4)
