Obair a' chlò bho toiseach gu crìoch.

Original Track ID

SA1963.088.A; B1; B4

Original Tape ID

SA1963.088

Summary

The tweed making process from beginning to end.

The contributor used to be a weaver and he gives a very detailed description of the tweed making process. Firstly the wool was dyed, using plants such as lichen and iris. The wool was then carded. This was usually done at night in the cèilidh houses. The women spun the wool on spinning wheels which were made in Carinish. The tweed was woven on a loom and the contributor names every part and describes how it worked. After this the tweed was waulked. There were so many girls in the district when he was young that they used to vie to be invited to a waulking, often promising each other presents to secure an invitation. The tweed was waulked on a ridged board. The contributor remembers singing along with the girls as they were waulking. It used to be the practice that the entire process was carried out in Uist, but this has not been the case since around the time of the First World War.

Item Location

Recording Location

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good