Iona McVean
︎ Podcast Link
PABAY MOR, A SCOTTISH ISLAND CASE STUDY:
Exploring land use and Architecture of Pabay Mor island, Through the examination of 4 objects integral to the people and politics of a Hebridean crofting community
Exploring land use and Architecture of Pabay Mor island, Through the examination of 4 objects integral to the people and politics of a Hebridean crofting community
I begin by introducing the Gaelic word “dualchas”. This word means
the heritage, culture and traditions passed through generations but more
precisely how this connects people to their land. To investigate this concept
of dualchas, this chapter studies the power that material culture holds in
relation to community history and their land.
The Island of Pabay Mor (Pabaigh Mor), has often been visited by my family since my grandparents bought a house in Valtos (Bhaltos), parish of Uig, in 1969. Islands and oceans hold a strong role in my family’s history, and I have visited the area since I was a child. I have noticed that the material culture of the Western Isles is rich in oral history, leading me to ask the question: What if these objects could speak for themselves?
By collecting personal stories both relating to my family and others, I observe Michael Foucault’s philosophical framework that indirectly argues for the personal and autobiographical approach. To some degree, this informs the research behind this chapter as I examine the island through the investigation of three objects: a Norse mill stone, a wooden boat, and a length of heather rope. I have chosen these objects because each one tells a different side to the story and history of Pabay Mor. The section ‘Stone’ focuses on landscape and architecture, while in ‘Vessel’ I explore oral history of objects. I conclude with the ‘Rope’, to inspect craft and community. This structure takes the reader on a journey across the island moving between themes of landscape and architecture, oral history, and conflicts of land tenure. Overall, I make and perform the argument that through the lives of objects, scholars can derive and form a holistic ethnographical research approach. This is due to the significance of material culture and our role in communicating to future generations.
As Scholar of museum studies, Susan Pearce, writes, ‘I believe that objects are symbols of identity, relationships, nature, society, and religion’ (Pearce, 1995). Here she means that objects are multifarious and can play an important role in people’s lives by strengthening connectivity between land, people, and place. I use each object in the chapter as a ,eans to explore the themes by writing from the objects’ perspective. In doing so I attempt to activate a new spatial story for island cultures, which is difficult to achieve through conventional academic writing approaches. Archaeologist Margaret Conkey offers a further perspective which underscores the inherent agency of inanimate things and their capacity to go beyond being mere symbols. She writes: ‘Material objects are not, and have not been, just caught up in an ever-shifting world but are actually creating, constructing, materialising and mobilising history, contacts and entanglements’ (Conkey 2006). This comment by Conkey supports why I begin each case study by becoming the object, attempting to change the reader’s perspective to empathise with the subject.
I refer to De Certeau’s theory on place being a lived environment that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of its inhabitants (De Certeau 1974). This theory supports my inclusion of architectural illustrations and landscape photography throughout this chapter, contributing to the theme of land use. Anthropologist Tim Ingold emphasises the importance of understanding how local knowledge, skills and traditions are what shape our perception of land use; therefore, I refer to ‘land use’ in this chapter as the human consequence of relations, and how it can politically shape an environment (Ingold 1993). Valtos peninsula is community owned and follows the crofting tenure system (see glossary), upheld by the Crofting Commission, an agency set up within the Scottish Government. This is a complex system I unpack in Rope.
To date, there are few written histories and reports of Pabay Mor. They tend to follow the narrative of blogs or archaeological excavations focusing on the perspective of leisure and religion. In my own research, I have been led to question why significance in local community has been left out. By borrowing from other’s methodologies, my aim is to highlight the relationship the people have with the island both past and present and contribute to historic literature in the Parish of Uig in a unique and consumable format.
The Island of Pabay Mor (Pabaigh Mor), has often been visited by my family since my grandparents bought a house in Valtos (Bhaltos), parish of Uig, in 1969. Islands and oceans hold a strong role in my family’s history, and I have visited the area since I was a child. I have noticed that the material culture of the Western Isles is rich in oral history, leading me to ask the question: What if these objects could speak for themselves?
By collecting personal stories both relating to my family and others, I observe Michael Foucault’s philosophical framework that indirectly argues for the personal and autobiographical approach. To some degree, this informs the research behind this chapter as I examine the island through the investigation of three objects: a Norse mill stone, a wooden boat, and a length of heather rope. I have chosen these objects because each one tells a different side to the story and history of Pabay Mor. The section ‘Stone’ focuses on landscape and architecture, while in ‘Vessel’ I explore oral history of objects. I conclude with the ‘Rope’, to inspect craft and community. This structure takes the reader on a journey across the island moving between themes of landscape and architecture, oral history, and conflicts of land tenure. Overall, I make and perform the argument that through the lives of objects, scholars can derive and form a holistic ethnographical research approach. This is due to the significance of material culture and our role in communicating to future generations.
As Scholar of museum studies, Susan Pearce, writes, ‘I believe that objects are symbols of identity, relationships, nature, society, and religion’ (Pearce, 1995). Here she means that objects are multifarious and can play an important role in people’s lives by strengthening connectivity between land, people, and place. I use each object in the chapter as a ,eans to explore the themes by writing from the objects’ perspective. In doing so I attempt to activate a new spatial story for island cultures, which is difficult to achieve through conventional academic writing approaches. Archaeologist Margaret Conkey offers a further perspective which underscores the inherent agency of inanimate things and their capacity to go beyond being mere symbols. She writes: ‘Material objects are not, and have not been, just caught up in an ever-shifting world but are actually creating, constructing, materialising and mobilising history, contacts and entanglements’ (Conkey 2006). This comment by Conkey supports why I begin each case study by becoming the object, attempting to change the reader’s perspective to empathise with the subject.
I refer to De Certeau’s theory on place being a lived environment that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of its inhabitants (De Certeau 1974). This theory supports my inclusion of architectural illustrations and landscape photography throughout this chapter, contributing to the theme of land use. Anthropologist Tim Ingold emphasises the importance of understanding how local knowledge, skills and traditions are what shape our perception of land use; therefore, I refer to ‘land use’ in this chapter as the human consequence of relations, and how it can politically shape an environment (Ingold 1993). Valtos peninsula is community owned and follows the crofting tenure system (see glossary), upheld by the Crofting Commission, an agency set up within the Scottish Government. This is a complex system I unpack in Rope.
To date, there are few written histories and reports of Pabay Mor. They tend to follow the narrative of blogs or archaeological excavations focusing on the perspective of leisure and religion. In my own research, I have been led to question why significance in local community has been left out. By borrowing from other’s methodologies, my aim is to highlight the relationship the people have with the island both past and present and contribute to historic literature in the Parish of Uig in a unique and consumable format.