The painting before treatment began.

Donald Macleod (known locally as Dòmhnall Thormoid) was born in 1874 at 13 Port of Ness. He was a talented carver, artist and also learned the skill of boat making from his father Norman (mac Mhurchaidh Iain Òig). His mother Christina was from North Street in Stornoway. He had four sisters. Mary and Marion who both went to Sandwick, South Africa and Catherine and Effie who had been house keepers for a Colonel on the South Coast of England. It is believed Donald painted this picture in 1908, two years before he emigrated to New Zealand where he worked at Napier, Tokomaru Bay and Wanganui as an engineer. The painting hung in his sister’s house until, following the passing away of Donald’s sisters, it was gifted to Murdo Macleod (7 Eoropie). It was then displayed in the Tearooms at 7 Eoropie until the business closed.

The painting features many opposite imagery. What appears to be snow lies on the mountains but lush jungle and forest can be seen as well. A horse and cart is crossing the bridge on the right of the painting with what like a ‘taigh geal’ (a white house as opposed to a ‘black house’ which were commonplace in Lewis during Donald’s life) further ahead in the trees. On the other side of the river, we see cows and a larger stone house with a red roof. A building further in the trees resembles the steeple of a church but it is uncertain. The difference too in the kinds of boats/ships featured in the painting keeps an observer thinking too. Was Donald dreaming of (and painting) far away lands
before he left the island for a new life in New Zealand with features of Lewis life entwined in his thoughts?

On 20th May 1914, a cable was received from Norman Maclean (originally from the village of Knockaird in Ness) with news of the recovery of Donald’s body, which had been washed up at Westshore, Napier. Newspaper reports of the time state that Donald had fallen into the sea at the breakwater on the inner harbour of Port Ahuriri on the 16th May.

The painting was gifted to Comunn Eachdraidh Nis in 2011 by Christina Kerr, formerly of 7 Eoropie. The painting, now over 100 years old was in desperate need of repair and restoration.

                                                                                         

After securing funding for its restoration, the painting was sent to professional restorers Egan, Matthews and Rose in Dundee to begin the process. As part of the work, they retouched all the filled losses and the tear damages. The flaking paint and ground layers were secured, the tear damages repaired and the lined canvas made robust
with a new new tensionable stretcher support.

Whole back after surface dirt and varnish removal

Painting during lining on heated vacuum table

After treatment

The painting returned to Lewis after its amazing transformation as can be seen in these photographs. Some in the community remember the painting when it was hung in the house in Port and the transformation has amazed everyone who sees its ‘before and afters’. The painting now hangs with pride of place above the ‘fireplace’ in the museum with its story played on a digital photo frame.

                   

On Wednesday 28^th May, Comunn Eachdraidh Nis welcomed a team from National Museums Scotland as part of their Tha Sgeul ri Innse (There’s a Story for the Telling) series of events. Visiting from NMS were Prof Sarah Laurenson, Prinicpal Curator of Modern and Contemporary History, Dr Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, senior lecturer and course leader Msc Material Culture and Gàidhealtachd History at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and researcher Anna MacQuarrie. The events were aiming to restore the overlooked Gaelic history of 100 objects in the NMS collection.

 

The first object we looked at was Leabhar na Fòn (local phone book) that was created by Comunn Eachdraidh Nis back in the 1970s. What is unusual about that you might ask? Well, this phone book, as well as containing people’s names and addresses also included their local nicknames/patronymics as well. This was a must since there were so many people with the same first and second names!

 

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Patronymics and nicknames featured in Comunn Eachdraidh Nis’ first ever ‘Leabhar na Fòn’

News of this unique publication even made it to New York where the Lewis Society of New York mentioned it in their bulletin newspaper! ‘Naidheachd bho ’n taigh’ (news from home) gets around alright!

Next to be discussed was a roughly made ring brooch from the NMS collection. It was made of copper, lightly decorated with dots and dotted semicircles on the front and inscribed ‘a mutdidh { }md{ }h’ on the back. The following translations have been suggested by NMS:

 

My treasure is the greatest

My treasure is the/my best 

My treasure is my love/my dear

Oh my treasure and my good-ness

 

Next up for discussion was a table net, collected from the village of Carloway in the Isle of Lewis. It was assumed this net was quite ‘modern’ compared to the large ‘taigh thàbhaidh’ (cuddy net) which hangs in the museum at CEN. Types of bait were also discussed and we discovered that boiled potatoes were a favourite of the cuddies in the seas around Ness. We also heard of when a Port of Ness man was busy making a new ‘taigh thàbhaidh’ in his shed. It turned out he made it so large he couldn’t get out of the shed! So apart it had to come!

 

Following the table net was a ‘cluaran’ (thistle) which was used as a hat rack in a black house in Lewis. The shape was so simple yet so effective for you to ‘hang your hat’on before you commenced your cèilidh.

Next was a late bronze age amber bead from the Isle of Skye. It is believed that the bead was used to cure failing eyesight by rubbing the it on the eye.

Lastly, we looked at a ‘cnogan’ which is described as ‘Small craggan of dark brown earthenware with a wide neck and flat base, decorated with a pattern of crossed lines, made in Barvas, Lewis, mid 19th century’. Cnogans had many uses. One featured in the museum at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis came from 9 Skigersta and belonged to a man named Donald Morrison (known locally as Codaidh, pronounced ‘Coddy’). It was used to cook fish livers. It has a wire handle which was a later addition so that it could be placed on the chain (known in Gaelic as a ‘slabhraidh’ pronounced slaooree) above the fire.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this event, which not only celebrated the richness of Gaelic material culture but also reflected values around local empowerment, access to collections, and the importance of place-based storytelling—priorities shared by national strategies like Our Past, Our Future (HES) and Forging Ahead (MGS), and rooted in Scotland’s cultural policy framework.

We look forward to working with the National Museums Scotland team again in the future.

 

Photographs © National Museums Scotland

With Comunn Eachdraidh Nis (CEN) fast approaching it’s half century in 2027, it was decided that this major milestone should include a project to catalogue and digitise the unique archive that has been collected over the past near 50 years. The main aim of this work is to open our collections up to the wider world and also to highlight gaps in our collections.

Three photos of the first ever CEN exhibition

After gathering community feedback on the importance of such a project, CEN development manager Anne Macleod successfully secured funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Galson Estate Trust and Outer Hebrides Community Led Local Development to go towards the project.

Research was needed on which software format would suit the uniqueness of the records kept in the archive at CEN. For many years, the museum artefacts have been (expertly!) catalogued using Axciell (formerly known as Adlib). After further research, it was decided that the most suitable software for cataloguing the archive would be eHive; “a web-based collection cataloguing system which is used worldwide by hundreds of museums, societies and private collectors to catalogue objects, store images, manage acquisition information and publish their collections online.” The level of detail you can go into on eHive is quite frankly amazing!

Screenshot of a test record added to eHive recently.

It is important the software is user friendly for volunteers and that it can be accessed from any computer or device running a web browser. Another major plus point was that eHive take care of hosting and backing up the data, so our collection information is both secure and readily accessible.

Although we were unfamiliar with eHive, after some excellent advice and guidance from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar archivist Seonaid Macdonald and Ingrid Shearer (who had used eHive while working with West Boathouse archives), our confidence is growing. Ehive was definitely the correct choice for Comunn Eachdraidh Nis’ unique archives. After further training on the best practice while using eHive, we can start training volunteers on how to input into the system. Every day will certainly be a school day! We hope to eventually link with other associated archives through eHive as well.

Some of the funding was also used to purchase equipment including voice recorders, laptops, scanners and equipment from PEL (Preservation Equipment Ltd). With nearly 50 years worth of records and photographs, it is important to invest in archive standard equipment. Among the items purchased were clear sleeves, archival binder sleeves for photographs, Juris expansion folders and ring binders (although we could have bought so much more!)

Pictures of PEL supplies

IT equipment (laptops, desktop computer along with scanners) were purchased too as part of the funding we were awarded. This will enable volunteers to work on records at their own pace and in the archive with support on hand if needed. Also purchased were discreet voice recorders which will be used to record the memories of those who were involved in the early days of establishing Comunn Eachdraidh Nis. From it’s early days as a YTS scheme and a small team to what it has become today, it promises to be a fascinating look back into our history. There are also plans for an exhibition to mark the milestone which will, as well as looking back on our first fifty years, it willlook to our next fifty as well.

Photograph of archives

Keep your eyes on our social media channels and local press for details on the development of this exciting project.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube

Comunn Eachdraidh Nis is very fortunate to have a fantastic bank of volunteers, especially those who have a wealth of local knowledge to add to the archive. Here is an example of two such fantastic volunteers, Donald John and Peggy.  

DJ Campbell and Peggy Henderson

Donald

My name is Donald Campbell and I have been volunteering at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis for seven years. I wear many hats under the banner of volunteering, but I only recently began to help index some of the records held in the archive. It was felt that an index was important to help discover what we hold (and what we don’t) in the archive. 

Along with my fellow volunteers, we have the best job of looking through and reading what is held in the archive. My personal favourite records so far have been Gaelic transcripts of people who were living in our community at the turn of the century. CEN had the vision in the beginning to record and document these people’s memories and their life experiences before they were lost for good. Among these memories were a man from the village of Port of Ness who described in detail the first time he visited Sùlaisgeir after the first World War. He also described a trip a Ness crew made to the mainland in a Ness built boat. The weather turned against them and they spent some weeks in Laide on the southern shore of Gruinard Bay, west of Ullapool before the weather settled and they could attempt a safe journey home. 

Although I was born and brought up in this community, it never ceases to amaze me the knowledge I gain through volunteering in the archive. There is such a wealth of information held in archives that people should really make an effort to discover. We are all part of an archive no matter where we were born, brought up or live now. 

I will continue to help with indexing the archive and I look forward to the new things I will discover. Because our archive is being added to all the time, there will always be something new to discover. 

 

Peggy

My name is Peggy Henderson and I have volunteered at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis for two years. I was part of the original ‘Job Creation’ team put together in 1977 and we were tasked to go round the community and collect people’s memories. We were only a small team but we did very important work. 

I then trained as a nurse and that was how I spent my working life. I never lost my interest in local history and, when I retired, I wanted to give back to the community in some way. 

I joined the board of CEN and eventually became a volunteer in the archive. I, like Donald, wear many volunteering hats but I began in the archive by indexing the collection on Ness News, a local paper that was vital during the war years for bring news of loved ones. It was an emotional collection to begin with but very important. Both good and devastating news in the same editions of the paper. 

Comunn Eachdraidh Nis has started to digitise the archive records using a web based system called eHive. Ehive is an online system that catalogues and organises heritage collections. It is suitable for all types of collections from large institutions to private collections. Comunn Eachdraidh Nis has scope to add 50,000 records over the next five years – this will certainly bring the archive to life.

We sought advice from Seonaid Macdonald, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar archivist, and she was extremely helpful in giving advice on the best way forward. Initial log ins to eHive appeared very daunting as there are many options for users to go into huge amounts of detail. Not every field was going to be needed for our archive input and Seonaid put our mind at ease.

The amount of detail you can go into for records on eHive is amazing!

The first step she advised us to take was to ask the National Archives to allocate us an archon number for the records. Archon codes are unique identifiers assigned to archives and repositories to facilitate their cataloguing and indexing. The codes help to find and retrieve material efficiently. Once our code was allocated, work began on uploading records.

Starting with records for Ness Football Club, we tentatively began creating and inputting information. Through trial and error, records began to take shape. We began to discover what was going to work for us (and what was not.) Because eHive is predominately focused on museums and their artefacts, with Seonaid’s help, we focused on the elements of information that we will input. For example, the main fields we will be concentrating on completing for archives will be
• Object number
• Name/title
• Collection type
• Controlling institution (Comunn Eachdraidh Nis)
• Public description (as detailed as possible)
• The creator/maker
• Date made
• Subject and association keywords
• and who catalogued the record

Records will be kept as draft until they are checked and approved for publishing. This is another useful feature of eHive.

Because we are a Gaelic speaking community, we felt it important to have subject and association keywords in Gaelic and English

Not all records need multiple subject and association words. They should be clear and conscience so they reflect the topics held in our archive. For example, a photograph of a Ness FC footballer holding a trophy has (along with its ref no, title, description etc) the words ‘Sport’ ‘Spòrs’ (Gaelic for sport) and ‘Ness Football Club’ linked to it. Then, when using the search function, users will find all records that are linked to these words. On the other hand, if the user wants to search for all records on eHive that come under Comunn Eachdraidh Nis, they can search by ‘controlling institution’ and all of CEN’s records will appear.

There is also the important matter of Data Protection. Ehive offers, as well as the option for creating records and publishing them, the option of saving records as unpublished drafts. This allows the data inputters to continue adding to the catalogue and at the same time, adhering to GDPR.

Two examples of how we will include patronymics and nicknames in our records. This is a unique and important characteristic of our community and throughout the islands.

In terms of photographs, our archive holds many thousands. One unique feature of our community is that everyone had patronymics and/or a nickname; ‘Reilidh’ for example or the patronymic would be ‘Iain Dhòmhnaill Sheòrais’ (Iain son of Donald son of George). This is important detail to include in our photograph records. The title is not the place to include these details but we have been including the information in the ‘description’ boxes that are public. Many people only knew folk by their nicknames so this will help a lot!

Ehive has recently launched support for audio and video files to be uploaded onto the site. We are looking forward to using this feature in the future to include some of the examples we hold in our archive. There are currently 156 published records on the site from CEN with more being added each week. Have a look for yourselves and see how we are getting on Comunn Eachdraidh Nis | eHive.

Volunteer training will begin next year and we will learn something new every day. We have nearly 50 years of work to do!