Taigh Thormoid Dhuibh
This is Taigh Thormoid Dhuibh or “Black Norman’s House” at the northern end of the Isle of Raasay.
Behind the name was Norman Mackenzie, one of the last inhabitants of this remote corner of Raasay.
The area around Kyle Rona was once home to a scattered community, with houses, byres, cultivation and other traces of everyday life. Looking at the old map, you can begin to imagine just how different this part of Raasay once was.
By the 1920s–40s the population here was dwindling dramatically.
I love that an old map can show the traces of people who lived, worked and travelled through a landscape long before us.
The Mountain Bothies Association restored the building in 1995, giving this old dwelling a new life as a shelter for walkers exploring the far north of the island.
So when you look at this old OS map, you’re not just looking at a remote bothy in an empty landscape. You’re looking at the location of someone’s home, in a landscape that once supported a whole community. The old routes through the north of Raasay were used by residents and by the postman travelling between the scattered settlements. What stories this place must hold both past as a community of residents and present as a community of walkers and explorers!
12x12”
£95
Plus postage
now sold
