The consequences of electrification

"Uncle Charlie was my mum, Jessie Robertson’s youngest brother. Charlie had gone home to help run the croft in Ferindonald because his father had been in a crane accident and had lost a leg. Charlie said that life then was quite simple, in the days before electricity. It was quite hard work, but the people weren’t unhappy. They didn’t stay up late at night. They had a radio which would be on at night to get the news. Evenings weren’t long because the tilly lamp would be going out and then they would go to bed.

"All they really needed was oatmeal for their porridge, salt herring, and for meat the crofters would take turns killing an animal and sharing the carcass. What they didn’t need much of was cash; it was more of a barter system.

"Charlie would take the horse and cart with the whelks he had picked to Armadale to get paid for them. When he was down there, he would usually buy oatmeal, herring, salt and paraffin - the basics that were required. He would take those back for himself and the neighbours. There wasn’t that much money in that. If he was coming back with an empty cart he would stop off at the shore for seaweed, take it home and put it on his vegetable patch. He made a bit more money by selling produce to hotels.

"When electricity came along it transformed their lives, but it also took the one thing they didn’t have much of: cash. All of a sudden, they had an electricity bill to pay that was bigger than all the other outlays they were used to. Some people would say that electricity coming to the Highlands is the best thing that has happened. But it took away the cash they had."

As told by Archie Robertson, resident of Ashaig, Skye

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