Scotland, Part 5: A Preservation Of Highland Life

I heard the title 'Outlander' multiple times prior to our trip. Friends and family excitedly informed me about their love for the show - and books -  before naming off several places I just HAD to visit around Scotland. Brent had shown me clips of a scene of the show where Claire found herself waulking wool alongside the women in the MacKenzie village, filmed at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, to help provide a bit of context before our visit. 

The Highland Folk Museum is an open-air museum that was established in 1935 by Isabel F. Grant. Visitors are able to walk through multiple historic buildings that are scattered throughout the large 80-acre plot of land, to learn more about the unique history of life in the Highland of Scotland from the 1700s to the 20th century. 

Taken by Brent during his October 2019 visit - you'll notice it was a wee bit less green during our visit in late April

I enjoyed moving from building to building, catching a little glimpse of what it was like to live and work through each time period. 

Spools of brightly colored thread dawned the shelves of a tailor's shop and loom shed, handmade tweed jackets and skirts hung in the tweed cottage, large black chalkboards were covered in handwriting instruction and a daily schedule, a large yellowed map hung centered on the wall behind where a teacher would stand, and desks for school children were lined neatly in the old schoolhouse.

You could also hear the gentle echo of  hymns played through a speaker in the airy chapel and safety of the times was questioned in the joiner's workshop, where sharp and rusty blades were haphazardly scattered among tables and hung upon strips of wood that resembled walls - behind a protective screen of course. 

Making our way through the woods of towering pine trees and carved wooden statues of forest creatures, we finally found the clearing where the small township was settled (Baile Gean Township). 

A thick cloud of smoke billowed from one of the moss-covered thatched roof homes and a man dressed in traditional tartan greeted us as he ducked through the low awning. 

The homes (huts) had been salvaged from an abandoned village, brought to the piece of land that would become it's permanent home in 1944, and arranged strategically to represent how the township would have looked during the 1700s. 

We learned about how families would huddle inside, with their livestock, during long and freezing winter months in an effort to stay warm and conserve energy for the busier spring months ahead. You mean I'd get to spend several months cuddling up to an adorable hairy coo?! 

There is so much to learn here, and you could easily spend hours exploring and enjoying the museum. It was an incredibly worthwhile trip and I would highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in Scotland. Learn more about the Highland Folk Museum or plan a visit: Britain's first open-air museum