SCENERY PAINTING
FOR THE AMATEUR MUSICAL THEATRE and PANTOMIME |
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BRIGADOON - page nine. (photos)
THIS WILL TAKE A
TIME TO DOWNLOAD. BUT WELL WORTH THE WAIT. |
Recently we took a holiday in Scotland and visited the Highland
Folk Museum at Newtownmore. This is an excellent attraction and well
worth a visit in its
own right. On one part of the 80 acre site we found the "Highland Township"
To quote the guidebook :-
"This re-creation
of an early 18th century Highland township is being built using traditional
methods and materials. Here the skills of the craftsman, working with
wood, turf, thatch and stone, are being used to complete a Highland
township of circa 1700. Based on current archaeological research, the
visitor can
see how the cruck framed buildings were constructed and touch modern
replicas of furniture and objects. " |
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| We walked up a little hill to be greeted by a costumed guide who
escorted us around the corner of a thatched building and there it was
..... "MacConachy Square Brigadoon" |
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| I stood in delight and wonder, and do you know I swear I heard a chorus
singing, just like Tommy did in the New York Bar. |
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| We spent a very enjoyable time there being shown the various exhibits.
But they did not feel like exhibits, for you really took on the mantle
of an inhabitant of those dark, earth floored, cottages. "Exhibits" don't
have cobwebs
in the roof or a mother hen with her chicks highstepping indoors
to try and steal the corn as it came off the grindstone. These did. |
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| And here our two guides pose beside one of the cottages for
you to see how they were constructed (the cottage not the guides!) . The
thatch is dried broom. (CLICK
to see thatching) The walls are slabs of turf, laid on top of each other
like blocks. We are seeing the edges which is why it looks like a course
of bricks. The whole is then whitewashed with a coating of lime. There are
no foundations, just that small row of stones along the bottom. There's
a tuft of grass on the roof in the above photo. That's where the hole is,
to let the smoke out from the turf fire. |
These are just two of the many buildings
on display at the Highland
Folk Museum.
and these photos are published by permission of the Curator.
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That ends this "Brigadoon" section |
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