Waulking

These ladies are doing an ancient Hebridean tradition of waulking a piece of Harris Tweed. In days of yore the tweed would be soaked in amonia (urine) in a tub, then stomped on by foot in a tin bath to wash, then smeared in Sunlight soap then it would be bashed around a hard table. All this was in order to shrink the tweed and make it soft. While doing this the ladies would sing Gaelic songs with a rythem that would suit the speed of passing the tweed round the table. There would be one lead singer and the rest would be a chours usually with vocables and many of the songs were bawdy and it was great fun. I have been to many's a good waulking on the islands in my time.
This was at the Auchendrain old crofting township just north of Inverary and while the big Loch Fyne food fayre at Loch Fyne Oysters got all the crowds, this place with its smaller food fair but better variety of ancient entertainment was much better and more intersting and is still on tomorrow if anyone wants to go. Its only an hour and 45 mins from Glasgow. An excellent day I guarantee with loads of photographic opporchancities!

Happy blipping all