National Museum of Rural Life

The project, opened in 2001, cost more than £9 million and was made possible through a partnership between the National Museums of Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, South Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Natural Heritage and a number of private funders.

The National Museum of Rural Life has greatly extended the work of the former Scottish Agricultural Museum, founded in 1949, latterly located within the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston, west of Edinburgh.

The completed National Museum of Rural Life features a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m²) museum and visitor centre, the Georgian buildings of Wester Kittochside farm, the species-rich fields and hedgerows around it and a 24 ha (60 acre) events area.

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National Trust for Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland, is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy".

European Regional Development Fund

European Regional Development Fund

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions, and invest it in the infrastructure and services of underdeveloped regions. This will allow those regions to start attracting private sector investments, and create jobs on their own.

South Lanarkshire Council

South Lanarkshire Council

South Lanarkshire Council is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The large and varied geographical territory takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town. The area was formed in 1996 from the areas of Clydesdale, Hamilton and East Kilbride districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow district ; all were previously within the Strathclyde region from 1975 but in historic Lanarkshire prior to that.

Ingliston

Ingliston

Ingliston is an area in the west of Edinburgh, near Maybury, South Gyle and Newbridge, and is home to Edinburgh Airport and The Royal Highland Showground.

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The so-called great Georgian cities of the British Isles were Edinburgh, Bath, pre-independence Dublin, and London, and to a lesser extent York and Bristol. The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term "Georgian" is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.

The 44 ha (110 acre) farm was gifted in 1992 to the National Trust for Scotland by Mrs. Margaret Reid who had run the farm for many years with her late husband James, the last of ten generations of Reids. The Reids, as Lairds of Kittochside, farmed the property over a period of 400 years from 1567 to 1992.

Originally, John Reid, previously the tenant, had purchased the lands of Kittochside in 1567 from Robert Mure of Caldwell. Mure tried to take back the lands by force and after burning down Kittochside the case came to be adjudicated at the Privy Council of James VI in 1600, the result being that Robert Mure was jailed for six months but was released after paying a fine of 500 merks to John Reid with a promise of 1015 merks on 11 November 1600 and then the Reids were free to develop the farm buildings and lands.

During the covenanting troubles the Reids were prominent and they fought against the king at the Battle of Bothwell Brig in 1679. At one point in the battle the Kilbryd (Kilbride) Parish Flag was taken by the enemy and James Reid fought his way to its rescue, ripping it off its pole and wrapping it around his body as he ran with it. His brother John was captured and would have been sent to the West Indies as a slave if it were not for the intervention of the Duke of Hamilton. John was jailed for about 6 years and then returned in less violent times to manage Wester Kittochside farm.

The Laird's House

The Laird's House

The fine Georgian dwelling house was built in 1782-4 and cost £45.12.7, not an inconsiderable sum for the time, paying for a Laird's home of almost miniature classical country house appearance. An extension to the house was built in 1906 allowing for remodelling of the interior layout. Electricity was installed in the 1950s, replacing the use of oil lamps and candles. The interior of the house has been left as it was in the 1950s.

Some of the buildings have carved ball finials on the gable ends as per the architectural fashion of the time. The finial can also function as a lightning rod, and was once believed to act as a deterrent to witches on broomsticks attempting to land on one's roof. On making her final landing approach to a roof, the witch, spotting the obstructing finial, was forced to sheer off and land elsewhere.

Both the house and the farm stand on an exposed hill top and are screened from the elements by mature trees, a particularly fine old Sycamore or Plane (Acer pseudoplatanus) being prominent amongst them.

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Robert Mure of Caldwell

Robert Mure of Caldwell

Sir Robert Mure or Muir was a Scottish landowner, imprisoned by James VI for intimidating his tenants.

Finial

Finial

A finial or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature.

Lightning rod

Lightning rod

A lightning rod or lightning conductor is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducted to ground through a wire, instead of passing through the structure, where it could start a fire or cause electrocution. Lightning rods are also called finials, air terminals, or strike termination devices.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used malevolent magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were folk healers or midwives. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.

Farm buildings

The north and west ranges were built in 1782-4 by John Reid. The north range stands on the foundations of an earlier building, probably a 17th-century longhouse. The small byre was re-roofed and upgraded in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. The corn barn still has its threshing floor where a flail would have been used by hand until a horse-engine and threshing machine was installed in around 1820 to 1840. This was in turn replaced in 1860 by the present threshing mill. Finally around 1870 travelling mills made even this mill redundant.

The 6th laird was involved in quarrying and limestone-burning, hence the need for a stable with room for three horses and loose box, with a loft above. Various modifications took place over the years and a Dutch barn was built in 1949. Dairying ceased in 1980 and the farm turned to raising beef cattle until 1992 when the National Trust for Scotland took over the running of the farm operations.

Horse engine or gin

The cast-iron horse gin or horse engine

The very rare survival of a 'horse mill', engine or 'gin' at Wester Kittochside has been professionally excavated and restored to working condition. It had been used to drive farm machinery, such as the winnowing machine in the corn barn which removes the husk from grain, powered via a rotating horizontal axle drive from the gin. As already stated, prior to using horse driven machines a flail was used by the farm workers to separate the grain from the husk. The flail itself being a wood pole with a smaller pole linked at the end via a chain or leather thong. Another door opposite the existing barn door used to provide sufficient wind to separate the grain from the chaff or seed husks.

Bothy

A single room to house a bachelor farm servant was called a bothy. The example at Wester Kittochside was used as a tack room in the early 20th century, but came back into use during the Second World War when it was used as quarters for a German prisoner of war, Heinrich Luckel, who remained in contact with the Reid family for many years after the end of the conflict.

Doocot, cart and gig sheds

A typical dovecot or doocot is located above the door of the cart shed building. The doocot is a typical feature of country estates, as the right to build one was strictly limited to the major landowners initially, and only later were small freeholders permitted to build them; at a more recent date tenants could sometimes gain permission from their landlord to build doocots to provide food or to add a picturesque feature to their properties. (Peters 2003). In the Middle Ages doocots or pigeon-houses were a badge of manorial privilege and distinctive, often very ornate buildings were constructed (Buxbaum 1987). The Kittochside doocot is a simple and practical design, however the problem of the pigeons feeding off the farm crops still had to be balanced against the benefits of the all year round meat supply that the doocot provided.^[1] A lean-to gig shed, (gig: a light, two-wheeled sprung cart pulled by one horse) was built at the north end of the stable in the early 19th century.

Stathel

A cast-iron stathel at the farm

Wester Kittochside has two stathels, both made in Edinburgh. The structure is basically a cast-iron version of a set of staddle stones with its upper wooden framework. These rare survivals are still in use for supporting ricks, keeping the material well aired and dry underfoot, as well as free from rats and mice which cannot run up the legs of the structure and make it "up and over" the "mushroom shaped" tops and thence into the hay, etc.

Whin stone

A whin stone at Dalgarven Mill, North Ayrshire

Lying outside in the farm courtyard is a large oval sandstone object with metal attachments on its central axis. This was used to crush whin or gorse in a shallow trough, the stone being dragged up and down by a horse, making the spiny and tough branches of the plant suitable for use as animal feed. It was normally only used when other sources of feed were lacking.

Field names

An interesting survival and a source of historical information, is the record of field names from the 1858 farm map, giving us such names as Buchans, Long Croft, Short Croft, Greenlawford, Fauselands, Queyspark, etc. The meaning of these names are explained in the Laird's House where an exhibition room is dedicated to the history of the Reid family and their farm.

Slip Gate

Sandstone slip gate piers are found at the bottom entry point to the Buchans field beside the pedestrian footpath. Such slip gates were built with a series of downward facing 'L'-shaped grooves on one side and a matching concavity on the other gatepost. Wood bars could then be inserted across and parallel, giving a gate without a hinge. These are sometimes still found in the countryside at large, but they are almost always adapted to carry metal hinged gates. In some areas wood rather than stone was used to construct this type of hinge-less gatepost.

Rig and furrow

Rig and Furrow marks in Buchans Field

Clear 'rig & furrow' marks in a field near Aiket Castle in East Ayrshire.

The familiar rig and furrow marks in the Buchans field are exceptionally well preserved due to the fact that heavy machinery was rarely used here. These marks represent the way in which earth was built along the centre of a long strip or rig of land with drains or furrows at either side. This is how crops were grown up until the 17th century before enclosure with hedges and fences took place, as well as great social changes, improved farm machinery, etc., all of which altered the way in which fields were ploughed and managed (Blair 1976).

Archaeology

As part of Scottish Archaeology Month in September 2005, 50 volunteers took part in a fieldwalking exercise to the SW of Wester Kittochside Farm (NS65NW 72). An area of 110 x 20 m was gridded out in 10 m squares, and the volunteers spent 5 minutes in each grid collecting all the visible artefacts.

Most of the artefacts recovered are of 19th-century origin. These include white and brown glazed pottery, stoneware, bottle and window glass, porcelain figurines, clay pipes and roof slates. More unusual finds include beads, buttons, burnt bone, lead toy soldiers, medieval green-glaze pottery and flint. Most of these items would probably have come from the night soil deposited on the midden and then spread with the manure from the farmyard midden.

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Threshing

Threshing

Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.

Horse mill

Horse mill

A horse mill is a mill, sometimes used in conjunction with a watermill or windmill, that uses a horse engine as the power source. Any milling process can be powered in this way, but the most frequent use of animal power in horse mills was for grinding grain and pumping water. Other animal engines for powering mills are powered by dogs, donkeys, oxen or camels. Treadwheels are engines powered by humans.

Bothy

Bothy

A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ulster and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands, but related buildings can be found around the world. A bothy was also a semi-legal drinking den in the Isle of Lewis. These, such as Bothan Eòrapaidh, were used until recent years as gathering points for local men and were often situated in an old hut or caravan.

Horse tack

Horse tack

Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up, and involves putting the tack equipment on the horse. A room to store such equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room.

Dovecote

Dovecote

A dovecote or dovecot, doocot (Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in the Middle East and Europe and were kept for their eggs and dung.

Slip gate

Slip gate

Slip Gates, also known as Stang Stoops, Yatsteads or Stang Pole Gateways are a form of simple gate that once commonly in Europe controlled access to fields, lanes, etc. using removable cross-bars and two fixed posts, often of stone. The usually wood spars or stangs were slotted into grooves cut into the stone piers and held firmly in place at one end with wedges and on the other end by being placed in a deep square or circular socket. Most other gates are formed of a fuller frame; many instead have hinges.

Night soil

Night soil

Night soil is a historically used euphemism for human excreta collected from cesspools, privies, pail closets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed from the immediate area, usually at night, by workers employed in this trade. Sometimes it could be transported out of towns and sold on as a fertilizer.

The Exhibition Building was designed by Page\Park Architects and constructed in 1998–2001 on newly purchased land. It is designed to reflect its links with the world of agricultural and nature, with large sliding entrance doors giving access to a wood-clad barn-like building. The other outer walls appear to be 'white-washed' and the lower portion of almost the whole of one side appears to be open to the ground outside, echoing the design of typical barns, cart sheds, etc.

The three main themes to the museum are land, tools and people. Many of the artifacts and equipment originally came from the existing museum at Ingliston, others came from an operational traditional working farm, as well as items which were donated and some which were specific acquisitions. The displays illustrate how people lived and worked the land in the past, and how this helped shape the countryside which we see today. The museum also includes items which highlight the folklore aspects of the farming way of life, including a 'cup marked' stone, a collection of charms and many other display items.

Specifically themed exhibitions include agricultural tools and equipment, clothing, toys, musical instruments, and household items. Amongst the preserved machinery is the reaping machine invented by Patrick Bell (1799–1869), the earliest surviving example of an iron plough invented by James Small (1730–1793) and the best collection of combine harvesters in Europe, mostly housed in an area which can be visited upon request.

The High Breck of Rendall Mill is a permanent exhibit. It is the oldest known surviving threshing mill in the world.

The museum has a large collection of scale and other models from the Highland Society and other sources relating to farm machinery, water wheels, etc.

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Page\Park Architects

Page\Park Architects

Page\Park Architects was established in 1981 by David Page and Brian Park and has developed as one of Scotland's best known practices undertaking work over a range of sectors.

Ingliston

Ingliston

Ingliston is an area in the west of Edinburgh, near Maybury, South Gyle and Newbridge, and is home to Edinburgh Airport and The Royal Highland Showground.

Folklore

Folklore

Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes and other oral traditions. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration. The academic study of folklore is called folklore studies or folkloristics, and it can be explored at undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. levels.

Amulet

Amulet

An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's Natural History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words.

Reaper

Reaper

A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roman times in what would become modern-day France. The Gallic reaper involved a comb which collected the heads, with an operator knocking the grain into a box for later threshing.

Patrick Bell

Patrick Bell

Patrick Bell was a Church of Scotland minister and inventor.

Threshing

Threshing

Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.

The Scarecrow in the kitchen garden at the farmhouse

An Ayrshire calf

A day at the National Museum of Rural Life gives an opportunity for visitors to get back to the land and experience the traditional way of life as it was on the rural and partly mechanised Scottish farm of the 1950s. Ploughing, sowing, haymaking and harvesting are all carried out on this working farm. Interpretation guides enable visitors to understand and appreciate the many activities which are part and parcel of the Scottish farming year. Tractor rides take visitors to the farm where they can also see the herd of pedigree Ayrshire cattle which calve from January–March being milked every day at 3.00 pm and the Kittochside flock of Scottish blackface ewes (sheep) which lamb in early April.

An annual programme is offered of demonstrations of country skills, workshops and ranger-guided walks. Activities are spread throughout the year, such as the heavy horse show, the tractor show, the horse shoeing competition, the sheepdog trials, Kittochside Fair, Toytrac Scotland, Christmas at the Farm, the Halloween Party, Willow Harvest, etc. The museum received 113,525 visitors in 2019.^[2]

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Scarecrow

Scarecrow

A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. Scarecrows are used around the world by farmers, and are a notable symbol of farms and the countryside in popular culture.

Sowing

Sowing

Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area or object that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area.

Tractor

Tractor

A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially tillage, and now many more. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised.

Ayrshire cattle

Ayrshire cattle

The Ayrshire is a Scottish breed of dairy cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the county of Ayrshire in south-western Scotland. Ayrshires typically have red and white markings; the red can range from a shade of orange to a dark brown.

Typical mill buildings, here at Coldstream Mill in North Ayrshire.

Below the Exhibition Building is the glen through which the Kittoch Water runs, previously powering the grain mill which stood on the further bank of the Kittoch Water. The mill cottage still stands and the Weir is visible further up the glen looking towards the road bridge. It had a cast iron wheel, providing a direct link with the MoSRL and its collection of wheelwright's patterns for waterwheels exhibited in the land gallery of the Exhibition Building.

The museum provides a national educational resource on countryside practices, biodiversity, the environment, traditional and more recent farming methods involving pesticides and fertilisers, topical issues, etc. It focuses on the long history of agriculture in Scotland and on the lives of those who lived and worked in the countryside.