It was normally expected that pupils bring a peat to school each day to keep the classroom warm in the often bitterly cold weather. Badbea was no exception as Alexander Gunn explains:
The school was built by members of the two communities and
was situated just on the Auchincraig side of the border with Badbea. The building
measured approximately 20 feet by 12 feet and the walls were built of drystone
with no mortar in it. The roof was of thatch with a skylight in it for
providing light. A fire was situated in the middle of the room and the smoke
made its exit through a hole in the roof. Fuel was provided for the fire by
each pupil taking a peat with them to the school every day. There was a guard
placed on the peat neuk every morning to see that every pupil brought a peat
and woe betide any person who failed to take a peat as they were immediately
rewarded with several strokes of the strap. One delinquent felt the punishment
dealt out to him as being very unfair and vowed that he would never take
another peat with him to school. When reading the lesson he expressed his feelings
very strongly in Gaelic, but it is doubtful if the teacher understood.
The Scottish artist R R McIan produced this illustration for
the book 'Gaelic gatherings, or the Highlanders at home on heather, river and
loch', published 1847-49, with accompanying text by James Logan. McIan called
this illustration 'Highland children going to school, Lochaber'. The barefoot
child leading the way is the 'horn boy', generally one of the cleverest pupils,
who was paid to blow a horn to summon the other pupils to school. The boys are
carrying a piece of peat for the school fire. Commentary from www.ambaile.com
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| Peat at Badbea |
This little guy crawled across the Badbea track as I was taking the photo of the peat. Not that fond of black slugs myself but I daresay the boys at school found them diverting. Note: In the early years at Badbea only boys went to school.
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