Home, not so Sweet Home

Visited the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore today. To be honest, I didn't know it existed but it's a really interesting place and we wandered around for ages. This is a picture of two buildings in a 17th century Township reconstruction. If you were born into the building in front you'd have a pretty miserable existence; it's a Stockman's House, owned by the head of the township, and you'd effectively be doing whatever was demanded by him. You'd be one of about 20 people living in a dirt-floored, windowless, smoke filled home. But you'd be too poor to own any livestock so at least they wouldn't be sharing! It's amazing that people were still living like this until the 1820's before they mostly moved down to the new towns and villages that had sprung up alongside the railway.