Customer Reviews
This is another superb work from Donald Meek, weaving together in a masterful way his patient research in the archives, the stories he’s heard from family and neighbours, his knowledge of Gaelic as another tool to unlock the mysteries of the past - and his obvious passion for his subject. No doubt the book will appeal primarily to those of us with family connections to Caolas - I was thrilled to read the story of my own family’s croft and my MacLean and MacFadyen forbears. But there’s a wider interest, too, in the light this book shines on how crofts came to be, at least in this part of Tiree, and how their story has evolved over the last two centuries.
Sent in by Iain Mackinnon
I think this book is very special indeed and Donald Meek has done Tiree and all of us with a connection to Tiree a real service by writing it.
I asked for the book for Christmas 2021 (and should have provided a review much sooner). It came alongside a dozen other books that Christmas but it was an easy choice to pick up first, in large part because my family too is from Caolas, related to Donald and his. There are many books about Tiree, but Donald Meek has done something uniquely valuable, using his personal story to bring to life the story of big changes on the island, from the formation of the crofts in Caolas through to the present day. A wonderful book.
