Black House

Black House, the name given to a rude kind of dwelling common in the islands of Lewis and Harris, and less so in Scotland, and so called to distinguish them from white stone houses. These houses are built of rough stones, and consist of a main portion and a wing on each side. In the smaller wing is the door with a passage containing a quern and a stall for calves and lambs, and leading to the central part in which are the larger cattle, separated from the human inhabitants by a line of rough stones. The farther wing is used as a barn and sleeping place. There are no windows; their seats are planks placed on sods or simply piles of sods, with a three-legged stool for the wife. The beds consist of four rough uprights, bound together with side pieces, and having a wooden bottom covered with loose straw.