大象传媒

Chaochal Calum 鈥楽teallag鈥� MacLe貌id ann an 2019 aig 84 bliadhn鈥� a dh鈥檃ois. B鈥� e fear de na gobhaichean traidiseanta mu dheireadh ann an Alba agus duine aig an robh urram m貌r ann an coimhearsnachd Le貌dhais is Na Hearadh. Chuir Calum agus athair, Iain, fad iomadh bliadhna seachad a鈥� toirt taic air feadh na h-eileanan, do dhachaighean agus do chompanaidhean, a thaobh iasgach, croitearachd, obair thogail is an leithid. Cha robh m貌ran dhachaighean anns na h-eileanan thar an linn mu dheireadh far nach robh inneal air choireigin le comharradh s貌nraichte 鈥楽teallag鈥�.

Ghabh Calum obair na ceardaich a-null nuair a chaochal athair ann an 1972. B鈥� e 脿ite iongantach a bh鈥� ann an ce脿rdach Steallaig ann an Ste貌rnabhagh, le seann innealan is p矛osan meatailt anns gach oisean. Bhiodh an 猫adhar l脿n che貌 is luaithre, is nuair a bha an teallach air a lasadh l矛onar an t-脿ite le teas a bha br霉ideil. An seo, a-measg nan sradagan is mac-talla an t-霉ird, bhiodh Calum a鈥� saothrachadh aig an innean, a鈥� toirt cumadh air p矛os mheatailt dhearg-lasrach.
Bha a鈥� bh霉th-obrach na thaigh-tasgaidh be貌 - cha b鈥� ann le toil ach le turchart. Bhiodh Calum, mar a bhiodh athair roimhe, a鈥� cleachdadh doras a鈥� bh霉th-obraich gus d猫anamh cinnteach gun robh na h-iarainn-loisgte mar bu mhiannar. Bha s脿r-e貌las aig Calum air na croitearan agus na comharran aca. Chithear an doras, air a ch貌mhdach bho mhullach gu bhonn le comharran nan croitean, ann an Taigh-tasgaidh nan Eilean an-diugh.

B鈥� e an tairsgeir an t-inneal traidiseanta as ainmeil a bh鈥� aca; chaidh na m矛ltean dhiubh an d猫anamh thairis air na bliadhnaichean. Air gach tairsgeir chithear tr矛 dotagan anns an st脿ilinn r猫idh aig mullach an iarainn 鈥� comharra a chuir d脿 ghinealach de theaghlach MhicLe貌id air na tairsgeirean aca.

Calum 'Steallag' MacLeod passed away in 2019, aged 84. He was one of the last remaining traditional blacksmiths in Scotland. and a much respected and admired member of the Lewis & Harris community. For many years Calum, and his father John, supported many domestic and commercial interests of the islands: fishing, crofting, civil and building contractors. Over a 100-year period there would be very few homes that did not have some tool, or implement, that carried the distinctive 鈥楽teallag鈥� trademark.

Calum took over the running of the smithy after his father died in 1972. Steallag鈥檚 smithy in Stornoway was an extraordinary space, with old tools and pieces of metal in every corner. Ash and smoke pervaded the air and when the forge was lit the heat was intense with sparks flying and echoes of history ringing from the anvil, Calum himself bent over, hammer in hand, fashioning a red-hot strip of metal.

While his workshop was an accidental living museum, like his father before him, Calum would test each branding iron on the door of his workshop. It meant he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of crofters and their brands. The wooden door, covered from top to bottom in croft codes, nowadays forms part of the new collection at Museum Nan Eilean.

The peat cutting iron, known locally as a 鈥榯arasgeir鈥� was possibly their most distinctive traditional tool, with many thousands having been produced over the years. Each one was finished off with hammering three dots into the flat steel at the top of the blade - the distinguishing mark that two generations of Macleod鈥檚 had hammered into their peat cutters.

In Gaelic with English subtitles