...and stayed in Abernyte.
A fascinating glimpse from our past in Abernyte is provided by John Shabishow who uncovered some wonderful artifacts while renovating the old school building at the Schoolhouse. The original school in Abernyte was a single story building dating to the early 1700's which was adjacent to the single storey schoolhouse for the school master. Both buildings are likely to have had thatch or turf roofing as was the norm for that period. In 1824 the Schoolhouse was renovated with an extra storey added and a slate roof. It is nearly certain that the school had a new slate roof added at this time too.
At some point after the new works had been completed a number of artifacts were placed into the roof space where they have laid undisturbed, perhaps for 200 years, until recently.
Meet a pair of "rovies"
It was a well established tradition, at the time, with people working in the jute and flax mills to collect and bring home small scrap pieces of primarily jute. This was hand processed into strands that could be knitted or crocheted into slippers for children and were known in the Dundee jute mills as "rovies". Our "rovies" are made from interwoven strips of linen. In this period handloom weaving of linen was a staple cottage industry so it is very likely that these linen rovies were made from discarded strips from the hand loom process.
Shoes that were made to last. Abernyte had it's very own master shoemaker, William Whittet and his family who lived at Balfour Cottage from the early 1800's with his father or possibly grandfather, Peter Whittet working as a handloom linen weaver in the adjoining Bield. In those days a pair of shoes would be reused and repaired and passed down all of the children or family that they could fit.
It is easy to note how oft repaired these shoes were and how neatly they were made. The shoes did not have to be wholly functional as a pair of rather snazzy slip on models were also found!
The hand working skill was not limited to shoe making as, what we assume is a beautiful reversable cuff from a girls dress was also found. We assume girl or child because of the narrowness of the fit. It has been very finely made and it is not a stretch to imagine a girl working by a window or by candle light to fashion this.
All in all these items represent an important link to Abernyte's past and the people who lived here before us. If you wish to see these images full size and at higher resolution please click here to visit the Abernyte Gallery.