MacCallum’s House (Building A)
MacCallum’s House differs from the other longhouses at Auchindrain as it has a larger byre. The byre is also unusual as it has a second entrance in the eastern gable, which would have been used for mucking out to the midden to the east. There is no evidence of an original hay loft in the byre but a full loft was added to the building probably at the same time as the corrugated iron roof.
The cows were tethered in the byre using a moving post system where one of the posts, hinged at the bottom, was moved aside to let the cow’s head in, then moved to the closed position and secured with a peg. This allowed the cows to move up and down but not side to side. Tethering the cows in this way meant that they did not get infections from being tethered around their neck with a rope. The moving post system is thought to be unique to Auchindrain. However, it can only be used to tether cattle that have horns.
There is a separate pen in the corner of the byre where calves were kept.
They had to be kept apart from their mothers as otherwise they would have consumed all of their milk leaving none for the farmer. The calves were kept close to their mothers, for ease of feeding and reassurance from the mother and her offspring and to act as a stimulus for the mother to let down her milk at milking time.
MacCallum’s House represents the final evolution in the form of the longhouse at Auchindrain.
