The Hebridean Dye : Bosta
I went to Bosta, few weeks ago, on the island of Great Bernera, not a hidden place but still beautifully preserved.
A bit of sun and it reveals its colours…
2 highland cows are always here in the valley, this is their home
Bosta is a beach but also the place of an ancient settlement. In old norse, Bosta comes from bost , a farmstead. But the place was inhabited far before the scandinavian people. Under its dunes are the remains of a late Iron Age village. Revealed in 1993 by a violent storm that only confirmed what Bernera people suspected. Under the sand were the ruins of many dwellings, home of early settlers. After 6 months of excavation and researches lead by the University of Edinburgh, the site had to be covered again to preserve it and hopefully one day, continue the studies. However, an exact replica of these dwelling has been built to seek about the life of those who lived there a long time ago. The house can be visited in summer and a guide is there to tell you all what you want to know about this place.
Since the first time I stepped on this beach, in August 2018, during my first stay on the island, I have been under its charm. An attraction that has been growing later by hiking along the west coast of Great Bernera and opening my sight about this little valley offering itself to the Atlantic ocean. In summer the machair is covered of flowers, the beach and the Iron Age House attract visitors who are quickly breath-taken by its atmosphere. Then, with my job as a tour guide, I learned about its history, its people and I love to bring guests there.
In winter, it is offering a peaceful shelter with still a bright and colourful water despite the wind and the lack of light.
Lewissian Gneiss colours
The Lewissian Gneiss is this rock covering the island. You will see it everywhere but it is on the beachs that it really reveals itself in all its complexity. This metamorphic rock is layered with colours ranging from black to white. In-between, you can see shades of grey of course but also green, red and orange.
Dying the rope
There is something curious and marvelous in the dye process of the rope: I collect fresh plants with a deep colour. The dye they are producing is often of a different shade of this same colour or something else. However the dyed rope once assembled is matching an element of my direct environment. My baskets are impregnated with what I see. This is not a conscious act of copying. If I tried I wouldn’t know how to do it. It is just happening, as an obvious statement of my love and attachment to my environnement.
For this new design, I first sewn the rope together in a bowl and then proceeded to the dye in two steps. It has been a longer process of letting the fiber absorb slowly the colour, let it dry and then modify a part of it with the iron soup for another slow absorption.
Why this name Bosta ?
I think we often forget that colours were already present in daily life thousands of years ago. Our modern pigments and inks arrived very lately on the market, around the 19th Century. Before this, plants, rocks, ashes and animals were used to produce colour.
Iron Age lasted longer here than in the rest of Scotland. Starting in 400 BC, it ended only in 800 AD with the viking raids. A long period in human history for this archipelago and for which we are lucky to have numerous historical and recorded archeological sites.
Every time I name a collection and a design, it resonate in me. So I am happy to launch the Bosta collection.
