10,690. Would you think that here it is rather better than in other places?-I think so. Unst houses are generally built 28 feet by 12, and about 7 feet high and they contain two rooms. They are built with stone and clay, harled with lime, and covered with thatch and turf.
10,691. In Unst I suppose the houses now have generally chimneys?-Yes, mostly-one in each house.
10,692. Is it in the middle?-No, it is at one end and many of them have still an open fire at the kitchen end, sometimes in the middle, and sometimes at the gable; but we have built chimneys to some of the tenants in both ends.
10,693. Where there is an open fire, what is the exit for the smoke?-It goes through holes in the thatch left there for the purpose. These holes are left for air, and to allow the smoke to go out.
10,694. Was that the ordinary character of the Shetland houses until lately?-I think so.
10,695. There were no chimneys?-No.
10,696. Are the windows generally glazed now?-Yes; but in many of the old houses they had no windows.
10,697. Do some of these houses still exist in Unst?-I don't know any now, but there may be some for anything I know.
10,698. Are there any in other parts of Shetland?-I have seen them in more remote parts of Northmaven, but that may be a year or two ago.
10,699. You cannot say whether that is a common style of house in other parts of Shetland?-I cannot.