Spreading the fleece

Kate MacLean, Garrynamonie, examining a fleece that she has just sheared, picking off grasses and other debris. The fleece is then washed in soapy water to remove dirt and grease before being dyed.

The photograph was taken by Werner Kissling (1895-1988), an ethnological photographer, who worked mainly in island and coastal communities in Scotland. He made one of the earliest Gaelic films, Eriskay: A Poem of Remote Lives (1935).

University of Edinburgh, School of Scottish Studies Archives: SSSA F11/18