EPISODE 378 STONE SILO CIRCA 1870-1880: WHERE DID THEY GET THE STONES?
alan skeoch
June 2021
This stone silo has stood here since Angus McLean built it in the 1870’s. ( McLean-Saunders-MacLeod-Skeoch, Skeoch, Con…owners)
Take a close look. Not one stone is uniform. Sizes and shapes are never replicated. It looks unstable yet the silo is now over
150 years old. An unusual piece of Scottish stonemasons art.
Angus McLean had to use whatever was available. And in Erin Township, Wellington County,
Ontario stones were always available. They still are. Each year a new crop of stones is pushed
to the surface. “That’s my best crop.”
Stone are available if we decide to make the silo higher. One factor is missing. The skill to take rounded irregular stones
of all sizes and put them together in such a way that they will stand for 150 years. Angus McLean died a long time ago.
Enthusiastic stone pickers.
Piled on a stone boat.
Hauled oto a designated spot for the stone pile. Then unloaded. There were always snakes ready to take up residence in
the stone pile.
Why was this rocky land given or sold to Scottish migrants in the 19th century? Simple answer. Scotland is
full of stone fields. The land agents figured Scots would like stone fields. And they did. Stone houses were
a specialty as was the stone house built on the Skeoch farm near Fergus. Like the silo , it is still standing.