Bothie

Bothie (perhaps from the Gaelic bothag) signified originally a humble cottage or hut, but for a considerable number of years the term has been more popularly applied to a barely furnished, generally uncomfortable habitation for farm-servants. Though bothies are principally confined to the eastern and north-eastern counties of Scotland, a few are scattered over a much wider area. The bothie, strictly speaking, of modern times is situated either under the same roof as the stable, or oftener at a short distance from the steading. While the cubic contents are invariably disproportionate to the number of inmates, the furnishings are of an uninviting, sometimes actually repulsive character. One long, roughly manufactured table, a few long stools, a chair or two, a number of victual bunks, a few wooden caps or bowls, and a pot or two, constitute the bulk of the fittings. The inhabitants are generally unmarried men, who frequently have their own food to prepare. Some of the larger farmers provide a woman for cooking and cleaning the bothie. The bothie system can only be defended as under present circumstances a necessary evil. With the increase of farm-cottages, and under the pressure of public opinion and the growing desire for social elevation, the evil is diminishing, and will, there is reason to hope, be entirely abolished.