English: Ruined Black House This picture shows the basic construction of a 'black house' (tigh dubh), which title is most probably an early misinterpretation of 'thatched house' (tigh tughadh). The building has chimneys, so is more modern than the original type (where the smoke from the central fire found its way out through the thatch), so probably follows the introduction of the black-stove in the 1920s - also, chicken-wire is clearly-visible amongst the remnants of the thatch, so this is not an ancient home ...... but the practice of roped-rocks to hold the thatch against the Atlantic gales is clearly seen both in the empty loops and in the still-anchored stones.