Box Beds with both wooden doors were common throughout the Highlands and Islands and indeed a still in use on some of the outer islands on Orkney. There are instances of box beds with curtained fronts (the example pictured is from the Strathnaver Museum, Bettyhill) but these were less common and may have been conversions. The fundamental construction of these beds were as a “flat pack” form, allowing them to be disassembled and rebuilt in new locations. In the early blackhouse and longhouse they provided the partitions that created rooms within the main structure.

Boxbed with sliding doors from Orkney

Cribs were the common form of day and night time sleeping places for babies and small children. The mother often rocked them with her foot as she sat spinning or knitting, hence many have a worn upper rocker on one side. Also common were systems of pegs and lacings to across the top of the main box to retain the child within the crib. Cribs without hoods were common in earlier and poorer homes the bent wood crib a hood requiring greater construction skills.

In earlier homes, like this firehouse on Orkney, bed space was constructed within the walls of the building. These neuk beds were then fitted with heather mattresses and skins for comfort.

Such a neuk bed can be seen in the middle of this picture behind the fireback of the central hearth.