By Akira Komatsu

            The Isle of Arran in Scotland off Glasgow, Great Britain, has 18 small villages, and each

village provides us with its different unique and fascinating attraction. Catacol village is among

one of them. It is worth visiting the village as an ideal tourist attraction. We can get relaxed and

enjoy quiet and peaceful atmosphere and environment along the coast. The main attraction is a

picturesque row of small identical cottages with different shapes of window frames. They are

situated very near the coastline. On the island, there is not enough land, and a row of cottages

is practical to make the use of the limited land effective.

            The row of cottages is referred to as “Twelve Apostles,” and the upstairs bedroom

widows has different shaped window frames. The woman of the each house put a candle

by the window, and signaled to her husband while fishing out on the sea. The husband could

see the candle light from the sea, and he could know who was being called by the signal of

different shaped window frame. The individual different candle light in different window frame

told which house it was and who was being needed.

The row of cottages was built in 1863, and originally housed fishermen. They were

farmers and were forced to leave the surrounding countryside because they had to set aside

the much of the land for deer. They became eventually fishermen at  Catacol.

            The window frames of the houses in Great Britain are different, and they are used to

get enough light from the outside. The window shapes of the houses are a kind of faces of

the dwellers. At Catacol village, famous row of cottage would had a practical meaning as a

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signal. They have a part of sad history in the Isle of Arran.




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