The Scottish Tradition Series consists of a selection of material previously held in the archives of Edinburgh University's School of Scottish Studies - the results of forty-two years of systematic research and collection by the School of Scottish Studies.

Fulling, milling, or waulking of home-made cloth for household use was carried out in Gaelic Scotland by pounding the material against a board or trampling it with the feet. The techniques are of great antiquity and were also used elsewhere, but they happened to survive in the Hebrides into the twentieth century. It appears that in Gaelic society in the past, cloth processing in all its stages was specifically women's work. Weaving may be regarded as a partial exception to this, for even in the Outer Hebrides male weavers are on record as early as the eighteenth century; but men took part in waulking only in the most exceptional circumstances. Indeed until fairly modern times they were not allowed to enter the room in which the cloth was being waulked until a forfeit had been paid or until the work was done....

This little booklet was written to compliment the CD  in the Scottish Tradition series "Wailking Songs From Barra".