Although they are slowly vanishing from the Scottish landscape, the Doocot, or Pigeonhouse, used to be an important part of the wealth of Scottish nobles.
These days, pigeons are generally viewed as a nuisance, a type of flying vermin that infest popular city locations, such as London’s Trafalgar Square. However, for much of the history of Britain, pigeons were an important food animal and nowhere was this truer than in Scotland.
The history of the pigeonhouse in Scotland may stretch back as far as the Bronze Age, with a least once source mentioning a pigeonhouse at the ancient settlement of Skara Brae in Orkney. That said, it is likely that they became more common during the time of the Roman occupation of lower Britain. The Roman’s were famous pigeon keepers and the wide open lands of what became known as England was perfect for keeping the birds. Although Scotland’s rougher terrain made pigeonhouses less common, they were still frequently built.
Doocots really became popular during the middle-ages when the rise of the feudal nobility put large chunks of land in the hands of wealthy individuals.
To build a successful pigeonhouse it was necessary to remember five keys:
1. Shelter
2. Ventilation
3. Ease of Access for the birds
4. Protection from vermin
5. Nesting facilities
The first type of Doocotes (of the ones still standing) were called Beehive Doocots, and resembled squat stone beehive towers. This was the most popular design up until about 1600, when rectangular pigeonhouses came into fashion. This design lasted for a century or two and then the fashion changed again to taller towers, usually either round or octagonal. Whatever their outward appearance, pigeonhouses looked pretty similar inside. In the interior, doocots were a honeycomb of hundreds or even thousands of square nesting boxes, where a pair of pigeons could make their nest.
After building the house it was necessary to stock it. This was usually accomplished by putting out special bait and/or fake pigeons. Once pigeons were attracted, they were very likely to stay and set up a nest. (It was also not unheard of for people to try and steal their neighbour’s pigeons).
Pigeons were an important food source, especially during the winter months when little other fresh meat would have been available. They could also provide small eggs. Pigeon droppings were also useful as a fertilizer, and later, as an important ingredient in gunpowder.
The drawback to pigeonhouses was that, like today, large flocks of pigeons could prove quite a nuisance. Most notably they tended to eat farm crops (and often not from the land of the pigeonhouse owner).
In time the rise in food production, especially of other fowl, made pigeonhouses unnecessary, and slowly they have begun to disappear from the Scottish landscape. However, there are still quite a few in Scotland that have been preserved or converted to other use, and they still stand as an interesting glimpse of the past.
Primary information for this article was obtained from Scottish Doocots by Tim Buxbaum, Shire Album 190, Shire Publications Ltd, 1985
