Giving evidence before the Deer Forest Commission of 1892, the late
Mr. Æneas R. Macdonell of Camusdarroch, Arisaig, made an interesting
statement. After mentioning that he was a member of the Scottish Bar,
and had previously been proprietor of Morar, he proceeded:--
I am able to speak generally as to the population there used to be in
Arisaig in my young days,--in fact, the whole tract of country seemed
to be populated and to have numerous houses on all parts of it; but
I want to confine my evidence almost entirely to that portion of the
district which is now under deer forest. It is now called Rhu-Arisaig,
but 100 years ago it was called Dubh-chamus.
Although I am only seventy-two years of age, I am able to speak of
thirty years beyond that, from 1794. My grandfather occupied the
various places or townships in Dubh-chamus or Rudha. These were
Dubh-chamus, Rhu, Tirnadrish, Torbae, Rhubrec, Tormor, Rhuemoch,
Claggan, Portavullid, Bal-ur, Ardgaserie, and Achagarrailt. I am able
to speak concerning that period from an old account-book belonging
to my grandfather, to which I had access a good many years ago, and
it was in connection with a very melancholy occasion in which I was
unfortunately implicated, viz., an emigration from the estate of
Loch Sheil in Moidart. In that account-book I found thirty-seven
names of individuals in the various families who were paying rent, as
sub-tenants to my grandfather, Archibald Macdonald, Rudha, Arisaig, who
died, I think, in 1828 or 1829. I don’t know where that account-book
now is. At that time it was in the possession of my uncle, Macdonald of
Loch Sheil; and I may as well mention that it was in connection with
Rudha that I came to examine the book.
First I should mention that these people occupied Rhu as cottars, and
they had land for which apparently they paid no rent, but worked the
land, of which Mr. Macdonald of Rudha cropped a portion. They paid rent
for grazing,--a small nominal sum, and he himself paid a very small
rent also to the then proprietor, Macdonald of Clanranald. In fact
he, as well as Macdonald of Borrodale and Macdonald of Glen Alladale,
came into possession of the various lands as being sons of the then
Macdonald of Clanranald. They took these lands with the population on
them, and occupied them.
The rents were paid to the tenants, to these Macdonalds, at a very
small rate, because they themselves were not highly charged.
It so came to pass that in Lord Cranston’s time my uncle, Gregor
Macdonald, who then occupied Rudha, had to give a large increase of
rent, or be quit of it. Well, he could not under the old system on
which he held it afford to give more rent. The consequence was that the
farm was taken over him; and the cruel thing was, that he was obliged
to remove all the sub-tenants upon it who had been there generations
before him or his ancestors. The only thing that he could do was to get
his brother Macdonald of Loch Sheil to take the people over to Loch
Sheil in Moidart. Times grew black, and the potato famine occurred, and
the consequence was that there was a redundant population, for Moidart
had previously been well inhabitated, and the addition of so many
families from Rudha, Arisaig, quite overwhelmed them when the potato
famine occurred.
I was then puzzled to know how many came from Rhu, Arisaig, and I got
access in that way to the old books from which I took an extract, and I
have here a list of the names of the various people and the portions of
Rudha that they occupied. In _Ardgaserich_ there were 12, viz., Lachlan
Mackinnon, Donald Roy Macinnes, John Macintyre, John Mackinnon, Patrick
Maccormack, Neil Mackinnon, Ronald Macdonald, Mrs. Macdonald, Donald
Macvarish, Duncan Macinnes, John Macdonald, and Allan Mackinnon. In
_Torbae_ there were 4, viz., Angus Smith, L. Mackinnon, J. Macdonald,
John Maciasaac. In _Dubh-chamus_, ten, viz., John Kinnaird, John
Macisaac, Finlay Mackellaig, Archibald Macfarlane, James Macdonald,
Widow Maceachan, Patrick Grant, Allan Mackinnon, Dugald Macpherson,
and Widow Maclean. In _Rudha_, 11, viz., Mrs. Donald Macdonald, Donald
Macinnes, Roderick Mackinnon, John Maccormack, Rory Smith, Angus Bain
Macdonald, Ewan Mackinnon, Peter Macfarlane, Dugald Gillies, Alexander
Macleod, Angus Roy Maceachan. These are in all 37, and they are
evidently of different families. The rents were given, and the payments
made, and everything in connection with their holdings. The date of
this is 1794.
I was going on to explain that these people, or rather the descendants
of some of them, had to be removed to Moidart, and in the congested
state of the estate it had to be considered what was best to be done.
I was then a young man. I had just passed at the Bar, and I and the
late respected James Macgregor of Fort William were appointed trustees
to do what was best. We could see nothing for it,--it was impossible
for the people to subsist,--but to assist them to emigrate, and we
were assisted very materially in carrying out the emigration by the
resident Catholic clergyman of that time, Rev. Ronald Rankine, who
indeed followed them. So many of them went to Australia and a few of
them to America. But never shall I forget until my dying day,--it is a
source of grief to me that I had anything whatsoever to do with that
emigration, although, at the same time, God knows I cannot understand
how it could have been averted. Many of the people have succeeded well
and are well-to-do, but if they had remained, they would have been
impoverished themselves, and they would have impoverished the few that
are still on the estate.