MacConnochie was born at Islandonan, anno 1580, being a
seven months' child howbeit he became afterwards to be a man
of a very strong body, and his father seeing his good genius
for learning sent him to the school of Saint Johnstown,
where he stayed four or five years and became a great master
of the Latin language, as appears by some discoveries of his
yet extant. From Perth his father sent him to the college of
Edinburgh, where he became a pregnant philosopher beyond his
condisciples, and commanded Master of Arts under the
discipline of Mr Thomas Reid his regent, who afterwards
became Principal of the College, all the members of which
pitched on Mr Farquhar as the most accomplished and capable
to take Reid's place as Regent. But Kenneth Lord Kintail,
being then in Edinburgh, disapproved of the design, and
prevailed with the members of the college to pass from Mr
Farquhar, who himself preferred to be a preacher of the
Gospel to any other calling whatsoever, and for that end had
for some months preceding heard the lectures and lessons of
Mr Robert Rollack, professor of divinity. So that omitting
that opportunity of improving his great abilities he was
brought by Lord Kenneth home to Chanery of Ross, where he
was overseer of the Grammar school which then flourished
there, and stayed for the space of fifteen months and passed
his tryals. He became a sound, learned, eloquent and grave
preacher, and was pitched upon by the bishop and clergy of
Ross as the properest man to be minister of Garloch that he
might thereby serve the colony of English which Sir George
Hay of Airdry, afterwards Chancellor of Scotland, kept at
Letterewe, making iron and casting cannon. Mr Farquhar
having entered there did not only please the country people
but also the strangers, especially George Hay. In the year
1610 Kenneth Lord Kintail brought Mr Farquhar with him to
the Lewes, where he preached the Gospel to the inhabitants,
who were great strangers to it for many years before, as is
evident from his having to baptize all under forty years of
age which he did, and married a vast number who lived there
as man and wife thereby to legitimate their children, and to
abolish the barbarous custom that prevailed of putting away
their wives upon the least discord. This was so agreeable to
the well thinking part of the people that my Lord Kintail
promising to place such a man among them made them the more
readily submit to him, so that all the inhabitants at this
time took tacks from him except some of the sons of MacLeod
of Lewes, who fled rather than submit to him. My Lord
falling sick returned in haste home to Chanery of Ross where
he died, and was the first of the family that was buried
there, leaving the management of his affairs to Rory
Mackenzie his brother, commonly called the Factor of
Kintail, of whom are come the family of Cromarty. Mr
Farquhar married Christian MacCulloch, eldest lawful
daughter of MacCulloch of Park, on the first day of December
1611, dwelt at Ardlair, where several of his children were
born.
"But Sir George Hay went from Letterew to Fife. He seriously
invited Mr Farquhar to go with him, promising he would get
him an act of Transplantation and his choice of several
parishes of which he was Patron, and besides give him a
yearly pension from himself and endeavour to get him
ecclesiastical promotion. Mr Farquhar could not in gratitude
refuse such an offer, and was content to go with him, was it
not that Colin Lord of Kintail prevailed with Sir George to
dispense with him, Lord Colin himself purposing to
transplant him to Kintail, which was then vacant by the
death of Mr Murdoch Murchison, uncle by the mother to Mr
Farquhar, who accordingly succeeded his uncle both as
minister of Kintail and Constable of Islandonan in the year
1618, as will appear by a contract betwixt Lord Colin and
him dated at Chanery that year. Mr Farquhar lived here in an
opulent and flourishing condition for many years much given
to hospitality and charity....
"Mr Farquhar being rich when he came from Garloch provided
his children considerably well, having six sons and two
daughters that were settled in his own life time, viz.
Alexander, Mr John, Mr Donald, Milmoire or Myles, Murdoch,
and John....
"In the year 1651 Mr Farquhar, being old and heavy, removed
from Islandonan by reason of the coldness of the air to a
place called Inchcruiter, where he lived very plentifully
eleven years; some of his grandchildren after his wife's
death alternately ruling his house, to which there was a
great resort of all sorts of people, he being very generous,
charitable, and free-hearted.
"In the year 1654 when General George Monk passed through
Kintail with his army, they in their return carried away
three hundred and sixty, but not the whole of Mr Farquhar's
cows, for which after the restoration of King Charles the
II., he was advised to put in his claim; but his love of the
change of affairs made him decline it, and at his death he
had as many cows as them, and might have had as many more
were it not that they were constantly slaughtered for the
use of the family when he had his grandchildren and their
bairns about him. Being at last full of days, and having
seen his children that came of age settled after he had
lived fifty-four years in the Ministry, ten of which at
Garloch, he departed this life in the year 1662, and the
eighty-second of his age. He was buried with his
predecessors at Kilduich in Kintail."
B.
EXTRACT from "A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides,
1772, by Thomas Pennant." Dedication dated at Downing, March
1, 1774.
Mr Pennant accomplished most of his tour in the Western
Highlands and Islands by means of a sailing vessel. Landing
at Dundonnel at the head of Little Loch Broom, on 30th July
1772, in tempestuous weather, he was hospitably entertained
by Kenneth Mackenzie, Esq. of Dundonnel. He made this note
here:--"Dundonnel,--Determine to go by land to visit Loch
Maree, a great lake to the south; and direct Mr Thompson to
sail and wait for us at Gairloch."
After a rough ride, occupying most of the day, and which
seems to have been by way of Achneigie, thence by Glen na
Muic and the heights of Kenlochewe to the lower end of Glen
Dochartie (a route still indicated by a mountain track), he
writes as follows (vol. ii., page 328) under date of 1st
August 1772:--
"Black morassy heaths succeed, named Gliann-dochartai. Dine
on the side of a rill at the bottom, on plentiful fare
provided by our kind host, whose son Mr Mackenzie, and
another gentleman of the name, kindly undertook the charge
of us to the next stage. Ride through a narrow strath called
Kin-loch-ewe, where we first saw the signs of houses and a
little cultivation since morning. This terminates in a
meadowy plain, closed at the end with Loch-Maree: the night
proved wet and tempestuous; we therefore determined to defer
the voyage till next day; and to shelter ourselves in a
whisky house, the inn of the place. Mr Mackenzie
complimented Mr Lightfoot and me with the bedstead, well
covered with a warm litter of heath: we lay in our cloaths,
wrapped ourselves in plaids and enjoyed a good repose. Our
friends did not lose their sleep; but great was our surprize
to see them form their bed of wet hay, or rather grass
collected from the fields; they flung a plaid over it,
undressed, and lay most comfortably, without injury, in
what, in a little time, must have become an errant hot bed:
so blest with hardy constitutions are even the gentlemen of
this country!
"At seven in the morning (Aug. 2) take a six-oared boat, at
the east end of Loch Maree, keep on the north shore beneath
steep rocks, mostly filled with pines waving over our heads.
Observe on the shore a young man of good appearance, hailing
the boat in the _erse_ language. I demanded what he wanted;
was informed, a place in the boat. As it was entirely
filled, was obliged to refuse his request. He follows us for
two miles through every difficulty, and by his voice and
gestures threatened revenge. At length a rower thought fit
to acquaint us, that he was owner of the boat, and only
wanted admission in lieu of one of them. The boat was
ordered to shore, and the master taken in with proper
apologies and attempts to sooth him for his hard treatment.
Instead of insulting us with abuse as a _Charon_ of _South
Britain_ would have done, he instantly composed himself, and
told us through an interpreter, that he felt great pride in
finding that his conduct gained any degree of approbation.
"Continue our course. The lake, which at the beginning was
only half a mile broad, now, nearly half its length, widens
into a great bay, bending towards the south, about four
miles in breadth, filled with little isles, too much
clustered and indistinct. Land on that called Inch-maree,
the favoured isle of the saint, the patron of all the coast
from Applecross to Loch-broom. The shores are neat and
gravelly; the whole surface covered thickly with a beautiful
grove of oak, ash, willow, wicken, birch, fir, hazel, and
enormous hollies. In the midst is a circular dike of stones,
with a regular narrow entrance; the inner part has been used
for ages as a burial-place, and is still in use. I suspect
the dike to have been originally _Druidical_, and that the
ancient superstition of _Paganism_ had been taken up by the
saint as the readiest method of making a conquest over the
minds of the inhabitants. A stump of a tree is shewn as an
altar, probably the memorial of one of stone; but the
curiosity of the place is the well of the saint; of power
unspeakable in cases of lunacy. The patient is brought into
the sacred island, is made to kneel before the altar, where
his attendants leave an offering in money; he is then
brought to the well, and sips some of the holy water: a
second offering is made; that done, he is thrice dipped in
the lake; and the same operation is repeated every day for
some weeks: and it often happens, by natural causes, the
patient receives relief, of which the saint receives the
credit. I must add that the visitants draw from the state of
the well an omen of the disposition of St _Maree_; if his
well is full, they suppose he will be propitious; if not,
they proceed in their operations with fears and doubts; but
let the event be what it will, he is held in high esteem;
the common oath of the country is by his name; if a
traveller passes by any of his resting-places, they never
neglect to leave an offering; but the saint is so moderate
as not to put him to any expense, a stone, a stick, a bit of
rag contents him.
"This is the most beautiful of the isles; the others have
only a few trees sprinkled over their surface.
"About a mile farther the lake again contracts. Pass beneath
a high rock, formed of short precipices, with shelves
between, filled with multitudes of self-sown pines, making a
most beautiful appearance.
"The south of the water is bounded with mountains adorned
with birch woods, mixed with a few pines: a military road
runs along its length. The mountains are not very high, but
open in many parts to give a view of others, whose naked and
broken tops shooting into sharp crags, strangely diversify
the scene, and form a noble termination.
"Towards the bottom of the lake is a headland, finely wooded
to the very summit. Here the water suddenly narrows to the
breadth of a hundred yards, and continues so for nearly a
mile, the banks cloathed with trees, and often bending into
little semilunar bays to the very extremity; from whence its
waters, after the course of a mile, a continual _Rapide_,
discharge into a deep and darksome hole, called Pool-ewe,
which opens into the large bay of Loch-Ewe.
"The lake we had left is eighteen miles long; the waters are
said to be specifically lighter than most others, and very
rarely frozen; the depth is various, in some places sixty
fathoms; but the bottom is very uneven; if ten feet of water
were drained away, the whole would appear a chain of little
lakes.
"The fish are salmon, char, and trout; of the last is a
species weighing thirty pounds.
"Land; are received by the Rev. Mr Dounie, minister of
Gairloch, whom we attend to church, and hear a very edifying
plain comment on a portion of Scripture. He takes us home
with him, and by his hospitality makes us experience the
difference between the lodgings of the two nights.
"Aug. 3. Take a view of the environs: visit the mouth of the
river, where the salmon fishery supplies the tenant with
three or four lasts of fish annually. On the bank are the
remains of a very antient iron furnace. Mr Dounie has seen
the back of a grate, marked 'S. G. Hay,' or Sir George Hay,
who was head of a company here in the time of the Queen
Regent; and is supposed to have chose this remote place for
the sake of quiet in those turbulent times.
"Potatoes are raised here on the very peat-moors, without
any other drains than the trenches between the beds. The
potatoes are kiln-dried for preservation.
"It is to be hoped that a town will form itself here, as it
is the station of a Government-packet, that sails regularly
from hence to _Stornoway_, in _Lewis_, a place now growing
considerable, by the encouragement of Lord Seaforth, the
proprietor. This is a spot of much concourse; for here
terminates the military road, which crosses from the East to
the West sea, commencing at _Inverness_, and passing by
_Fair-burn_ and _Strath-braan_ to this place. Yet I believe
the best inn on the last thirty miles is that of Mr Roderick
Mac-donald, our landlord the last night but one.
"Ride about six miles South, and reach Gair-loch; consisting
of a few scattered houses, on a fine bay of the same name.
Breakfast at _Flowerdale_; a good house, beautifully seated
between hills finely wooded. This is the seat of Sir _Hector
Mackenzie_, whose ancestor received a writ of fire and sword
against the antient rebellious owners; he succeeded in his
commission, and received their lands for his pains.
"The parish of Gair-loch is very extensive, and the number
of inhabitants evidently encrease, owing to the simple
method of life, and the conveniency they have of drawing a
support from the fishery. If a young man is possessed of a
herring-net, a hand-line, and three or four cows, he
immediately thinks himself able to support a family, and
marries. The present number of souls are about two thousand
eight hundred.
"Herrings offer themselves in shoals from _June_ to
_January_; cod-fish abound on the great sandbank, one corner
of which reaches to this bay, and is supposed to extend as
far as Cape Wrath; and South, as low as _Rona_, off Skie;
with various branches, all swarming with cod and ling. The
fishery is carried on with long-lines, begins in _February_,
and ends in _April_. The annual capture is uncertain, from
five to twenty-seven thousand. The natives at present labor
under some oppressions, which might be easily removed, to
the great advancement of this commerce. At present the fish
are sold to some merchants from _Campbeltown_, who contract
for them at two-pence farthing a-piece, after being cured
and dried in the sun. The merchants take only those that
measure eighteen inches from the gills to the setting on of
the tail; and oblige the people to let them have two for one
of all that are beneath that length. The fish are sent to
_Bilboa_; ling has also been carried there, but was rejected
by the Spaniards. This trade is far from being pushed to its
full extent; is monopolised, and the poor fishers obliged to
sell their fish at half the price to those who sell it to
the merchants.
"The want of a town is very sensibly felt in all those
parts; there is no one commodity, no one article of life, or
implement of fishery, but what is gotten with difficulty,
and at a great price, brought from a distance by those who
are to make advantage from the necessities of the people. It
is much to be lamented that after the example of the Earl of
_Seaforth_, they do not collect a number of inhabitants by
feuing their lands, or granting leases for a length of years
for building; but still so much of the spirit of the
chieftain remains, that they dread giving an independency to
their people; a false policy! as it would enrich both
parties; and make the landlord more respectable, as master
of a set of decent tenants, than of thousands of bare-footed
half-starved vassals. At present adventurers from distant
parts take the employ from the natives; a town would create
a market; a market would soon occasion a concourse of
shipping, who would then arrive with a certainty of a cargo
ready taken for them; and the mutual wants of stranger and
natives would be supplied at an easy rate.
"By example of a gentleman or two, some few improvements in
farming appear. Lime is burnt; sea tang used as manure; and
shell sand imported by such who can afford the freight. But
the best trade at present is cattle: about five hundred are
annually sold out of this parish, from the price of one
pound seven to two pounds five a-piece. About eighty horses,
at three pounds each, and a hundred and fifty sheep, at
three pounds per score. The cattle are blooded at spring and
fall: the blood is preserved to be eaten cold.
"We found our vessel safely arrived at anchor with many
others, under the shelter of a little isle, on the south
side of the bay. Weigh, and get under sail with a good
breeze."
C.
Notes on the Parish of Gairloch, from the "Old Statistical
Account," being an Extract from "The Statistical Account of
Scotland, drawn up from the Communications of the Ministers
of the different parishes, by Sir John Sinclair, Bart.,"
vol. iii., page 89, printed in 1792.
"PARISH OF GAIRLOCH.
"BY THE REV. MR DANIEL M'INTOSH.
"_Name, Extent, &c._--This parish had its name originally
from a very small loch, near the church and the house of
Flowerdale, and so close by the shore that the sea at high
tides covers it. The etymology of it is abundantly clear,
and signifies in the Gaelic language a short contracted
loch.
"The parish of Gairloch is situated in the county of Ross,
in the presbytery of Lochcarron, and synod of Glenelg. Its
length is no less than thirty-two miles English, and its
breadth about eighteen.
"_Soil._--This country resembles many other parts of the
Highlands of Scotland. The valleys are surrounded with
hills, that afford good pasture to different kinds of
cattle. As the parish abounds in hills and mossy ground, the
arable parts of it are consequently but of a small extent.
When the season is favourable, the crops are by no means
bad, yet they scarcely serve the inhabitants above seven or
eight months. The potatoes the farmers plant, and the fish
they catch, contribute much to their support. This country,
and all the West coast, are supplied in the summer with meal
by vessels that come from different ports at a distance,
such as Caithness, Murray, Peterhead, Banff, Aberdeen,
Greenock, &c., and, at an average, sell the boll, consisting
of eight stones, at 16s., and, when provisions are high, at
18s. and upwards.
"_Rivers and Antiquities._--There are many rivers in this
parish, but no bridges nor passage but by horses; and
therefore, when these rivers overflow their banks, which
often happens in the winter and spring seasons, and
sometimes even in summer, travellers are detained, and are
exposed to delays and additional expences. There are two
large rivers near the east end of this parish, which meet
and run into one at Kenlochew, which, in the Earse language,
imports the Head of the Loch-River. These two rivers empty
themselves into Loch-Mari. This loch again is twelve
computed miles in length, and more in some parts than a mile
in breadth. There are twenty-four small islands in it, which
are beautified with fir trees, and a variety of other kinds
of wood; in one of these islands there is an antient
burying-place, called Isleand-Mari, where the people on the
north side of the loch still continue to bury their dead.
There is a well in it of a salubrious quality, the water of
which hath been found, for ages past, very serviceable to
many diseased persons. The remains of a Druidical temple is
likewise to be seen in this small island.
"_Fish._--Gairloch has been for many ages famous for the
cod-fishing. Sir Hector M'Kenzie of Gairloch, the present
proprietor, sends to market annually, upon an average,
betwixt 30,000 and 40,000 cod, exclusive of the number with
which the country people serve themselves. Gairloch hath
also, from time immemorial, been remarkable for the
herring-fishing. The coast of this parish abounds in very
safe harbours for vessels of all dimensions.
"_Agriculture._--Oats and barley are sown in this country.
Some of the gentlemen sow a small quantity of pease, which,
when the harvest is warm and dry, yield profitable returns;
our time of sowing oats, black and white, is commonly from
the middle of March to the end of April, within which period
we also plant potatoes; we sow barley from the beginning of
May to the 10th of June; our latest barley is seldom the
worst part of the crop, when the summer proves warm and
showery. Our harvest commences about the end of August, and
the crop is gathered in about the 10th of October. Our crop
frequently suffers much from shaking winds, attended with
heavy cold rain, about the autumnal equinox.
"_Diseases._--No peculiar local distemper of any kind is
prevalent in this parish. Fevers are frequent; sometimes
they are of a favourable kind; at other times they continue
long, and carry off great numbers. An infectious and putrid
fever, early in winter last, made its way from the north
over a long tract of different countries, and proved fatal
to many.
"_Population._--There were in this parish, in the year 1774,
of examinable persons about two thousand. And from that
period to the present there is an increase of two hundred
souls and upwards. In Dr Webster's report the number was two
thousand and fifty. There are a few people in the parish at
the age of eighty-six and eighty-seven. Two died lately who
arrived at the age of an hundred years.
"_Character of the People._--They are in general sobre,
regular, industrious, and pious. They have always been
remarked and esteemed for their civility and hospitality to
strangers.
"_School._--In the great extent of this parish, as hath been
already observed, there is no school but the parochial, by
which means the rising generation suffer much and are wholly
neglected, having no access to the benefit of instruction.
There are only two catechists, who have their appointments
partly in the skirts of this and partly of the two
neighbouring parishes.
"_Church._--All the people of every denomination are of the
Established Church; there are no Dissenters, Seceders, nor
any other kind of sect whatever in the parish. The church of
this parish has stood more than a century, but has for some
years past been in a ruinous situation, and was therefore
taken down this summer, and a new elegant church is
building. There are three places of public worship in the
parish, exclusive of the church, viz., Kenlochew, Chapel of
Sand, and the croft of Jolly. The church and manse are at
the distance of six English miles from each other. The manse
is very near the shore, on the north of the church, and
supposed to be in the centre of the parish. The value of the
living, exclusive of the glebe, and including the expence
allowed for communion elements, is only £58, 6s. 9½d. There
are five heritors in the parish, viz., Sir Hector M'Kenzie
of Gairloch, Baronet, John M'Kenzie of Gruinord, John
M'Kenzie of Letterew, Roderick M'Kenzie of Kernsary, and
Colonel M'Kenzie of Coul, who is at present in the East
Indies; all the rest reside in the parish.
"_Rent._--The land-rent cannot be ascertained with accuracy.
It may probably be about £1700 per annum.
"_Poor._--The number of the poor in this as well as in many
other Highland parishes is daily increasing. There are
eighty-four upon the kirk-session roll, besides some other
indigent persons, who, though not inrolled, yet are
considered as objects of sympathy. They have the annual
collections made in the church, with the interest of £20,
distributed among them. The collections, upon an average,
are about £6, 7s.
"_Language._--The Gaelic is the prevailing language in this
as well as in several other corners of the West coast, where
the people have no opportunity of learning English."
D.
Extracts from "The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland,
founded on a series of annual journeys between the years
1811 and 1821," by John MacCulloch, M.D., F.R.S., L.S.G.S.,
&c., vol. ii., page 280 _et seq._:--
"There is nothing worthy of notice between Loch Torridon and
Gairloch; but this inlet possesses considerable beauty in
various parts, and more particularly in that angle occupied
by Flowerdale. The very unsuspected ornament of this place,
contrasted also as it is with all the surrounding wildness,
almost carries us back to the most polished regions of
Perthshire. It is an interesting spot, independently of its
beauty, as proving that nothing is wanting but taste and
industry to render a thousand places on the west coast
rivals to the most ornamental parts of the interior of
Scotland, qualities which may exist in many persons besides
Sir Hector Mackenzie, but which are wasted if the
proprietors do not reside on their estates. Had there been
as many Sir Hector Mackenzies as there are spots equal in
capacity to Gairloch, the west coast of Scotland might have
challenged any equal space in the world for judicious
ornament, embellishing and improving Nature, as it now may
for natural advantages.
"Loch Ewe is a deep and not a very wide inlet. The form of
the land on each side is tame, and it is only at the
extremity where the high mountains of the interior come into
view that the outline has any character. But the view of Pol
Ewe, from the anchorage, is picturesque; as the finely
characterised mountains which surround Loch Maree form its
conspicuous features. The rocky hills that surround this
rude and strange valley are singularly wild. From Loch
Maree, scarcely a mile distant from the sea-shore, the Ewe,
a broad river, runs with a rapid course to the sea. Issuing
from the lake, it first meanders gently through low grounds
interspersed with wild groves of alder and birch and oak,
enclosed by woody cliffs and irregular rough ground, which,
on both hands, rise up the intricate skirts of the high
mountains that bound the lake and the valley together.
Shortly, however, it is seen roaring through a steep and
stony channel, deep below the surrounding land, which is now
a rude heathy moor, with occasional patches of corn near the
margin of the water. Hence, passing a salmon weir, the river
forms a considerable cascade, falling into a dark rocky
pool; immediately after which it joins the sea.
"The peculiar wildness of this valley is rendered more
impressive by the crowded population, for which, considering
its aspect, it is remarkable. We think little, in this
country, of deserted and solitary rudeness and barrenness,
since they are of such daily and incessant recurrence; but
when inhabited they impress us forcibly, and apparently from
an unacknowledged sympathy with those whose lot it is to
reside in them. Besides the small tenants who occupy the
numerous black houses about this waste, and whose peat
stacks are even more conspicuous than their dwellings, there
is here a large farm house, a slated inn, which is also the
post-office, and a salmon fishery. From the post-office
there is a weekly packet to Stornoway, so that Pol Ewe
reminds us of that world, of which, in a few weeks cruising
about these seas, we are very apt to lose sight. The river
is noted, both for the abundance and the goodness of its
salmon, and is rented by Berwick fishermen; the produce,
here and elsewhere on this coast, being carried across the
country on horseback to the Murray Frith to be boiled for
the London market, an arrangement which does not appear the
best that could be devised, as it is a journey of two days.
The river abounds equally in trout, as does also Loch Maree;
so that, for brothers of the angle as well as for trading
Berwickers, Pol Ewe is one of the most enticing places on
the west coast.
"A fortunate discovery which I made of some Allium ursinum
(wild garlick) gave zest for a week to our hashed mutton and
our insipid broth. The sea-beet and the Crambe maritima
served for ordinary greens, and sorrel was always at hand
for a fricandeau a l'oseille. The Cotyledon luteum, very
unexpectedly, proved to be a good substitute for spinach;
but, best of all, and most abundant, were the Chenopodia,
common on all these shores, which ensured us a never-failing
supply.
"Loch Maree lies so completely out of the road, and so far
beyond the courage, of ordinary travellers, that, except by
Pennant, I believe it has never been visited. The length is
about fourteen miles, and the greatest breadth three, though
in most parts it scarcely exceeds one; while, being bounded
by high mountains, and having a very varied and irregular
outline, its shores present a good deal of interesting
scenery; the entire lake itself being displayed from many
different points and under a great variety of aspects, so as
to produce some of the finest specimens of this class of
landscape in the Highlands. In point of style, it ranks
rather more nearly with Loch Lomond than with any other of
the southern lakes, though still very far inferior.
"The most accessible and the finest general views may be
obtained from the rocky hills that bound the exit of the
river. The mountain outline, which is grand and various,
presents a greater diversity of form and character than any
of the Scottish lakes; but Ben Lair[11] is always the
principal feature, graceful, solid, and broad. The middle
ground is a great source of variety; splendid and wild, an
intermixture of rock and wood, more easily compared with
some parts of Loch Cateran than with any other well-known
scenery, yet still different. The winding and wooded course
of the Ewe adds much to its liveliness, the bright reaches
glittering as they emerge from among the trees and rocks
through which the river forces its way.
"The first day of creation was not more beautiful. July, the
June of this country, was in its full glory. A few thin
silvery clouds rested on the clear blue sky, and the sun
shed a flood of light over the bright surface of the lake,
which reflected every rock and every tree that hung over the
glassy surface. Even the line of the shore was
undistinguishable, except when the casual passage of a
gentle air, descending from the hills, ruffled for a moment
the bright expanse; when the gay vision vanished, till
again, as the breeze passed off across the water, it
collected its scattered fragments, reappearing in all its
former brilliancy, and rivalling its original. Even the dark
firs assumed a look of spring, and the barren and cold grey
cliffs of Ben Lair seemed to rejoice in the bright sunshine.
While the warm brown and glowing purple of the heath, now in
full blossom, tinged the faces of the nearer hills with that
richness of colour known only to these mountainous regions,
every summit, as it retired, assumed a purpler and a bluer
tone, till the last peaks emulated the misty azure of the
sky into which they melted, as if they had belonged rather
to the fields of air than to the earth below.
"No one can know the full value of summer who has not known
it in a land of mountains; no one can feel, who has not felt
it among the hills, the joy with which the sun can fill the
mind, as it fills the atmosphere; the sense of beauty, of
bounding, exuberant happiness in which it wraps our very
existence as it does the landscape; giving to every feature,
to the wildest mountain summit and the gloomiest valley, to
the barest rock and the lowliest flower, charms to which all
the glories of the richest cultivated country are insipid
and tame.
"The northern margin of Loch Maree presents a great variety
of close shore scenery, consisting of rocky and wooded bays
and creeks rising into noble overhanging cliffs and
mountains; and it displays also the finest general views of
the lake. The effect of Sleagach, seen at once from its base
to its summit, is perhaps more striking than that of any
mountain in Scotland. Where the skirts of Ben Lair descend
steep into the water, the scenes are often peculiarly
original as well as grand. In one place[12] in particular,
the remains of a fir forest, in a situation almost
incredible, produce a style of landscape that might be
expected in the Alps, but not among the more confined scope
and tamer arrangements of Scottish mountains. Immediately
from the water's edge, a lofty range of grey cliffs rises to
a great height, so steep as almost to seem perpendicular,
but varied by fissures and by projections covered with grass
and wild plants. Wherever it is possible for a tree to take
root, there firs of ancient and noble growth, and of the
most wild and beautiful forms, are seen rising above each
other, so that the top of the one often covers the root of
the succeeding, or else thrown out horizontally in various
fantastic and picturesque modes. Now and then some one more
wild and strange than the others, or some shivered trunk or
fallen tree, serves to vary the aspect of this strange
forest, marking also the lapse of ages and the force of the
winter storms which they so long have braved.
"The eastern extremity of the lake becomes insipid,
terminating in a range of meadows, through which the stream
winds its sluggish way. But beyond, all is rude and savage,
displaying a chaos of wild mountains and a succession of
white precipices and spiry snow-white crags, bright, cold,
and dreary, and giving a character of polar sterility to the
landscape, as if no living being, not even vegetable life,
could here find home or refuge. Evening arrived as we
reached this end of the lake, for not a breeze had blown to
aid us. The long shadows of the mountains were now
stretching across the water, and a vast and broad body of
shade on the western hills gave a repose to the scene, so
deep and so solemn, that even the liquid sound which
followed the dip of the oars seemed an intrusion on the
universal hush of nature. No living object was seen or
heard, and even the occasional passage of the bee that
winged its evening way home to its mountain abode in the
heath, disturbed a silence that appeared never before to
have been interrupted. The last crimson at length vanished
from the sharp rocky summits of the eastern hills, and all
became alike wrapped in one gentle hue of tranquil grey. But
it was the summer twilight of a northern July, and night was
now but one long and lovely evening.
"It was with some difficulty that we explored our nocturnal
way through the labyrinth of islands in the centre of this
lake; as they are little raised above the water, and covered
with scattered firs and with thickets of birch, alder, and
holly, while they are separated by narrow and tortuous
channels. The features of the whole are so exactly alike
that no part can be distinguished from another. Inch Maree
has been dedicated to a saint of that name, and it still
contains a burial-place, chosen, it is said, like all those
which are found in islands, to prevent depredations from the
wolves of ancient days. This theory, however, seems
disputable, because the extirpation of this animal is an
event of considerable antiquity, and many of these
burial-grounds seem of comparatively modern times. Here also
there was a sacred well, in which, as in St. Fillan's,
lunatics were dipped, with the usual offerings of money; but
the well remains, and the practice has passed away. Although
now midnight, the heat was so great as to be almost
oppressive, exceeding seventy degrees, an occurrence not
very uncommon in these Highland valleys in summer. But the
hot breeze served to fill our sails, and, by midnight, had
brought us back to the river; nor were we sorry to find,
some time after, on board of our vessel, the dinner which we
had not calculated on deferring to the morning of a
following day."
E.
EXTRACTS from the "New Statistical Account of Scotland."
"PARISH OF GAIRLOCH.
"PRESBYTERY OF LOCHCARRON, SYNOD OF GLENELG."
_Drawn up by the_ Rev. DONALD M'RAE, Minister of Poolewe,
and dated September 1836.
"I.--TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY.
"_Name._--The name of the parish is compounded of
gearr--short, and loch. The parish takes its name from a
salt water loch of the same name. At the end of this loch,
the natives point out a hollow spot of ground which they
choose to denominate 'the Gairloch' by way of distinction,
as they allege that the parish takes its name from it; but
it evidently derives its name from the salt water loch, or
rather bay, for, comparing it with most of the other salt
water lochs on the west coast, it scarcely deserves the name
of loch.
"_Hydrography, &c._--Few parishes on the west coast can
boast of more magnificent mountain scenery, as the traveller
can testify who has sailed down the picturesque Lochmaree.
The principal mountain in the range is Slioch, or Sliabhach;
its elevation above the level of the sea cannot be less than
three thousand feet. The traveller who, from the west end of
Lochmaree, takes a view of the scenery before him, cannot
fail to be struck with astonishment at the wild grandeur of
the scene presented to his view; the much admired and
far-famed Lochmaree, with its four-and-twenty wooded
islands; the range of mountains, commencing on the right and
left, and extending four miles beyond the east end, of
Lochmaree; Lochmaree itself, eighteen miles long, appearing
in the distance like an amphitheatre of nature's own
workmanship, and presenting to the eye of the stranger an
impenetrable barrier.
"_Hydrography._--Lochmaree, as already stated, is eighteen
miles long, and one and a half mile broad at an average. The
greater part of it is sixty fathoms deep, so that it has
never been known to freeze during the most intense frosts.
About the centre of the loch is an island called 'Island
Maree,' on which is a burying-ground supposed to be
dedicated to the Virgin Mary; hence the name of the island
and of the loch. This is one conjecture; another is, that
some of the Danish kings were buried in this island, and
that the original name of it was 'Eilean nan Righ,' which
came to be pronounced 'Eilean Maree.' The number of
tombstones in the burying-place, with inscriptions and
hieroglyphical figures which few now-a-days can
satisfactorily decipher, gives a plausibility to this
conjecture which is not easily got over. As it is a doubtful
subject, and likely to remain so, a third conjecture may be
ventured. There lived, a great many years ago, in this part
of the Highlands, a great and good man called 'Maree,' who
had his principal residence on this same island; after his
death his admirers prefixed Saint to his name. Many of his
generous and benevolent deeds are, to this day, recounted by
the people of this and the surrounding parishes.
"On the centre of this island is a deep well, consecrated by
the said Saint Maree to the following purpose. To this same
well are dragged, volens nolens, all who are insane in this
or any of the surrounding parishes, and after they have been
made to drink of it, these poor victims of superstitious
cruelty are towed round the island after a boat, by their
tender-hearted attendants. It is considered a hopeful sign
if the well is full at the time of dragging the patient to
the scene. In justice to the people of this parish it may be
stated, that they have not such an unbounded belief in the
healing virtues of the well, and the other parts of the
transaction, as their most distant neighbours appear to
entertain. The belief in such absurdities is daily losing
ground in the Highlands; and there is little doubt that, in
course of a few years more, the clouds of superstition that
overhang the moral horizon of our Highlands will be
dissipated by the better education of the peasantry.
"There is only one river worthy of particular notice in this
parish, viz., the 'Ewe,' which issues from Lochmaree, and is
only one mile long from its source to its confluence with
the arm of the sea called 'Lochewe.' This beautiful stream
abounds with salmon of the very best description. It is
surpassed by no river on the west coast for angling; and
hence it is, during the summer months, frequented by
gentlemen from all parts of the kingdom for this healthy and
delightful exercise. An English military gentleman killed
one hundred salmon and grilse, in the course of a few weeks,
during the summer of 1834; and I am credibly informed that
the late proprietor, Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch,
Bart., frequently killed twenty salmon in one day. Besides
Gairloch, Lochewe is the only other salt water loch in the
parish. This loch, into which the waters of Lochmaree fall,
is from eight to ten miles long. Near the mouth of it is a
fertile and well cultivated island, called Isle Ewe. Much
attention and expense were bestowed upon the improvement of
this island by the present proprietor, Sir Francis Alexander
M'Kenzie of Gairloch, Bart., before he came into the full
possession of the Gairloch estate. The two principal
headlands jutting out on each side of Lochewe, are Ru Rea on
the south, and Green Stone Point on the north side.
"_Climate._--The climate is mild, although extremely rainy.
This may be accounted for, partly by the mountainous
character of the country, and partly by other causes. The
prevailing winds are the west and south; and at whatever
season of the year it blows from these quarters, we are
almost certain of torrents of rain. Easterly winds
invariably bring us dry weather, and hence they are welcome
visitants, although they warn us to wear additional
coverings. The easterly winds are more prevalent in the
month of March and first half of April, than at any other
season of the year. But there has been a marked change in
the climate for some years back. Instead of the deep falls
of snow, and the long-continued frosts that were wont to
starve the black cattle, smother the sheep, and fertilize
the soil in former years, we have now mild weather and very
much rain. Notwithstanding the extreme wetness of the
climate, and the people's frequent exposure in the open air,
their principal employment being fishing, they are in
general healthy, and of robust constitutions.
"_Geology and Mineralogy._--This and the neighbouring parish
of Lochbroom afford numerous displays of interesting
geological phenomena. Old red sandstone and quartz rock
abound, but gneiss and its various subordinate formations
may be considered the prevailing formation. Upwards of one
hundred and fifty years ago, when the science of mineralogy
was comparatively in its infancy in Scotland, and when the
spirit of speculation and adventure did not move with such
bold strides as in later times, a Sir James Kay sent several
people to work at veins of iron ore, on the estate of
Letterewe, along the north side of Lochmaree, in this
parish. I understood they continued to work successfully for
several years; but as wood was their sole fuel for
conducting the operations, they were obliged to desist when
the wood in the neighbourhood was exhausted. The ruins of
one of the furnaces for working the ore are within a few
hundred yards of the manse of Poolewe; and those of another
are ten miles farther up, along the north side of Lochmaree.
A spot is pointed out to the passer by, near the east end of
Lochmaree, where they buried their dead. It is, to this day,
called 'Cladh nam Sasganach,' the burying-ground of the
Englishmen. Highlanders look upon all who do not speak the
Gaelic language as Sasganaich, or Englishmen. At a later
period, some other individual, or perhaps the same, thought
he had discovered a vein of silver ore, in another place
along the north side of Lochmaree; but after digging to a
considerable depth, the undertaking was abandoned, without
yielding a remunerating return to the spirited adventurer.
"II.--CIVIL HISTORY.
"_Eminent Men._--This parish has been as fortunate as most
of its neighbours in being the birth-place and residence of
eminent characters; but the only person whom I shall at
present mention, is William Ross, the celebrated Gaelic
bard. This individual was born in the parish of Strath, Isle
of Skye, in the year 1762. After receiving as liberal an
education as the school of Forres at that time could afford,
he was appointed parochial schoolmaster of Gairloch, when
about twenty-four years of age. In that situation he
continued four years. He died in his twenty-eighth year; and
his remains are deposited in the churchyard of Gairloch. 'As
a writer of Gaelic songs' (to quote from a short memoir
prefixed to a collection of his songs, published four years
ago), 'William Ross is entitled to the highest praise. In
the greater number of his lyrics, the bard leads us along
with him, and imparts to us so much of his own tenderness,
feeling, and enthusiasm, that our thoughts expand and kindle
with his sentiments.'
"_Landowners._--The landowners of the parish are Sir Francis
Alexander M'Kenzie of Gairloch, Bart.; Sir George Stewart
M'Kenzie of Coul, Bart.; Duncan Davidson, Esq. of Tulloch;
James Alexander Stewart M'Kenzie, Esq. of Seaforth; and
Hector M'Kenzie, Esq. of Letterewe.
"_Parochial Registers._--There were no parochial registers
kept in the parish previous to the year 1802; since that
period they have been regularly kept.
"III.--POPULATION.
"_Character of the People._--The ancient population of this
parish, as far back as the oldest living inhabitants can
remember, was comparatively rude and uncultivated. There are
now living in the parish some who remember the time when
there was only one or at most two Bibles in the parish,
besides the minister's. What, in such a state of things,
could be expected of the manners of the inhabitants? Yet
these same individuals will unhesitatingly affirm, that
people were more generous and more noble-minded at that
period, than they are now.
Population in 1801, 1437
" 1811, 2755
" 1821, 4518
" 1831, 4445
The causes of the increase are various, and too numerous to
be mentioned here. Among these, however, may be mentioned
the habit of early marriage, and the system of letting the
land in lots. The lot of lands this year in the possession
of one family may, before twelve months are over, be divided
into three equal portions,--in other words, three distinct
families live upon the produce of it.
The yearly average of births for the last seven years, 100
" of marriages for do. 40
No register of deaths kept in the parish.
The average number of persons under fifteen years of age, 1693
" " betwixt fifteen and thirty 1128
" " " thirty and fifty, 927
" " " fifty and seventy, 602
" " upwards of seventy, 95
The number of proprietors of land
of the yearly value of £50 and upwards, 5
The number of bachelors upwards of fifty years of age, 16
" of widowers do. do. 18
" of unmarried women upwards of forty-five years of age, 76
" of families, 795
" of inhabited houses, 791
" of houses now building, 6
There are only four blind individuals within the bounds of
this parish; ten fatuous persons; and six deaf and dumb;
four of the latter belong to one family, and two to another.
"_Language, &c._--The language generally spoken is the
Gaelic. I am not aware that it has lost ground within the
last forty years. Some young men, indeed, who have received
a smattering of education, consider they are doing great
service to the Gaelic by interspersing their conversation
with English words, and giving them a Gaelic termination and
accent. These corrupters of both languages, with more pride
than good taste, now and then introduce words of bad English
or of bad Scotch, which they have learned from the Newhaven
or Buckie fishermen, whom they meet with on the coast of
Caithness during the fishing season. The Gaelic, however, is
still spoken in as great purity by the inhabitants in
general as it was forty years ago.
"The houses of the people in general have but one outer
door, and as they and their cattle go in by that one
entrance,--the bipeds to take possession of one end of the
house, and the quadrupeds of the other,--it cannot be
expected that a habitation common to man and beast can be
particularly clean. Some of the people, indeed, are now
getting into the way of building byres for their cattle,
contiguous to their dwelling-houses; and it is acknowledged
even by the most indolent that a great improvement is thus
effected. It is hoped that the practice may soon become more
general. When the young people go to kirk or market, few
appear more 'trig or clean;' and a stranger would hardly be
persuaded that some of them lived in such miserable hovels.
When a girl dresses in her best attire, her very
habiliments, in some instances, would be sufficient to
purchase a better dwelling-house than that from which she
has just issued.
"The people are in general contented with their situation
and circumstances. If they have a lot of lands, grass for
two or three cows, and fishing materials, they seldom have
any further objects of ambition. Owing to the means of
education not being commensurate with the increase of
population, the intellectual character of the people does
not keep pace with their moral and religious character. They
are naturally a shrewd, sensible, steady sort of people.
With a few exceptions, they are of good moral character.
They seldom quarrel among each other; and when they have any
differences, these are generally settled by the proprietors
or factors. A law-suit is seldom heard of from this parish.
"When I advert to their religious character, I am
constrained to acknowledge my fear that their knowledge of
the truths of our holy religion is more of the head than the
heart. The form of godliness is not so much wanting as its
power. I do not mean, however, that in this respect the
people of this parish are not on a parity with those of the
neighbourhood.
"Smuggling was carried on to a great extent in this parish
some years ago, but is now very much on the decrease; indeed
while there is a vestige of such a demoralizing practice
remaining there can be but slender hopes of moral
improvement. It may be mentioned to the honour of one of the
heritors, that he has erected a licensed distillery, for the
sole purpose of giving a death-blow to the smuggling on his
estate.
"IV.--INDUSTRY.
"_Agriculture._--The number of families employed in
agriculture, including those who employ servants, is 556;
male servants upwards of twenty years of age, 86; female
servants of all ages, 141. Number of acres under wood, 5000.
The woods are generally kept in good condition, by thinning,
pruning, &c.
"_Rent of Land._--Average rent of arable land is from 10s to
£1 per acre; rent of grazing a cow or ox for a year, from £1
to £2; rent of pasturing a ewe or sheep for a year, from 1s
6d to 2s 6d.
"_Wages._--Farm servants receive from £5 to £8 per annum for
wages, exclusive of their victuals; masons receive from 2s
6d to 3s, carpenters from 2s to 2s 6d, blacksmiths 3s,
weavers from 1s 6d to 2s, per day, all including victuals.
"_Fisheries._--The various kinds of fisheries carried on in
this parish are salmon fishing, cod and ling fishing, and
herring fishing. The salmon fishings are let at £150 per
annum. Salmon fishing is carried on by cruives, stell-nets,
bag-nets, and stake-nets. Cod and ling are taken by long
lines and the hand-line; and herring by the common mode of
meshed nets.
"_Navigation._--There are four vessels belonging to the
several ports in the parish, averaging about thirty-five
tons burthen each.
"V.--PAROCHIAL ECONOMY.
"_Means of Communication._--This parish is extremely ill
supplied with the means of communication, owing to the want
of roads. We have one post-office, situated at Poolewe.
"_Ecclesiastical State._--The parish church is as
conveniently situated as it could well be, considering the
extent of the parish; its distance from the eastern
extremity of the parish is twenty-eight miles, from the
southern fifteen miles, from the western twelve miles, and
from the northern extremity twenty miles. The church was
built in the year 1791, and got a thorough repair in 1834.
The church affords accommodation for five hundred sitters
only. The manse was built in the year 1805; but a
considerable addition was built to it in the year 1823. The
glebe is worth about £30 per annum; the amount of the
stipend is £240. There is one Government church in the
parish; it is situated at Poolewe, six miles to the north of
the parish church, and fourteen from the northern extremity
of the parish. It is now erected into a new and separate
parish _quoad sacra_, called the Parish of Poolewe. We have
one catechist employed by the Committee for managing His
Majesty's Royal Bounty, and another paid by contributions
from the parishioners. There is not a single Dissenter
within the bounds of the parish. The average number of
communicants at the parish church and Government church is
360.
"_Education._--The total number of schools in the parish is
nine; the parochial school is one of that number; all the
rest are supported by different religious societies. The
branches of instruction taught at the parochial school are
Greek, Latin, mathematics, arithmetic, writing and English,
and Gaelic reading. The branches taught at the Society
schools are arithmetic, writing, English and Gaelic reading.
The salary in the parochial school is £30 sterling, and £4
are obtained from school fees; at the Society Schools the
salaries are from £5 to £25 sterling. Scarcely any school
fees can be calculated upon, owing to the poverty of the
people. From six to eight schools are still required in the
parish; and some of the schools now in operation ought to be
put on a more permanent and efficient footing. Not more than
one in every ten of the whole population is able to read and
write in English. In 1833, 1773 persons above six years of
age could not read either in the Gaelic or English
languages.
"_Poor._--The number of poor receiving parochial aid in the
parish is about one hundred, each receiving from 2s 6d to 6s
per annum. The annual amount for their relief is about £16,
principally arising from church door collections.
"_Inns._--There are five licensed inns in the parish. Their
effects are most destructive to the morals of the people.
This is evident from the fact, that those who live in the
close neighbourhood of these houses are in general given to
tippling and idleness, while those who have not such a
temptation at their doors are sober industrious people.
"_Fuel._--Peat is the only kind of fuel used by the people;
it is procured in the mosses contiguous to their
dwelling-houses, at an expense of from £1 to £2 for a
family, in the year.
"_September, 1836._
F.
EXTRACTS from the Records of the Presbytery of Dingwall relating to the
Parish of Gairloch.
I.--MINUTES REFERRING TO THE INACCESSIBILITY OF GAIRLOCH.
AT KILMORACK, _8th August 1649_.
"The Brethren tacking to their consideration the expediencie
of visiting the Hiland Kirks and the ordinance made
thereanent formerly, appoynts to tacke journey (God willing)
upon Monday nixt, and to visit the Kirk of Kintaill upon the
Wednesday, the Kirk of Lochalsh upon the Thursday, and the
Kirk of Lochcarrin upon the Fryday immediately following;
and ordaines Mr Dod. McRae to advertise them conforme, and
to writt to Mr Alexr. McKenzie, minister of Lochcarrin,
requiring him in the Presbyteries name to advertise Mr Rorie
McKenzie at Garloch and Mr Dod. Ross at Lochbroome to meete
with them at Lochcarrin the said Fryday for appoynting dyats
for visiting their Kirks."
AT LOCHCARRON, _17th August 1649_.
"The visitation of Gairloch and Lochbruime continewed
[postponed] by the way not rydable and inabilitie of
brethren to goe afoote."
AT DINGWALL, _14th August 1650_.
"The Brethren considering the condition of the Kirks of
Lochbroom and Gairloch and the expediency of visiting them
(not being visited the last yeir with the rest), appoynts
all the brethren to meete at Lochbroome for visiting the
kirk thereof, the 10. day of Septr. next, and at Gerloch the
Fryday thereafter."
AT DINGWALL, _5th June 1672_.
"No report from the Hyland Ministers except from Mr Rorie
Mc Kenzie of Gairloch, who wrott a letter off excuse which
was not judged relevant at that tyme, bot is continewed till
his coming, and another letter from Mr Murdoch Mc Kenzie, who
declared he could not meet for fear of caption," _i.e._
arrest.
AT DINGWALL, _10th July 1672_.
"The Presbytery considering that though the Ministers off
the Highlands was reannexed to the Presbytery of Dingwall by
appointment and ordinance of the Bishop and Synod, and that
now they had written to them and acquainted them to meet
with them two severall diets, and yet none of them
came:--They appoynt and ordaine that they be the third tyme
written to, to come (as they will be answerable to the
Bishop and Synod)."
AT DINGWALL, _4th September 1683_.
"No exercise in regard Mr Jon. Mc Kenzie, Minister at
Lochbroom, who should have exercised, and the rest of the
brethren of the Highlands were annexed to the Presbytery of
Chanonry." [_Note._--The Highland churches were the west
coast parishes, including Gairloch. There are other minutes
showing the irregular attendance of the Highland ministers,
and making continual complaints against them on account of
it.]
II.--MINUTES RELATING TO THE WARS OF MONTROSE AGAINST THE COVENANT.
AT DINGWALL, _8th January 1650_.
"Received two letters from the paroch of Gerloch, one from
Mr Rorie Mc Kenzie, Minister yr [there], importing that he had
made intimation to the Lard of Gerloch to compeir before the
Presbyterie this day, but withall testifieing that he was
very infirme and unable to come; and the other letter was
from Gerloch himselfe importing the same and withall that he
would, health serving, be heir the nixt day" [_i.e._ at the
next meeting]. [_Note._--This Laird of Gairloch was Kenneth
Mackenzie, the sixth laird; he was a "malignant," _i.e._ on
the side of the Marquis of Montrose, called in the following
minutes James Grahame, without his title.]
AT DINGWALL, _22d January 1650_.
"Compeired Kenneth Mc Kenyie of Gerloch, confessed his
accession to Ja: Grahames rebellion and to the late
rebellion in the North, professing his griefe for the same
and desyreing to be received to the covenant and
satisfaction; who is continewed till Furder tryall, and is
ordayned to be heir the next day."
"Compeired Kenneth Mc Kenyie there who confest his accession
to the late insurrection in the North, who is remitted to
the Session of Gerloch to be furder tryed and received
according to the maner prescryved in the act of Classes."
[The Act of Classes specified the punishment to be inflicted
on malignants.]
AT DINGWALL, _4th February 1650_.
"Kenneth Mc Kenyie of Gerloch found accessorie to Ja.
Grahames rebellion and the late insurrection in the north.
[At the same meeting Kenneth Mc Kenzie of Assint, near
Dingwall, Rorie Mc Kenzie of Davachmaluag, Kenneth Mc Kenzie
of Scatwell, and Rorie Mc Kenzie of Fairburn, were also
found guilty.] Therefore the brethren considering the
foresaid persones severall guiltes, and that all of them
were eminentlie active in the late rebellion in the north,
being urgers and seducers thereto, plotters and pryme
promovers thereoff, doe therefore ordayne them to repaire
forthwith to the Commission of the General Assemblie sitting
at Edinburgh in this present month of Febry. to make
satisfaction as there they shall be appoynted, with
certification if they faile to be immediately processed."
AT DINGWALL, _19th February 1650_.
"That day was presented a supplication by Kenneth Mc Kenyie
of Gerloch and Kenneth Mc Kenyie of Assint, that by the
lawes of the kingdome, horning and captions is obtained
against them for Seaforth's debts, so that personallie they
cannot repair to Edinr. unbeine [without being] incarcerat;
and therefore they petition the Presbytrie that their
process be suspended till they obtayne the Commission of
General Assemblie's answer anent their satisfaction.
Wheruppon the Presbyterie assignes them this day six weeks
to report their last diligence and bringing to the
Presbyterie a satisfactorie answer from the Commissione,
with certification if they fayle, to be thereafter
immediatlie processed."
AT DINGWALL, _9th April 1650_.
"Received a letter from the Moderator of the Commission of
the General Assemblie advysing the continewation of Assint
and Gerloch's process till the next quarterly meeting in
May."
AT DINGWALL, _16th April 1650_.
"The Brethren being informed of Ja: Grahms landing in
Caithnes with forces and coming forward for furder supplie
for carrieing on his former bloodie rebellious and
perfidious courses, ... they doe therefore for preventing
anie associations, considerations, or correspondence with
the said excommunicated bloodie traytor or his forces,
Ordayne all the brethren to make intimation out of their
severall pulpits that anie who shall associat or correspond
with the said Rebell or his forces shall be sentenced with
excommunication summarlie."
AT DINGWALL, _28th May 1650_.
"The Brethren report that they kepied the Thanksgiving for
the Victorie at Carbisdell obtained against James Grahame
and other enemies to ye cause and people of God, his
adherents."
AT DINGWALL, _16th July 1650_.
The minister of Gerloch ordained to send in a list of his
"malignants," and to summon them to appear at next meeting.
III.--MINUTE SHEWING THE WIDE SCOPE OF THE PRESBYTERY'S JURISDICTION.
AT DINGWALL, _13th November 1655_.
"Duncan Mc Murchie vic Cuile in the Parochin of Garloch
regraiting his wife to have deserted him being referred to
the Presbyterie from the Sessione of Garloch compeired
befoire the bretheren, and being asked in the cause of ye
desertion, declaired ... was repudiated by his wyf, and
deserted him and went to hir parents."
"Agnes Kempt in Garloch being maried uppon the said Duncan,
compeired professing her unwillingness from the beginning to
marie the said Duncan, bot moved and threatned by the
superior of the land, acknowledging hirselff to be free from
any carnall dealing with the said Duncan, ever to this tyme.
Ordaineing some of the brethren, such as Mr George Monro, Mr
Donald Macrae, with certain other frends met with the
foresaids at Logie, to see what they can work upon these
maried persons, to agree them, and advyse them in thair
christiane dutie towards each other." [On 8th January 1656
it was proved to the Presbytery that Agnes Kemp (who was no
doubt a daughter of one of the Letterewe ironworkers) never
consented to the marriage but was forced into it by her
laird.]
IV.--MINUTES RELATING TO SACRIFICES OF BULLS AND RESTORING THE SICK.
"AT APPILCROSS, _5 Septemb 1656_.
"Convened, Mr Jon Mc cra, Moderator; Mr Jon Monro, Mr Thomas
Hogg, Mr Jon Mc Killican, Mr Donald Fraser, Mr Donald Mc cra, Mr
Rorie Mc Kenzie, Mr Alexr Mc Kenzie, and Mr Donald Ross.
"The name of God Incalled. Inter alia, The Minister being
inquired be his brethren of the maine enormities of the
parochin of Lochcarrone and Appilcross, declaires some of
his parochiners to be superstitious, especiallie in
sacrificeing at certaine tymes at the Loch of Mourie,
especiallie the men of Auchnaseallach; quho hes beine
summoned, cited, bot not compeiring, execution is lawfullie
given be the ... kirk officer of Loch Carron, quhose names
ar as followes:--Donald Mcconillchile--Murdo Mc Ferqre vic
conill eire--Wm Mc conil eire, Gillipadrick Mc rorie--Duncan
Mc conill uayne vic conill biy--Alexr Mc finlay vcconill
diy--Donald Mc eaine roy vic choinnich--Johne Mc conill
reach--Murdo Mc eaine roy--Murdo Mc eaine voire vc eaine
ghlaiss--Finlay Mc Gilliphadricke--Ordaines the kirk officer
to chairge these againe to compeire at Dingwall the third
Wednesday of October nixt--recommend that thaire Minister
compeire the said day at Dingwall, and that he preach at the
vacand kirk of Urquhart, the ensuing Lord's day he is in the
country.
"The said day the presbyterie of Dingwall, according to the
appoyntment of Synode for searcheing and censureing such
principalls, and superstitious practices as should be
discovered thaire--haveing mett at Appilcross, and findeing
amongst uther abhominable and heathenishe practices that the
people in that place were accustomed to sacrifice bulls at a
certaine tyme uppon the 25 of August, which day is dedicate,
as they conceive, to Sn Mourie as they call him; and that
there were frequent approaches to some ruinous chappels and
circulateing of them; and that future events in reference
especiallie to lyfe and death, in takeing of Journeyis, was
exspect to be manifested by a holl of a round stone quherein
they tryed the entering of their heade, which (if they)
could doe, to witt be able to put in thair heade, they
exspect thair returning to that place, and failing they
considered it ominous; and withall their adoring of wells,
and uther superstitious monuments and stones, tedious to
rehearse, Have appoynted as followes--That quhosoever sall
be found to commit such abhominationes, especiallie
Sacrifices of any kynd, or at any tyme, sall publickly
appear and be rebuked ... six several Lord's dayis in six
several churches, viz., Lochcarron, Appilcross, Contane,
Fottertie, Dingwall, and last in Garloch paroch church; and
that they may, uppon the delatatione of the Sessione and
minister of the paroche, he sall cause summoned the guiltie
persone to compeire before the pbrie, to be convinced,
rebuked, and there to be injoyned his censure, And withall
that the session sould be charged to doe thair dewties in
suppressing of the foresaid wickedness, and the foresaid
censure in reference to thair sacrificing to be made use of
in case of convict, and appeiring, and evidences of remorse
be found, and failing, that they be censured with
excommunicatione. Ordaines the minister to exercise himself
with his people in such manner as at his coming to
Appilcross, once in the five or sax weekes at each Lord's
day of his coming, he stay thrie dayes amongst his people in
catechising a pairt of them each day, and that he labour to
convince the people of their former error, by evidenceing
the hand of God against such abhominations as hes beene
practised formerlie. Appoynts Mr Allexr Mc Kenzie to informe
the presbiterie of any strangers that resorts to thease
feilds as formerlie they have to their heathenishe
practices, that a course may be taken for their restraint."
"AT KENLOCHEWE, _9 Septr 1656_.
"Inter alia, Ordaines Mr Allex Mc Kenzie, minister at
Lochcarron, to cause summond Murdo Mc conill varchue vic
conill vic Allister in Torriton, and Donald Smyth in
Appilcross, for sacrificing at Appilcross--to compeire at
Dingwall the third Wednesday of October, with the men of
Auchnaseallach.
"The brethren taking to their consideratione the
abhominationes within the parochin of Garloch in sacrificing
of beasts upon the 25 August, as also in pouring of milk
upon hills as oblationes quhose names ar not particularly
signified as yit--referres to the diligence of the minister
to mak search of thease persones and summond them as said is
in the former ordinance and act at Appilcross 5 Sept: 1656,
and withall that by his private diligence he have searchers
and tryers in everie corner of the countrey, especiallie
about the Lochmourie, of the most faithful honest men he can
find; and that such as ar his elders be particularly poseit,
concerning former practices in quhat they knowe of these
poore ones quho are called Mourie his derilans[13] and ownes
thease titles, quho receaves the sacrifices and offerings
upon the accompt of Mourie his poore ones; and that at laist
some of thease be summoned to compeire before the pbrie the
forsaid day, until the rest be discovered; and such as heve
boats about the loch to transport themselves or uthers to
the Ile of Mourie, quherein ar monuments of Idolatrie,
without warrand from the superiour and minister towards
lawful ends; and if the minister knowes alreaddie any
guiltie, that they be cited to the nixt pbrie day, and all
contraveners thereafter, as occasione offers in all tyme
comeing. The brethren heiring be report that Miurie hes his
monuments and remembrances in severall paroches within the
province, but more particularly in the paroches of
Lochcarron, Lochalse, Kintaile, Contan, and Fottertie, and
Lochbroome, It is appoynted that the brethren of the
congregationes heve a Correspondence, in trying and curbing
all such, within their severall congregationes. And for
thease that comes from forren countreyis, that the ministers
of Garloch and Lochcarron informe themselves of the names of
thease, and the places of their residence, and informe the
pbrie thereof, that notice may be given to those concerned."
"AT DINGWALL, _6 August 1678_.
"Inter alia, That day Mr Roderick Mackenzie minister at
Gerloch, by his letter to the prebrie, declared that he had
summoned by his officer to this prebrie day Hector Mackenzie
in Mellan in the parish of Gerloch, as also Johne Murdoch,
and Duncan Mackenzies, sons to the said Hector--as also
Kenneth Mc Kenzie his grandson, for sacrificing a bull in ane
heathenish manner in the iland of St Ruffus, commonly called
Ellan Moury in Lochew, for the recovering of the health of
Cirstane Mackenzie, spouse to the said Hector Mackenzie, who
was formerlie sicke and valetudinairie:--Who being all
cited, and not compearing, are to be all summoned againe pro
2°."
G.
RECORDS and EXTRACTS relating to Sir George Hay and the Manufacture of
Iron.
ACT ANENT THE MAKING OF IRON WITH WOOD. THIS ACT WAS PROBABLY INTENDED
TO SUPPRESS SIR GEORGE HAY'S IRONWORKS. SCOTS ACTS, VOL. IV., P. 408_b_.
"_Act anent the making of Yrne with Wode._
"_Apud Edinburgh xxvij die mensis Januarij
1609._--Forsamekle as it hes pleasit god to discover certane
vaynes of ritche mettall within this kingdome: as alsua
certane wodis in the heylandis: whilkis wodis by reasoun of
the savagnes of the inhabitantis thairabout wer ather
vnknawin or at the leist vnproffitable and vnused: and now
the estaitis presentlie conveyned being informit that some
personis vpoun advantage of the present generall obedience
in those partis wald erect yrne milnis in the same pairtis:
To the vtter waisting and consumeing of the saidis wodis:
whilkis mycht be reserved for mony bettir vseis: and vpoun
moir choise and proffitable mettaillis for the honnour
benefite and estimatioun of the kingdome: Thairfore the
estaitis presentlie conveyned Statutis and ordanis: and
thairwith commandis chairgeis and inhibitis all and sindrie
his maiesties leigis and subiectis: That nane of thame
presome nor tak vpoun hand To woork and mak ony Irne with
wod or tymmer vnder the pane of confiscatioun of the haill
yrne that salbe maid with the said tymmer: to his maiestes
vse: And ordaines publicatioun to be maid heirof be oppin
proclamatioun at all places needful quhairthrow nane pretend
ignorance of the same."
RATIFICATION TO SIR GEORGE HAY OF THE GIFT OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
AND GLASS. SCOTS ACTS, 1612.
"_Ratificatioun To Sr George Hay off his gift and privilege
of making of yron glasworkis passed October 23d 1612._
"Oure Souerane Lord with aduise and consent of his Estaittis
of parliament Ratifies apprevis and confermis The Commission
and Licence grantit be his Maiestie vnder his hienes great
seall To his Maiesties Louit Sr george hay of Nethirliff
knycht gentilman of his Maiesties privie chalmer his airis
executouris and assignais Be him selff his factouris and
servandis and vtheris haueand his licence tollerance and
permissioun within the haill boundis of the kingdome of
Scotland To mak yrne and glass within the said kingdome of
Scotland In forme and manner specifeit in the said
Commissioun And that during the space of threttie ane zeris
nixt efter the dait efter specifeit of the said Commissioun
As the samyn contening diuerse and sindrie vtheris
priuilegis prouisiones and conditiones off the dait At
quhitehall the twentye foure day of December ane thowsand
sex hundreth and ten zeris at mair lenth proportis In All
and Sindrie pointis part heides articles clauses conditiones
and circumstances quhatsomeuir thairin contenit Efter the
forme and tennoure thairof with all that hes followit or may
follow thairvpoun Lykeas his Maiestie with Aduise and
consent foirsaid Statutis decernis and ordains That the
forsaid Commissioun and this pnt ratificatioun thairof Sal
be ane sufficient lauchfull and valide rycht To the said Sr
george hay and his foirsaidis for vsing of the haill rychtis
priuilegis and liberties thairin contenit and vplifting of
the haill proffites and dewities comprehendit or that may be
comprehendit vnder the said Comission during the space aboue
specifeit thairin contenit Efter the forme and tennoure
thairof in all pointis."
PROCLAMATION RESTRAINING THE EXPORT OF IRON ORE OUT OF SCOTLAND. REGIST.
SECRETI CONCILII ACTA, FOLIO 166. PROBABLY INTENDED TO ASSIST SIR GEORGE
HAY'S ENTERPRISE.
"_Apud Edinburgh Septimo Aprilis 1613._--Forsamekle as
certane of his maiesties subiectis oute of thair affectioun
to the credite reputatioun and commoun weill of this thair
natiue countrey haueing interprysit the practise and making
of yrne within the same and haueing with verie grite
travellis chargeis and expenssis broght that work to ane
ressounable good perfectioun of purpois and resolutioun to
prosequute and follow out the same work for the good of the
countrey, Thay ar lyk to be hinderit and disapointit in the
cours and progres of the saidis workis by the frequent
transport of the Irne vr furth of this realme, whiche
transport is now become sa ordinar and commoun alsweill in
the personis of strangeris as of the borne subiectis of this
realme as thair can nocht be haid sufficientlie whairwith to
interteny the saidis workis and since this art and practise
of making of Irne is most necessar and expedient for the
commonweill of the countrey and that the same can nocht be
intertenyed and haldin fordwart yf thair be nocht aboundance
and sufficiencie of vr within the countrey whairwith to work
the same, Thairfoir the lordis of secrete counsell hes
thocht meitt and expedient for the commoun weill and
benefite of the countrey to discharge lyk as the saidis
lordis by these presentis discharges the transport of ony
kynd of vr furth of this realme, and ordanis lettrez to be
direct to command charge and inhibit all and sindrie his
maiesties lieges and subiectis as alsua all streangearis
resorting and repairing within this realme be appin
proclamatioun at all placeis neidfull That nane of thame
presvme nor tak vpoun hand at ony tyme after the
publicatioun heirof to carye or transport furth of this
realme ony Irne vr vndir the pane of the confiscatioun of
the same and of the rest of the movable goodis partening to
the awnaris and transportaris and siclyk to command charge
and inhibit all and sindrie skipparis maisteris awnaris and
marchantis of shippis and veshellis that nane of thame
ressaue within thair saidis shippis and veshellis ony Irne
vr to be transportit furth of this realme vndir the pane of
confiscatioun of the saidis schipis and veschellis to his
maiesteis vs, certifeing all and sindrie personis who sall
violatt and contravene this present act and ordinance in
maner foirsaid that thair saidis goodis vr schippis and
veshellis sal be confiscat to his maiesteis vse as said is."
LICENCE TO SIR GEORGE HAY ANENT SELLING HIS IRON.
"_Licence to Sr George Hay Annent Selling off his Irne,
Scots Act passed August 4th 1621._
"Oure Souerane Lord With advyse and consent of the Estaittis
of Parliament, And in speall with advyse and consent of the
Commissionaris off the haill ffrie burrowes Royall within
this Realme, Gevis and grauntis full and frie Libertie,
Licence, and powar to Sr George Hay off kinfawnis knicht
Clerk off his hienes Regr be him selff his seruantis and
vyeris in his name, To transport and Carye ony Irone maid be
him and his saidis servantis in his name within this realme
To any poirt or harbrie off any ffrie burgh Royall or ony
vther place within ye samen, To vnloade weigh and dispone
vpoun the said Irone to any persoun qt sumeuir within this
realme that they sall think expedient, And that
notwithstanding off ony privilegis or Liberties qt. sumeuir
formarlie grauntit to the saidis burghes To be contrar
heiroff Quhairanent his maiestie with advyse and consent
foirsaid dispensse be thir pñtis, Provyding Alwayis that
this pñtt act Sall nawayis hurt nor preiudge the liberties
and priviledges of the saidis Royall burghis in any vther
caices, And that in regaird they thame selffis haif
consentit to this priviledge."
REMARKS ON DR SAMUEL JOHNSON'S JOURNEY TO THE HEBRIDES. By the Rev.
DONALD M'NICOL, A.M., London, 1779.
Page 139.--"Several English companies come to different
parts of the west coast for charcoal, and bring ore all the
way from England to be there smelted."
Page 155 _et seq._--"The smelting and working of iron was
well understood and constantly practised over all the
Highlands and Islands for time immemorial. Instead of
improving in that art we have fallen off exceedingly of late
years, and at present make little or none. Tradition bears
that they made it in the blomary way, that is, by laying it
under the hammers in order to make it malleable, with the
same heat that melted it in the furnace.
"There is still in the Highlands a clan of the name of
MacNuithear, who are descended from those founders, and have
from thence derived their surname. I am likewise well
informed, that there is in Glenurchy, in Argyleshire, a
family of the name of MacNab, who have lived in the same
place, and have been a race of smiths, from father to son,
for more, perhaps, than three hundred years past; and who,
in consequence of the father having instructed the son, have
carried down so much of their ancient art, that they excel
all others in the country in the way of their profession;
even those taught in the south of Scotland, as well as in
England, not excepted. A tinker or smith of the name of Mac
Feadearon, a tribe now almost extinct, was the most famous
of his time for making arrow-heads.
"It is certain that Mac Donald was formerly possessed of
most of the western isles, as well as of several large
districts upon the continent or mainland. He had many places
of residence, such as Ardtorinish, &c., but the most common
one was in an island in Lochsinlagan in Isla. Near this
place, and not far from Port Askaic on the sound of Isla,
lived the smith Mac Cregie (that is, the son of the Rock),
and his posterity for a great length of time. There is still
pointed out, by the inhabitants, the rock out of which he
dug his iron ore. Near the rock is a large solid stone, of a
very hard consistency, on which he knapped his ore; and, at
a little distance, there is a cascade on a rivulet, where
stood his mill for polishing, or otherwise preparing the
iron which he had manufactured. He and his descendants made
complete suits of armour, according to the fashion of the
times; such as helmets, swords, coats of mail, &c. The Isla
hilt for the broadsword is well known, and so famous as to
have become proverbial."
EXTRACT FROM DOUGLAS'S PEERAGE.--KINNOUL.
"George Hay, the second son [of Peter Hay of Melginche] born
in 1572; went about 1590 to the Scots College at Douay,
where he studied some years under his uncle Edmund, and
returning home about 1596, was introduced at Court by his
cousin Sir James Hay of Kingask. King James the VI. was
pleased to appoint him one of the gentlemen of the
bedchamber, and to bestow on him the Carthusian priory or
Charter House of Perth, with a seat in Parliament, 18th
Feby. 1598: also the ecclesiastical lands of Errol by
another charter dated the 1st of that month. But finding the
rents too small to support the dignity of a lord of
Parliament, he returned back his peerage to his Majesty. He
attended the King to Perth, 5th August 1600, when the Earl
of Gowrie was killed in his treasonable attempt on his
Majesty's life. Mr Hay applying to the profession of the
law, acquired considerable property, was designed of
Netherleiff, and had charters of Dunninald, in Forfarshire,
17th May 1606, and of Lewes, Glenelg, Barra, &c., 24th July
1610. He was appointed Clerk Register in 1616 and knighted.
Sir George Hay of Netherleiff had charters of an annual rent
of Redcastle, 18th July 1620; of the barony of Kinfauns,
20th July 1620; of Tulliehow, 20th March 1622; and of
Innernytie, Kincluer, &c., 15th May 1622. He was constituted
High Chancellor of Scotland 16th July 1622; had charters of
Craigton 28th August 1622, of the land and earldom of Orkney
and Zetland 22d August 1624; of the barony of Aberdalgy,
Duplin, &c., 29th July 1626. He was created a peer by the
title of Viscount of Duplin, and Lord Hay of Kinfauns, 4th
May 1627, to him and the heirs male of his body, and
advanced to the dignity of Earl of Kinnoul, Viscount of
Duplin, and Lord Hay of Kinfauns, by patent, dated at York,
25th May 1633, to him and his heirs male for ever. His
Lordship enjoyed the Chancellor's place with the approbation
of the whole kingdom and the applause of all good men, for
his justice, integrity, sound judgment, and eminent
sufficiency till his death, which happened at London on the
16th December 1634. His body was conveyed to Scotland, and
on the 19th August 1635, was interred in the Church of
Kinnoul, where a sumptuous monument was erected to his
memory, being a statue of his Lordship of the full size,
dressed in his robes as chancellor, and reckoned a strong
likeness. There is no inscription on the monument: but an
epitaph on him by Dr Arthur Johnston is published in
Crawford's lives of the Officers of State, beginning thus:--
Gone is the wise Lycurgus of our time,
The great and grave dictator of our clime.
His Lordship married Margaret, daughter of Sir James
Halyburton of Pitens, and by her, who dying 4th April 1633,
was buried at Kinnoul 7th May following, had issue--
1. Sir _Peter_ Hay, who had charters to Peter Hay, eldest son
of George Hay of Neyerleiff, of the ecclesiastical lands and
right of patronage of Errol, 8th Jany 1602-3; and of the
lands of Dunnynald, 23d May 1611. He died before his
father, unmarried.
2. _George_, second Earl of Kinnoul."
PORTRAIT OF GEORGE HAY, 1ST EARL OF KINNOULL, NOW IN DUPPLIN CASTLE.
Extracted from the Life of GEORGE JAMESONE, THE SCOTTISH VANDYCK, by
JOHN BULLOCK, 1885, p. 150.
"This picture bears evident trace of Jamesone's hand, but it
has been largely repainted. He wears a fine cap, richly
ornamented with lace, and a common ruff over a plain
doublet. It is a usual feature of these repainted portraits
that the dates of Jamesone's pictures are generally
sacrificed by the restorer.
"He was the youngest son of Peter Hay, and was appointed a
Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and honoured with the dignity
of knighthood (1598). He was created Baron of Kinfauns and
Viscount Dupplin in 1627, and in 1633 was created Earl of
Kinnoull. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir James
Haliburton of Pitcur. He died in 1634."
The portrait of Sir George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull, above
described, is reproduced amongst our illustrations.
Another portrait of the illustrious ironfounder of Loch
Maree, also at Dupplin Castle, forms another illustration.
It is entitled "Portrait of Sir George Hay of Megginish, by
Ferdinand." It represents Sir George as a young man in
armour.
* * * * *
On a map of "the Kingdome of Scotland," by John Speed,
published in 1610, there is marked to the north or
north-east of Loch Hew "mines of iron." The sheet of water
called on the map "Loch Hew" is evidently Loch Maree.
H.
ADDENDA ON ST MAELRUBHA AND ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
The following Notes are principally gleaned from Dr Reeves' paper on St
Maelrubha (_Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. iii., p. 258 _et seq._), and
from "Bishop Forbes' Journals," &c., by Rev. J. B. Craven (1886):--
St Maelrubha was eighth in descent, on his father's side,
from Niall of the Nine Hostages, Sovereign of Ireland,
through Eoghan (who died in 465), one of Niall's sons, and
on his mother's side he was akin to St Comgall, the great
abbot of Bangor, in the county of Down. He was born 3rd
January 642, and trained at the monastery of Bangor, of
which, according to some, he became abbot. In 671, following
the example of St Columba, he went to Scotland, probably in
the first instance to Iona, and in 673 he founded the church
of Applecross, which became the nucleus of a conventional
establishment, following the order of Bangor, and for a long
time affiliated to that monastery. He founded a church on an
island on Loch Maree,--both island and loch still bearing
his name in the corrupted form of Maree. He preached
Christianity in the adjoining districts. Maelrubha's Seat,
near Loch Clair, is so named because it was a place where he
preached. He died at Ferintosh, whilst discharging his
sacred office, on Tuesday, 21st April 722, at the age of
eighty. There is a tradition that he suffered martyrdom at
the hands of the Danes, but it seems inconsistent with
existing records. His body was removed to Applecross, and
there interred. He acquired so great a reputation for
sanctity that he was regarded as the patron saint of this
part of Scotland, whence he extended his influence both in
the islands and on the mainland. His work in the parish of
Gairloch did not die with this holy man. Isle Maree became
the residence of a priest. Later on two churches were
erected within the parish,--the church dedicated to St
Maelrubha at Gairloch, and a church near the head of Loch
Maree, then called Loch Ewe. In all probability this church
stood (as tradition has it) by the small well that still
bears the name of Tobar Mhoire, or "Mourie's well." No doubt
St Maelrubha had himself hallowed the spot by blessing the
well, or preaching close to it. From the numerous
dedications of churches to his memory, not only here but
elsewhere, we learn how laborious must have been his
missionary work. The name Maelrubha is compounded of _Mael_,
a servant, and _Rubha_ or _Ruba_, patience. It has been
corrupted in almost endless variety. There are the following
amongst many undoubted corruptions:--
Mulruby,
Malrew,
Mulruy,
Mulroy,
Morew,
Morow,
Maroy,
Mareve,
Maree,
Mărie,
Măry,
Mury;
or dropping the initial letter,
Arrow,
Erew,
Olrou;
or dropping the first element of the compound name,
Rice,
Ro,
Row,
Ru,
Rufus,
Ruvius;
or combining the title "Saint,"
Summaruff,
Samervis,
Samarevis,
Smarevis,
Samerivis,
Smarivis.
Contemplating these corruptions of Maelrubha, one cannot but
conjecture that the name Smiorsair, given to a hamlet two
miles north of Tobar Mhoire, is derived from the name of the
saint, and that perhaps some other Gairloch names may have
had the same origin. At and near Applecross are many names
connected with the saint and his successors.
The churches founded by St Columba and St Malrubha not
having the assistance of a powerful body like the Church of
Rome (with which they had no connection), gradually fell
into decay. Later on the Romish Church stepped in and
gathered up the threads of languishing Christianity; but the
inaccessible Gairloch seems to have had no place in church
history for some centuries. No doubt Christianity was
maintained by a few pious priests amid the clan contests and
general turbulence that filled the long interval before the
Reformation. That casting off of the Roman yoke made little
difference on the west coast. It seems most likely that the
Rev. Farquhar MacRae, ordained vicar of Gairloch in 1608,
was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and no doubt his learned
hearer, Sir George Hay, was so too; but neither they nor the
common people seem to have objected to the change made by
the Reformation, nor can we suppose that it affected them to
any appreciable extent. The simple ritual of the Highland
churches was scarcely capable of any change; and it is not
likely that forms and ceremonies were much debated in
Gairloch.
It was far different when the change came from
Presbyterianism to Episcopacy. The Highlanders clung to the
old faith, and stoutly struggled against the introduction of
Presbyterianism.
The diocese of Ross at the Revolution (1680) comprised
within its bounds thirty-two parishes divided into four
presbyteries or "exercises," one of which was Gairloch. Of
the thirty-one clergy (one parish was vacant) nine were
deprived of their livings by the Presbyterians; one
voluntarily demitted, declining to obey the new powers; one
offered to submit to the new church government (his services
were declined); of one parish we have no account; and the
remaining nineteen continued (without submission to
presbytery) to hold their benefices to their deaths. Of this
last class was the Rev. Roderick Mackenzie, Episcopal
minister of Gairloch, whose masterly disregard of the
Presbytery has been stated (page 65).
When the long incumbency of the Rev. Roderick Mackenzie was
brought to a close by his death in 1710, the presbytery
resolved to have a minister of their own settled in
Gairloch. The Rev. John Morrison was nominated, and the Rev.
Thomas Chisholm was sent to Gairloch to take preliminary
measures. At a meeting held at Kiltearn, 28th February 1711,
Mr Chisholm reported "that, in obedience to the presbytery's
appointment, he had gone to the parish of Gerloch in order
to have preached at that church and serve the edict for Mr
Morrison's admission; but after he was come near to said
church he was seized upon by a partie of men and carried
back again about six miles, and that being let go by them,
he had essayed again to go to the said church another way,
and that he was again seized upon by another partie of men,
and carried back by them to Kan-loch-ow, where he was
detained by them for some time as a prisoner, and thereafter
by other parties coming successively was carried back till
he was a great way out of the parish, and not let go till
Sabbath afternoon; but that while he was detained prisoner
(understanding that he was designedly carried back lest he
should preach at Gerloch) he had read and intimat the said
edict before six or seven persons, within ane house at
Kan-loch-ow, which is one of the preaching places of the
said parish, and he returned the said edict endorsed by him
with the attestation of his having executed the same in the
foresaid manner." The Rev. John Morrison was admitted
minister of Gairloch,--not at Gairloch, for that was
impossible, but at Kiltearn. The story of his treatment by
the tenants of Sir John Mackenzie of Coul, and of Sir John's
declaration to him, has been recorded (pp. 65, 66). It seems
the presbytery represented Sir John's conduct to the General
Assembly, but he set them at defiance, and apparently with
impunity.
When the Presbytery of Gairloch was constituted in 1724,
only two ministers were found in its bounds.
The subsequent progress of Presbyterianism in Gairloch is
recorded in Part I., chap. xvi. Notwithstanding the
statement of the Rev. Daniel Mackintosh in the "Old
Statistical Account" (1792), that there was then no division
or dissent in the parish, it seems that there were at least
a few who still clung to Episcopacy, for we find from a
quotation given in "Bishop Forbes' Journal," that in the end
of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century
Episcopal "pastors took it by turns to wander over the west
of Ross, through Strath-Garve, Torridon, and Gairloch, and
thence into Skye and the Long Island, ministering to the
detached families who still kept up a connection with them."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Professor Skeat traces "neap" and "nip" to one root. I have myself
heard, in the Channel Islands, "the tides are nipped," for the "tides
are neap."
[2] "Such names as _Crenella decussata_, _Tellina pusilla_, _Modiolaria
marmorata_, _Venus verrucosa_, _Cylichna umbilicata_, _Utriculus
hyalinus_, _Melampus bidentatus_, _Rissoa violacea_."
[3] See _Quart. Jour. of Geolog. Soc. of London_, May 1883.
[4] Pronounced _Croocholee_. The wrong name occurred in the common maps,
and from them, being much used by geological writers, will, it is to be
feared, continue to be employed.
[5] See _Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc. of London_ for Dec. 1858.
[6] See _Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc._ for Feb. 1861; and his "Geology and
Scenery of the North of Scotland," 1866.
[7] See _Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc._ for Dec. 1858 (Murchison); for May
1861 (Murchison and Geikie).
[8] See _Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc._ for Nov. 1878, on "Metamorphic and
Overlying Rocks in the Neighbourhood of Loch Maree."
[9] See _Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc. London_ for 1878 and 1883, and _Geol.
Mag._ for 1880.
[10] For an interesting and valuable account of these Gruinard rocks and
their correlations, by the greatest authority, Professor Judd, see
_Quart. Jour. Geolog. Soc._ for 1878, pp. 670, 671, 688-690, where they
are called Poikilitic, or Variegated, their varied colouring being well
shewn on Loch Gruinard.
[11] Beinn Aridh Charr is called Beinn Lair on the older maps.
[12] Probably the Bull rock.
[13] Mr William Mackay, of Inverness, points out that this word is
misspelt by Dr Mitchell, who makes it "devilans." In the original
record, which Mr Mackay has examined, the word is "de_r_ilans," which is
probably an old Gaelic word signifying the "afflicted ones" (or
lunatics), from "deireoil," used in Kirke's Gaelic Bible for
"afflicted."
INDEX.
Many names of subjects of Natural History and of books, &c., that are
included in lists given in the foregoing pages are not indexed.
Local names of persons will generally be found under their Christian
names.
A Mhaighdean. _See_ Maighdean.
Abernethy iron-smelting works, 76.
Achagarve, 337.
Achnasheen, 73, 148, 202, 279, 296, 297, 299, 300, =301=, 302,
309, 321.
Achnashelloch, 299, 322, 410, 411.
Achtercairn, 26, 61, 164, 186, 210, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297,
312, 329, =331=.
Act forbidding the making of iron with wood, 78, 80, =412=.
Act proscribing the Highland dress, 128.
Æneas (Rev.) M'Aulay. _See_ M'Aulay, Rev. Æneas.
Agriculture, 136-142, 399, 406.
Aird House and Point, 58, 103, 203, 321, 337.
Aird na h' Eighaimh, 210, 346.
Alastair Breac, fifth laird of Gairloch, 42, 48, =49-52=, 177,
189, 201, 323, 347.
Alastair Buidhe Mac Iamhair, or Alexander Campbell, 57, 174,
=185-187=, 189.
Alastair Buidhe Mackay, 50.
Alastair Cam, 189, 191.
Alastair Liath MacRae, 19, 20, 22, 23.
Alastair Mac Iain Mhic Earchair, his vision of Hector Roy, 29,
169.
Alastair Mor an t' Sealgair, 167, 168.
Alastair Og, 189.
Alastair Ross of Lonmor, 51, 323.
Alastair Roy son of John Glassich Mackenzie, 38.
Alexander III., 11.
Alexander Bain, poet, =198-200=, 297.
Alexander Cameron, the Tournaig bard, 134, =194-198=, 231, 319,
320.
Alexander Campbell. _See_ Alastair Buidhe Mac Iamhair.
Alexander Grant, the great bard of Slaggan, 57, 186, =187-189=,
339.
Alexander Mackenzie, from Stornoway, drowned, 211.
Alexander Mackenzie, historian of the Mackenzies, 11, 126, 143,
186, 191, 192.
Alexander Mackenzie of Lochend, his statement about the Poolewe
iron furnace, 83.
Alexander Mackenzie of Oban, the bard, 192.
Alexander (Rev.) Mackenzie. _See_ Mackenzie, Rev. Alexander.
Alexander Mackenzie, seventh laird of Gairloch, =53=, =177=.
Alexander (Sir) Mackenzie, Bart., ninth laird of Gairloch,
=53-56=, 82, 144, 178, 179, 298.
Alexander (Sir) Mackenzie, Bart., tenth laird of Gairloch, =56=,
179.
Alexander the Upright, 14, 26, 30, 33.
Allan M'Leod of Gairloch, 14, =25=, 313, 315.
Allt a Choire Dhuibh Mhoir. _See_ Great Black Corrie of
Liathgach.
Alness iron-smelting works, 73.
Alpine hare, 238, 239, 379.
Altgreshan, 330.
American merchant drowned, 367.
An Fhridh dhorch, 211, 342, 361.
Ancestry of the Mackenzies, 11.
Ancient ironworks. _See_ Ironworks, ancient.
Ancient records wanting, 3.
Anecdotes, Natural History, 228-232.
Anecdotes of salmon fishing. _See_ Salmon angling.
Anglers and their outfit, 359, 360.
Angling in fresh-water lochs, 312, 363-366.
Angling in Loch Maree, 304, 308, 346, 348.
Angling in sea-lochs, 312, 317, 321, 331, 360, 361.
Angling incidents, 369, 370.
Angus Mackay, piper, 56, 176, 178, 179.
Angus MacMhathain, 11.
Annelid borings, 275.
Applecross, 5, 133, 273, 294, 322, 323, 357, 397, 410, 411, 415,
416.
Archers, MacRae (_and see_ Donald Odhar), 20, 22, 23, 46, 47,
328.
Archibald Primrose, clerk of mines, 75.
Arctic fox, 236, 240, 241.
Ardlair, =14=, =15=, 71, 81, 134, 210, 211, 221, 298, 325,
=342=, 373, 395.
Area of Gairloch, 219.
Argyle Furnace Company, 76.
Art, rarity of, in Gairloch, 200.
Arthur, Dr Mitchell. _See_ Mitchell, Dr Arthur.
Artificial islands. _See_ Crannogs.
Assynt, 47, 215, 216, 239, 272, 275, 278.
Ath-nan-ceann, or Anagown, 13, 210, 304.
Attendants to brides of Gairloch lairds, 109, 170, 185, 187.
Aultbea, 71, 72, 87, 99, 118, 162, 213, 241, 245, 246, 283, 288,
293, 294, 296, 297, 299, 300, 320, =321=, 332, 336, 337, 339,
356, 360.
Aurora Borealis, 225.
Bac an Leth-choin, 47, 240, 333, 334.
Bac Dubh, or Moss Bank, Poolewe, 213, 316, 317.
Bad a Mhanaich, 302.
Badachro, 60, 61, 145, 149, 184, 293, 328, 331.
Badachro river, 221, 328, 367, 372.
Badfearn, 293, 321, 337.
Badge of the Mackenzies, the deer grass, 59, 234.
Badgers, 232, 237.
Bagpipes and pipe music, 59, 174, 175, 178, 179.
Baile na h' Eaglais. _See_ Londubh.
Ballymeon, Inverasdale. _See_ Midtown.
Balmerino, Lord, 77, 78.
Balvenny, battle of, 53.
Bank, Caledonian, Gairloch branch, 297, 310.
Bankes, M., of Letterewe, 62, 149, 157, 162.
Bankes, Mrs Liot, 62, 63, 219, 298, 320, 321, 342.
Bannockburn, battle of, 12.
Bard Mor an t' Slaggan. _See_ Alexander Grant.
Bard Sasunnach, 54, 175, 335.
Bards, 173-175, 331.
Barony of Gairloch, 61.
Bateson, J., 201, 327.
Bathais [Bus] Bheinn, 220, 241, 309, 310, 327, 348.
Bay of Corree. _See_ Corree Bay.
Bay of Gruinard, or Loch Gruinard, 219, 272, 283, 288, 293, 338,
340, 349, 351, =355-359=.
Beallach a Chomhla, on Bathais Bheinn, 39.
Beallach Glasleathaid, battle of, 35.
Beallach nan Brog, skirmish of, 14.
Beauly Priory, lairds of Gairloch buried in, 37, 53, 57.
Beauties of Gaelic Poetry, by John Mackenzie, 126, 175, 179,
184, 188, 189, =190=, 191, 192, 201.
Beggars, 115.
Beinn a Chaisgean, 314, 315, 336, 351.
Beinn a Chearcaill, 220, 307.
Beinn a Mhuinidh, 219, 221, 305, 345.
Beinn Alligin, 220, 272, 285, 288, 324, 356.
Beinn an Eoin, 220, 307, 348.
Beinn Aridh Charr, 219, 241, 272, 282, 288, 298, =315=, 318,
321, 336, 340, 343, 344, 345, 350, 352, 354, 356.
Beinn Bheag, 219, 249.
Beinn Bhreac, 220.
Beinn Damh, 324.
Beinn Dearg, 220.
Beinn Eighe, or Eay, 220, 275, 285, 286, 288, 303, 304, 305,
322, 324, 352, 356.
Beinn Lair, 54, 219, 272, 282, 288, 336, 344, 351, =352=, 402.
Beinn na h' Eaglais, 323.
Beinn nan Ramh, 219.
Beinn Tarsuinn, 219.
Beinn Tarsuinn Chaol, 219, 336.
Bethune, or Beaton, one of the ironworkers, 84, 109.
Bicknell, A. S., 236.
Bidein Clann Raonaild, 303.
Big Englishman. _See_ Sasunnach Mor.
Bird-cherry walking-stick, 161.
Birds, 227-231, 241, 346, 351.
Bishop Leslie of Ross, 64, 77.
Bishops, 63, 64.
Black game, 197, 230, 248, 306, 346, 379.
Black Murdo of the Cave. _See_ Murdo (Black) of the Cave.
Black rock, Craig Tollie, 247, 289, 290, 349.
Black-throated divers, 252, 346, 352, 354.
Blackbirds, 227, 244.
Blackie. _See_ Professor Blackie.
Blar na Fala, 136, 313.
Blar na Pairc, battle called, 31.
Bleeding living cattle, 136, 313, 320, 399.
Bloomeries, or ancient iron furnaces, 72, 74, 86.
Blue hare. _See_ Alpine hare.
Boar (Brown) of Diarmid, 186, 324.
Boats, 312, 327, 331, 334.
Boats, new, or newly tarred, 161, 207.
Bodyguard of John Roy, 40.
Bog iron, 73, 86, 87, 88, 96.
Bog iron, localities and analyses of, 87, 88, 328, 329.
Bonaid Donn, 91, 221, 305, 325, 345.
Bonawe, or Bunawe, iron works on Loch Etive side, 76, 77.
Boor, or Boora, 23, 332.
Booth, E. T., 253, 255.
Boundaries of Gairloch, 219.
Bowman, 136.
Bows, 112.
Boys' dress, 26, 129.
Brae, Inverasdale, 293, 333.
Brahan Castle or Mains, 14, 23, 26, 37.
Brahan, 14, 23, 37, 41, 51.
Breacan an Fheilidh, or plaid of the kilt, 29, 126, =127=.
Bridges in Gairloch, 148, 399.
Bright, John, 369.
British coin, ancient, found near old iron slags, 72.
Broadsword and targe, 4, =112=.
Brochs, or round houses of the Picts, 4, 97, =132=, 336.
Broik, Sir John, rector of Gairloch, 63.
Bronze weapons and implements, 103, 104.
Brown, J. A. Harvie, =241-255=.
Brown trout. _See_ Trout, brown.
Bruachaig, 101, 134, 137, 221, 324.
Buaile na luib, 293, 294, 295, 337.
Buchanan, laird of, slain by Donald Dubh, 29, 33.
Bull Rock, or Craig Thairbh, 148, 325, =343=, =344=, 402.
Bull-trout, 233, 362, 368.
Bunyan's works translated into Gaelic, 190.
Burial-places. _See_ Churchyards.
Burn of the Great Black Corrie. _See_ Great Black Corrie of
Liathgach.
Bynames in Gairloch, 111.
Cabar Feidh, 11, 59.
Cadha Beag, 296, 339.
Cailleach a Mhuillear, 178.
Cailleach Liath Rasaidh, 178.
Caithness men attack MacCailean, 34.
Callaway, Dr, 277, 278.
Callum a Ghlinne, or Malcolm M'Lean, =180-183=.
Calthorp, Rev. Gordon, 370.
Cambrian System, 273, 278, 280, 283, 284, 356.
Cameron of Lochiel, 51.
Canal projected by ironworkers, 95, 332.
Cantæ, 4, 109.
Carbisdell, victory at, 409.
Carn a Ghlinne, 303.
Carn Anthony, 323.
Carn Bhan, 287.
Carn Dearg, 159, 298, 329.
Carried or perched blocks, 283, 350, 353, 355, 358.
Carrier to Gairloch, 297.
Carron ironworks, 76.
Carts, 135.
Cas-chrom, or hand-plough, 138, 141.
Cathair Bheag, 159, 310.
Cathair Mhor, 159, 325.
Cattle, 136, 170, 206, 398, 399.
Cautious, canny disposition (anecdote), 123.
Cave at Cove, 105, 221, 294, =334=, 357.
Cave at North Erradale, 105, 221, =329=.
Cave at Opinan, near South Erradale, 221, =328=.
Cave at Sand of Udrigil, 105, 221, 294, 339, =357=.
Cave at Sand of Udrigil used as a dwelling, 339, =357=.
Cave of Gold on Loch Maree, 221, 344.
Cave of the King's Son, =15=, 16, 18, 221, 343.
Caves with weapons concealed by the sian, 166.
Ceann a Chro, or Cruive End, 315.
Ceann an t' Sail, 30, 310.
Ceilidh, 174, 201.
Cell on Isle Maree, 7, 10, 102.
_Celtic Magazine_, 126, 159, 186, 187.