I. ANCESTRY AND NAMES
No traveller can claim even a moderate acquaintance with the parish of Gairloch unless he has acquired some knowledge of her Highland population. This part of our book is designed to help the reader in obtaining that knowledge; nevertheless it is not intended to supersede personal inquiry and observation.
To the casual observer the people here differ very little from the inhabitants of other parts of Great Britain; a closer examination reveals peculiarities in their race, language, manners and customs, superstitions, religious observances, and other characteristics, well worthy the examination of all who resort to this romantic country.
There is a common misconception on the part of English tourists who pay flying visits to the Highlands. Many of them suppose that the natives are of the same blood, and speak the same dialect, as the lowland Scot. Nothing could be further from the fact. To speak of a Highlander "as a Scotsman only," is, as Captain Burt says, "as indefinite as barely to call a Frenchman an European." The Highlander, though inhabiting a part of Scotland, is essentially different from the typical Scotchman. The apprehension of this truth, which will be illustrated in the following pages, is the first step towards the knowledge of the Gairloch Highlanders.
In Part I., chap. i., we have seen how the original Pictish tribe of the Caledonians called the Cantæ, who inhabited Ross-shire, became intermixed with two foreign, yet probably cognate breeds, the Norwegians and the Danes. Further admixture of blood took place by the settlement in Gairloch of Highlanders of other septs, particularly the MacBeaths, M'Leods, MacRaes, and Macdonalds. The ironworkers left their mark on the breed, in such names as Cross, Kemp, and Bethune or Beaton. In more recent times sheep-farming brought lowland blood, identified by the names of Watson, Reid, Stewart, MacClymont, Lawrie, Boa, &c. Again, it is said, no doubt with truth, that some few English or even foreign sailors have at different times settled in Gairloch, owing to shipwrecks or other causes. A Spanish ship, possibly connected with the Armada, is said to have been wrecked on the Greenstone Point, and one or two persons used to be pointed out who, though bearing native names, were believed from their dark wavy hair to have Spanish blood in their veins. So the Taylors of Badachro are descended from a lowland sailor lad. Lastly, the minor admixtures of blood from the immigration of attendants who came with brides of the Gairloch lairds (of whom are the Campbells or M'Ivers, Grants, Chisholms, &c.), and of some other individuals mentioned in these pages, such as Rorie Mackay, the piper, have, in a less degree, leavened the Gairloch breed. On the whole, however, it must be considered as mainly sprung from the original Pictish stock, herein differing ab initio from the lowland race.
The surname Mackenzie greatly predominates in Gairloch, and there are a number of distinct families of that name; many of them have an unbroken lineage from one or other of the lords of Kintail, or of the lairds of Gairloch, whose ancient origin has already been given. In the present day pedigrees are less thought of than in the time of the old seannachies, who were the genealogists of their clans, but many people now living in humble circumstances could, if they pleased, trace their ancestry a thousand years in an unbroken line through the original Kenneth, the progenitor of the family. The blood of kings and nobles flows in their veins, and accounts no doubt for the innate courtesy and gentle manner often noticeable among the humblest of the Gairloch Highlanders.
Surnames were little used in Gairloch in old times, and it is supposed that many persons of different races who settled in the Mackenzie country were after a time reckoned to be Mackenzies. Possibly the clan name was originally adopted only as a means of connecting the follower with his chief, whose tartan of course he wore for identification.
To the present day surnames are little used in Gairloch when Gaelic is being spoken, and even in English a number of men are often called by the equivalents of their Gaelic names. These Gaelic names are formed by the addition to the Christian name of a soubriquet or byname, often hereditary, or else of the father's, grandfather's, and even the great-grandfather's Christian names or some or one of them. Thus in the minutes of the Presbytery of Dingwall, referring to sacrifices of bulls (Appendix F), we find the names of Donald M'Eaine Roy vic Choinnich and Murdo M'Conill varchu vic Conill vic Allister, which in English are respectively "Donald the son of John Roy the son of Kenneth" and "Murdo the son of Donald Murdo the son of Donald the son of Alexander." "Roy," properly "Ruadh," happens to be the only soubriquet in these two compound names. Take some examples from names of men now living:--Alexander Mackenzie, the senior piper of the Gairloch volunteers, is the son of John Mackenzie of Moss Bank; the father is known as Iain Glas, i.e. Pale John; the son is always called in Gaelic Ali' Iain Ghlais, i.e. Alexander [son] of Pale John. This name also illustrates the custom of continuing a soubriquet, whether appropriate or not, from one generation to another; Iain Glas is so called, not because he has a pale face, but because the byname had belonged to an uncle of his. So we find John M'Lean, the industrious crofter on the east side of the Ewe, called Iain Buidhe, or Yellow-haired John, not because he has yellow hair, but because an ancestor of his was dubbed with that byname.
Among very numerous instances of the application of bynames to men now living, the following may be given:--Donald Og, Alie Ruadh, Uilleam Ruadh, Alie Beag, Iain Dubh, Eachainn Geal, Seann Seoc, and Alie Uistean, meaning respectively Young Donald, Red-haired Alexander, Red-haired William, Little Alexander, Black John, White Hector, Old Jock, and Alexander Hugh. Young Donald is an elderly man; Little Alexander a tall man; Old Jock acquired the name as a boy because he had then an old head on young shoulders; and Alexander Hugh is so called because he had an ancestor named Hugh, though he himself was baptized Alexander only. In each of these cases the individual is either a Mackenzie, Urquhart, or Maclennan, but is never so called by his neighbours. The same system of nomenclature is similarly applied to the other sex.
It is worth notice that several Gaelic names are not translatable into English; thus Eachainn is not really Gaelic for Hector, any more than Uistean is for Hugh, but these English names have long been adopted as reasonably good equivalents for the Gaelic.
Some female names in Gairloch sound strange to lowland ears, i.e. those formed by adding ina to a man's name not usually associated with that termination in the south,--for example, Simonina, Donaldina, Murdina, Seumasina (or Jamesina), Angusina, Hectorina, &c.
II. WARFARE AND WEAPONS
Up to the middle of the seventeenth century Gairloch seems to have been a continual battlefield. As to Kenlochewe, it was so often ravaged, and its population so frequently decimated, that one is surprised to find anything left of it!
Among the MacBeaths, M'Leods, Macdonalds, and Mackenzies (assisted by MacRaes), Gairloch was a veritable bone of contention; and for some time after the fierce struggles among the warriors of these clans or tribes had ceased it was still a prey to the raids of the Lochaber cattle-lifters.
What wonder that the Highlander had actually to sleep in his war-paint!
Several weapons of warfare have been mentioned incidentally in Part I., viz., the dirk of Hector Roy, the battle-axe of Big Duncan, the bows and arrows of several of the MacRae archers, and the shotgun of Alastair Buidhe Mackay. The broadsword and targe of the Highlanders were mentioned by Tacitus, and continued to be their arms when in battle array until the eighteenth century. The broadsword is often called the claymore or big sword; it was two-edged. The targe was a round shield of wood covered with leather. Bows and arrows were used against enemies at a distance, and the battle-axe was a favourite and deadly weapon at close quarters. The dirk was mostly used in personal encounters, or when heavier weapons were not at hand. All these weapons were common among Gairloch warriors, except the gun, which was rare here, and in most parts of the Highlands. Bows were made, it is said, of ash; and the present ash trees at Ardlair, and other places hereabouts, are supposed to have sprung from old trees grown long ago on purpose to supply bows.
After the "Forty-five" the clan system faded away, and it is not likely, indeed not possible, that we shall ever again see the able-bodied men of a clan gathered under their chief in battle array.
The immediate substitute for the old system was the raising by several Highland chiefs of regiments of their clansmen as part of the regular army of Great Britain. Lord Seaforth raised the regiment known as the 78th Highlanders in 1793; and, as we have seen, John, second son of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, tenth laird of Gairloch, gathered from Gairloch a company for that regiment, of which he became captain.
All the same, enlisting in the army was never popular in Gairloch; and, as a rule, recruits could be procured only by the detestable means of the pressgang, which was also used for obtaining sailors for the navy.
Dr Mackenzie, writing of the days of his father, Sir Hector Mackenzie, says:--"One of my father's amphibious crofters disappeared, leaving his wife and family to the care of Providence, without a clue to his being dead or alive, for some five years. One day my father, superintending some job near the bay, noticed a man coming towards him with a true sailor-like roll. Intimate with the cut of every man on the estate, says he, 'Surely that is dead Donald M'Lean's walk;' and, on coming near, it certainly was Donald himself, in naval attire. 'Halloa, Donald!' says he, 'where on earth are you from?' speaking, as he always did to his people, in Gaelic. Donald pulled up, and saluting, replied in two words, also in Gaelic, 'Bho Iutharn,' the English of which is simply 'From hell.' The service on board a man-of-war was then really infernal, though Donald, who had been grabbed by a press-gang, had survived five years of it, and found his widow and children glad to see him again."
For other stories connected with the press-gang system see Part II., chap. xxv. Very few recruits are in the present day forthcoming from Gairloch for the army, navy, or militia.
The Volunteer corps, which is the "I" Company of the Ross Highland Rifle Volunteers, is well supported, and is generally over its authorised strength. It has three pipers, and the rank and file comprise a number of fine men.
Though perhaps not exactly within the subject of this chapter, the following account given by James Mackenzie of almost the first guns brought to Gairloch may be added:--
It was about 1823 that a large ship was destroyed by fire at Ullapool. Part of her cargo was saved. Besides some casks of fish-hooks, a number of guns were taken out of the burning ship. There was a man then living at Mellon Udrigil in Gairloch named Finlay Fraser; he had come as a foxhunter from Beauly; he got seven of the guns out of the ship. It is said that one of these guns of more than sixty years ago was recently to be seen preserved as a curiosity in the farmhouse of Tollie. Finlay carried on illicit distillation of whisky in a large cave on the Greenstone point. He used to steep barley in whisky, and spread it on the ground in front of a sort of screen, called in Gaelic "skar," behind which he lay in wait with one of his guns until wild geese and other birds came to eat the barley, which soon rendered them "drunk and incapable," when Finlay got easy pot-shots at them. Though the guns obtained from this ship were the first in general use in Gairloch, it is certain that guns had occasionally been brought into the parish long before.
III. POLITY AND CUSTOMS
Notwithstanding the introduction of Christianity in the seventh century, the revival of religion at the time of the Reformation, and later on the militant piety of the stern Covenanters, the people of Gairloch did not make much progress until their previously continuous state of warfare came to an end after the "Forty-five." The abandonment of the clan system, the disarming of the Highlanders, and the proscription of their distinctive dress, entirely changed the condition of the people, and nearly assimilated them to their lowland neighbours as regarded many of the outer circumstances of daily life. The lover of romance may pardonably raise sentimental objections to the change, but it unquestionably heralded a vast improvement in the general condition of the Highland population.
The report in the Old Statistical Account (Appendix C) on the state of Gairloch in 1792 contrasts very favourably with what is known of its condition prior to the "Forty-five." The first parochial school appears to have been established in Gairloch about 1730, and in 1792 there was still only the one school; it was well into the nineteenth century before the number of schools was increased. During the minority of the present baronet the number grew, mostly at his expense, to sixteen. As elsewhere education was formerly in the hands of the ecclesiastics, but it was as a rule only to the higher classes that they imparted instruction in the old days. Even the parochial school was up to the passing of the present Education Act (1872) visited and examined by the presbytery.
Few of the people could read or write until quite recently. On 6th March 1811 the Rev. James Russell, minister of Gairloch, reported "the number of persons capable of reading English in the parish to be three hundred and twenty-four; capable of reading Gaelic alone, seventy-two; and unable to read either English or Gaelic, two thousand five hundred and forty-nine." In the present day, under the School Board system, established in 1873, education has reached a high pitch. The teachers in the ten and a half schools of the parish pass at the annual examinations by Her Majesty's inspectors about eighty per cent. of their scholars, and it would surprise a stranger to witness the general intelligence and acquirements of the school children. There are still a number of elderly people in the parish who can neither read nor write, but the rising generation are well educated.
Under the old clan system there was no organized method of relieving the poor; indeed it is certain that the mass of the population was then in miserable plight. With the progress of the church a system of relieving paupers sprang up. Under the ministry of the Rev. D. Mackintosh, the poor, to the number of eighty-four, had the annual collections made in the church, with the interest of £20, distributed among them. The collections averaged £6, 7s. This mode of assisting the poor continued until the introduction of the present poor-law system, which is very thoroughly applied to the parish. Only one remark need here be made about it. It is, that though begging is almost unknown, and though the people have a large measure of Highland pride, they are as a rule callous to the humiliation of receiving relief from the poor-rates; nay rather, some few even appear to think that they have a positive right to draw parish pay, irrespective of the state of their purses.
The very few beggars seen in Gairloch are generally lowland tramps of the drinking class. The travelling tinkers rarely beg; they pitch their rude tents in sheltered places, and repair the tin pans of the neighbourhood. Some few tinkers are well known, and are considered respectable; others are not to be trusted. Gipsies are scarcely ever seen so far north. There is a strange old man often to be noticed wandering about Gairloch. He is a native of the parish, but is now homeless and in his dotage. He goes about seeking, as he says, the road to America. It seems that many a year ago he emigrated with his wife and family to the United States. They all became more or less insane, and all died except the father, this poor old man. He returned to Scotland, and now divides his time among those who are kind to him,--and they are not a few. Barring his absorbing anxiety he does not appear to be unhappy. He always wears a tall hat, and is respectably dressed. Her Majesty Queen Victoria mentions this old man in "More leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands." Describing the excursion to Torridon, Her Majesty writes, "An old man, very tottery, passed where I was sketching, and I asked the Duchess of Roxburghe to speak to him; he seemed strange, said he had come from America, and was going to England, and thought Torridon very ugly."
Among old customs still remaining in Gairloch are those connected with marriages and funerals, and the New Year, which is the only festival observed in the parish.
The marriage customs are a relic of the remote past. They consist of the washing of the feet of the bride and bridegroom at their respective homes on the evening before the wedding, and the putting to bed of the married couple on the night of the ceremony. Captain Burt notices these customs in 1730. Some of the younger people shirk these proceedings, especially in the more accessible parts of the parish, but as a rule they are strictly observed to the present day.
Funerals are not now accompanied by such striking peculiarities. Until the last few years, when a death occurred all the people of the township ceased working until after the funeral, which was attended by every adult male. Of course drinking was much in vogue, and the well known Irish wakes were closely imitated. Now, only those invited to a funeral are expected to attend, and the whisky is confined to the serving of a dram all round (preceded by a prayer) before the funeral procession starts, with additional "nips" whenever a halt is made for rest on the way to the place of burial, and these halts are not infrequent. Until quite lately it was customary for each man accompanying the funeral to throw a stone on the spot where the coffin was placed when a halt was made, thus forming a considerable heap; sometimes the number of stones thrown was the same as the years of age of the deceased. This custom has been generally discontinued in Gairloch since the roads were made, though it is still in vogue in the wilder parts of the adjoining parishes of Applecross and Lochbroom. The use of whisky at funerals is not now universal in the parish of Gairloch; some ministers wisely discourage it, partly on account of its generally evil tendency, and partly because the providing of it is a serious burden on the family of the deceased, already weighted by other expenses in connection with the death or previous sickness.
New Year's eve and New Year's day are kept according to the old style, on the 12th and 13th of January, and both days are general holidays. There is always a keen contest for the "first-footing" at midnight on New Year's eve; the one who succeeds in first entering a neighbour's house claims the inevitable dram. Occasionally a shinty or "clubbing" match takes place on New Year's day.
Some old weights and measures are still adhered to; milk is sold by the pint, which is half a gallon.
The administration of justice in Gairloch is in the present day conducted as in other parts of the country, by the sheriff and justices of the peace; but until the time of Sir Hector Mackenzie, the eleventh laird of Gairloch, they say justice was administered by the chief in a rough and ready fashion. In the paddock below Flowerdale House, immediately adjoining on the east the field in which the Tigh Dige formerly stood, is a small round plantation on a circular plot of land, which deserves its title--the island--as it is surrounded by a wet ditch; it is shown on the six-inch ordnance map. It was formerly quite an island, and was approached by a plank or small foot-bridge. Simon Chisholm, the present forester and head-gardener at Flowerdale, remembers when there were the large stumps of five forest trees on this little island, one in the centre and the other four around it. In the line of the hedge which divides this paddock from the field to the west were several other large trees, some of the stumps of which remain to this day. When a trial was to take place the laird of Gairloch stood at the large tree in the centre of the "Island of justice," and one of the principal clansmen at each of the other four trees. These four men acted as jurymen or assessors, whilst the laird himself performed the functions of judge. The accused person was placed at a large tree immediately facing the island, and within forty yards of it, whilst the accuser or pursuer and the witnesses stood at other trees. When the accused was found guilty of a capital crime, the sentence of death was executed at the place still called Cnoc a croiche, or "Gallows hill," about half a mile distant from the island of justice. The Gallows hill is a small knowe close below the high road, on the south side of the ridge called the Crasg, between the present Gairloch Free church and the old Gairloch churchyard, and it overlooks the latter. A few stones still shew that there used to be a wall which formed a small platform on which the gallows stood; they say this wall was more complete within living memory than it now is. The ravine or fissure immediately below the platform provided an effectual "drop." When the body was cut down it would fall to the sea-shore below, and perhaps at high tide into the sea itself. The face of the sloping rock, immediately below the platform where the gallows stood, looks almost as if it had been worn smooth by the number of bodies of executed criminals dashed against it in their fall. This old manner of trial is said to have continued until the eighteenth century. But it must not be supposed that Sir Hector Mackenzie, who regularly dispensed justice among his Gairloch people from 1770 to 1826, adhered to the primitive form.
Folk-lore is little thought of now-a-days in Gairloch. Among the old men who still love it, and from whom many of the traditions and stories given in this book have been derived, are James Mackenzie of Kirkton, Kenneth Fraser of Leac-nan-Saighead, Roderick Mackenzie of Lonmor (Ruaridh-an-Torra), George Maclennan of Londubh, Alexander Maclennan of Poolewe, John M'Lean of Strath, Kenneth and George Maclennan of Tollie Croft, Donald Ross of Kenlochewe, and Simon Chisholm of Flowerdale. Some of them can speak English fluently.
IV. RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
The progress of religion among the people of Gairloch cannot readily be traced beyond the incumbency of the Rev. Daniel Mackintosh, minister of the parish from 1773 to 1802. Superstition of the grossest kind usurped the place of religion in ancient days. The Rev. James Smith, minister of Gairloch from 1721 to 1732, appears to have been the first Presbyterian clergyman who made a general impression on the people; in the time of Mr Mackintosh they had become, as he tells us in the Old Statistical Account (1792), sober, regular, industrious, and pious.
We have no records of the comparatively elaborate observances and ritual which undoubtedly attended the ministrations of the Church in Gairloch, with its fasts, festivals, and saints' days, before the Reformation. Some of the natives long clung to Episcopalianism, but the bald simplicity of Presbyterian worship was gradually adopted by the parish, and is the only form now known, except indeed an occasional Episcopal service for visitors at the Gairloch Hotel.
The present observances of the Presbyterian churches in the parish appear to have undergone little or no modification since the commencement of the nineteenth century, except by the secession of the Free Church in 1843, and that did not alter the articles of faith or the manner of worship.
As a rule the Sunday services are held at twelve o'clock, and are mostly in Gaelic. A short English service follows at two, and in some cases there is also a meeting at six.
Both the Established and Free churches hold to the doctrines laid down in the Confession of Faith and the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Divines.
The sacrament of baptism is generally administered at the close of a Sunday service; the father is required to declare his adherence to the doctrines of the Christian faith before the congregation; there are of course no other sponsors.
The sacrament of the Lord's supper is "dispensed" at the Gairloch and Aultbea Free churches twice a year, and these are great occasions in the parish. There are three days of preparation before the Sacrament Sunday, and one day of thanksgiving after it. The first day is called the "Fast-day," and is observed as a Sunday.
Dr Mackenzie, who is an earnest Free Churchman, gives the following graphic and interesting account of the church attendance and religious observances in Gairloch prior to the "Disruption," in fact about 1820. The mode he describes of holding the communion services in the Leabaidh na Ba Bàine, or "Bed of the white cow," is nearly the same now as it was in the days he writes of sixty or seventy years ago, with one exception of importance, viz., that the sort of "Aunt Sally" game he mentions is now quite unknown. He says:--
"Our people then thought nothing of a ten mile walk to and from church. Many came by boat from the coast townships, and in fine weather the well dressed and mutched people filling the boats scattered over the bay en route to the different townships gave things quite a regatta-like look, that we shall never see again owing to the roads now everywhere. One of our largest tenants took his son to church for the first time, a mite of a man, who on being asked in the hand-shaking crowd after church, 'Well, Johnnie, what saw you in church?' replied, 'I saw a man bawling bawling in a box, and no man would let him oot.' Mr Russell made up for want of matter in his sermons by needless vigour in his manner. The said Johnnie is now risen to be a large wise landed proprietor in his old age in the Western Islands.
"Between difficult access for helpers to our pastor at communion times, and other causes, that ordinance used when I was young to be celebrated only about every third year in our Elysium of the west. Perhaps consequently the whole western world seemed to us to congregate to the occasion, from all parts of the country, over roadless 'muirs and mosses many O.' I doubt if the reasons [why they came] of the vast majority would sound well at the confessional, or look well in religious print; and it seems singular that only in the Scotch Presbyterian Church are Christians ever invited to devote five days to the communion services, while in every other church the Sabbath day alone is considered sufficient for the ordinance. Many earnest Christians think, that while on some particular and unlooked for occasion it may be right to hold religious services on week days, as a rule Christians are expected to work six days weekly, which they cannot do if they belong to the Scotch Presbyterian Church. It would appear as if an idea prevailed, that it required many clergymen to assemble at communion seasons, or else that there could be no anxious inquirers about eternity, so many accept invitations to attend; and probably on this account, instead of there being only one communion table at which there can be no difficulty in all meeting and partaking together, there are always (except in one church where I helped to improve matters) many tables, each one generally having its own clergyman in charge; the services being thus greatly protracted, probably in hopes of this causing a 'revival,' as it is termed.
"So in our west parish (Gairloch), with the communion only every third year, the crowd that attended was probably nearer four than three thousand, of whom perhaps two hundred might be communicants. Of the rest who seemed so devoted to religion (though of course very many did not pretend to such anxiety), the reply, when asked why they were not communicants, would in almost every case be, 'They were not yet worthy.' So they generally remain--refusing to obey their Saviour's dying request--unworthy, till they die,--not yet sinless! I once received as a reason for an excellent man's shrinking from the communion table, that 'his father and mother also shrank from it;' and this given by a man of good education, the secretary to a bank! But till the Presbyterian clergy grow wiser, the same sad disobeying our Redeemer's dying command will remain.
"But anent our western communion, every hole and corner within reach of our church was cleared out where straw or heather or ferns could offer a night's quarters to the crowd of communion visitors, for about a week; and such a bad time as every living eatable animal had then preparing for the visitors, who took 'neither scrip nor purse' with them on such occasions, was wonderful; and such baking, boiling, roasting, and stores of cold food, as made our kitchen a mere meat manufactory for the sacrament week; and on the Sabbath there was such a spread of cold food in the house, to which the clergymen, at a lull in their duty, and all the upper crust of the parish, were invited to attend, as was quite a marvel, involving such labour to every servant all day long as quite rendered their attending church at this holy fair absurd to be thought of!
"Close beside our parish church was a most wonderful hollow (the Leabaidh na Ba Bàine) in the sandy-soiled prairie. It was naturally formed, beyond memory of man, and, as we knew well, by Fingal, for a bed where his white cow was to calve. It had a complete coat of beautiful inch-long benty grass, and a thousand spades could not have formed a more perfectly egg-shaped cup, in the bottom of which was placed the wooden preaching box, and in front of it long narrow tables and benches for the communion. A few 'shuparior pershons' sent before them stools, &c., on which to sit, see, and listen, but ninety-nine of the hundred of us sat on the nicely sloping banks all around the 'bed,' till they overflowed on to the level of the equally grassed ground outside. The 'bed' was estimated to hold two thousand persons seated, and perhaps three thousand were often gathered in all to the services, packed tight to one another, as was the popular fashion at these times. A more orderly and seriously conducted congregation than that in Fingal's white cow's bed I am sure has never been seen anywhere, or more polite young men towards the women, who, often thirsty from the shadeless situation and the crush, &c., I have often seen kindly supplied with a shoefull of water from the well close to the burial ground! We often hear of grand public rooms of bad quality for hearing the speaker, but the faintest word from the bottom of Fingal's bed was heard as clearly as if in a closet. And I should be very much surprised if any one who once heard an old Gaelic psalm floating in the air, from the thousands of worshippers in the 'bed,' could forget it in a hundred years. The finest organ ever made was trash to that solemn sound.
"On the plea that so many people far from home might starve, a sort of commissariat regiment used to attend on the shore of the bay with booths for bread, cheese, and gingerbread, goodies, &c.; and I fear the report that the feeders, rather than carry away uneaten stock at nights, used to have, say, a loaf set on a stick for a shy at it with another from a set distance for a small sum, hit or lose, that same is owre true a tale, though of course it must have been the ungodly of the crowd who attended that holy fair!
"Ah! dear, dear! Who could approve of such wild arrangements at a communion season, compared with every clergyman having the communion in his own church for his own people, monthly or quarterly or so, quietly and solemnly, without a crowd of ministers and people from neighbouring parishes to injure and confuse every solemn thought with the fuss and bustle of a crowd. May God send us more wisdom than Scotland can at present shew on these occasions!"
Every visitor to Gairloch should see and hear one of the out-door communion services in the Leabaidh na Ba Bàine, if he have the opportunity.
The Gairloch people are still a church-going race, though not so regular to-day as even ten years ago. Nearly the whole population adheres to the Free Church. Some characteristics of the Free Church services may be noted. Children are generally conspicuous by their absence. The people take no part whatever, except in the very primitive singing; and some few appear to compose themselves deliberately to sleep. The Christian festivals are entirely ignored; and the sermons, usually extempore, are on some occasions bare statements of doctrine. The Free Church organisation watches closely the religious conduct of the people. It is said there is not a crofter's house in the parish of Gairloch where family worship is not conducted every day; and the Sabbath is very strictly observed.
There is an air of settled gloom on the faces of many of the people,--intensified on the Sabbath day. It seems to partake of a religious character. The ministers, catechists, and elders nearly all oppose dancing, and every kind of music. Surely they are short-sighted! A sort of fatalism is the most apparent result of the religion of the natives of Gairloch. It has a depressing effect when illness comes.
If anything here stated is calculated to convey the idea that the religious thought and religious observances of the Gairloch Highlanders are unreal or perverted, let me correct it by adding, that as a rule their piety is genuine and practical.
V. CHARACTER AND CHARACTERISTICS
It is an invidious task to criticise the general characters of one's neighbours. "Charity thinketh no evil," but it cannot be blind to obvious faults. Sentimental predilections ought not to be allowed to warp the judgment, any more than prejudices based on first impressions or partial knowledge should be permitted to mature into dogged dislike. What a Scylla and Charybdis to steer through!
Highlanders have been over-praised by some, and unreasonably condemned by others: the truth is, they are like other races; there is of course an admixture of good and bad among them. But are the black sheep more numerous than the white ones? So far as the parish of Gairloch is concerned, I am of opinion, speaking from personal experience, that the black sheep are in a decided minority. Taking the people as a whole, they are unquestionably more disposed to honesty and morality than are the bulk of our urban populations.
In the old clan days all Highlanders were remarkable for fidelity to their chief and to their fellow-clansmen. Circumstances have abolished these ties to a great extent, though some remnants of the clan feeling still linger among the older people.
Courtesy and hospitality continue to be leading good qualities among all ranks of Highlanders, and the Gairloch folk are no exception to the rule.
That shrewd writer Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, after pointing out the faults of indolence and carelessness, adds, "With all their defects the people have numerous good qualities, which, under proper management and judicious direction, might become the source of comfort and wealth to themselves and to their superiors. In honesty and sobriety the people of the west coast are far superior to their inland neighbours."
Sir Francis Mackenzie, in his "Hints," pays the following tribute to the character of his Gairloch Highlanders:--"I can produce, I rejoice to say, from my own people individuals, totally unlettered, who shall in every amiable quality of which humanity can boast far outshine some of the common specimens of our students, either at Oxford or at Edinburgh; and this arises more from early training, and the good example of attentive parents, than from the natural goodness or depravity of dispositions. Long then may you retain your native honesty, your spirit of generosity, and noble courtesy. Long may you remember that true politeness is not servility; and may you never forget that rudeness is not only degrading, but unchristian; and may you ever prove to surrounding countries, that a spirit of courtesy naturally springs from the freedom and independence which, as Highlanders, have ever been your inheritance."
Love of country, or perhaps more accurately attachment to home, is a salient feature in the character of the Highlander; it has always been so, and there is no sign of any diminution of the sentiment. I have received letters from absent Gairloch men speaking in the fondest terms of affection of their homes, and avowing constant and loving recollection of the wild surroundings amid which they were brought up. Is this to be wondered at? To the dweller in Gairloch the hill pasture, the rocky shore, the rough peat moss, the mountain path, the expanse of the sea loch, with the background of lordly summits, are all his own; others may have proprietary rights, the real enjoyment is his. Pining home-sickness is the immediate result of emigration, and it is often long before the practical business of life overcomes it. No blame attaches to this natural and irresistible passion for home; on the other hand, it is evidence of a valuable depth of character and an ennobling simplicity of heart; it is in fact the sentiment which is the basis of all true patriotism.
A less admirable characteristic of the Gairloch people is their cautious, "canny" disposition; it is, however, by no means confined to them. Modern curtailment of their privileges, the advent of tourists and other strangers, and a constant need for strict economy, have tended to the growth of this trait. It is evinced in a strong disinclination to reveal their views and intentions, and a grasping keenness in driving bargains. Here is an example from my personal experience:--A crofter had made known his desire to sell a heifer; a gentleman, wanting to purchase one, came some distance to see the animal; the crofter at first denied flatly that he had anything to sell; on the gentleman turning to leave, he said he would shew him a heifer; at length he named an exorbitant price; then finding the possible customer was a judge of cattle, he reduced the figure but still held out for too high a sum; no bargain was concluded that day.
Captain Burt, in his racy "Letters" (about 1730), charges Highlanders with a want of cleanliness. A similar charge, supported by evidence of the same nasty kind, is even in the present day made against some Highlanders. Here in Gairloch the charge is not generally applicable; nay, it may truly be said that the people are in their persons even more cleanly than their neighbours in our large centres of population. True the odour of stale peat "reek," and the stains it leaves on articles of dress, sometimes convey an impression of dirtiness, but there is no real filth in this, and the presence of parasites is now-a-days very rare. Let the visitor enter one of the public schools of the parish and see the clean neatly-dressed children, and the charge will at once be disposed of.
In former days, and even to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the morals of the people were far from perfect; this is shown by the minutes of the presbytery. Happily, whether from fear of the kirk-session, or from the general improvement of recent times, offences against morals are to-day less common in Gairloch than in some parts of the lowlands.
It is singular that among Highlanders, at least in Gairloch, there is a total absence of anything like jealousy between married people; this fact by itself speaks volumes.
The principal fault of the Gairloch and other Highlanders has been variously designated indolence, lethargy, carelessness, sloth, idleness, and laziness,--all meaning much the same thing. It is often said "time is no object on the west coast," and so it would appear; nearly all meetings (except Sunday services) are from half-an-hour to an hour later in commencing than the time named; an eternal current of talk, talk, talk, accompanies every transaction, and not seldom interrupts or delays the most pressing work. It is only the male sex who are chargeable with this indolence, and amongst them it is fast giving way to greater activity; sometimes it is due to a love of dram-drinking, for which it forms an excuse; indeed it is often rightly laid at the door of whisky. All writers on the Highlands have remarked upon it, and some quotations will be given in connection with agriculture which will illustrate it. More continuous occupation is the remedy required. It is remarkable that the Highlander never displays indolence when he emigrates, and it is principally in his agricultural attempts that it is manifested. There is every reason to believe that it is gradually disappearing.
The Gairloch population cling with marvellous tenacity to old ways of doing things, and thus general improvement is slow. On the whole they are a worthy religious people. "Man made the town: God made the country," is a saying that means more than the literal meaning of the words conveys. In the pure air and unpolluted water of the Highlands, there is less that is akin to sin and moral impurity than in the filthy crowded manufacturing town. The general sobriety, honesty, and piety of these Gairloch people, seem to me to outweigh their shortcomings.
It is a pity that some of the younger people affect a certain contempt for the old Highland characteristics, and seem determined to resemble their lowland neighbours as closely as possible. The Highland dress has for several generations been laid aside, and other distinctive ways and peculiarities, some of them ennobling and good, have fallen into disuse. Surely the people would best support their demand for a national recognition of the peculiar position they claim, by maintaining the old Highland esprit, rather than by disowning the nobler characteristics that have so long distinguished the inhabitants of the "land of the hills and the glens and the heroes."
In concluding this chapter I beg leave to propose what must prove a beneficial stimulus to the people of Gairloch, if it were efficiently carried out. It is the establishment of an annual prize meeting for competitions in--
Home-spun cloth, plaids, and carpets produced within the parish; Gairloch hose; Vegetables, fruit, and flowers grown by Gairloch people; Highland games and athletic sports; Pipe music by local pipers; Gaelic songs by Gairloch bards.
Perhaps boat races might be added to the list. Substantial prizes for merit in these competitions would unquestionably tend to encourage industry and develop excellence. If sufficient funds were forthcoming, a competent committee could readily be got together to work out the details. I earnestly invite the assistance of all who visit this romantic country towards a proposal designed to promote the advancement of its Highland inhabitants.
VI. LANGUAGE AND DRESS
Distinctions between different races, which depend on varieties of character, customs, or means of livelihood, require discriminating study for their apprehension. But a different language and an unusual dress are marks which present themselves to all observers--the one to the ear and the other to the eye--even on the briefest scrutiny. The inhabitants of Gairloch have still a language entirely different to that of the lowland Scotch, and they used not long ago to wear a dress only known in the Highlands.
To this day the Gaelic language is universal among the people of Gairloch, and they cling to it with the utmost affection. In it are embalmed all the traditions and stories of the days that are gone, and the songs and poems of the bards both past and present.
Gaelic, which in the old books is called "Erse" or "Irish," has many dialects. The language of the natives of the west coast of Ireland is not materially different from that of the Scottish Highlanders. The Gaelic of Gairloch is considered tolerably pure, though William Ross, the Gairloch bard, who studied the subject closely, thought the Gaelic of the Lews par excellence the purest form of the language.
In the Old Statistical Account the Rev. Daniel Mackintosh stated that Gaelic was in his time the prevailing language in Gairloch.
Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, in his "General Survey," expressed the opinion that Gaelic was dying out; but the Rev. Donald M'Rae, minister of Poolewe, in his paper on the parish of Gairloch in the New Statistical Account, stated that the language then (1836) generally spoken was the Gaelic, and added, "I am not aware that it has lost ground within the last forty years." Mr M'Rae's remarks on the admixture by young men of English or Scotch words with their Gaelic, and on the purity in other respects of the language as spoken in Gairloch, will be found in Appendix E.
The Gaelic language is as prevalent in Gairloch to-day as it was when Mr M'Rae wrote his paper nearly fifty years ago, notwithstanding the near approach of the railway (within five miles of the parish boundary), and the greatly increased communication by steamers, which has taken place during the interval. The religious services of the people are conducted in Gaelic (though short English services are often added); there are scarcely any houses where English is spoken round the table or by the fire-side, though comparatively few are able to read Gaelic. At the same time the knowledge of the English language is undoubtedly on the increase, and the schools are taught in that language. Nevertheless even children fresh from school seldom speak English when playing together.
Some ten years ago there was a great agitation for the restoration of Gaelic teaching in the Highland schools, and the movement has recently been revived, with the result that the Government are about to sanction instruction in Gaelic as part of the curriculum, or at least as an "extra subject." It was stated during the early stage of this agitation that in many places Highland children learnt English only as a parrot would, and did not understand its meaning. I took the trouble to see how this was in Gairloch schools, and I can only say that the imputation did not apply to the children I examined, for not only did many of them read English remarkably well, but searching cross-examination proved that they thoroughly understood the meaning of what they read.
There are still many of the older people who are unable to speak English fluently, and some who do not understand it at all. The English spoken by the young people as well as by most of the older natives who speak it is a particularly pure form, untarnished by provincialism or Scottish brogue. The smattering of Scotch occasionally to be met with is confined to those who come in contact with persons from the Lowlands. Occasionally a curious phrase occurs, the result of a literal translation of some Gaelic expression. For instance, wondering whether a grouse which flew behind a hill was the worse of a shot that had been fired at it, I asked a stout young gillie, whose position enabled him to see further round the hill, whether the bird had come down. He replied, "When she went out of my sight she had no word of settling."
Gaelic literature has been well represented in Gairloch. John Mackenzie, the author of the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," and many other works in Gaelic (Part II., chap. xxii.), was a native of Gairloch; and Mr Alexander Mackenzie, the editor of the Celtic Magazine, and the author of many valuable works (some containing Gaelic pieces), is also a Gairloch man. The Gaelic books especially pertaining to Gairloch are the poems of William Ross, the Gairloch bard, edited by the late John Mackenzie, and the poems of Duncan Mackenzie, the Kenlochewe bard, edited by Mr Alexander Mackenzie.
There has been much diversity of opinion upon the question whether it would not be better that the Gaelic language should be discouraged and be assisted to die out. I believe some few of the Highlanders themselves have adopted this unpatriotic view, but the contrary opinion, so ably advocated by Professor Blackie, now appears to be gaining ground. It seems quite possible that the Highlander may not only have a thorough command of English, but may also retain his own expressive language with its ennobling traditions. No doubt a knowledge of the language which is the medium through which most of the business of the kingdom is conducted has its importance; but surely the retention of their own tongue by Highlanders must tend in great measure to foster a patriotic feeling, which should lead them to do credit in their lives and conduct to their native glens.
There is no separate record of the dress anciently worn by the natives of Gairloch, but it was unquestionably the same as that of all the other inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland, viz., the Breacan an Fheilidh, or belted or kilted plaid. In the Celtic Magazine, Vol. VIII., is a treatise on the "Antiquity of the Kilt," by Mr J. G. Mackay. One curious fact he mentions is, that the Norwegian king Magnus, in his expedition to the Western Isles of Scotland in 1093, adopted the costume then in use in the western lands, which no doubt included the parish of Gairloch; so that we may if we please picture our prince of the Isle Maree tragedy as wearing the Highland dress. From this notice of King Magnus, and more particularly from the account given by John Taylor (Part IV., chap. xx.) of the deer hunting at Braemar, we learn that the Highlanders in old days expected all who came among them to adopt their peculiar garb.
Sometimes the belted plaid was worn along with the "triubhais," or "truis," or trews, a prolongation upwards of the tartan hose, fitting tightly to the skin and fastened below the knees with buckles. These trews were very different in appearance and make from the tartan trousers worn by some Highland regiments in the present day. Oddly enough the only representation extant of a Gairloch man of the old days, viz., Donald Odhar, exhibits him in the tartan trews. This representation is in the Mackenzie coat-of-arms on the Sabhal Geal at Flowerdale. It was doubtless executed by a southern sculptor, long after Donald Odhar lived and fought. But unquestionably the most usual--almost universal--form of the Highland dress was the tartan plaid gathered into pleats round the waist, where a belt kept it in position (thus forming the kilt), the rest of the plaid being brought over the shoulder. The name of the dress thus formed (Breacan an Fheilidh) means the plaid of the kilt.
The present form of the Highland dress, in which the kilt--sometimes called "philabeg"--is made up as a separate garment, has given rise to much controversy. The strife is said to have originated in a letter in the Scots Magazine in 1798; it was stated that about 1728 one Parkinson, an Englishman, who was superintendent of works in Lochaber, finding his Highland labourers encumbered with their belted plaids, taught them to separate the plaid from the kilt and sew the kilt in its present form. Others say that the inventor of the kilt was Thomas Rawlinson, of the Glengarry ironworks, who about the same date and for the same reason introduced the supposed new dress.
Mr J. G. Mackay, in the treatise already referred to, proves incontestably that the separate form of the kilt is very ancient, and cannot have been the subject of a comparatively modern invention. The truth seems to be that, whilst the belted plaid was most generally worn, as requiring no tailoring, the separate kilt is of equal or greater antiquity, and was at all times occasionally used on account of its superior convenience, especially in those localities where the tailor's art was practised. An incidental corroboration of Mr Mackay's view is to be seen in a plan of Aberdeen, dated 1661, preserved in the municipal buildings of that city. In a corner of the plan three figures are represented, two of them in the lowland costume of the seventeenth century, and the third, a young man, dressed in a kilt and short coat without plaid, being exactly the form of the Highland dress as now generally worn. The Highland figure was probably introduced to record the then semi-Highland character of Aberdeen.
In order to repress the Highland esprit, an act (20th George II., cap. 51) was passed after the battle of Culloden, which rendered it illegal for any man or boy after 1st August 1747 to wear the Highland dress. The effect of this law was various. In some parts it was rigidly enforced, and the kilt was generally abandoned, whilst those few who persisted in wearing it were severely punished. In other places evasions of the act were winked at by the authorities; men who procured the legal breeches would hang them over their shoulders during journeys; others used the artifice of sewing up the centre of the kilt between the legs; whilst others again substituted for the tartan kilt a piece of blue, green, or red cloth wrapped round the waist, and hanging down to the knees, but not pleated.
In the Old Statistical Account (1792) there are many references to the Highland dress and to the effect of the passing of this act. In the account of the parish of Petty, Inverness-shire, we read, "The Highland dress is still retained in a great measure. The plaid is almost totally laid aside; but the small blue bonnet, the short coat, the tartan kilt and hose, and the Highland brogue, are still the ordinary dress of the men. The women in like manner retain the Highland dress of their sex, but have adopted more of that of their low country neighbours than the men."
The Old Statistical Account tells us nothing of the dress of the inhabitants of Gairloch; but in the notice given of the neighbouring parish of Kincardine, in the same county, is the following:--"The act 1746, discharging the Highland dress, had the worst of consequences. Prior to that period the Highland women were remarked for their skill and success in spinning and dying wool, and clothing themselves and their households, each according to her fancy, in tartans, fine, beautiful, and durable. Deprived of the pleasure of seeing their husbands, sons, and favourites in that elegant drapery, emulation died, and they became contented with manufacturing their wool in the coarsest and clumsiest manner, perhaps thinking that since they must appear like the neighbouring lowlanders, the less they shone in the ornaments of the lowland dress they would be the more in character. Their favourite employment thus failing them, rather than allow their girls to be idle they made them take to the spinning of linen yarn, in which few are yet so improved as to earn threepence per diem, and much, if not the most of the small earnings of these spinners, is laid out upon flimsy articles of dress; whilst that conscious pride, which formerly aspired at distinction from merit and industry, is converted into the most ridiculous and pernicious vanity."
The act forbidding the kilt was repealed in 1772. It had in many parts done its work, and though its repeal was in some places hailed with joy and celebrated by the bards, the Highland garb does not appear to have generally regained its former position as the ordinary dress of the people.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, as James Mackenzie and others inform me, the kilt was still the dress of many men in Gairloch, who never put on the trews until old age came, and in some cases not even then. As an instance, he says he remembers seeing Hugh M'Phail, a Gairloch man then living at the head of Loch Broom, measuring out herrings from his boat on a cold day in a hard winter, with four inches of snow on the ground and thick ice. Hugh wore only his shirt and kilt; he had put off his jacket for the work. He and his two brothers always wore the kilt; they were all fine men, and two of them were elders of the church of Loch Broom, under the Rev. Dr Ross. Other incidental references to the Highland dress of Gairloch men will be found in James Mackenzie's stories in Part II., chap. xxv.
Up to the present generation the kilt was still occasionally worn in Gairloch, especially at festive gatherings. That it had become infrequent, yet was not altogether abandoned, may be inferred from the following advice given upon dress in his "Hints" by the late Sir Francis Mackenzie, Bart.:--"The nature of this must depend upon your local situation, since it is evident that what is fitted for our mountains would be ill suited to the wants of the fisherman. As an inland labourer or shepherd, the ancient costume of the country, the kilt, hose, plaid, and bonnet, with a warm stout cloth short jacket, will be found the most serviceable, since it admits of a pliancy in the limbs admirably adapted either for labour or climbing our bare and heathery hills. No danger can possibly arise from exposing the limbs to the wet and cold, whilst the loins and back are protected by the thick folds of a kilt and plaid from severity of weather. I may too, without being liable to the charge of national vanity, say, that however much the dress of our ancestors has been lately laid aside, it gives a manly and graceful appearance at all times to the wearer. I have witnessed its attractions amongst the sons and daughters of peace in every country of Europe, and it has marked our bravery in battle wherever a plaid has appeared. It has the sanction of antiquity in its favour; it is associated with the virtues and triumphs of Roman citizens; and I should regret its being laid aside, because I am decidedly of opinion that national dress is everywhere a strong incentive to the wearer not to disgrace the region which he proudly claims as the country of his birth."
The Highland dress is now only worn in Gairloch by a few gentlemen, pipers, keepers, and some of the better-to-do schoolboys. Its disappearance from among a people who cling so tenaciously to the Highland tongue is passing strange. By some it has been attributed to the inferior hardiness of the modern Highlander, a reason which is perhaps suggested by the following remark in the "General Survey" of Sir George Steuart Mackenzie (1810):--"The first indications of the introduction of luxury appeared not many years ago, in the young men relinquishing the philabeg and bonnet, which are now almost rarities."
The Gairloch company of rifle volunteers originally wore the kilt, but about the year 1878, in common with the majority of the battalion to which they are attached, they agreed to substitute Mackenzie tartan trousers. The change was made partly on the ground of economy. After the review of the Scottish volunteers at Edinburgh on 25th August 1881, which was attended by the Ross-shire battalion, including the Gairloch company, a general wish was expressed that the example of the volunteer battalions of the adjoining counties should be followed, and the kilt resumed. The Gairloch company unanimously petitioned their gallant colonel to restore the kilt.
The ordinary dress of most Gairloch men is now the same as in the lowlands, except that some of those engaged as shepherds, keepers, and gillies wear knickerbockers, which display the hose; some men still carry plaids and don the blue bonnet.
Gairloch is justly celebrated for its hose, which are knitted in immense variety of pattern and colour, some being in imitation of old forms of tartan. In the old days the hose worn with the Highland costume were cut from the same web as the tartan of which other parts of the dress were made, but now all hose are knitted. The "diced" patterns are relics of the old tartans.
The Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch writes as follows regarding the Gairloch hose:--"At my first visit to Gairloch, in 1837, I employed a lady from Skye who was staying at Kerrysdale to instruct twelve young women in knitting nice stockings with dice and other fancy patterns. When I came to act as trustee, and to live constantly at Flowerdale, I started the manufacture of the Gairloch stockings in earnest, having spinners, dyers, and knitters, all taught and superintended during the ten years I resided there; on my leaving and going abroad, Sir Kenneth gave the concern into the hands of the head gamekeeper, Mr George Ross. Now, dozens of pairs are brought by the women to the hotels and steamers, and large quantities go to Inverness, Edinburgh, and London; £100 worth has been sold in one shop."
The dress of the women of Gairloch scarcely varies from that of the country women in any other part of the kingdom. The principal distinction is to be seen in the retention by some women of the mutch, or mob-cap (see illustration), which they still wear, and make up with considerable taste.
Maidens until the last few years never wore caps, bonnets, or other headgear, only a ribbon or snood to keep the hair in place. Any other headdress was considered a disgrace. Even yet a few girls go to church without bonnets; and within the last dozen years this was almost universal. Now, however, the majority of the young women try even to surpass their sisters in towns in following the fashions of the day; some girls appear on Sundays with almost a flower-garden on their heads. The Rev. Donald M'Rae truly remarked, in his statement in the New Statistical Account fifty years ago (and it is still true), that "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."
Dr Mackenzie writes on this point as follows:--"In my early days about six or eight bonnets would be the number on Sunday in our west coast (Gairloch) church in a five or six hundred congregation, and these only worn by the wives of the upper-crust tenantry. The other wives wore beautiful white 'mutches,' i.e. caps, the insides of which were made up with broad pretty ribbons, which shewed themselves through the outside muslin. Oh! what a descent from them to modern bonnets! The unmarried women always had their hair dressed as if going to court, and were quite a sight, charming to see, compared with their present abominable hats and gumflowers. But when a visitor at Tigh Dige (Flowerdale) expressed wonder how they contrived to have such beautiful glossy heads of hair, set up as by a hairdresser, every Sunday, my father would say, 'No thanks, the jades stealing the bark of my young elms!' It seems a decoction of elm bark cleans and polishes hair marvellously; which accounted for many a young elm of my father's planting having a strip of bark, a foot long by say six inches wide, removed from the least visible side of the tree, as an always welcome present from a 'jade's' sweetheart on a Saturday. I don't believe they ever used oil or grease on their shining heads. So universally were mutches worn by all in the north of the working classes who were married, that when we settled in Edinburgh in 1827, my widowed nurse was drawn there by a well-doing son to keep house for him, and my mother having given her a very quiet bonnet to prevent her being stared at in Princes Street when wearing her mutch and visiting us, on her first appearance in a bonnet the dear old soul declared she nearly dropped in the street, for everybody was just staring at her for her pride in wearing a bonnet as if she was a lady!"
VII. WAYS AND MEANS
The principal sources of livelihood of the Gairloch people are their crofts and stock and their fisheries, both treated of in separate chapters. Of course a number of men have regular engagements, as farm or other servants and gamekeepers; whilst a few carry on trades, as tailors, shoemakers, weavers, boatbuilders, thatchers, dykers, sawyers, carpenters, and masons.
Some young men of the parish go south, and obtain situations either for the winter season or all the year round, and they often contribute towards home expenses.
The women of Gairloch, like all other Highland women, are noticeable for their industry. It is they who carry home heavy creels of peats for the household fire,--peats in the treatment of which they had taken an active share the previous summer; they herd the cow, and manage the house. But, more than all, it is the women who are mainly instrumental in producing the only manufactures of the parish, and very excellent manufactures too they are. They card and dye and spin the wool, they knit the Gairloch hose, and they prepare the various coloured worsteds which the weaver converts into tweeds of different patterns. Large numbers of the stockings are sent to Inverness, Edinburgh, and London (see last chapter). Some of the tweeds are worn in the parish, and some are sold to strangers.
It will be remembered that the early Pictish inhabitants of Gairloch dwelt in the brochs or round houses of what may almost be called the pre-historic period. These were succeeded by turf-built huts, the roofs of which, rudely framed with boughs, were covered with divots or turfs. The last turf house in the parish is said to have been at Moss Bank, Poolewe, and was occupied by an uncle of John Mackenzie (Iain Glas), whose improved dwelling stands on the same site. There are, however, two modern turf-built dwellings still to be seen at South Erradale. The turf house was gradually replaced by the style of dwelling which now prevails in the parish. The present cottages have their walls of stone, the better ones cemented with lime; the roofs of timber, thatched with heather, rushes, or straw; divots are also still frequently used in roofing. Some few superior crofters' houses have slated roofs, and modern grates with flues and regular chimneys. But many of the crofters still have their byres under the same roof; still have no chimney in the living room, whence the smoke from the peat fire escapes only by a hole in the roof; and still have the heap of ashes, slops, manure, and refuse just outside the door. Sir Francis Mackenzie, in his "Hints" (1838), has some suggestive remarks on the subject of these dwellings. He writes:--"I must at once protest against human beings and cattle entering together in your present fashion at the same doorway.... I will not raise a laugh at your expense by describing your present smoky dens, and the hole in the roof with sometimes an old creel stuck on it in imitation of a chimney. The smoke you now live in not only dirties and destroys your clothes and furniture, but soon reduces the prettiest rosy faces in the world to premature wrinkles and deformities.... Let there be no apology for want of time for carrying away ashes, sweepings, or dirty water, and adding them to your dunghill, instead of sweeping all into a corner till you have more time, and emptying the dirty water at your door because you are too lazy to go a few yards farther."
The houses of the crofters are certainly undergoing gradual improvement, but the majority cling tenaciously to the type of dwelling their fathers occupied before them. Perhaps the villages of Strath, Poolewe, and Port-Henderson contain the most improved houses in the parish. Very few of the crofters have gardens worthy of the name, so that, of course, they lose the advantage of green vegetables and fresh fruits. Still more rare is it to see trees planted about their dwellings, though pleasant shade and shelter might thus be had, and though, it is understood, saplings might be obtained for the asking from the proprietors.
As a natural consequence of the proximity of middens to dwelling-houses, and other unhealthy arrangements, cases of fever occasionally occur. In the Old Statistical Account, 1792 (Appendix C), the writer, speaking of Gairloch, says that fevers were frequent, and an infectious putrid fever early in the preceding winter had proved fatal to many. Pennant had previously noticed how spring fever used to decimate the west coast. Such outbreaks have happily become rare since the potato famine of 1847 led the people to depend more on imported meal for their sustenance in spring.
Few of the crofters' houses are floored, so that the inmates stand on the natural ground, or put their feet on a loose plank. In wet weather the ground often becomes damp. From this and other local causes pulmonary consumption is common among the crofter class. It is only right to add that this fatal disease often appears among some of the young people who go to work in southern towns, and come home to die.
Smallpox is said to have been fatal in Gairloch in the eighteenth century, at the time when it ravaged the adjoining parish of Applecross. The soubriquet "breac" (i.e. pock-pitted), so often met with in the history of Gairloch, is an evidence of the former frequency of this epidemic. Thanks to vaccination, it is now almost unknown.
The chief articles of diet of the crofter population are fish, either fresh or cured, oatmeal, potatoes, and milk, with a little butcher meat occasionally. Eggs are not much eaten, but are exported to Glasgow in considerable quantities. None of the crofters keep pigs, which they consider to be unclean beasts; it is singular they should entirely neglect a source of food and profit so universal among their Irish congeners. Captain Burt, in his day, noticed the absence of swine among the mountains; he said, "those people have no offal wherewith to feed them; and were they to give them other food, one single sow would devour all the provisions of a family."
The principal intoxicating beverage in Gairloch is whisky. Very little beer is consumed by the natives. Whisky became known in the Highlands during the sixteenth century, and soon found its way to Gairloch; but it is said that the mania for illicit distillation did not reach the parish until the year 1800. The first whisky was distilled in Gairloch by the grandfather of Alexander Cameron, the Tournaig bard, in Bruachaig, on the way up to the heights of Kenlochewe. The mother of George Maclennan, of Londubh, was at that time servant at the Kenlochewe inn, and long afterwards told her son how the innkeeper bought the whisky and the plant as well.
James Mackenzie says that it was in his father's house at Mellon Charles, in the same year (1800), that the first Gairloch whisky was made by a stranger, who had craved and obtained his father's hospitality. Probably both accounts are correct, but it is impossible at this distance of time to determine to whom the questionable honour of having commenced the illicit distillation of whisky ought to be assigned. The mania for smuggled whisky spread very rapidly throughout the parish, and is not yet extinct. The larger islands of Loch Maree were the scenes of illicit distillation in the early part of the nineteenth century. They say a regular periodical market for the sale of whisky made on the islands, used to be held at the large square stone on the shore of Loch Maree between Ardlair and Rudha Cailleach, called Clach a Mhail (see illustration).
Peats are the only fuel used by the crofter population; they are cut from the peat-mosses by means of an instrument admirably adapted for the purpose, called the "torasgian," or peat knife (see illustration). Before the cutting is commenced, a spit of turf is removed from the surface of the ground by another implement called the "cabar lar," or turf-parer (see illustration). Each tenant has a portion of a convenient peat-moss allotted to him. The peats are cut when the spring work is over,--in April, May, or June,--if the weather permit. After being cut the peats are reared on end to dry, and when thoroughly dried are stacked for use. The stacks are ingeniously constructed, with the outside peats sloping downwards, so as to throw off rain-water. Some twenty years ago there was a season of such continuous wet weather that the peats never dried, and the people were put to great straits to keep themselves warm during the succeeding winter.
The peat creel (see illustration), called in Gaelic "cliabh moine," is used for bringing home supplies of peat as needed. Creels are made by the people of willow and birch twigs.
There are very few carts among the crofters, and they have no other vehicles.
Dr Mackenzie gives the following account of the curious sledges which were used in Gairloch instead of wheeled carts in the beginning of the nineteenth century:--"There being no need of wheels in a roadless country, although we had a six-mile road to the big loch [Loch Maree] and another six miles to its exit at the sea [at Poolewe], we had only sledges (in place of wheeled carts), all made by our farm-bailiff or grieve. He took two birch trees of the most suitable bends, and of them made the two shafts, with ironwork to suit the harness of back belts and collar-straps. The ends of the shafts were sliced away with an adze at the proper angle to slide easily and smoothly on the ground. Two planks, one behind the horse and the other about a foot from the shaft-ends, were securely nailed to the shaft, and bored with many augur-holes to receive many four-feet long hazel rungs to form front and back of the cart to keep in the goods, a similar plank atop of the rungs, making the front and rear of the cart surprisingly stiff and upright. The floor was made of planks, and these sledge-carts did all that was needed in moving crop of most kinds. I think moveable boxes, planted on the sledge-floor between the front and rear hazel rod palings, served to carry up fish from the shore, lime, and manure, &c. And it was long ere my father [Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch] paid a penny a year to a cartwright."
VIII. AGRICULTURE AND STOCK
In the time of the Roman occupation of Great Britain the Highlands were almost destitute of agriculture. That some corn was grown is manifest, from the ancient querns or hand-mills found everywhere. The possessions of the Highlanders then principally consisted of herds of cattle. Tradition says that cheese and butter supplied the place of bread and butter, and that a sort of pudding was made of blood taken from living cattle and mixed with a little meal. These, with meat and milk, formed the diet of the people. When the Highlands became more settled, agriculture increased, more corn was grown, and oatmeal, in some form or other, became a leading article of food.
The cattle of the Highlanders were mostly of the small black kind. Now-a-days there is a mixture of other breeds amongst the crofters' stock, and since the introduction of the black-faced sheep the cattle have become less numerous. The practice of drawing blood from living cattle was universal in the Highlands, even in 1730, when Captain Burt wrote his "Letters," and Pennant noticed the same usage in 1772. In Gairloch the practice continued to the beginning of the nineteenth century, if we may trust the evidence of the old inhabitants. At the east end of "the glen" (the narrow pass about half way between Gairloch and Poolewe), there is a flat moss called to this day Blar na Fala, or "the bog of the blood," because this was a usual place for the inhabitants to assemble their cattle and take blood from them. At Tournaig also a place is still pointed out where the natives used to bleed the cattle landed here from the Lews. This barbarous mode of obtaining blood as an article of food, affords striking evidence of the miserable poverty of the old days.
There was a pernicious practice much in vogue amongst the small farmers here up to the beginning of the nineteenth century; they let their cows for the season to a person called a "bowman," who engaged to produce for every two cows, one calf, two stones of butter weighing 24 lbs. English, and four stones of cheese. The calf was generally starved, and during winter the cattle got food sufficient only to keep them alive.
Before the great sheep-farms were established, the Gairloch people always took their black cattle to the shielings on the hills to feed on the upland pastures. It was generally the younger people who accompanied the cattle; they went up to the shielings when the spring work of the crofts was finished, about the end of May, and remained to the end of August, when they brought the cattle home again. There is an air of romance about the life at the shielings. Miss Harriet Martineau, in her "Feats of the Fiord," draws a charming picture of the similar life in Norway. But in Gairloch it cannot have been very desirable; the shieling bothies, of which many remains are left, were indeed miserable dwellings. Dr Mackenzie says:--"Well do I remember the dreadful shieling bothies, and I can hardly yet believe that heaps of strong healthy people actually lived and throve in them."
Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, writing in 1810, tells us that the present system of sheep-farming was introduced into Ross-shire by Sir John Lockhart Ross of Balnagown about 1775. Many evictions of smaller tenants took place, and much resistance was aroused. The first sheep-farm in Gairloch was started about 1810 at Letterewe, under the management of Mr John M'Intyre, who was much praised by Sir G. S. Mackenzie for his activity and good management, as well as his successful cultivation of the land about his place of residence,--"in every department of inclosing, draining, and management, he evinced judgment and knowledge of the best principles of agriculture."
The commencement of sheep-farming in Gairloch does not seem to have been accompanied by any noticeable friction. If one or two small townships were abolished to make way for the sheep-farmer, the inhabitants had other more desirable quarters provided for them. The population of Gairloch steadily increased from the date when sheep-farming began.
Recently several sheep-farms have been forested for deer, i.e. the sheep have been removed, and to-day the only large sheep-farm is that of Bruachaig above Kenlochewe; but there is a considerable extent of ground the pasturage of which is held by the crofters and by some smaller farmers, all of whom, both crofters and farmers, possess a number of sheep.
Sheep, unlike cattle, cause a rapid deterioration in the quality of the pasturage, so that the number of sheep any particular ground will maintain in health is said to diminish annually, i.e. if it be stocked to its full extent. In Gairloch it generally requires ten acres of hill pasture to support one sheep.
It is certain there were sheep in Gairloch centuries before the black-faced sheep were introduced. The original sheep were of small size, and had pink noses and brownish faces; their coat varied in colour; they were kept in houses at night for protection from wolves, and later on from foxes. This original native breed of sheep is now unknown in Gairloch; some of them are still to be seen in St Kilda. The late laird of Dundonell gave me a description of the St Kilda sheep, which exactly agreed with my own observations. He said they were "of every size, shape, and colour, from a hare to a jackass." In the present day the sheep in Gairloch are of the black-faced and cheviot breeds (with some crosses), probably in almost equal proportions.
There are twenty-seven farms entered in the County Valuation Roll as at present existing in Gairloch. There are sheep on all of them except one, viz., that attached to the Kenlochewe Hotel, which is a purely dairy farm; all of them have some arable land; several are club farms.
Most of the arable land, however, is cultivated by the crofters. Strictly speaking the present system of crofts in Gairloch dates back only to 1845. Prior to that time the "run-rig" system of cultivation prevailed throughout Gairloch. The small tenants, instead of having crofts as now, held the arable land in common; in many cases an oversman was responsible to the proprietor for the whole rent. The arable land was divided into "rigs," and these were cultivated by the tenantry in rotation, sometimes decided by lot. In Appendix XCIX. to the Report (1885) of the Royal Commission on the Crofters and Cottars, is an interesting description of three varieties of "run-rig," communicated by Mr Alexander Carmichael.
The new system of crofts was established in Gairloch in 1845 and 1846. The Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch writes:--"Each tenant had a lot or croft of about four acres assigned to him; houses (of which there had before been usually five or six together) were now placed separately on the new lots; and fevers and epidemics, which formerly had spread so fast, ceased to do so. Money was borrowed from government, and a great deal of draining and trenching was done. The surveying, measuring, planning, and mapping near five hundred crofters' lots was very expensive to the proprietor, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, and the trouble of having this change effected was very great; but it has proved of great benefit to the crofters themselves." There are still several small townships where the houses remain in close juxtaposition as under the old run-rig system. "First Coast" and "Second Coast," on the late Mr Bankes's estate, are examples.
The crops raised by the crofters are almost exclusively oats and potatoes; a little barley and some turnips are also grown. Besides their arable land the crofters have the right of grazing cattle and sheep on specified areas of moorland, or "hill" as it is called. The average stock of each crofter in Gairloch is two or three cows, one stirk, and five to ten sheep; a few horses or ponies are also kept. There are now four hundred and forty-two crofters on the Gairloch estate of Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, who pay an average rent, including common pasture, of £3 15s 5d, and have on an average three and a quarter acres of arable land. On the estates of the late Mr Bankes there are one hundred and one crofters, paying an average rent of £5 2s 2d for four and a quarter acres of arable land and the hill pasture. Of course each crofter has a dwelling-house, besides byre and barn, mostly very humble structures. The average number of persons residing on each croft is five. The crofters live in communities called townships, and the "hill" is occupied in common by each township; a herd boy is usually employed by the township to herd the cattle and sheep.
Few of the crofters have ploughs; they work their crofts by means of the "cas-chrom" (see illustration). A southerner might well be pardoned for disbelieving that such a primitive and ancient instrument should still exist and be used in Great Britain; nevertheless hundreds of cas-chroms may be seen in use within the parish of Gairloch every April and May. The cas-chrom is generally, but not universally, condemned; no doubt it is a slow process to turn over a plot with this simple and ungainly-looking implement, but some argue that if properly used it is effective in getting at the sub-soil.
The following extracts from Sir G. S. Mackenzie's "General Survey," and Sir Francis Mackenzie's "Hints," bear on our present subject:--
Sir G. S. Mackenzie says:--"There are no sources of information from which a precise knowledge of the state of agriculture in the northern counties, previous to the rebellion in 1745, can be derived; but from what it has been since that time, it may safely be concluded that agricultural knowledge was neither sought for nor desired. The mode of management which has been practised in this county (Ross-shire) and in other parts of the Highlands, and which has been handed down from father to son for many generations, is still to be found in the midst of the most improved districts. We still see the arable land divided into small crofts, and many of the hills occupied as commons. On the west coast particularly, the ground is seen covered with heaps of stones, and large quantities are collected on the divisions between the fields, so that a considerable portion of the land capable of cultivation is thus rendered useless by the indulgence of the most unpardonable sloth. The management of the native farmers is most destructive. The soil of one field is dug away to be laid upon another; and crop succeeds crop until the land refuses to yield anything. It is then allowed to rest for a season, and the weeds get time to multiply. Such, we must suppose, was the system of farming before the rebellion; we cannot imagine it to have been worse."
Coming to the nineteenth century, Sir G. S. Mackenzie writes as follows of the parish of Gairloch:--"The business of farming is but ill understood; and it certainly is surprising that proprietors, and the holders of long leases though of old date, should have their land in very bad order, and stock of a quality inferior to that which their ancestors possessed fifty years ago. There are a few exceptions no doubt; but the attachment to ancient customs is nowhere more strongly fixed than in this district. The time, however, has at length arrived when the people must shortly change their habits, or quit the country. The labour which is required for small farms occupies but a small portion of the time of the tenants; but they are so perversely indolent and careless that, while they see people from Inverness and Argyleshire, who in their own counties pay much higher rents, employed in fishing, making kelp, &c., and receiving high wages, none of them can be engaged for such labour. This is the case in general; and although, from my connection with this part of the country, I may have remarked the habits of the people more particularly than elsewhere, yet, from the various testimonies I have received, I can safely assert that the censure of indolence is not applicable to the inhabitants of this district only."
In another part of his "Survey" Sir George gives the following account of the Highland husbandman of his day:--"Though a singular one, it is a fact, that every one of the Highlanders, except those who have some connection with the soil, is active and enterprising. If he cannot find employment at home, he travels hundreds of miles to seek it. There are not more handy labourers in the world than Highlanders at piece-work. They are not in general neat-handed, but they very soon acquire expertness in any kind of work they engage in. But look attentively to the proceedings of a Highland farmer, and a very different description will be found necessary for his habits. Until he gets his seed sown, he is as active as a man can be. When that business is over, he goes to sleep, until roused by the recollection that he must have some means of keeping himself warm during winter. He then spends a few days in the peat moss, where the women and children are the chief operators. He cuts the peats, and leaves them to be dried and piled up by his family. Whenever the peats have been brought home, another interval presents itself for repose until the corn is ripe. During the winter, unless a good opportunity for smuggling occurs, a Highland farmer has nothing to do but to keep himself warm. He never thinks of labouring his fields during mild weather, or of collecting manure during frost; nothing rouses him but the genial warmth of spring. I cannot reckon how often I have seen Highland farmers basking in the sun on a fine summer day, in all the comforts of idleness. I have asked them, when I found them in such a situation, why they were not busy hoeing their potatoes. "O! the women and bairns do that," was the answer. I would then ask why they did not remove the heaps of stones which I saw on their fields, or conduct away the water which rested on them. They would answer, that they did not know where to put them; or, that they did no harm; or, that they had been there so long that it was not worth while to stir them; and that water gave sap to the land; with many other answers equally absurd, and dictated by nothing but what must be considered constitutional sloth. During his leisure hours a Highland farmer will do nothing for himself; but hire him to work, and he will become as brisk as a bee. He will never go to seek work; it must be brought to him. There are many, however, who will absolutely refuse to work at all."
The ensuing quotations from the "Hints" of Sir Francis Mackenzie, published in 1838, shew that the Gairloch people had not progressed much in the quarter of a century which had elapsed since Sir G. S. Mackenzie had written. Sir Francis states, "that hardly one field in your parish has ever had a mattock applied to it for the purpose of giving a little greater depth of soil, although you are constantly grumbling about its poverty and thinness; nor, till within the last five years, has any tenant in Gairloch ever trenched a single rood of land properly; whilst even at this day there are not half-a-dozen who have performed this Herculean task, which just occupies a good labourer in any other country from eight to ten hours, even where this operation is most difficult."
Under the head of manures, Sir Francis writes:--"Though so much depends both on the quantity and quality of your manure, nothing can be worse than your present system. Your dung-hill is generally placed immediately in front of your house door, raised like a mound, so that all the sap and moisture flows away; while filth of every kind may be seen wasted around, which, if thrown together, would materially enlarge and enrich the heap. Instead of little daily attentions to increase the manure by every means in your power, you delay everything till the spring, when all is hurry and confusion, contending for sea-ware, and waiting for low tides, at the very time when your dung should be ready on the spot and your seed committed to the ground."
Referring to the "cas-chrom," Sir Francis remarks:--"The present mode of scratching your soil with the cas-chrom ought totally to be abolished; for though you may shovel over a greater surface with it than with the spade, it does not go to such a depth in the soil as to loosen it sufficiently and allow the roots of the various crops to seek for nourishment. By turning the soil over to one side only, it raises the ridges unequally; and whilst one half has a greater depth than necessary, the other is robbed till it becomes almost unproductive. I repeat, that your antique instrument is totally inadequate for cultivating your lands properly; its very name, 'crooked foot,' implies deformity; and it should only be retained as an object of curiosity for posterity, since it is a relic of that barbarism which, I rejoice to think, is fast vanishing."
Sir Francis strongly urges the advantage of industry, which he seems to have considered to be the principal want of the people. Sir Francis says:--"I had an admirable opportunity of illustrating this lately when walking with a small tenant, who, with both hands in his pockets, vehemently complained of the limited extent of his arable land, the poverty of the unreclaimed part, the barrenness of his cattle; in short, he found fault with everything. We were at that moment passing some land which he himself and his forefathers once possessed, but which had lately been given to a clergyman, who was anxious to set a moral as well as a spiritual example to his flock, and who was rapidly and successfully reclaiming the waste and improving the hitherto ill cultivated lands. 'Donald,' I asked, 'look at the improvement your parson is making on that land. Why not imitate his exertions?' 'Ah,' was the reply, 'well may he do all that, since the fine subject is sure to repay him!' 'And why,' I said, 'did not you or your forefathers discover this, and do something during the last century it was in their possession,--all which time it remained a barren moor? Would it not have repaid your father fifty years ago, or yourself last year, as well as it promises to remunerate the minister this season?' Donald scratched his head, but could not reply; he was for once convinced of his indolence, though I fear it is hardly yet cured. I fear that Donald still prefers a lounge on the banks of the Ewe, or a saunter in the direction of the inn in hopes of the friendly offer of a dram, to taking up his spade and opening a passage between his lazy beds for the water to escape, or gathering only a few barrowfuls of gravel from his immediate neighbourhood to throw upon his moss, or doing any little thing to make his home neat, his house clean, and himself happy and comfortable. His new farm is now what the glebe was under his reign and that of his forefathers. Thus it is with those who are naturally indolent."
Sir Francis strongly recommends gardens. He says:--"Half a century ago no more than two or three gardens, I believe, existed in your whole parish, one of the most extensive in Britain; and even now, when civilization has been making rapid strides elsewhere, the number of spots where fruits are raised and flowers cultivated has not increased to perhaps a dozen." There are still, as previously remarked, few gardens attached to the crofters' dwellings in Gairloch, and vegetables, other than potatoes, are but little grown. The potato is said not to have become common in Gairloch until the end of the eighteenth century; there is no account of its introduction into the parish. It is stated by the old folk, that when first grown the tubers were hung in nets from the rafters of the roofs to be kept dry, exactly as is often done with onions. The potato disease was unknown in Gairloch until 1846. Now it frequently appears, and causes great loss; but in some seasons there is little of it, and years have been known when potatoes were pretty largely exported.
IX. FISHERIES
The majority of the men of Gairloch are fishermen. The two sea-lochs of the parish, viz., the Gairloch and Loch Ewe, teem with the finny tribe, which are largely taken by the people, and are either exported or afford an important and healthful article of diet. The most considerable fishery of Gairloch is the cod, saythe, and ling fishery, which will be described further on. Besides the large number of cod, saythe, and ling taken during the regular annual fishery, under the auspices of the firms who have their depots at Badachro, a moderate quantity of these fish is taken in Gairloch and Loch Ewe by other inhabitants. Good takes of haddock are frequently obtained, but there is no organized haddock fishery. Whiting, flounders, and sea-bream are also taken in Gairloch waters. Haddock, whiting, flounders, &c., are captured by means of long lines as well as hand lines. The haddock are particularly good. I have known whiting taken up to two and a half pounds weight. Hand-line fishing is treated of in Part IV., chap. xiv.
Herrings are taken in Gairloch and Loch Ewe; in some years considerable numbers are cured at and exported from Badachro. Ordinary herring-nets are employed.
Many of the able-bodied men of Gairloch take part in the herring fisheries of the Long Island and of the east coast of Scotland. Some have boats of their own; these are the joint property of several fishermen, who divide the annual profits among them. Others hire themselves out to assist east coast fishermen. The Long Island fishing usually occupies the fishermen from 12th May to 20th June, and the east coast fishing keeps them from home between the end of June and the beginning of September. The produce of the fishings is uncertain, and varies greatly from year to year. I understand that the Gairloch men who go to the east coast herring fishings bring home on an average £18 to £20 each; the amount is affected not only by the success or non-success of the fishery, but by losses of nets and even of boats.
Lobsters and crabs are exported from Gairloch; but this fishery is not so successful as formerly, owing to the decline in the number of lobsters. It is prosecuted at several of the villages on the coasts of Gairloch and Loch Ewe, and the produce is sent in boxes to the English markets.
Oysters were formerly tolerably abundant on the scalps about the heads of Gairloch and Loch Ewe, and up to 1875 were exported. At that time a London firm leased some oyster-beds, which have however ceased to be remunerative.
The cod fishery of Gairloch may almost be said to be historical. We can at least find some account of it as far back as a century and a half ago.
The historian of the Mackenzies records, that the tenants of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, ninth laird of Gairloch (who ruled Gairloch from his coming of age in 1721 to his death in 1766), "were bound to deliver to him at current prices all the cod and ling caught by them, and in some cases were bound to keep one or more boats, with a sufficient number of men as sub-tenants, for the prosecution of the cod and ling fishings. He kept his own curer, cured the fish, and sold it at 12s. 6d. per cwt., delivered in June at Gairloch with credit until the following Martinmas, to a Mr Dunbar, merchant, with whom he made a contract, binding himself for several years to deliver at the price named all the cod caught in Gairloch."
In Pennant's "Tour" (Appendix B) we have some interesting particulars about the Gairloch cod fishery. He states the average annual capture as varying from five to twenty-seven thousand; the price as 2¼d a piece, and the minimum size as eighteen inches. The fish in his day (1772) were sent to Bilboa, but he says the Spaniards rejected the ling.
The Rev. Daniel M'Intosh, in the Old Statistical Account, 1792 (Appendix C), says, "Gairloch has been for many years famous for the cod fishing. Sir Hector M'Kenzie of Gairloch, the present proprietor, sends to market annually, upon an average, betwixt thirty and forty thousand cod, exclusive of the number with which the country people serve themselves."
Sir George S. Mackenzie, in his "Survey," published in 1810, has the following interesting account of the Gairloch cod fishery as it was carried on in the time of Sir Hector M'Kenzie:--
"This fishery has, from time immemorial, been the most constant and regularly productive of any on the coasts of Scotland. This is probably owing to there being in this quarter the most considerable extent of clean sandy ground, in the neighbourhood of the numerous banks in the Minch, where the fish find the best bottom and shelter for spawning, and abundance of food, consisting of small crabs, sand eels, star fish, mussels, cockles, &c., which are always found in their stomachs.
"The fish are in full roe, and best condition, in January, when the fishing usually begins; and they regularly become poorer till fully spawned, which happens about the end of April, when the fishing ends. The size of the fish is small, but they are rich. They weigh on an average five pounds each, when cleaned for salting. They have usually been sent pickled, and also dried, to Ireland, Liverpool, and London, and were formerly sent dried to Spain. The natives of the neighbouring shores are in general exclusively occupied in this fishing; but from the difficulty of procuring bait, only about twenty boats, each having about four hundred hooks, are employed. The average annual produce of this fishing, for fifteen years, has exceeded twenty thousand cod; but were the fishermen to take but half the trouble some others do to procure bait, they might certainly double the produce.
"Messrs J. Nicol & Young are the fishcurers. They are obliged to receive the fish taken while they continue to be good. The fishermen are a class of people inhabiting the shores on the bay of Gairloch, paying from £1 sterling to £2, 2s. of rent for land. They receive for each codfish, measuring eighteen inches from the shoulder fins to the tail, 3¼d.; and for every ling, measuring thirty inches as above, 5d. Sir Hector Mackenzie, the proprietor, gives the fishermen a bounty of twenty guineas, which is divided among the crews of the best-fished boats, pointed out by a jury of the fishermen themselves. He gives wood for boats and houses, and receives no other remuneration than ¼d. per fish. But more than this, Sir Hector takes upon himself to make good to the fishers the payment due to them from the fishcurers, and takes the risk of not recovering it upon himself. By this he has lost many hundreds of pounds. What an example this is. Here we see a proprietor, not only encouraging industry by every ordinary means, but absolutely risking, and losing, large sums of money, in the most laudable and noble exertions to maintain and support a trade most valuable for the country and the people engaged in it. Such conduct is beyond all praise."
The cod fishing was carried on until quite recently (about 1877) by means of long lines with baited hooks, the bait being mostly mussels. Since 1877 nets have to a great extent displaced the baited lines. The lines were entirely made by the people themselves, of horse-hair and hemp, until the early part of the present century. The hooks were also home-made, for Gairloch used to be self-contained. The hooks were made out of knitting needles, cut into proper lengths and then bent to the right shape, to effect which one end was fixed in a door key. The point was then sharpened on a stone, and the barb was raised by means of a knife. Ruaridh Ceard, the blacksmith at Second Coast (he was a tinker), used to make fish-hooks from backs of pocket-knives and odd bits of steel. At that time everybody in Gairloch grew a small plot of hemp. The women spun the flax with the distaff, and herring-nets and fishing-lines were made from it. Fish-hooks and lines, as well as herring-nets, were precious articles in those days.
It was about the year 1823 that a large ship put into Ullapool and was there destroyed by fire. Among her cargo, which was partially saved, were casks of hooks, and these were the first manufactured hooks known in this district.
The Gairloch cod fishery is now carried on by two firms, who have curing-houses or stations at Badachro, one on the Dry Island and the other on Eilean (or Isle) Horisdale. The fishery seems to be more productive now than even in the days of Sir Hector Mackenzie. It yields an average of about forty thousand cod per annum. The year 1884 was extraordinarily good. The number of cod cured and sent away fresh was about eighty thousand, besides about forty-four thousand saythe. These figures were about double the average. A few ling are also taken, but they are the same price as cod, and are counted among them. In 1884 about a third part of the fish were dried; the remainder were sent fresh to Glasgow and the English markets by steamer. The price paid to the fishermen in 1884 was 11d. for each cod and 4d. for each saythe. The number of boats employed was forty. Each boat had as a rule four men, so that there were in all one hundred and sixty fishermen employed besides about thirty workmen and ten women who worked at the stations. The cod were larger than in Pennant's day.
The season of 1885 was not so productive, and the prices were lower, viz., 7d. for each cod and 3d. for each saythe; a few boats had 8d. for each cod. Some lines with baited hooks are still used instead of nets. Mr John Mackenzie, the manager of the Dry Island station, who has furnished much of this information about the fishery, is of opinion that the lines are far better than nets, and he says this was proved in 1885. Of course the use of the lines necessitates a certain loss of time in collecting bait.
The only remaining fishery of Gairloch is the salmon fishery, noticed by Pennant. This belongs to Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart., under an old charter from the crown, and is leased by Mr A. P. Hogarth of Aberdeen, who sends a manager each spring to the principal station at Poolewe. The fishing is conducted principally by means of bag-nets, and all the fish are brought to Poolewe. In the early part of the season the salmon are boiled and packed in vinegar in kegs, each keg containing about thirty-two pounds weight of fish. In summer, when the salmon are most plentiful, Mr Hogarth employs fast sailing smacks or cutters, which come twice a week from Aberdeen to Poolewe and take away the fish packed in ice. From Aberdeen they are sent to the London market as fresh salmon. A few bull trout and sea trout are also taken. The station at Poolewe is usually termed the "Boiler-house," and its obliging manager, Mr Alexander Mutch, is always proud of displaying his beautiful salmon to callers. For obvious reasons the number of fish taken each year is kept secret. Mr Hogarth told me that the year 1883 was the best season he had ever known except one, and that not only in Gairloch but in other parts of Scotland, where he rents fishings. On the whole, however, the stock of salmon is believed to be gradually diminishing.
X. POSTS AND ROAD-MAKING
It is impossible to fix the exact date when a post was established to Gairloch; it was probably some time in the latter half of the eighteenth century. In 1730 letters from Inverness to Edinburgh were carried by a foot-post, as we learn from Captain Burt, so that it is not to be wondered at that our remote parish of Gairloch did not have any post until even a later period. Originally one post-"runner" was employed on the service. He seems for a long time to have come regularly only when the laird of Gairloch was in residence at Flowerdale in summer and autumn. The post-runner came from Dingwall by Strath Braan and Glen Dochartie to the head of Loch Maree, then along the east side of the loch viâ Letterewe to Poolewe, and thence, if necessary, forward to Flowerdale. Sometimes, during the residence of the laird at Flowerdale, the post-runner seems to have gone by the west side of Loch Maree to Slatadale, and thence over the pass, by the falls of the Kerry, to Flowerdale. During the winter months the post was suspended; even in summer he originally came to Gairloch only once a week. When a second runner was employed the post bags were brought twice a week. After the construction of the present roads the mail came by horse and trap three times a week, and in 1883 the Post Office authorities granted a daily mail, i.e. every day except Sundays.
Dr Mackenzie, writing of the ten years commencing with 1808, describes the Gairloch post as follows:--"Then the mail north of the Highland metropolis (Inverness) went on horseback; and when we squatted on the west coast (Gairloch) our nearest post-office was sixty miles away in our county town (Dingwall), and our only letter-carrier was one of my father's (Sir Hector's) attachés, little Duncan, a bit of kilted india-rubber, who, with a sheepskin knapsack on his back to keep his despatches dry (for Mackintosh waterproof had not been dreamed of then), left the west on Monday, got the sixty miles done on Wednesday, and returning on Thursday delivered up his mail to my father on the Saturday, and was ready to trip off east next Monday; and so all the five months of our western stay, doing his one hundred and twenty miles every week! I never heard of his being a day off work in many a year. And what a lot of news was extracted from him ere he got away to his home on Saturday evening! When we retired to the east the natives left behind us got their postal delivery the best way they could."
James Mackenzie states, that before 1820 there were two Gairloch post-runners, viz., Donald Mackenzie, always called Donald Charles, grandfather of the present John Mackenzie (Iain Glas) of Mossbank, Poolewe, and Roderick M'Lennan of Kirkton, father of George M'Lennan of Londubh, who is at present foreman to Mr O. H. Mackenzie. James Mackenzie thinks that Dr Mackenzie is mistaken in giving the name Duncan to the post-runner he mentions, and that it was Donald Charles (who was the last single post-runner) that Dr Mackenzie knew in his youth. This opinion agrees with the fact that Donald Charles always wore the kilt, then falling into disuse among the common people of Gairloch. The kilt seems, however, to have been generally in favour with the post-runners, who doubtless found it suitable for their long walks; both Rorie (Roderick M'Lennan) and William Cross (a subsequent post-runner, descended from one of the ironworkers) always wore the kilt. Donald Charles and Rorie alternately brought the post from Dingwall. They came to Poolewe on Wednesdays and Saturdays, walking "through the rock," i.e. viâ Letterewe, the Bull Rock, and the east side of Loch Maree. When the laird was staying at Flowerdale the post-runners went there first.
Another post-runner--one M'Leay, from Poolewe--was found dead about a mile from the inn at Achnasheen. In his hand were a piece of bread and a bit of mutton, which his sister, who was a servant at the inn, had given him just before he left. He was a young man. A brother of his was found dead at the back of the park at Tournaig. He had been sent by Mr Mackenzie of Lochend to Aultbea to fetch whisky. His face was "spoilt," and his mouth full of earth. His death was thought to be the work of a spirit! A memorial cairn was thrown up on the spot where the body was found, and is there to this day.
John Mackenzie, son of Donald Charles, was the last running post to Gairloch. He was called Iain Mor am Post, and was a remarkably strong and courageous Highlander. When the mail-car began to run he emigrated to Australia.
There were no roads in Gairloch until the military road was made, which took nearly the same course as the present county road; it can still be traced in most places. It was part of the system of military roads constructed under the supervision of General Wade in the first half of the eighteenth century. It is usually called General Wade's road, though it is possible he never saw it. In the beginning of the nineteenth century this old road had become impassable by wheeled vehicles.
There was a bridge at Grudidh on General Wade's road; when the new road was made there it was doubled in width. The bridge at Kenlochewe was built in 1843; that near Flowerdale (widened about 1880) long before. The bridge at Poolewe was built about 1844; that at Little Gruinard, on the northern boundary of the parish, a little later.
The road from Gairloch to Poolewe was made by Sir Hector Mackenzie in 1825. It was set out by Duncan Mackenzie, the innkeeper at Poolewe, who had been butler to Sir Hector.
The Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch, widow of the late Sir Francis Mackenzie, has communicated the following statement with regard to other roads in Gairloch:--"I came to reside permanently at Flowerdale in June 1844. For ten years from June 1843 I was trustee for the Gairloch property with Mr Mackenzie of Ord. There was no road then between Rudha 'n Fhomhair, at the upper end of Loch Maree and Slatadale. The potato disease commenced in August 1846, and this road was begun the following spring. When the government steamers called in at Gairloch, inquiring as to the distress and poverty caused by the potato disease, I did not advocate the sending of supplies of meal, &c., but urged continually, in speaking and by letters, both to the Destitution Committee and to the Home Secretary (Sir George Grey), and to Lord John Russell, that money might be granted to make the road from Rudha 'n Fhomhair to Slatadale, and thus to open up the country, I, on my part, as trustee, guaranteeing to support the people who could not work on the road. The Edinburgh Destitution Committee was not willing to agree to my request without the sanction of the government; and the government said, however much they approved of my plan, and however desirous of assisting me they felt, they could not grant the request of one individual, without incurring the risk of many more applications; but after some delay and consideration, they said they would send me Captain Webb of the Engineers and a corporal and two privates (who had been employed in Shetland) to line out the road and map it, ready for a contractor's offer. This was done. Captain Webb was my guest at Flowerdale for six weeks during the winter; and early in the following spring, the maps and plans arrived from Woolwich, and the road was begun, my son (Mr O. H. Mackenzie) cutting the first turf. Though mentioning my own name throughout this transaction, I could not have done anything without the indefatigable assistance of Captain (now Admiral) Russell Elliott of Appleby Castle; he was at the head of the Destitution Committee, a sort of generalissimo of the whole concern; also I was much indebted to Sir Charles Trevelyan, at that time Secretary to the Home Secretary. By the aid of such good and able friends, the Destitution Committee was induced to advance in all two or three thousand pounds, the district road trustees undertaking to advance equal to what was advanced on the Loch Maree road; and money was afterwards received from the Destitution Fund to carry on the road to Badachro, now the large fishing station, where curers purchase the herring, cod, ling, &c., from the people. Lord John Russell sent me £100 out of a fund he had from the receipts of a ball or concert for the destitute Highlanders, and I had several large sums sent me by strangers, besides some from my own relations. Money also was granted from Edinburgh to assist in making the road from Poolewe to Inverasdale. After I received money from the Destitution Committee several other proprietors applied for assistance in the same way. Mr Bankes of Letterewe, and Mr Hugh Mackenzie of Dundonnell, both received grants on the same terms. The road from Poolewe to Aultbea was thus made, and also I think the road from Dundonnell, by Feithean, to the Ullapool road."
Mr Mackenzie, Dundonnell, took a leading part in obtaining Destitution money for road-making. Nearly £2000 from that and similar sources was spent on the Loch Maree road; it cost £3403, the balance being raised by the district road trustees, who also gave £1000 towards the Aultbea road, the Destitution Committee giving £370. That Committee also assisted the making of the roads on the north and south sides of Gairloch, and on the west side of Loch Ewe.
There is no account to be had of the making of the road from Poolewe to Inveran, but it seems to have been formed some time before the road from Gairloch to Poolewe was made.
Mr Osgood H. Mackenzie completed the road from Kernsary to Fionn Loch in 1875. The road connecting Kernsary with Inveran was made about 1870.
XI. SUPERSTITIONS OF ISLE MAREE
Isle Maree, or Innis, or Inch, or Eilean Maree, is, as it were, the eye of Loch Maree. From either end of the loch it arrests the gaze of the spectator, and seems almost to look him in the face. Though one of the smallest of the islands, it is without doubt the most interesting. Not only does the story of the unfortunate prince and princess (Part I., chap, ii.) centre in it, but so also do the quaint superstitions connected with the wishing-tree, the little well resorted to for the cure of insanity, and the now discontinued sacrifices of bulls.
Her most gracious Majesty Queen Victoria visited Isle Maree on the 16th September 1877. It was the Sabbath day, and Her Majesty graciously read a short sermon to her Gairloch gillies. She then fixed her offering in the wishing-tree, a pleasantry which most visitors to the island repeat, it being common report that a wish silently formed when any metal article is attached to the tree will certainly be realized. It is said that if any one removes an offering that has been fixed in the tree, some misfortune, probably the taking fire of the house of the desecrator, is sure to follow. The tree is now nearly dead. This modern fancy of the wishing-tree is very different from its original superstition, as will appear shortly.
It seems certain that St Maelrubha, who brought Christianity into the district in the seventh century, permitted the Druidical sacrifices of bulls to be continued, and endeavoured to give them a Christian aspect. These sacrifices continued to as late a date as 1678. Latterly the sacrifices appear to have been connected with the resort to the island for the cure of insanity. Originally neither the legend of the prince and princess (Part I., chap. ii.), nor the sacrifices of bulls, had any connection with the cure of insanity. Later on versions of the traditional legend were promulgated, in which either the prince or the princess were made out to have become lunatic, evidently with the idea of connecting the story in some way, however remote, with the cure of insanity. The sacrifice of a bull became in the seventeenth century a preliminary to the proceedings for the cure of a lunatic, although in older days such a sacrifice had been entirely independent of anything of the sort.
Probably the resort to the island for the miraculous cure of insanity, although, as has been remarked, unconnected with the legend or the sacrifices, dates back to the time of St Maelrubha. The practice was for the party to row several times round the island, the attendants jerking the lunatic thrice into the water; then they landed on the island, where the patient knelt before the altar, was brought to the little well, drank some of the holy water, and finally attached an offering to the tree. This process was repeated every day for some weeks. In modern times there is no altar, and the lunatic is brought only on one occasion to the island.
The resort to Isle Maree for the cure of lunacy was continued until a very recent date, though no longer prefaced by the sacrifice of a bull. There was an instance in 1856, when a young woman was brought to the island from Easter Ross; she was afterwards placed in the Inverness Asylum. A prior case was reported in the Inverness Courier of 4th November 1852. I am assured on good authority that lunatics are still taken to the island to be cured, but these expeditions are now kept strictly secret.
Our next chapter will be devoted to a discussion of these superstitions, mostly from the pen of Dr Arthur Mitchell, chairman of the Lunacy Commission of Scotland. His full description of Isle Maree will give the reader a good idea of the subject generally.
Her Majesty the Queen has herself written an excellent account of the island in "More leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands," to which the reader is referred.
The following is Dr Mitchell's description, extracted from his valuable paper "On various Superstitions in the north-west Highlands and Islands of Scotland, especially in relation to Lunacy," printed in Vol. IV. of the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Dr Mitchell, it will be seen, clears up in a most satisfactory manner the question of the derivation of the name Maree:--
"Eilean Maree, or Innis Maree, is a small low island, with clean gravelly shores, half-way down the loch, not more than a quarter of a mile in its greatest diameter.
"On its highest part there is an enclosure, whose outline is an irregular oval (ninety by one hundred and twenty feet). The wall, which is not more than two feet high, is now covered with earth and moss. Pennant, however, describes it as a 'stone dyke, with a regular narrow entrance.' In the centre of this enclosure there are the remains of a small chapel; but so complete is the ruin, that it is not possible to determine the style of architecture. Round about the chapel are fifty or sixty graves, generally covered by a flat undressed stone, with rude blocks at the head and feet. Many of these graves are recent. One, indeed, is quite fresh,--the burial having taken place but a week before my visit. Several of the older ones are said to contain the bodies of the Sasunnach artizans who, in the seventeenth century, worked at the iron furnaces of Poolewe. With two exceptions there are no cuttings, carvings, or inscriptions of any kind on any of the tombstones. These two have distinct and well-formed incised crosses on them (see illustration). The stones on which these occur have never been dressed or even squared. They are flat, and lie beside each other, nearly end to end, and about east and west.
"The celebrated well, whose waters are of such magic power, is near the shore. We found it dry, and full of last year's leaves. It is a built well, and the flat stone which serves for a cover we found lying on the bank.
"Near it stands an oak tree, which is studded with nails. To each of these was originally attached a piece of the clothing of some patient who had visited the spot. There are hundreds of nails, and one has still fastened to it a faded ribbon. Two bone buttons and two buckles we also found nailed to the tree. Countless pennies and halfpennies are driven edgeways into the wood,--over many the bark is closing, over many it has already closed. All the trees about the well are covered with initials. A rude M, with an anchor below it, tells of the seaman's noted credulity and superstitious character. Two sets of initials with a date between, and below a heart pierced by an arrow, probably record the visit of a love-sick couple, seeking here a cure of their folly. The solitary interview would probably counteract the working of the waters.
"The sacred holly grows everywhere on the island. We found it loaded with fruit. The oak, the larch, the alder, the beech, the mountain-ash, the sycamore, the willow, the prickly holly, the dog-rose, the juniper, the honeysuckle, and the heather all abound, and form a most charming grove."
After giving a version of the legend of the prince and princess, Dr Mitchell proceeds to remark:--
"Since the same tale is told with many variations, it is probable that something of this kind did really happen; but that the virtues of the well have any connection with the story is improbable, as I shall shortly show.
"Anderson, Fullarton, the new and old Statistical Accounts, as well as the people of the place, derive the name from a dedication to St Mary. This remarkable error is first clearly pointed out in the 'Origines Parochiales,' though Pennant evidently had the right view when he speaks of it as the favoured isle of the saint (St Maree), the patron of all the coast from Applecross to Lochbroom, and tells us that he, the saint, is held in high esteem, and that the oath of the country is by his name.
"It appears that Maelrubha came from Ireland to Scotland, and founded the church of Aporcrossan in 673. After his death he became the patron saint of the district. His name is variously known as Malrubius, Malrube, Mulray, Murie, Mourie, and as the last corruption, Maree. That the island and loch bear the name of this saint there can be no doubt. Even the mode of pronouncing the word by the Gaelic-speaking population shews that it is not derived from Mary; while Pennant's remark proves that the mistake is not yet a century old. Names are monuments--pages of history--inscribed stones; yet thus do we find them broken, blotted, and defaced. Mourie died at Applecross, on the 21st April 722. There is some doubt as to where he was buried, and I have nothing to make it probable that it was in Inch Maree. It is certain, or all but certain, however, that this vir dei led a hermit's life, and wrought miracles there; and that, like St Goderick, St Fillan, and a host of others, he continued to do so after his death.
"Whether the saint, on his arrival in Scotland, found a pagan temple on this little island, or whether he himself first consecrated the spot, is a question of interest. Pennant says, 'I suspect the dike to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient superstition of paganism was taken up by the saint as the readiest method of making a conquest over the minds of the inhabitants.' This opinion I am inclined to adopt. The people of the place speak often of the god Mourie, instead of St Mourie, which may have resulted from his having supplanted the old god. Tradition also points to it as a place of worship before the Christian epoch; and the curious record I have obtained of the sacrifice of bulls there, strongly confirms this belief, and furnishes fresh proof of the liberal engrafting upon Christianity of all forms of paganism in the early history of the Church."
XII. SUPERSTITIONS OF ISLE MAREE--(continued)
The principal source of the knowledge we possess of the superstitious sacrifices of bulls and attempted cures of insanity at Isle Maree, are the minutes extracted from the records of the Presbytery of Dingwall, which will be found in Appendix F.
Dr Mitchell has the following instructive remarks on these subjects in his paper written in 1860:--
"Fuller wittily observes that, as careful mothers and nurses on condition they can get their children to part with knives are contented to let them play with rattles, so the early Christian teachers permitted ignorant people to retain some of their former foolish customs, that they might remove from them the most dangerous. Fuller is here writing of protesting times; but if we go back to the first introduction of Christianity into our country, we shall find that many pagan ceremonies were connived at and engrafted on the new religion, which we now-a-days should feel inclined rather to class with edged tools than rattles. Instead of breaking the monuments of idolatry, our early teachers gave them a Christian baptism, by cutting on them the symbols of their own religion; and with the rites and ceremonies of paganism they dealt in like manner.
"The places of Druidical worship, which Maelrubha found on his arrival in Applecross, in all probability became afterwards places of Christian worship; and such of them as were believed to possess special virtues continued to enjoy their special reputation, with this difference, however, that what the god, or demon, or genius loci did before, the saint took upon himself, tolerating as much of the old ceremony as the elastic conscience of the age permitted. 'Une religion chargée de beaucoup de pratiques,' says Montesquieu, 'attache plus à elle qu'une autre, qui l'est moins;' and this principle was freely acted on,--the more freely, perhaps, that the early Christian teachers came among a people peculiarly given to ceremony, if we may trust the remark of Pliny, 'The Britons are so stupendly superstitious in their ceremonies, that they go even beyond the Persians.' I am inclined to think, with Pennant and the writer in the old Statistical Account, that Inch Maree was such a locality. The sacrifice of the bull, and the speaking of the saint as 'the god,' made this probable, while the belief expressed by some old writers that such was the fact, and existing oral traditions, render it still more so.
"I have no earlier allusion to the well on this island than 1656. It was then the resort of the lunatic, and, as I have said, it may possibly have been so from the date of Mourie's arrival, or even before that time. One shrine in Belgium is known to have had a special reputation of this kind for more than twelve hundred years. I refer to that of St Dympna in Gheel. Our own St Fillan's, too, has been resorted to for the 'blessed purpose of conferring health on the distressed' since the year 700. Further back still, Orpheus, who is said to have written the hymn to Mercury, speaks of Mercury's grot, where remedy was to be had for lunatics and lepers.
"The most interesting feature of these [presbytery] extracts, however, is the finding so complete and formal a sacrificial ceremony commonly practised in our country at so late a period as within two hundred years of our own day. The people point to Inverasdale as the last place where the sacrifice was offered. For the cure of the murrain in cattle, one of the herd is still sacrificed for the good of the whole. This is done by burying it alive. I am assured that within the last ten years such a barbarism occurred in the county of Moray. It is, however, happily, and beyond all doubt, very rare. The sacrifice of a cock, however, in the same fashion, for the cure of epilepsy, is still not unfrequently practised; but in neither of these cases is the sacrifice offered on the shrine of a saint, or to a named god, though, of course, in both there is the silent acknowledgment of some power thus to be propitiated.
"I only know one other recorded instance of the formal sacrifice of a bull in Scotland, to a saint on his feast-day. A writer of the twelfth century, Reginald of Durham, sometimes also called Reginald of Coldingham, takes occasion, in his lively 'Book of the Miracles of St Cuthbert,' to relate certain incidents which befell the famous St Aelred of Rievaux in the year 1164, during a journey into Pictland,--that is Galloway it would seem, or perhaps, more generally, the provinces of Scotland lying to the south of the Forth and Clyde. The saintly abbot happened to be at 'Cuthbrichtis Kirche,' or Kirkcudbright, as it is now called, on the feast-day of its great patron. A bull, the marvel of the parish for its strength and ferocity, was dragged to the church, bound with cords, to be offered as an alms and oblation to St Cuthbert.
"It is curious to find, in the inaccessible districts both of the north and south of Scotland, traces of a similar Christianised paganism. Whether these ceremonies are remains of the vague Druidical, or of the Helioarkite, or of the Mithraic worship, I am not able to say. As regards the last, which was set up in opposition to Christianity, and which used many of its ceremonies, it is known that the sacrifice of a bull was one of its rites. The study of this form of worship has not yet received from Scottish antiquaries the attention which it probably deserves.
"It would seem that to some saints the sacrifice of a bull was not confined to the day of honour, but was a thing of frequent occurrence. This appears from a letter on the superstitions of Caernarvonshire of the sixteenth century, in which the writer tells us that he visited the locality where bullocks were said to be offered to St Beyno, and that he witnessed such an offering in 1589. This Beyno is described as 'the saint of the parish of Clynnog, and the chiefest of all saints;' but we are told that the people did not dare to cut down the trees that grew in the saint's ground, 'lest Beyno should kill them, or do them some one harm or another.' Though so saintly, therefore, as to be deemed the chiefest of all saints, he was evidently not worshipped solely as a beneficent being, and sacrifices were offered to avert his anger as well as to secure his favour; thus bringing out his successorship as saint of the place to the demon loci of pure paganism. 'They called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius,' and vice versâ.
"In our own day, belief in the healing virtues of the well on Inch Maree is general over all Ross-shire, but more especially over the western district. The lunatic is taken there without consideration of consent. As he nears the island, he is suddenly jerked out of the boat into the loch; a rope having been made fast to him, by this he is drawn into the boat again, to be a second, third, or fourth time unexpectedly thrown overboard during the boat's course round the island. He is then landed, made to drink of the waters, and an offering is attached to the tree. Sometimes a second and third circumnavigation of the island is thought necessary, with a repetition of the immersions, and of the visit to the well.
"The writer of the 'New Statistical Account,' in 1836, says that the poor victim of this superstitious cruelty was towed round the island after the boat by his tender-hearted friends. Macculloch, writing in 1824, says: '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.' He makes two mistakes here. Lunatics are not, and cannot be, dipped into the well, which is not larger than a bucket, and both practice and well still exist. Pennant describes the ceremony in 1772, as having a greater show of religion in the rites, and less barbarity in the form of immersion. According to him, the patient was taken to the 'Sacred Island, made to kneel before the altar, where his attendants left an offering in money; he was then brought to the well, sipped some of the holy water, and a second offering was made; that done, he was thrice dipped in the lake, and the same operation was repeated every day for some weeks.'
"I could not learn that any form of words is at present in use, nor do any of the writers referred to make mention of such a thing; nor does it appear that the feast-day of the saint (25th August) is now regarded as more favourable than any other.
"There is an unwillingness to tell a stranger of the particular cases in which this superstitious practice had been tried, but several came to my knowledge. About seven years ago a furious madman was brought to the island from a neighbouring parish. A rope was passed round his waist, and, with a couple of men at one end in advance and a couple at the other behind, like a furious bull to the slaughter-house he was marched to the loch side, and placed in a boat, which was pulled once round the island, the patient being jerked into the water at intervals. He was then landed, drank of the water, attached his offering to the tree, and, as I was told, in a state of happy tranquillity went home. 'In matters of superstition among the ignorant, one shadow of success prevails against a hundred manifest contradictions.'
"The last case of which I heard came from a parish in the east of Ross, and was less happy in its issue. It was that of a young woman, who is now in one of our asylums. This happened about three years ago.
"Another case was reported in the Inverness Courier of 4th November 1852, and is quoted at length by Dr Reeves, in his paper on Saint Maelrubha, already referred to (see Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. iii., p. 288).
"'Every superstition,' says Archbishop Whately, 'in order to be rightly understood, should be read backward.' In this manner I have endeavoured to treat that which is attached to the little-known Inch Maree. We have seen it as it exists to-day, with its ceremonies of cruelty, barbarism, and ignorance; we have seen it, differing little from its present form, a century ago; we have seen it in 1656 and 1678, associated with an abominable and heathenish sacrifice; we have connected it with the saintly founder of the monastery of Applecross; and we have adduced some reasons for believing that its real paternity goes back to strictly pagan times."
In several notes to his paper Dr Mitchell, besides stating his authorities, points out that St Ruffus and St Maelrubha appear to have been regarded as identical, and that Inch Maree itself was in 1678 spoken of as the "Island of St Ruffus." Also, that an old man in the district told him that the name of the island was originally Eilean-Mo-Righ (the island of my king), or Eilean-a-Mhor-Righ (the island of the great king), and that this king was long ago worshipped as a god in the district. Dr Mitchell also mentions that, some fifteen or twenty years before, a farmer from Letterewe is said to have brought a mad dog to the well on the island. It drank of the waters, and was cured; but the desecrating act is said to have driven virtue for a time from the well. I have a detailed account of this last incident from James Mackenzie of Kirkton, which differs from Dr Mitchell's information. James Mackenzie says he well remembers that it was about 1830 that John Macmillan, who was the first shepherd the late Mr Bankes had at Letterewe, and who was the son of Donald Macmillan who had been shepherd at Letterewe when Macintyre was manager there, had a sheep-dog that went mad. John took the dog to Isle Maree, and put him headlong in the well; the dog died next day, and John Macmillan died a week after that!
Dr Mitchell, in a foot-note referring to the account of the sacrifice of a bull in 1164 witnessed by St Aelred of Rievaux at Cuthbrichtis Kirche, remarks that, "it is interesting to find that the clerks of the church, the Scolofthes, who must have been the best informed and most learned, opposed the ceremony, and attempted to throw it into ridicule by proposing to bait the bull, probably an indication that opinion was then beginning to change."
Dr Mitchell also remarks, in another foot-note, that "it would appear probable, that as Romish paganism after a time began to acknowledge and worship covertly and openly the divinities of the Druids, so Christianity did not escape a similar pollution, but, after a time, tolerated and even adopted not a few of the ceremonies and sacrifices of that modified Druidism with which it had to deal. And since Druidism existed in force to a later period in the north of Scotland than elsewhere, it may be reasonably expected that we shall there find the strongest and most enduring evidence of the infusion of paganism into Christianity."
In connection with this interesting point, the following note respecting the Kirkcudbright bull, which occurs at page 9 to the preface to vol. ii. of "The Sculptured Stones of Scotland," published by the Spalding Club, is instructive:--
"The memorable advice given by Pope Gregory to the Abbot Melitus prescribes a course of action which we cannot doubt was adopted by the early missionaries in dealing with the superstitions of the heathens:--'Et quia boves solent in sacrificio dæmonum multos accidere, debet eis etiam hac de re aliqua sollemnitas immutari; ut die dedicationis vel natalitii sanctorum martyrum quorum illic reliquiæ ponuntur, tabernacula sibi circa easdem ecclesias quæ ex fanis commutatæ sunt de ramis arborum faciant, et religiosis conviviis sollemnitatem celebrent; nec diabolo jam animalia immolent, sed ad laudem Dei in esu suo animalia occidant, et donatori omnium de satietate sua gratias referant; ut dum eis aliqua exterius gaudia reservantur, ad interiora gaudia consentire facilius valeant. Nam duris mentibus simul omnia abscidere impossibile esse non dubium est; quia et is qui summum locum ascendere nititur, gradibus vel passibus non autem saltibus elevatur' (Bede Hist. Ecc., 1, 30).
"It is probable that the permission to adopt for a time a heathen rite, with the view of giving it a new character, was taken advantage of, by acting on it after the cause of the concession was gone.
"Reginald, the monk of Durham, has preserved a notice of the offering of a bull to St Cuthbert, at his church on the Solway, on the festival kept on the day of the dedication of the church in the year 1164 (Libellus de Admir B. Cuthbert virtut, page 185, Surtees Soc.)."
XIII. SUPERSTITIONS GENERALLY
In the hill country of every land superstition and credulity are met with. Here in Gairloch the supernatural is suggested on all sides. Weird mountain forms often veiled in murky mists, frantic ocean waves thundering in gloomy caverns, hoarse rumblings of rushing waters, startling echoes from terrific precipices, curiously gnarled and twisted trees, tangled jungles in green islands, black peat mosses, wild moorlands, bubbling springs, dark caves, deep lochs, moaning winds, lonely paths, long winter nights,--such are the surroundings of man in this wild country. Can we wonder that the Gairloch Highlander has always been superstitious and credulous?
Superstition is still rife here, but with the march of education it is gradually decaying, and, partly from this cause, and partly from the disinclination of the superstitious to tell strangers about their doings and fancies, it is difficult to obtain descriptions of present instances, so that the notices which follow will often relate to circumstances of the past, though not indeed of the remote past. They are all local cases.
Amongst the older superstitions of Gairloch were the sacrifices of bulls at Isle Maree, the resort to the oracular stone with the hole, and the rites for the care of insanity mentioned in the presbytery records (Appendix F, section iv.), and more particularly described in the two last chapters.
Some other notions of a superstitious kind are hinted at in other parts of this book. In the old presbytery records there are notices of marches round "monuments," charmings, libations, and midsummer or Beltane fires in the neighbouring parishes, and no doubt there were similar practices in Gairloch but most of these are forgotten now.
There was a superstitious belief, scarcely yet dead, that a draught of the waters of Loch Maree was a certain cure for any disease,--a notion akin to that which prompted the friends of the insane to take them to Isle Maree. The modern advocates of hydropathy might have thought this belief in Loch Maree water was far from being superstitious, had it not been for the established fact that the water drinker used always to cast his offering of small money into the loch at the time he imbibed its waters. The Fox point was the usual--perhaps the only--place where the Loch Maree water-cure was practised. They say that when the loch was very low, coins used often to be found among the pebbles in the water surrounding this point. I have been told that a man found five coins here not many years ago, but I have been unable to get a sight of them. In connection with this superstition it may be mentioned, that within recent years invalids have had bottles of Loch Maree water sent to them, with a firm belief in its curative qualities.
Local names are often evidences of superstition. In Gairloch we have Cathair Mhor and Cathair Bheag,--names applied to several places,--and the Sitheanan Dubha on Isle Ewe and on the North Point. There is Cathair Mhor at the head of Loch Maree, and Cathair Beag (the Gaelic name of the place) at Kerrysdale. These names mean respectively the big and little seats of the fairies. There are no stories told now-a-days of these fairy seats, but their names testify to the belief in fairies which was universal not long ago.
The name Sitheanan Dubha signifies the black knowes or hillocks of the fairies. It is applied to two places in Gairloch, viz., to the highest hill tops at the north end of Isle Ewe, and to a low hill and small round loch a full mile due north of Carn Dearg house; both are shown on the six-inch ordnance map.
There is a tradition of a Gairloch woman having spent a year with the fairies; a tale founded on this story is given in the Celtic Magazine, vol. iv., page 15. About midsummer 1878 I went in an open boat from Poolewe to the Shiant Isles, to observe the birds which breed in such numbers there. It was after 11 P.M. when I landed on the largest island of the group. About a mile distant was a shepherd's house, the only human habitation in these islands. I thought of going to the shepherd's to beg shelter for the night, but my servant, a Gairloch lad, dissuaded me. On my pressing him for a reason, he told me there was a fairy in the house, as he had been informed by a Gairloch fisherman, who had spent a night there not long before. This fairy was said to be a mischievous boy, "one of the family," who, when the rest were asleep, appeared in the rafters of the roof and disturbed the sleepers by bouncing on them. The night (it was but two hours' twilight) was so fine, and the way to the shepherd's house looked so rough, that I decided to sleep in a plaid on the beach, and so I missed the only opportunity that ever presented itself to me of observing the peculiarities of a fairy imp.
Hugh Miller, in "My Schools and Schoolmasters," mentions that, when he was voyaging down Loch Maree in 1823, the boatmen told his companion in Gaelic, "Yon other island (Eilean Suainne) is famous as the place in which the good people [fairies] meet every year to make submission to their queen. There is a little loch in the island, and another little island in the loch; and it is under a tree in that inner island that the queen sits and gathers kain [tribute] for the evil one." "They tell me," said Hugh Miller's companion, "that for certain the fairies have not left this part of the country yet."
It was as recently as 1883 that several boys got a great fright when they actually saw (as they narrated) the fairies at the Sitheanan Dubha, at the north end of Isle Ewe. The people at Mellon Charles, on the mainland opposite that end of the island, still assert, with all the earnestness of conviction, that they often see lights and hear music at the Sitheanan Dubha of Isle Ewe, which they believe can only be accounted for by the supposition that they proceed from the fairies. I give these statements on the authority of Mr William Reid, J.P., the lessee of Isle Ewe.
The township of Ormiscaig lies to the east of Mellon Charles, in the heart of this fairy-haunted district. It was at Ormiscaig that William Maclean, a celebrated performer on the bagpipes, was born and brought up. As a boy he was employed in herding cattle on the hill. One evening he returned home with a bagpipe chanter, on which (though he had not previously tried the bagpipes) he could play to perfection. He said he had received the chanter and the power to play it from the fairies. He emigrated some years ago to America, and is now living at Chicago. He has won many prizes for pipe music at competitions in America. His nephews, the three young Macleans, now at Ormiscaig, are all excellent pipers, and are included in the list of living pipers given further on. Similar incidents are related in other parts of the north-west Highlands, where pipers have attributed their talents to the powers conferred upon them by fairies, and in every case a chanter was given along with the faculty of performing on it.
The best known Gairloch fairy of modern times went by the name of the Gille Dubh of Loch a Druing. His haunts were in the extensive woods that still cluster round the southern end of that loch and extend far up the side of the high ridge to the west of it. There are grassy glades, dense thickets, and rocky fastnesses in these woods, that look just the places for fairies. Loch a Druing is on the North Point, about two miles from Rudha Reidh. The Gille Dubh was so named from the black colour of his hair; his dress, if dress it can be called, was of leaves of trees and green moss. He was seen by many people on many occasions during a period of more than forty years in the latter half of the eighteenth century; he was, in fact, well-known to the people, and was generally regarded as a beneficent fairy. He never spoke to any one except to a little girl named Jessie MacRae, whose home was at Loch a Druing. She was lost in the woods one summer night; the Gille Dubh came to her, treated her with great kindness, and took her safely home again next morning. When Jessie grew up she became the wife of John Mackenzie, tenant of the Loch a Druing farm, and grandfather of James Mackenzie of Kirkton. It was after this that Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch invited Sir George S. Mackenzie of Coul, Mr Mackenzie of Dundonnell, Mr Mackenzie of Letterewe, and Mr Mackenzie of Kernsary, to join him in an expedition to repress the Gille Dubh. These five chieftains together repaired to Loch a Druing, armed with guns, with which they hoped to shoot the unoffending fairy. They wore of course their usual Highland dress, and each had his dirk at his side. They were hospitably entertained by John Mackenzie. An ample supper was served in the house; it included both beef and mutton, and each of the chieftains used the knife and fork from the sheath of his own dirk. Knives and forks were not common in Gairloch in those days. They spent the night at Loch a Druing, and slept in John Mackenzie's barn, where couches of heather were prepared for them. They went through all the woods, but they saw nothing of the Gille Dubh.
There are a large number of notions or fancies common in Gairloch that are plainly tinged with a superstitious character, such as that unaccountable noises and moving lights predict a death; that trees and shrubs planted when the moon is waning must die, whereas if the moon be "growing" at the time of the removal they will live and thrive; that there are several classes of undertakings that will succeed if commenced when the moon is growing, but will be failures if it be waning; that a walking-stick cut from the bird-cherry prevents the bearer of it being lost in the mist; that whales attack new boats or boats newly tarred; that the bite of a dog is rendered innocuous if the saliva (literally, "water from the teeth") of the dog be immediately applied; that a pledge to give something to a soft person or an idiot, will enable any one to discover a lost article, or will bring good luck; and that if a stocking be accidentally put on wrong side out it must not be altered, or bad luck will follow. And surely the idea illustrated in some of the stories in Part II., chap. xxv., and which is still current in Gairloch, that Sabbath-breaking brings immediate retribution smacks strongly of superstition.
The existence of water-kelpies in Gairloch, if perhaps not universally credited in the present generation, was accepted as undoubted in the last. The story of the celebrated water-kelpie of the Greenstone Point is very well known in Gairloch. The proceedings for the extermination of this wonderful creature formed a welcome topic for Punch of the period. The creature is spoken of by the natives as the "Beast." He lives, or did live, in the depths of a loch called after him Loch na Beiste, or "the loch of the beast," which is about half way between Udrigil House and the village of Mellon Udrigil. About 1840 Mr Bankes, the then proprietor of the estate on which this loch is situated, was pressed by his tenants to take measures to put an end to the Beast. At first he was deaf to the entreaties of the people, but at length he was prevailed upon to take action. Sandy M'Leod, an elder of the Free Church, was returning to Mellon Udrigil from the Aultbea Church one Sunday in company with two other persons, one of whom was a sister (still living at Mellon Udrigil) of James Mackenzie, when they actually saw the Beast itself. It resembled in appearance a good-sized boat with the keel turned up. Kenneth Cameron, also an elder of the Free Church, saw the same sight another day. A niece of Kenneth Cameron's (some time housemaid at Inveran) told me she had often heard her mother speak of having seen the Beast. It was the positive testimony of the two elders that induced Mr Bankes to take measures for the destruction of the Beast. The proceedings have been much exaggerated; James Mackenzie states that the following is the correct version of them:--Mr Bankes had a yacht or vessel named the Iris; James Mackenzie was a sailor in the Iris, along with another sailor named Allan Mackenzie. For a long time they and others worked a large pump with two horses with the object of emptying the loch. The pump was placed on the burn which runs from the loch into the not far distant sea; a cut or drain was formed to enable the pump to be worked, and a number of pipes were provided for the purpose of conducting the water away. The pipes are now lying in a house or shed at Laide. James Mackenzie often attended the pump. He and others were employed parts of two years in the attempt to empty the loch, or as James Mackenzie puts it, "to ebb it up." It was after this that the Iris was sent to Broadford in Skye to procure lime. James Mackenzie went with her. They brought from Broadford fourteen barrels of "raw lime." They came with the lime to Udrigil, and it was taken up to the "loch of the beast," and the small boat or dingy of the Iris was also taken up. The ground-officers would not go in the boat on the loch for fear of the Beast, so Mr Bankes sent to the Iris for James and Allan Mackenzie, and they went in the boat over every part of the loch, which had been reduced only by six or seven inches after all the labour that had been spent on it. They plumbed the loch with the oars of the boat; in no part did it exceed a fathom in depth, except in one hole, which at the deepest was but two and a half fathoms. Into this hole they put the fourteen barrels of lime. It is needless to state that the Beast was not discovered, nor has he been further disturbed up to the present time. The loch contained a few good trout above the average size when I fished it in 1873. There are rumours that the Beast was seen in 1884 in or near another loch on the Greenstone Point.
Here is a story of a mermaid; they say it is quite true:--Roderick Mackenzie, the elderly and much respected boatbuilder at Port Henderson, when a young man, went one day to a rocky part of the shore there. Whilst gathering bait he suddenly spied a mermaid asleep among the rocks. Rorie "went for" that mermaid, and succeeded in seizing her by the hair. The poor creature, in great embarrassment, cried out that if Rorie would let go she would grant him whatever boon he might ask. He requested a pledge that no one should ever be drowned from any boat he might build. On his releasing her, the mermaid promised that this should be so. The promise has been kept throughout Rorie's long business career; his boats still defy the stormy winds and waves. I am the happy possessor of an admirable example of Rorie's craft. The most ingenious framers of trade advertisements might well take a hint from this veracious anecdote.
XIV. WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC
The name of Rudha Chailleach, the long blue point jutting into Loch Maree to the south of Ardlair, suggests the ancient belief in witchcraft, but there are no stories of witches connected with it now extant. Yet the belief in witchcraft is by no means dead in Gairloch, and to the stranger the very appearance of some withered old women almost proves them to be witches.
Jessie the cripple, an example of whose second-sight is given in the next chapter, was a reputed witch; the story of her being ducked will be found there.
Witchcraft and magic are still said to be exercised by a number of people in Gairloch. Cases actually occurred in 1885 where persons were charged with the practice of these arts in connection with poultry. It seems better not to give details of them here, especially as it is said the poor folk are yet under suspicion.
The following are examples of the use of the arts of witchcraft and magic in Gairloch:--
There is a curious superstition that the substance, or staple or "fruit," of milk can be taken away by witchcraft, or by the employment of magical arts. In the records of the Presbytery of Lochcarron are minutes relating to a case which occurred at Kenlochewe. On 23d November 1791 the presbytery had examined a candidate for the appointment of catechist for the district of "Ceanlochew," and had been satisfied as to his knowledge, but "in consequence of stories rather detrimental to his private character," had arranged for an inquiry whether such stories had any foundation. On 3d April 1792 a petition on the subject was laid before the presbytery. One of the petitioners, Mr Murdo M'Kenzie, yr. of Letterewe, declared, "that he thought he had heard the candidate use such words as that he wished the devil had the soul of Mr Mackintosh, the parish minister; that he was in the habit of taking back the substance of milk by magical arts, for he himself (the declarant) and his brother were present when the candidate had recourse to certain herbs and an iron key, which were thrown into the declarant's milk in order to restore the fruit of it. Roderick M'Lennan, smith at Ceannlochew, stated that he knew the candidate from his infancy, * * * that he was much addicted to swearing in common conversation, and that he had heard him say that he had restored the substance of deponent's milk by means of certain arts. The candidate being present, and questioned, admitted that he did actually restore the substance of the milk as stated by Mr M'Kenzie, yr. of Letterewe; all which being considered by the presbytery, they deemed him totally disqualified for the office of catechist, and declined to recommend him for such office to the Committee of the Royal Bounty."
Our next example of this strange superstition belongs to a more recent date. In the time of the late Sir Francis Mackenzie the parish schoolmaster of Gairloch was one Kenneth Mackenzie, who was a notorious master of witchcraft. He was always called the "maighstair sgoil." In his youth he had been taught many magical arts, and people who had been bewitched resorted to him from far and wide to obtain relief and advice. He lived in the present schoolmaster's house at Achtercairn, and kept several cows. On one occasion he himself was a sufferer from witchcraft. The milk of his cows was destroyed; if they gave any at all it was fruitless and useless. By his own skill in magic he discovered the woman who had done him this mischief; she lived at or near Strath, and was reputed to have some knowledge of witchcraft. This is how he punished her. There is a little burn runs by the side of the road at Achtercairn, just in front of the present police-station. One Sunday morning as the people from Strath, including this woman, were going to church, she was obliged, by the occult power of the maighstair sgoil, to remain behind; and as soon as the others were out of sight she tucked up her dress above her knees and fastened it so, then she commenced jumping violently backwards and forwards across this little burn, unwillingly enough, as we may well suppose, and she was compelled by the unseen maighstair sgoil to continue the severe exercise until the people came out of church. After the woman had suffered her well-merited punishment, the fruit returned to the milk of the maighstair sgoil's cows. Moral:--You should not meddle with one who possesses magical powers!
Here is a case of injury to milk which occurred within the last ten years. For obvious reasons I suppress the names of the persons concerned, who are all known to me and are now living. The erection of a house was undertaken, and the builders took up their abode in a temporary hut or barrack. Requiring milk to take with their porridge, they applied to a neighbouring farmer, but he was unable at the time to supply them. They fancied that the farmer withheld the milk from some spite he had to them, and they told him he would suffer for it; one of the builders is commonly believed to have some knowledge of witchcraft. What next occurred is kept secret, but the milk of the farmer's cows immediately afterwards lost its fruit; nothing but a viscous fluid, mingled with a little blood, came from the teats when the cows were milked. The farmer called to his aid the services of a woman living in the northern part of the parish known to be skilled in such matters, and she soon restored the substance to the milk. A still more recent case has come under my notice in the spring of 1886. A cow died at a farm with which I am well acquainted; its death was firmly believed to be the result of witchcraft, exercised by an adversary. Soon afterwards a cow at the same farm lost the substance of its milk; as in the case last described, only blood and water came from the cow; this also was believed to be the consequence of witchcraft. A man from Aultbea was sent for, and by his magical arts soon effected a cure. These latter cases are different from the old Kenlochewe case in one respect, viz., in the older case the substance of the milk was influenced after it had been taken from the cow, whilst in the subsequent cases the "fruit" of the milk was destroyed in the cows.
There are plenty of people in Gairloch in the present day who believe in the magical power of the charm or spell called the "sian" or "seun." By means of an incantation, sometimes coupled with the use of some visible medium, any object which it was desired to conceal could be rendered invisible, either for the time being only or for all time, subject in the latter case to brief periods of visibility recurring either at the end of each year, or more commonly at the end of each succeeding term of seven years. The medium, if any, employed along with the incantation, was usually a piece of vellum or stout skin of some sort, which in process of time became as hard and tough as wrought iron. James Mackenzie says he has seen a specimen preserved as a curiosity at Glamis Castle.
Duncan M'Rae lived in Isle Ewe and had the gift of the sian. We have seen, in Part I., chap. xiv., Duncan's fidelity to the unfortunate Prince Charlie. He accompanied the prince to Edinburgh, and there composed a well-known Gaelic song called Oran na Feannaige, i.e. "the song of the hoodie-crow;" it related an imaginary dialogue between himself and the crow, suggested by his seeing one of those birds in the busy capital. After the fatal field of Culloden, Duncan M'Rae assisted in covering the prince's escape; he hovered around the prince, and used every means in his power to baffle the pursuers. Funds were sent from France to be conveyed by the faithful Highlanders to their beloved Prince Charlie, as circumstances might admit. A small cask or keg filled with gold pieces was entrusted to the charge of Duncan M'Rae, to be concealed until a chance should occur of delivering it to the prince. Duncan M'Rae and two other men brought the keg of gold in a boat across Loch Ewe from Mellon Charles to Cove. From Cove they carried the cask up to the Fedan Mor, the large deep corrie or hollow on the hill above Loch a Druing; there they put the cask of gold into the ground, and it is the universal belief in Gairloch that it remains there to this day. Duncan M'Rae made use of the sian to render the cask invisible; he laid his amulet upon the head of the cask while he pronounced the magic words he knew; upon this the cask became invisible for all time, with this exception, that at the end of each period of seven years the effect of the spell is suspended during a very brief interval on one day only, when for a few moments the cask of gold becomes again visible to mortal eyes.
It was about 1826, the year that Sir Hector Mackenzie died, that the wife of Rorie Mackenzie, shepherd at Loch a Druing, called the Cibear Mor, or "big shepherd," was herding the cows in the Fedan Mor. She was spinning worsted, when suddenly she saw the head of the cask of gold close to where she sat. She stuck the distaff into it to mark the spot, and then ran down to Loch a Druing for help to remove the long-lost treasure. When the people came to the Fedan Mor to fetch the cask of gold, neither it nor the distaff could after the most diligent search be discovered.
A sian of a similar nature, and with similar effect, is said to have been used many years ago by some persons who hid a large quantity of arms and weapons of all kinds in a cave at Meallan na Ghamhna. Both the cave and the weapons became invisible, but once in every seven years they may again be seen if any one be lucky enough to be on the spot at the right moment. It is not many years since the wife of Murdo Cameron of Inverasdale, and some other women, were gathering lichens from the rocks at Meallan na Ghamhna, when they suddenly saw the cave and weapons. They ran to tell others, and soon returned with several helpers, intending to remove the arms; but it was too late, no trace could be found of either weapons or cave. They say an exactly similar case of weapons being hid in a cave, or rather rocky fissure, by means of the sian, occurred on the shores of Loch Maree. The spot is at the edge of the loch below the county road on the south-west side of the loch just opposite to Letterewe. In this case also the weapons are visible once in every seven years.
There was a man living in Gairloch named Alastair Mor an 't Sealgair, or "big Alexander of [the race of] the hunter." He had the magic power of the sian. He died since 1850, and his grandsons were lately living at Charleston, and were called Gillean an t' Sealgair, or "the hunter's lads." One of them is still living at Charleston. Alastair was a dealer in illicit whisky, and was constantly employed in running cargoes of it from Gairloch to Skye and the Long Island. He is still remembered in those islands. At that time Captain Oliver was sent by the government to put down this smuggling. In his schooner he cruised up and down the Minch, keeping a sharp look-out; he had a tender, a smaller vessel, of which Robert Clark was master, and which was employed in the sea-lochs, so that Gairloch might well be said to be blockaded. Alastair continually ran the blockade by the use of the sian. Whenever a government vessel hove in sight, he pronounced the magic words and applied his unfailing amulet, and his boat became at once invisible under the mysterious spell. One day he had brought several casks of whisky in a boat down Loch Maree. When in the Narrows near the place where Tollie burn falls into the river Ewe, he landed and hid the casks in the wood on the Tollie side of the Narrows. He made some passes over them with his hands, and the casks became invisible; the next day he sent over from Gairloch the men who had seen him hide the casks, to bring them away, but they could not be found, and it was not until Alastair went himself that the casks became visible. This was a usual form of the sian, but Alastair had another spell or magical process which was a variation of its ordinary application. Sometimes when a revenue vessel appeared upon the scene he would take a thole-pin from the boat and whittle it with his knife, when each of the chips as it fell into the water would appear to the crew of the preventive vessel to be a fully-manned boat. This wonderful magician was well-known to many people now living, including Mr O. H. Mackenzie. There are many other stories current in Gairloch, showing that Alastair could render his boat, or indeed anything else, invisible, even without the use of any special formula. There were three fishermen, named respectively Macpherson, Watson, and Fraser, all living on the south side of Gairloch, who were partners in a large decked fishing-boat. At that time Glen Dubh, to the north of Stoir Head in Sutherlandshire, was an important herring fishing-station. The "south side" men were there fishing. Alastair was also at Glen Dubh, selling whisky amongst the fishermen. His boat was an open undecked craft, and the Gairloch south side men had him to spend the Sabbath in their larger vessel. On Sunday morning Alastair proposed to fill some bottles with whisky out of a small cask that he carried for offering drams to friends. As he and Macpherson were beginning to draw the whisky from the cask, Alastair asked his companion if he saw the revenue cutter. Macpherson said her boat was just coming round a headland near them. Alastair said, "They don't see us." He proceeded with the business on hand; they were on deck. As the cutter's boat approached, Macpherson wished to put the whisky cask out of sight. Alastair said, "Never fear; they cannot see us." The revenue boat then passed close to them, and apparently did not see them. Had the preventive men seen Alastair before he saw them, he would have been unable to render the boat invisible. At another time, the same "south side" men had a good take of flounders in the sound between the Island of Longa and Big Sand. They had occasion to take their fish ashore at Big Sand, and having piled them in a heap left them for a short time; on returning they could not see their fish anywhere. Alastair was there, and they concluded he had played a trick upon them. After keeping up the joke some time, Alastair admitted that he had concealed the fish. He drew a ring on the sand with his stick, and said, "The fish are within this circle." The fishermen could not find them, until Alastair withdrew the spell and the fish became visible.
His father, Ruaridh an t' Sealgair, also had the magical power of the sian. Both Rorie and Alastair were--like their ancestor whose soubriquet they bore--great hunters and poachers. When they wanted venison they would go to the mountains. As soon as they saw a deer they would, by the exercise of magic, cause the animal to stand or to go where they pleased, so that they could easily get within range. If the deer saw the magician first, the spell failed; it was necessary that the hunter should spy his quarry before he was himself observed. Instances of Alastair's exercise of this power are said to have occurred during the time of the late Sir Francis Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch. They say too that Alastair, when sitting at the roadside, could by the sian render himself invisible to persons who passed close to him.
Our next and last example is of a different application of magic. Every detail of the case is firmly believed by many natives of Gairloch now living to be absolutely true. In the chapter of James Mackenzie's "Gairloch Stories," given further on, is an account of the death by drowning at the head of Loch Maree of John M'Ryrie. His grandfather was the hero of the following adventure. At the time of its occurrence he had a large open boat, in which he used to carry the mails between Poolewe and Stornoway. He lived at Poolewe. One Donald M'Lean helped to work the boat. It was before the smack was put on this service. On one occasion M'Ryrie was kept several days at Stornoway by a contrary wind. He was going about the place two or three days grumbling at the delay. He met a man in the street, who advised him to go to a certain woman and she would make the wind favourable for him. In the morning he went to her, and paid her some money. She gave him a piece of string with three knots on it. She told him to undo the first of the knots, and he would get the wind in his favour; if the wind were not strong enough for him, he was to undo the second knot, but not until he would be near the mainland; the third knot, she said, he must not untie for his life. The wind changed whilst he was talking to her; and he set sail that same morning. He undid the first knot on the voyage, and the breeze continued fair; the second knot he untied when he was near the mouth of Loch Ewe, and the breeze came fresh and strong. When he got to Ploc-ard, at the head of Loch Ewe, he said to M'Lean that no great harm could happen to them if he were to untie the third knot, as they were so near the shore. So he untied the third knot. Instantly there was such a hurricane that most of the houses in Poolewe and Londubh were stripped of their thatch. The boat was cast high and dry on the beach at Dal Cruaidh, just below the house of Kirkton; her crew escaped uninjured. It is said that at that time there were several women about Stornoway who had power by their arts to make the wind favourable.
XV. VISIONS AND SECOND-SIGHT
Perhaps the most common class of superstitions in Gairloch comprises those represented by or connected with "visions" or the gift of "second-sight." It is often difficult to discriminate between the two; but as a general rule "visions" maybe considered as recalling the past, whilst "second-sight" brings the immediate but unseen present or the near or sometimes the more remote future within the ken of its possessor. The following stories seem to be examples of one or other of these superstitions.
The appearance to Alastair Mac Iain Mhic Earchair, early in the nineteenth century, of the great chief of Gairloch, Hector Roy Mackenzie, with his bodyguard of twelve chosen heroes all wearing kilted plaids of Mackenzie tartan, and their noiseless departure, is narrated in Part I., chap. ix. In addition to the details there given, old Alastair told Ruaridh an Torra, the present repository of the tale, that before the spectral heroes disappeared he handed his snuff-mull to them, and they each in turn helped themselves to its contents. Alastair always expressed his astonishment that they should have been able to enjoy the snuff as they apparently did.
In 1884 I heard of a young man having seen a spirit. He was very reserved on the subject, but when closely questioned he said it was on a pretty dark night in the previous year that the form of a man passed him on the road. He spoke to the figure, but there was no reply; and this he considered proof positive of the ghostly nature of the appearance!
Two men, of the utmost credibility and respectability, declare that they saw on separate occasions, by daylight, the figure of a woman dressed in brown sitting or walking within a considerable house in Gairloch parish. On each occasion the woman mysteriously disappeared, and no trace of her could be discovered. The appearances were supposed to be prophetic of some incident that has since occurred, or will shortly occur, at the house in question.
Seers of visions and possessors of second-sight are always reticent, and every one has a delicacy in speaking of cases that have occurred among persons now living. Thus it is difficult to procure accounts of recent cases, and I have thought it best not to press inquiry in this direction. Here, however, is an instance which came under my own notice within the parish of Gairloch. A shooting party was invited, and a number of beaters engaged for the occasion. Several of those who had been similarly employed before declined to attend, because it had been rumoured that the figure of a strange man dressed in dark blue clothes had been seen walking in the coverts the evening before, and it was thought that the appearance of the supposed spectre portended the death of some one at the shoot. Happily the day passed off without casualty.
Second-sight may be (1) a faculty frequently exercised by the individual possessing it, who becomes known as a seer; or (2) it may be manifested on one occasion only, under exceptional circumstances, by some one not otherwise credited with this supernatural power. Our next story tells of a woman whose second-sight was of the first of these descriptions.
Simon Chisholm, who has long been forester and gardener at Flowerdale to Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, remembers a woman named Seonaid Chrubach, or Jessie the cripple, who was reputed to be a witch, and to have the faculty of second-sight. She lived near Flowerdale, and was a queer bad woman. She wore a short tight-fitting jacket like a man, and a short petticoat resembling a man's kilt. She used to afford much amusement to sailors, singing ribald songs to them, and would visit various ports as far north as Ullapool for the purpose. When Simon Chisholm was a young boy a number of lads one day caught Jessie, and, believing in her witchcraft, tied her to the middle of a long piece of rope. They took her to the moat or ditch then remaining below Flowerdale House, in the midst of which the old Tigh Dige had formerly stood, and dragged her many times backwards and forwards through the water of the moat. Jessie survived this ill-treatment many years. It would be about 1835 that Jessie came one day to the house of Simon Chisholm's father at Flowerdale. His family have been there for several generations; they say his ancestor came to Gairloch as attendant to a lady who became the wife of one of the lairds of Gairloch. Simon was still a boy, and was at home when Jessie came to the house. Jessie looked very pale and haggard; she said she felt faint and ill. After resting a while, she told them that on her way she had met a shepherd with his dog, driving a flock of sheep; she minutely described the shepherd and the dog and sheep, and even stated the colour of the dog. At that time there were no sheep at Flowerdale, only black cattle; Sir Francis Mackenzie, the then baronet of Gairloch, had a celebrated strain of them, and bred them in considerable numbers. The following year, at the same time of the year as that at which Jessie had seen the vision, Sir Francis substituted sheep for the black cattle, and the shepherd, the dog, and the sheep exactly corresponded with Jessie's description.
Our next narrative is an illustration of the other class of manifestations of second-sight. At the date of this story the blacksmith at Poolewe had his house and smithy where the Pool-house stable now stands. It was close by the east side of Poolewe bridge, from which the spectator can look down into the deep gloomy pool in which the River Ewe joins the brackish waters of Loch Ewe. The smith had a son, a boy, almost a young man; he was in sickly health at the time, and died shortly afterwards. The late Rev. William Rose, Free Church minister of Aultbea and Poolewe, who died in April 1876, told me that one day the smith's son had walked over to Gairloch, and returning somewhat exhausted, came into his father's house (the door being open), and instantly sat down on the nearest chair. No sooner was he seated than he fell from the chair in a fainting fit. He presently came round, and on recovering consciousness the first thing he said to his family was, "What are all these people on the bridge for?" They pointed out to him that there was no one on the bridge. He then told them, that as he had approached the bridge he had seen it crowded with people, that he had had to push his way through them, and that he had felt very much frightened. Those members of the smith's household who were at home had seen no one on the bridge; the doors and windows of the house faced the bridge, and were not thirty yards from it, so that no individuals, much less a crowd, could have been on the bridge without the family having noticed them. The following day, the 3d October 1860, was a day that will never be forgotten by those who witnessed its terrible events. A number of open boats with their crews were at the head of Loch Ewe near Boor, Cliff House, and Poolewe, setting nets for herrings, when a storm suddenly came on, far exceeding in violence any other storm before or since, so far as those now living remember. A hurricane sprang up from the west-north-west, of such extraordinary force as actually to lift boats and their crews from the water, and in one or two cases to overturn the boats. Happily most of the men clung to their boats, and were soon washed ashore. One boat was carried rapidly past the point called Ploc-ard, by Inverewe House. As she was passing close to some big stones one of her crew jumped out on to a rock, but was washed off and drowned. In another boat, opposite Cliff House, there were four men; the boat was capsized and three of the men were drowned; the fourth had tied himself to the boat, which came ashore by Cliff House; he was taken to the house, and restoratives being applied soon recovered. About a score of the boats ran into the pool under Poolewe bridge. And thus the vision of the smith's son was fulfilled, for at the very hour at which he had crossed the bridge on the preceding day, a multitude of the fishermen's friends and relations, breathless with agonising anxiety, crowded the bridge and its approaches watching the arrival of the boats. The tide on this awful evening rose one hundred and fifty yards further up the shore and adjoining lands than on any other occasion remembered in the district. The bodies of the drowned men were recovered, and were buried in the Inverewe churchyard, where the date of this memorable storm is recorded on a gravestone over the remains of two of the men named William Urquhart and Donald Urquhart.
James Mackenzie narrates, that when he was fourteen years of age (about 1822) he lived with his parents at Mellon Charles, but went to the school at Mellon Udrigil. This school was attended by about sixty scholars. He went home to Mellon Charles every Saturday night, and returned to Mellon Udrigil each Monday morning. At the time of the following extraordinary occurrence the Rev. Dr Ross was holding sacramental services at Loch Broom, and many of the people had gone from Mellon Udrigil to this sacrament; most of the women had remained at home. It must have been about midsummer; that was always the time of the Loch Broom sacrament. When James Mackenzie returned to Mellon Udrigil on the Monday morning he learned that all the people who were at home on the preceding day had seen a strange sight. The whole sea between the Black island and Priest island, and the mouth of Little Loch Broom had appeared to be filled with ships innumerable; to use James Mackenzie's precise words, "the sea was choke full of great ships, men-of-war. It was a great sight." Whilst the people were watching, vast numbers of boats were sent out from the ships filled with soldiers with scarlet coats. Many of the boats rowed direct for Mellon Udrigil, and the red-coats landed from them on the rocks on the shore. They seemed so near that the people could make out the individual soldiers. Mrs Morrison, the wife of Rorie Morrison of Tanera, who then lived at Mellon Udrigil House, buried the boxes containing her valuables in the sand lest the red-coats should carry them off to the ships. The girls at the shielings on the hills on the Greenstone Point retreated to the highest tops, so that they might have time to escape if the soldiers should appear to be coming near. But no soldiers came, and the whole thing was a vision.
More than fifty years ago Donnachadh na Fadach (Duncan Macrae) was living at Inveran. He employed Donald Maclean, who was stopping at Londubh at the time, to work in the garden at Inveran, and Donald walked to and from Inveran every day. He told James Mackenzie, Duncan Macrae, and other persons, that he often saw companies of soldiers in red uniforms marching to and fro along the tops of Craig Ruadh, Craig Bhan, and the hills behind and beyond Inveran. These visions of Donald Maclean's are said to have impressed his own mind very deeply at the time, and his earnest accounts of them are well remembered by the older people. It is an actual fact that the visions are now generally understood at Poolewe and Londubh to have been prophetic of the visits to me at Inveran of the Poolewe section of the Gairloch volunteers, who wear scarlet Highland doublets, and have several times come to Inveran in uniform.
The appearance of the great fleet seen from Mellon Udrigil with the boats filled with red-coats, and the visions of the red-coats near Inveran, are closely analogous to the strange appearances of troops seen by numbers of people on Saddleback in Cumberland on the midsummer eves of 1735, 1743, and 1745, and to the similar appearances elsewhere referred to in the account given of the Saddleback visions in Miss Harriet Martineau's "Guide to the English Lakes," such as the spectral march of troops seen in Leicestershire in 1707, and the tradition of the tramp of armies over Helvellyn on the eve of the battle of Marston Moor. Hugh Miller, in his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland" (page 485), refers to visions of troops near Inverness at the time of the commencement of the war with France. There were similar appearances in England reported in the newspapers when I was a young man, which were supposed to have been mirage-like reflections of the gatherings of troops going to take part in the Crimean war. One theory is, that all the visions of this character have been of the nature of mirages, or reflections on transparent vapour similar to the "Fata Morgana." This is certainly a suggestion that ought to be taken into account, but, as Miss Harriet Martineau says in her book, it "is not much in the way of explanation."
Whatever the visions or appearances at Mellon Udrigil and near Inveran may have been, the evidence is very strong that they really were seen as stated.
XVI. BARDS AND PIPERS
The Celtic inhabitants of the north-west Highlands have always been enthusiastic votaries of poetry and music; indeed in time past they perhaps paid more attention to these than to the less sentimental arts of everyday life. Their bards and musicians, encouraged by the sympathy and appreciation of chiefs and clansmen alike, became an illustrious, as they ever were a privileged class.
The bards date back to the days of the Druids; among them was Ossian, the Homer of the Fingalian heroes. There is no specific connection between the Ossianic poems and the parish of Gairloch, but these poems are still reverenced in Gairloch, and some traces of poetic Fingalian legends are still to be met with (Part I., chap. i.).
The great contest which has so long raged over Macpherson's "Ossian" does not concern us here. The unwritten poems of Ossian have been handed down by the bards through many generations. Possibly Macpherson's were partly fictitious; they do not correspond to the actual traditional forms of the poems, as published by Mr John F. Campbell of Islay (brother of the present Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch), who has passed to his rest whilst I write; he took down the poems from the mouths of the old men who had become the receptacles of them, and collected them in a book entitled "Leabhar na Feinne," perhaps the most valuable contribution to the Ossianic controversy.
The bard of old was called the "seannachie," properly "seannachaidh,"--almost synonymous with "antiquarian" or "historian,"--a name appropriately signifying that he was the repository and remembrancer of the history, achievements, and genealogy of his clan or sept. It was the bard's office to sing or recite the valorous deeds of the chiefs and heroes, and to cheer on his kinsmen in battle by inspiring songs or war cries, chaunted, shouted, or sung.
Later on, when clan contests became less frequent, some of the bards found congenial berths as family retainers of the great chiefs and proprietors, who generously rewarded their poetic talents. These family bards recited or sang in the halls of their patrons songs of their own or others' composition, and frequently repeated some of the poems of Ossian. They were also the poets-laureate of the great families, composing poems to celebrate their chief events and personages.
Captain Burt gives a list of the officers who in his day (1730) attended every chief when he went a journey or paid a formal visit. Among them are the bard, the piper, and the piper's gillie. The last bard of the Gairloch family was Alexander Campbell, who died in the first half of the present century. A short memoir of him is given further on.
Other bards and poets were found in the more private walks of life, and they are even now to be met with, still the receptacles of the treasured traditions and legends of their ancestors and country, still the composers of Gaelic songs and poems, and still the reciters or singers of their own compositions or of those of other bards, ancient or modern. Family traditions and genealogies possess more historical value in the Highlands than in other parts of Britain, from their having been preserved and handed down by means of the trained memories of the bards. In most cases, every word put in the mouths of the traditional heroes is accurately repeated on each occasion of the story being told.
Meetings, called "ceilidh," used to be frequently held during the long winter nights of this northern region, when the people gathered in each others' houses to be entertained by songs, poems, traditions, legends, and tales of all kinds. At the "ceilidh" the bards, in their character of "seannachaidhean," were in much request, and we can well imagine how the popular applause fostered the spirit of the bards and helped to preserve the old traditions of the Highlands. They say these "ceilidh" are not yet altogether given up in Gairloch parish.
Pipe music dates back at least as far as the fourteenth century, and probably much farther. Mr Robertson Macdonald of Kinloch-moidart wrote to the Scotsman a few years ago, stating that he had the chanter and blowpipe of bagpipes which he believed to be older than a bagpipe reported at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to bear the date of 1409. Mr Macdonald's relics were given in the end of last century to his maternal uncle, Donald Macdonald of Kinloch-moidart, by the Macintyres, who were the hereditary pipers to the Clanranald branch of the Macdonalds, as they were on the point of emigrating to America; they said the Macdonalds had followed the inspiring strains of these bagpipes into the battle of Bannockburn, 24th June 1314.
The vocation of the pipers, who had gradually displaced the more ancient harpers, corresponded very closely with that of the bards. Like the bards, they accompanied their clansmen to battle. On all social occasions they played their stately pibrochs, or thrilling marches, or lively reels and jigs; weddings and funerals were always attended by pipers, who moved the assembled companies with their stirring strains. Most of the chiefs had their family pipers, and the office was often hereditary. The Mackays were the hereditary pipers of the lairds of Gairloch (see next chapter) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and were well rewarded by their patrons. The MacCrimmons of Dunvegan, Skye, were the great teachers of pipe music in the north up to a recent period; they held their lands from Macleod of Macleod, in return for their attendance on his person and family.
In these modern days pipers are still numerous in Gairloch, and still enliven many a wedding party with their music. The Gairloch volunteers have their efficient pipers, who in tartan array play many a lively air as their comrades move in column, and who accompany the march-past on review days to the favourite tune of "Highland Laddie." Highlanders march with lighter tread, more spirited step, and more accurate time, to the music of the bagpipes than to any other.
The strains of the great Highland bagpipes, when played indoors, often sound harsh and shrill to the unaccustomed ear, but they never do to the Highlander, who to this day prefers the pipes to all other music. Their effect on the Highland soldier, in the presence of the foe, is too well known to need description here.
The love of pipe music, and of songs in their native tongue, is as powerful to-day with the Highlanders of Gairloch as it can ever have been. At a dinner of the Gairloch volunteers, on 8th May 1884, the thrilling music of the pipers, and the Gaelic songs exquisitely rendered by Mr Alexander Macpherson of Opinan, one of the volunteer sergeants, seemed to arouse the enthusiasm and stir the feelings of all present to an extent it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to effect by any other means.
Some of the bards and pipers of Gairloch attained great eminence. Amongst the memoirs of them which follow is a short account of John Mackenzie, the author of the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," who was himself somewhat of a poet, and an excellent piper.
There were many less eminent bards and pipers in Gairloch. Three of the old bards are mentioned in Part I. of this book, viz., Ruaridh Breac, "the English bard," and Duncan M'Rae.
Ruaridh Breac, son of fair Duncan, lived at Cromasaig, near Kenlochewe, in the first half of the seventeenth century. He composed a celebrated song to the "Guard of the Black Corrie."
The English bard called in Gaelic "Am Bard Sasunnach," was a Cross, son or descendant of one of the Letterewe ironworkers. He was living at the time of the "Forty-five" at a house he had built at Kernsary, called to this day Innis a Bhaird, or the "place of the bard."
Duncan M'Rae, of Isle Ewe, mentioned in Part II., chap. xiv., as the composer of "Oran na Feannaige," was also a bard.
Of past Gairloch pipers, other than the Mackays, I have no account, except of three who belong to recent times.
Roderick Campbell, a celebrated piper and fiddler, lived at Cuilchonich, above Aird House, near Aultbea, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Ruaridh Mac Iamhair, as he was called in Gaelic, was descended from the Campbells of Leckmelm, on Lochbroom. His father was Norman Campbell; he had four sons, viz., Kenneth, Donald, Roderick (the piper), and John. Donald was also a great fiddler. John Mackenzie (Iain or John Glas) of Mossbank, Poolewe, is a grandson of Kenneth. John, the youngest brother of Roderick, emigrated to America. Roderick was a pupil of Angus Mackay (one of the Gairloch hereditary pipers), and it is said that Roderick made such progress, that when his term of apprenticeship to Angus had but half expired he had learned all that his accomplished master could impart. Roderick attained great fame as a piper, and was much respected through the country for his talents and agreeable manners. He lived in a day when the young men laid themselves out to amuse and interest others. While still young he was drowned in the Old Cruive Pool, on the River Ewe, when attempting to cross the river by means of the Cruive dyke, there being no bridge at Poolewe till long after. The musical reputation of the family is sustained by Alexander Mackenzie, the present senior piper of the Gairloch volunteers, who is the son of John Glas above-named.
Iain Mac Coinnich (John Mackenzie), known as Piobaire Bhan, or the "fair piper," was a first-rate performer during the present century. He lived at Leac nan Saighead, and was blind. He died about 1870, an old man.
William Maclean, formerly of Ormiscaig, must be reckoned as a past piper of Gairloch; the excellent music he discoursed is still remembered; the origin of his talents is related in Part II., chap. xii.
The following is an alphabetical list (probably imperfect) of Gairloch pipers now living:--
Murdo Bain, Charleston. William Boa, {Inveran; one of the pipers to the {volunteer corps. Duncan Fraser, Talladale. Kenneth Fraser, Leac nan Saighead. Alexander Gunn, Isle Ewe. Alexander Mackenzie, {Poolewe; senior Piper to the volunteer {corps. Angus Mackenzie, Strath. Malcolm Mackenzie, Big Sand. Murdo Mackenzie, Peterburn. Kenneth M'Leay, Londubh. Alexander Maclean, Mellon Udrigil. Donald Maclean, } {Ormiscaig; brothers, young and excellent Alexander Maclean,} {pipers; nephews of William Hector Maclean, } {Maclean (Part II., chap. xxiii.). Alexander Maclennan, Inveran. Angus Maclennan, Cove. John Maclennan, Mellon Charles. William Maclennan, {Poolewe; one of the pipers to the volunteer {corps. John MacRae, North Erradale. John MacRae, Altgrishan. Murdo MacRae, Melvaig. William Morrison, Ardlair. James Watson, Badachro.
XVII. HEREDITARY PIPERS OF THE GAIRLOCH FAMILY
That Hector Roy Mackenzie, the great founder of the Gairloch family, and his son John Glassich Mackenzie, had pipers among their followers is certain; but nothing is recorded of them. The famous hereditary pipers of the Gairloch family were Mackays from Sutherlandshire. There were but four of them, viz., Rorie, John the blind piper, Angus, and John.
Rorie or Ruaridh Mackay was born in the Reay country about 1592. Having early manifested an extraordinary talent for pipe music, he was appointed whilst little more than a boy to be piper to the laird of Mackay. We have seen (Part I., chap. xi.) how Rorie cut off a groom's hand with his dirk at the Meikle Ferry on the Kyle of Sutherland, and then became piper to John Roy Mackenzie, fourth laird of Gairloch, about 1609. From this time Rorie was a Gairloch man, yet the connection with the Reay country was maintained, as we shall see, by his descendants. Little is remembered of Rorie beyond the story of how he came to Gairloch. It was his elder brother Donald Mor Mackay who was in attendance on the twelve sons of John Roy Mackenzie when the incident at Torridon, recorded in Part I., chap. xi., took place. Donald was a great piper, and assisted his brother Rorie during his youth. Donald spent a number of years in Gairloch, but returned to the Reay country before his death. Rorie was piper in succession to four of the chiefs of Gairloch, viz., John Roy, Alastair Breac, Kenneth the sixth laird, and his son Alexander. Rorie lived at Talladale during the lives of John Roy and Alastair Breac, who resided on Eilean Ruaridh and Eilean Suainne, islands in Loch Maree, not far from Talladale. The two last chiefs to whom he was piper resided at the Stank house at Flowerdale, and accordingly we find that Rorie lived in his later years near Flowerdale. Rorie was over sixty years of age when he married; he had but one child, who became the celebrated "blind piper." Rorie died at his home near Flowerdale about 1689, in extreme old age, being, like his son, almost a centenarian; he was buried in the Gairloch churchyard. Rorie is said to have been a remarkably handsome and powerful Highlander; he literally played an important part in the many fights which took place in Gairloch during the earlier part of his career.
John Mackay, the only son of Rorie, was born at Talladale in 1656. He was not born blind, as has been erroneously stated, but was deprived of his sight by smallpox when about seven years old. With the exception of a slight cloudiness on his eyes, it was difficult to the most acute observer to perceive that he had not his sight. He was known as "Iain Dall" (blind John), or "Piobaire Dall" (the blind piper). After mastering the first principles of pipe music under his father's tuition, he was sent to the celebrated MacCrimmon in Skye to finish his musical education. He remained seven years with MacCrimmon, and then returned to his native parish, where he assisted his father in his office of piper to the laird of Gairloch. After his father's death he became piper to Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, the first baronet of Gairloch; and after Sir Kenneth's death to his son Sir Alexander, the second baronet and ninth laird of Gairloch. He combined the office of bard with that of piper. Iain Dall retired when in advanced years, and Sir Alexander allowed him a sufficient pension. Like his father he married late in life; he had but two children, Angus, who succeeded him, and a daughter. After he was superannuated he passed his remaining years in visiting gentlemen's houses, where he was always a welcome guest. Like his father he lived to a great age; he died in 1754, aged ninety-eight, and was buried in the same grave as his father in the Gairloch churchyard. He composed twenty-four pibrochs, besides numberless strathspeys, reels, and jigs, the most celebrated of which are called "Cailleach a Mhuillear," and "Cailleach Liath Rasaidh."
When he was with MacCrimmon there were no fewer than eleven other apprentices studying with the master piper, but Iain Dall outstripped them all, and thus gained for himself the envy and ill-will of the others. On one occasion as Iain and another apprentice were playing the same tune alternately, MacCrimmon asked the other lad why he did not play like Iain Dall. The lad replied, "By Mary, I'd do so if my fingers had not been after the skate," alluding to the sticky state of his fingers after having touched some of that fish at dinner; and this has become a proverbial taunt which northern pipers to this day hurl at their inferior brethren from the south.
Iain Dall's first pibroch, called "Pronadh na Mial," had reference to certain small insects that disturbed his slumbers during the earlier period of his apprenticeship.
One of the MacCrimmons, known by the byname of "Padruig Caogach," composed the first part of a tune called "Am port Leathach," but was unable to finish it. The imperfect tune became very popular, and being at the end of two years still unfinished Iain Dall set to work and completed it. He called it "Lasan Phadruig Chaogaich," or "the wrath of Padruig Caogach;" thus, whilst disowning any share in the merit of the composition, anticipating the result which would follow. Patrick was furiously incensed, and bribed the other apprentices, who were doubtless themselves also inflamed by jealousy, to put an end to Iain Dall's life. This they attempted while walking with him at Dun-Bhorraraig, where they threw the young blind piper over a precipice. Iain Dall fell eight yards, but alighted on the soles of his feet, and suffered no material injury. The place is still called "Leum an Doill." The completion of MacCrimmon's tune brought great fame to Iain Dall, and gave rise to a well-known Gaelic proverb, which being translated says, "the apprentice outwits the master."
Iain Dall made a number of celebrated Gaelic songs and poems. One of them, called "Coire an Easain," was composed on the death of Mackay Lord Reay. It is said not to be surpassed in the Gaelic language. Another fine poem of his was in praise of Lady Janet Mackenzie of Scatwell, on her becoming the wife of Sir Alexander the ninth laird of Gairloch. His fame as a bard and poet seems to have almost equalled his reputation as a piper. A number of his songs and poems appear in the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry."
Angus, the only son of "Iain Dall," succeeded his illustrious father as piper to the lairds of Gairloch. He was born about 1725. He was piper to Sir Alexander Mackenzie, tenth laird of Gairloch. When Sir Alexander visited France as a young man, he left Angus for tuition in Edinburgh. We know little of him beyond that he was a handsome man, and that he at least equalled his ancestors in musical attainments. He married Mary Fraser, daughter of William Fraser, of Gairloch. He attended a competition in pipe music whilst in Edinburgh. The other competing pipers, jealous of his superior talents, made a plot to destroy his chance. The day before the competition they got possession of his pipes, and pierced the bag in several places, so that when he began to practise he could not keep the wind in the pipes. But Angus had a fair friend named Mary, possibly his wife. To her he went in his trouble; she found for him a sheepskin from which, undressed as it was, he formed a new bag for his beloved pipes, and with this crude bag he succeeded next day in carrying off the coveted prize. He composed the well-known pibroch called "Moladh Mairi," or "the praise of Mary," in honour of his kind helper. This anecdote is sometimes connected with one of the other Mackay pipers. Angus lived to a good old age, and was succeeded by his son John.
John Mackay, grandson of the "blind piper," was born about 1753, and became on his father's death family piper to Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch. As a young man he went to the Reay country, the native land of his great-grandfather Rorie, and there received tuition on the little pipes, which are often used for dance music. He lived in the latter part of his career in Gairloch at Slatadale, where he married and had a numerous family, for whose advancement he emigrated to America with all his children except one daughter. She had previously married, but her father was so anxious that she should emigrate with the rest of the family, that she had to hide herself the night before the family left Gairloch in order to avoid being compelled to accompany them. John Mackay was a splendid piper; when he went to America, Sir Hector said he would never care to hear pipe music again. John prospered in America; he died at Picton about 1835, over eighty years of age. One of his sons, who was a stipendiary magistrate in Nova Scotia, died in the time of harvest 1884. The daughter who remained in Gairloch was married to a Maclean; their son, John Maclean of Strath, called in Gaelic "Iain Buidhe Taillear," has supplied much of the information here given regarding his ancestors, the hereditary pipers of the Gairloch family.
It is a singular fact that the four long-lived Mackays were pipers to the lairds of Gairloch during almost exactly two centuries, during which there were eight lairds of Gairloch in regular succession from father to son, but only the four pipers.
XVIII. WILLIAM MACKENZIE AND MALCOLM MACLEAN
Two of the older bards of Gairloch deserve a chapter to themselves.
William Mackenzie, the Gairloch and Loch Broom catechist, was commonly called "An Ceistear Crubach," or "the lame catechist," owing to his being lame of a leg. He was a native of the parish of Gairloch, and was born about 1670. He seems to have been a poet of no mean order. In his early years he had the reputation of being a serious young man; he committed to memory the Shorter Catechism in Gaelic, and was afterwards for seven years employed in the capacity of perambulatory catechist at a small salary. On one occasion in the dead of winter a tremendous storm overtook him, and he was driven to seek the shelter of a rock. He was fortunately discovered, and conveyed on horseback to the house of Mr Mackenzie of Balone, where he experienced the greatest kindness. Here he saw a beautiful young lady, his host's sister, who afterwards became Mrs Mackenzie of Kernsary, and, inspired by her charms, he composed a celebrated song of great poetic merit.
He happened to be in Strath, Gairloch, at the time of a wedding, to which however he was not invited. Being joined by some others who had suffered the same indignity, and who brought a bottle of whisky with them, he forgot the sacredness of his office, and as the glass went round composed a satirical song lampooning the newly-married couple and their relations and guests. The song eked out. The ministers shook their heads, and condemned the profanity of their catechist from their pulpits. He was dragged before the kirk-session and severely cross-examined. One or two of his judges espoused his cause, and insisted that he should recite the obnoxious song. "I can repeat no song," said the bard, "unless I accompany the words with an air, and to sing here would be altogether unbecoming." This obstacle was, however, got over, and Mackenzie sang the song with great glee, while his judges could not restrain their laughter. However he was dismissed from being catechist, and was never restored to the post. He died at a good old age, and was buried in Creagan an Inver of Meikle Gruinard, on the northern confines of the parish of Gairloch.
Malcolm M'Lean, called "Callum a Ghlinne," or "Callum of the glen," was a native of Kenlochewe. His reputation as a bard rests entirely on a celebrated song he composed in praise of his own daughter. It is the only example of his genius now extant. He was fond of singing the songs of other poets, and had an excellent voice. As a young man he enlisted in the army, and after serving a number of years was allowed a small pension on his discharge. He became a crofter in his native country, and married a woman of exemplary patience and resignation. He is described as a bacchanalian of the first magnitude, and by his intemperance reduced his wife and daughter to miserable poverty. The daughter, his only child, was of uncommon beauty, but for want of dowry was for a long time unwooed and unmarried. In his later years his drinking habits became more notorious than ever, and when he was seen approaching an inn the local topers left their work and trooped about him. No wonder the resignation of his poor wife, under such circumstances, is proverbial in Gairloch. He died about the year 1764.
Professor Blackie has made a spirited translation of Malcolm Maclean's song, which with the Professor's kind consent is given below.
The forgiving gentleness of Malcolm's wife is recorded in the following story:--Malcolm had occasion to go to Dingwall on a summer day for a boll of oatmeal; he took a grey horse with him. On his way, with just enough cash in his pocket to pay for the meal, he entered an inn, where he met a Badenoch drover, who proved to be a boon companion. The two continued drinking together for some time; the bard at length spent the last sixpence of his meal money. Thinking, no doubt, of the awkwardness of returning without the meal, he remarked, "If I had more money, I would not go home for some time yet." "That's easily got; I'll buy the grey horse from you," replied the drover. The bargain was speedily concluded, and the money paid. The well-seasoned poet continued the "spree," until at length the price of the grey horse was gone too. "Now," said he, "I must go." "But how," said the drover, "can you face your wife?" "My wife!" said the poet, "she's the woman that never said, nor will say worse to me than 'God bless you, Malcolm.'" "I'll bet you the price of the horse and the meal," replied the drover, "that her greeting will be very different." "Done!" eagerly shouted Malcolm, grasping the other's hand. Away they went, with the landlord and two other men to witness the bard's reception by his wife. He staggered into his dwelling, where he would have fallen into the open fire, had not his wife caught him in her arms, exclaiming, "God bless you, Malcolm." "But I have neither brought meal nor money," said the bard. "We will soon get more money and meal too," replied the wife. "But I have also drunk the grey horse," said he. "What matter, my love," she said, "since you are alive and well." It was enough: the drover had to count down the money; and it was not long before the patient wife had the satisfaction of hailing her husband's return with both horse and meal.
CALLUM O' THE GLEN.
Chorus.
My bonnie dark maid, My precious, my pretty, I'll sing in your praise A light-hearted ditty; Fair daughter whom none Had the sense yet to marry; And I'll tell you the cause Why their love did miscarry, My bonnie dark maid!
I.
For sure thou art beautiful, Faultless to see; No malice can fasten A blot upon thee. Thy bosom's soft whiteness The seagull may shame, And for thou art lordless 'Tis I am to blame.
II.
And indeed I am sorry, My fault I deplore, Who won thee no tocher By swelling my store; With drinking and drinking My tin slipped away, And so there's small boast Of my sporran to-day.
III.
While I sit at the board, Well seasoned with drinking, And wish for the thing That lies nearest my thinking, 'Tis the little brown jug That my eye will detain, And when once I have seen it I'd see it again!
IV.
The men of the country May jeer and may gibe, That I rank with the penniless Beggarly tribe; But though few are my cattle, I'll still find a way For a drop in my bottle, Till I'm under the clay.
V.
There's a grumpy old fellow, As proud as a king, Whose lambs will be dying By scores in the spring, Drinks three bottles a year, Most sober of men, But dies a poor sinner Like Callum o' Glen.
VI.
When I'm at the market, With a dozen like me Of proper good fellows That love barley-bree, I sit round the table, And drink without fear, For my good-wife says only, "God bless you, my dear!"
VII.
Though I'm poor, what of that? I can live and not steal, Though pinched at a time By the high price of meal. There's good luck with God, And He gives without measure; And while He gives health, I can pay for my pleasure.
VIII.
Very true that my drink Makes my money go quicker; Yet I'll not take a vow To dispense with good liquor: In my own liquid way I'd be great amongst men,-- Now you know what to think Of good Callum o' Glen.
XIX. WILLIAM ROSS, THE GAIRLOCH BARD
William Ross, known as "the Gairloch bard," was born at Broadford, Skye, in 1762. His mother was a native of Gairloch, and daughter of the celebrated blind piper and poet Iain Dall, or John Mackay, already noticed. For want of a regular school in Skye he and a little sister were sent to the Grammar School at Forres to be educated. Here his aptness in learning attracted the notice of the master, who declared that of the many pupils he had had under his care he did not remember one who had excelled young Ross as a general scholar. After he had been some years at Forres he joined his parents, who had removed to the parish of Gairloch. His father became a pedlar, and travelled through the Lews and other western islands. The young bard, who was of a delicate constitution, accompanied his father in these travels, and endeavoured to become acquainted with the different dialects of the Gaelic language. He afterwards travelled through parts of the Highlands of Perthshire, Breadalbane, and Argyllshire, and finally returned to Gairloch, where, at the age of twenty-four, he was appointed to the charge of the parish school, which he conducted until near the time of his death with much success. In a short time he acquired a great reputation as a teacher of the young, whom he endeared to himself by his tact and humour. His company was much sought after, not only for his excellent songs but also for his intelligence and sense of humour, and he maintained an intimacy with several respectable families with whom he had become acquainted during his travels. He played on the violin, flute, and several other instruments with considerable skill, and was a good singer; he acted as precentor in the parish church. Never strong he soon became a prey to asthma and consumption, and his short but brilliant poetic career was terminated by his death, in 1790, at the early age of twenty-seven. On the monument on his grave his age is stated to have been twenty-eight; but John Mackenzie, in the "Beauties," says William Ross died in his twenty-eighth year. He was residing at Badachro at the time of his death. He was buried in the churchyard of Gairloch, where a simple stone with an English inscription was all that for many years marked the spot. The funeral was attended by nearly the whole male population of the surrounding country.
A handsome freestone monument was in 1850 erected on the grave, mainly through the exertions of his clansman Mr George Ross, who was for many years head-keeper at Flowerdale, Gairloch, and is now (1886) living in well-earned retirement with a handsome pension from Sir Kenneth Mackenzie. The monument bears inscriptions in Gaelic and English. The English one is as follows:--
"In memory of William Ross, sometime schoolmaster of Gairloch, better known as the Gairloch bard, who died in 1790, aged 28 years, this monument is erected over his grave by a few of his countrymen and others, headed by the amiable and accomplished proprietor of Gairloch, in testimony of their respect and admiration of his extraordinary genius and great native talent. 1850.
His name to future ages shall extend, While Gaelic poetry can claim a friend."
In personal appearance William Ross was tall and handsome, with open and regular features, and brown hair, and was nearly six feet high. As a student he excelled in Latin and Greek, and it was universally allowed that he was the best Gaelic scholar of his day. During his excursions to the Lews he paid his addresses to Marion Ross, of Stornoway, but was rejected, and he never married. He composed songs to his flame both before and after his rejection. Some of his best pieces were composed during his travels, but the majority of his songs were the product of his later years. John Mackenzie included twenty-one of William Ross's songs and poems in the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," and published a separate volume of them, comprising in all thirty-three productions. John Mackenzie says that William Ross's poetry deserves to be styled the poetry of the heart,--of a heart full to overflowing with noble sentiments and sublime and tender passions.
XX. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, BARD TO SIR HECTOR
This famous bard of Gairloch is remembered in his native parish as Alastair Buidhe Mac Iamhair, or the "yellow-haired Alexander M'Iver." The surname Campbell is called M'Iver in Gairloch. He was born in 1767, probably at Melvaig, in Gairloch. On his mother's side he was descended from the Mackenzies of Shieldaig. His father's ancestor is said to have come from the Lorne country as attendant to Anna, daughter of Macdougal of Dunolly, who, about 1440, became the wife of Alexander the Upright, sixth lord of Kintail, father of Hector Roy Mackenzie. It is said that from the days of Hector Roy the bard's ancestors had always been ground-officers under the lairds of Gairloch.
Alastair Buidhe spent his youthful days at Melvaig, and assisted his father in the usual avocations of a small farmer. One of his best songs was composed whilst he was herding his father's cattle on the hill at Melvaig.
When he came to man's estate Alastair was appointed by Sir Hector Mackenzie to be one of his ground-officers, as well as his family bard. He seems to have displayed considerable tact in performing his duties. Here is an anecdote of him which illustrates not only his own character but the footing he was on with Sir Hector. It appears that Sir Hector had been much annoyed with a tenant at Poolewe, who was in arrear with his rent, and would not pay up any part of it. So he called Alastair Buidhe and instructed him to go and demand the rent once more, and in default of payment to take the roof off the house. On the tenant still refusing to pay up, Alastair got on the roof and removed one divot from the ridge at the very top of the roof, and one other from the top of the wall at the lowest part of the roof. Sir Hector, whose kind heart had by this time repented of the order he had given, met Alastair on his return. Sir Hector inquired if he had done the job. Alastair replied that he had. Sir Hector said he hoped he had not done as bad as he had been told. Alastair then told him he had put the highest divot from the roof as far down as the lowest. On this Sir Hector expressed his vexation, and remarked that Alastair had done very badly. Then Alastair said it was not so bad but that it could yet be made better, for that he had only taken off the two divots altogether. Sir Hector said, "Sandy, you are a wiser man than I am."
As bard to Sir Hector, Alastair regularly attended two or three days a week at Flowerdale House, as well as at other times when his services were required. He was much appreciated by every member of the family. Dr Mackenzie, Sir Hector's only surviving son, writing of him under date of 30th August 1878, said:--"I see honest Alastair Buidhe, with his broad bonnet and blue greatcoat (summer and winter), clearly before me now, sitting in the dining-room at Flowerdale, quite 'raised' like, while reciting Ossian's poems, such as 'The Brown Boar of Diarmid' and others (though he had never heard of Macpherson's collection), to very interested visitors, though as unacquainted with Gaelic as Alastair was with English. This must have been as early as 1812 or so, when I used to come into the room after dinner about nine years old." Dr Mackenzie says in his "Odd and End Stories" that it was Alastair who told them the story of Hector Roy and "The Gairloch" (see Part I., chap. ix.). The Doctor adds:--"One of our summer evening amusements was getting him (Alastair) to the dining-room after dinner, where, well dined below stairs and primed by a bumper of port wine, he would stand up and with really grand action and eloquence give us poem after poem of Ossian in Gaelic. Alastair could not read, and only understood Gaelic, and these poems came down to him through generations numberless, as repeated by his ancestors around their winter evening fires."
When Alastair became ground-officer and bard to Sir Hector, he took up his abode at Inverkerry near Flowerdale. In his later years he removed to Strath, and Sir Hector allowed him to hold his land there rent free for the rest of his days. He survived his beloved patron seventeen years; he died in 1843, at the age of seventy-six, and was buried in his family grave in the Gairloch churchyard.
Alastair was of middle height, and had, as his Gaelic soubriquet implies, yellow hair; he was a slender man, and never strong at his best. In his later years he suffered from bad health, and was very weakly long before his death.
His character is described as peculiarly attractive; he was of a gentle kindly disposition, highly esteemed by all who knew him of whatever rank, and children loved him as well as their seniors. He had a great fund of humour, combined with a deep sense of the pathetic, and was "splendid company."
William Ross, "the Gairloch bard," and he were intimate friends. As Alastair was wading the Achtercairn river one day, on his way to a sister's wedding, he met William Ross, and humorous verses were hurled from one to the other across the stream in reference to Alastair's coat, which was a "Cota gearr" of homespun cloth slightly dipped in indigo, the colour being between a pale blue and a dirty white. Alastair was also on good terms with Alexander Grant, the great bard of Slaggan.
Alastair was married, and left five sons, viz., Roderick (grandfather of Alexander Mackenzie the historian of the Mackenzies, and editor of the Celtic Magazine), Alastair Buidhe, Iain Buidhe, and Donald Buidhe (who was a cripple and became a tailor). Roderick, a son of Evander Buidhe, is now shepherd at Tollie, and has supplied much of the information here given about his grandfather. Another son of Evander Buidhe was in a shop at Inverness, where he died; he made a capital song to his grandfather's old house at Strath, entitled in Gaelic "Tigh mo Sheanair." So the poetic afflatus of the old bard has not altogether disappeared in his descendants.
It is remarkable that two such bright stars should have illuminated the poetic firmament at the same time in Gairloch as William Ross and Alexander Campbell. It is difficult for a southerner to appreciate the fame of these two Gairloch poets, but it may be said almost to correspond with that of Southey and Wordsworth. The poetry of William Ross appeals most strongly to the cultured mind, whilst Alastair's is more in tune with the simpler instincts and impulsive heartiness of a rural life. As we should expect, the poems of Alastair Buidhe are in the present day preferred in Gairloch to the compositions of his friend. No complete collection has been published of the poems of Alastair Buidhe, though several pieces have appeared in the Celtic Magazine. It is feared that many of the poems, which only live in the memories of the people, may soon be lost.