Glenelg & Arnisdale - Archives: HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
GLENELG, INVERNESS-SHIRE: NOTES
FOR A PARISH HISTORY
By the Rev. T. M. MURCHISON, M.A., Glasgow
8th March, 1957
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The parish of Glenelg is one of the largest in Inverness-shire. The civil parish extends from the Ross-shire boundary on the north to Loch Morar on the south, a distance of some twenty miles as the crow flies. It extends inland and eastwards from the Sound of Sleat, which separates it from the Isle of Skye, a distance of some ten to twenty miles.
The civil parish includes three well-defined districts: (1) Glenelg proper, lying between the Ross-shire boundary (where it marches with the parish of Glenshiel) and Loch Hourn (which separates it from Knoydart) ; (2) Knoydart, which lies between Loch Hourn and Loch Nevis, and (3) North Morar, which lies between Loch Nevis and Loch Morar, beyond which to the south is the civil parish of Ardna-murchan. On the south-east the parish of Glenelg marches with the parish of Glengarry.
In this paper we shall confine ourselves to the area which we call Glenelg proper, which is now and has been for many years the ecclesiastical parish, although at one time the minister of Glenelg had to serve the whole civil parish right down to Loch Morar.
Glenelg is an ancient district, and was obviously a place of considerable importance from the earliest times. The indications of pre-historic habitation suggest that its human history stretches as far back as that of any other parish in the Highlands and Islands. Its position, on the west mainland facing the Isle of Skye, gave it strategic importance, especially during the long centuries when the main way in and out of Skye and the Hebrides beyond lay across the ferry at Kylerhea, between Glenelg and Skye.
Glenelg, moreover, is one of the most fertile and attractive districts in the north-west Highlands, once carrying a considerable crofter population, later on famous for its sheep farms and deer forests, in more recent times to a large extent re-settled as small-holdings, and now also to a considerable extent planted by the Forestry Commission and by local proprietors.
This paper is not intended to be a history of the parish. It is merely a selection of material drawn from various sources, from which, with greater amplification and further research, a parish history might be put. together. There is no history of the parish, but there are many references to Glenelg in many books and documents.
It was my good fortune to have a double connection with Glenelg. Firstly, I spent my boyhood years at Kylerhea, in Skye, just two miles across the Sound from Glenelg, and my mother's people had been shepherds (Moffats and Fosters) in Glenelg and the surrounding parishes for several generations. Secondly, from 1932 to 1937 I was parish minister of Glenelg. It. was during this period that I began to collect all the information I could obtain about the parish.
The material I have collected has been culled from many different sources:
First of all, there are numerous printed books, covering archaeology, accounts left by various visitors in the past (as, for example, Johnson and Boswell), the Statistical Accounts, Origines Parochiales, clan histories, especially those dealing with the Clan Macleod and the Clan Fraser.
Secondly, there are unpublished records. The Kirk Session records of Glenelg go back only to 1831, but the records of the Synod of Glenelg and the Presbytery of Lochcarron go back to 1724, and I have had the opportunity of going through and extracting from all these. Earlier the parish of Glenelg was included in the Synod of Argyle, and the minutes of that Synod for the period 1639 to 1661, edited by the late Mr. Duncan C. Mactavish, have been published by the Scottish History Society. "The Book of Dunvegan," edited by the late Canon R. C. Macleod of Macleod from the charters in Dunvegan Castle, is a mine of information, and I have also been provided with unpublished material from the Dunvegan Charter Chest through the kindness of the late Mrs. Brenda Osbaldistone-Mitford, the Canon's daughter.
Thirdly, during my ministry in Glenelg there were still ]iving in the parish several very knowledgeable survivors of an older generation, full of local lore and tradition. There was, for example, John Macrae, one of the old Highland schoolmasters ; William Martin, who had sailed the seven seas ; Angus Stewart, blacksmith ; Donald MacRae, "An Gobha Mor" ; Donald MacMillan, known as ' The Champion"; my own grandmother, Mrs. Agnes Moffat (nee Foster), who had spent all her long life of well over ninety years in the parishes of Glengarry, Glenshiel, and Glenelg, as well as Strath in Skye. My great regret is that I did not take note of much more from these oral sources than I actually did, but one is usually wiser after the opportunity has gone. Now these old friends have all passed on, but I am grateful for what I did learn from them of earlier days.
The Place-Names of Glenelg
The place-names of Glenelg fall into four groups, indicating the four languages which have been spoken in the parish in historic times.
(1) Who the Picts were, whence and whither, it is not for me to say. The experts differ. It seems to be agreed, however, that place-names incorporating the element "pit" or "pett" are " Pictish." Such names occur fairly frequently in the east of Scotland (as, for example, Petty, Pitfour, Pitlochry), but, according to the late Professor W. J. Watson, there are only two such names on the west, and both are in Glenelg. They are "Pitalman" and "Pitalmit," and are found in old documents and old maps, and even in the Kirk Session records of a hundred years ago, but they have died out of popular usage in the parish, chiefly because they were crofting townships which were "cleared" a century ago to make way for a large sheep-farm. Before that happened, however, the old Pictish name, in the case of one of these, had been Gaelicised. "Pitalman" became "Baile-an-ailm," and this name is still in use. It is the name of a group of ruined walls in Glenmore, where once happy families dwelt and where bracken now holds sway. (The Pictish "pett" is said to have meant the same as the Gaelic "baile"-a township or farm.)
(2) There are quite a number of Norse names. The Norse-men occupied the west mainland, which includes Glenelg. for upwards of five hundred years, and not surprisingly have left their mark. Among the Norse names are Bernera, Scallasaig, Sandaig, Arnisdale, and Barrisdale. These names seem to me to incorporate personal names, which suggests that these places were originally land-holdings held by the leading Norsemen whose names they commemorate "Bernera," for example, is said to mean "Bjorn's land."
(3) Most of the place-names in Glenelg are pure Gaelic, and some of them are very beautiful. There is, for example,. Bealach na h-Oidhche, on the shoulder of Beinn a' Chapuill, and along with it go AlIt Bealach na h-Oidhche, Loch Bealach na h-Oidhche, and Creag Bealach na h-Oidhche.
(4) There are English names, an increasing number. "Baile a' mhuilinn" has become "Milton." The nondescript name “Quarry" (in Gaelic, "An Cuaraidh") is applied to a beautiful little village. "Cnoc an t-sobhail" has become "Barnhill." "An Lagan Mor" has become "The Big Slack." "An Clachan" - where church, hotel, and post office are - has become "Kirkton."
Many old place-names have been forgotten. In Macfarlane's Geographical Collections (circa 1630) we read of "Achmaire in the mids of Glenelg" ; "Childag a mile from the Kirk at Kilchonan" ; "Barnsaig-moir," "Barnsaig-beg," "Leadgachulle," "Aebtacharn," "Toldowy." Away back in 1583, in a charter of life-rent given by Norman Macleod of Dunvegan to his wife, there is mention of the following:
Lekewuir, Clamboyle, Achanahevill, Achatydowling. None of these are remembered or can be identified to-day.
From a rental of Glenelg, as it was in the time of the 19th Chief of Macleod, 1664to 1693, I cite the following place-names and append notes provided by the late Mr. Kenneth Macleod of Swindon, England, who was a native of Glenelg:
"Vorblickir." Now "Bourblach," the residence and glebe of the parish minister to this day.
"Leithold-beg" and "Leithold-more" in Glenmore, both obsolete.
"Achichuirne," now obsolete, the place now being called "Beolary," a name transferred from the opposite side of Glenmore.
"Knockfuin," "Pitalmaig," "Milmore"- still traceable and included in the farm, but now broken up into small-holdings.
"Swordilan," now "Swordlan," at the junction of Glenmore and Glenbeg, six miles inland. It was here that Angus Macleod lived, locally known as "Aonghus Mac Alasdair," who, along with five sons, fought at Culloden, where he and four of them were killed. One son managed to escape. It is on record that he was wounded in the abdomen, and while holding part of his entrails in the lapel of his kilt he accounted for several redcoats with his claymore.
Biallvraid," in Glenbeg, now "Balvraid" ("Baile a' bhraghad"), where Kenneth Macleod himself was born. His note is as follows: "My own birth-place. My forebears were landholders here from time immemorial. My father once possessed documentary evidence that he himself was the eighth generation in the direct line to hold those lands. He was the last of the line to live there. He was born in 1811 and died in 1898, and with him died volumes of material which ought to have been preserved."
"Achidadyle," "Cluimboile" and "Craunchile" have entirely disappeared from memory. "Leainver," "Lagandow" and "Blarnimaith" are also obsolete.
A discussion of the place-names of Glenelg would require a whole paper to itself. I shall merely list a few of the more interesting and discuss the meaning of the two most important ones.
"Teanga na Comhstri" (The tongue of strife) fittingly describes a small pendicle of land between two burns, on the boundary between Ross-shire and Inverness-shire (or Glenshiel and Glenelg parishes). This strip of land has been claimed by both parishes and counties.
"Caolas an lamhachaidh" (The strait of dexterous handling) well describes the narrow channel (about 200 yards across) between the mainland and Skye at Kylerhea. Here for centuries was the ferry to Skye, to which we shall refer later. Here the tide rushes swiftly, sometimes up to 7-8 knots, and here many a ship came to grief. I myself can recall two large tramp steamers which, getting out of hand in the strong currents, ran aground in the narrows during the 1914-18 war.
"Iomair nam fear m6ra" (The ridge of the big men) at Bernera is the site where the Fingalians were supposed to be buried and where a huge skull was once dug up.
On the top of Glasbheinn, on the borders of Glenshiel and Glenelg, is "Carn Cloinn Mhic Cruimein," where are buried "nine-nines" of MacCrimmons, slain in battle. For the full story see Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, XXX 142 (a paper by J. G. Mackay).
"Uamh na Gliogadaich" or "Uamh na Gliongarsaich" is in Galder-"the cave of clinking or tingling."
"Cachaileith nan Casan Gorta." A very descriptive name -"the gateway of the sore feet."
"Beinn a' Chaisteil" and "Pairc a' Chaisteil" (The ben of the castle and the park of the castle) refer to the site of the ancient castle of the Macleods.
"Druim Sgurr nan Cabar" - the ridge of the hill of the antlers.
"Allt Grannda"-the ugly stream.
"Sidean Dhomhnaill Bhric" - the pinnacle of freckled Donald. Who this Donald was I do not know.
"Bac an duin"-the hollow of the fort. This is a field on the glebe, near to the site of a pre-historic dun, and is said to have been the place where open-air Communion services were held at one time.
"Torr na h-iolaire"- eagle-mount.
"Tobhta Mor" - where the Clarsair DalI (to whom I refer later) had his dwelling.
"Dail-dreaganais," the old name for part at least of what now goes under the name of "Quarry."
"Allt na Seana Gheid"-the burn of the old ridge. Here was the old peat-road by which the Glenelg people conveyed their fuel home in the old days.
"Loch Iain Mhic Aonghuis," at the junction of Glenmore and Glenbeg, "John Maclnnes's loch." The story to account for its name is to the effect that a John Maclnnes, who lived nearby, one day saw a very fine horse on his land. He thought he might put it to work for him, but, being somewhat suspicious, first asked the advice of a wise neighbour. The neighbour said he could use the horse provided he was careful never to retain it beyond sunset. John saddled the horse and had several days' ploughing out of it, but took good care to unyoke the horse before sunset each day. One day, however, being anxious to finish a particular field, he carried on with the ploughing as the sun went down. No sooner had the sun disappeared underneath the horizon than the strange horse freed itself from the harness, seized poor John in its mouth, and plunged with him into the loch. All that was ever seen of John thereafter was his lungs, later found in "Coire an Sgamhain." The "Each-uisge," no doubt!
"Torr na Fala"~the hillock of blood. This is a short distance up Cosaig from Kirkton. It was here that, in times of destitution, the people bled the living cattle and mingled the blood with their scanty meal to keep body and soul together.
"Creag an Iasgair"~the fisher's rock - stands beside the Free Church, with no water nearby. It is said, however, that the Glenmore river used to flow past it until the river was diverted a century ago.
"An t-Amar"- the channel or canal. This is an artificial channel made over a century ago by the proprietor in connection with a boat-building industry which he tried to establish.
"Tobar an fhiona"-the well of wine - is an ancient well close to the parish church and graveyard, and probably a "holy well" of early times.
"Creag an Da Shimileir"-the two-chimneyed rock~~used to jut up and partly overhang the main road between Glenelg and Glenbeg. The coming of motor traffic, large lorries and vans, and especially cattle floats, necessitated its removal by blasting. I remember it well.
"Port a' Gharraidh"~the haven of the wall - I associate with the late Angus Maclean, reckoned to be a "simple" sort of man but in fact possessed of the sort of wit that Gilleasbuig Aotrom in Skye had. On one occasion a melodeon player was giving proof of his musicianship and entertaining the locals with a great variety of tunes. When he had exhausted his repertoire, Angus remarked seriously, "Cuiridh mi geall nach cluich thu am port seo." "Gu de' am port?" asked the melodeonist. "Port a' gharraidh," said Angus!
"Srath a' Chomair"~the strath of the confluence - is at the head of Glenbeg, at a place where ancient hill-tracks from Glenelg, Glenmore, Glenshiel, and Loch Hournhead and Glengarry meet. It was at one time the site of a regular market, to which people came from the parishes of Kintail, Glenshiel, Glenelg and Glengarry.
That must suffice for mention of place-names. But two deserve special attention.
There is the word "Glenelg" itself. The older native speakers I knew never called it "Gleann-eilge" in Gaelic, but "Glinn-eilge." I once mentioned this to the late Dr. D. J. Macleod, and he suggested that "Glinn-eilge" was a locative form. I myself, however, prefer to regard it as a plural -"the glens of Elg." In Glenelg proper there are actually three large glens - as well as some smaller ones - Bernera glen, Glenmore and Glenbeg.
The second part of the name, "Elg," is difficult to explain. It goes back very far, and W. J. Watson cites "iath Eilge" (the region of Elg) and "fear finn Eilge " (lord of fair Glenelg) from old manuscripts. Some suppose that Ealga was the name of the Norse princess alleged to be buried on the top of Beinn-na-Caillich in Skye, just opposite Glenelg. The two parish ministers, Colin Maclver and Alexander Beith, who contributed the accounts of the parish to the Old and New Statistical Accounts respectively, suggest the name "Glenelg" was originally "gleann seilg" or "gleann eilid," the valley of hunting or the valley of the hind. Beith says that both meanings are "equally appropriate, whether meant to be descriptive of the regular and extensive sweep of the mountains or of the rich verdure and covert by which they are distingushed." The Fingalians used to live and hunt in Glenelg, according to tradition, and this has been cited in support of the meanings just mentioned.
Watson himself points out that "ealga" means the same as "muc" or pig. The pig was apparently a sacred animal to the old Gaels. Ireland was called "Muc-innis" or "Innis-ealga" (island of boars or of the torc). Glenelg had its share of wild boars in the old days. It was in Glenelg that, according to tradition, Malcolm, third chief of Macleod, overcame the wild "torc" or "tarbh " (the animal is differently described in different versions), which gave the Macleods their crest and their slogan.
Watson also says that "ealga" means "excellent, noble," and he suggests that Glenelg means "the noble glen" or "the glen of the noble river." Macbain also favoured this interpretation.
The learned Hector Maclean of Islay argued that Glenelg meant "the fertile glen," from a word "elg" meaning a cultivated field or plain.
My own suggestion is based on what W. C. Mackenzie says about similar names. A charter of 1282 spells Glenelg as "Glen helk," while in popular Gaelic speech a Glenelg man is called "Eilginneach." This would seem to indicate that "elg" was earlier "helgin," and "helgyn," according to Mackenzie, means in Norse "holy place" ("helg-vin"), and so, he says, Elgoll in Skye (properly Helgoll) means "Holy Hill." But why should Glenelg be described as a "holy place? " As we shall see, it was the site of a Christian community from the seventh century onwards, and there are indications that in pre-Christian days rites of pagan worship were practised here, as witness the cup-marked stones in the parish.
The other place-name which has aroused much discussion is "Loch Hourn." Popular opinion makes it to be "Loch Iuthairne" (loch of hell), in contrast with its neighbour to the south, "Loch Nimheis" (Loch Nevis), alleged to mean "the loch of heaven." An old map writes it down as "Loch Hell." Macbain took it as "Loch Shuirn," from "Sorn" (a furnace or gulley), while Watson made it out to be "Loch Shubhairne" from "Subh-bhearn" (berry-gap). At the head of Loch Hourn there is a corry called "Coire Shubh," on which Watson fastens in support of his argument. He also cites from the poetry of John MacCodrum and the Book of the Dean of Lismore to show that there was an initial "S" in the word, although local Gaelic speakers have long since forgotten all about it. The Dean has: "Leigeadh deireadh de mhuirn eadar Seile is Subbairne" (They make an end of jollity between Shiel and Loch Hourn). MacCodrum says:
"O cheann Loch Shubbairne nam fuar-bheann
Gu bun na stuaighe am Morair."
I must confess I find both Macbain and Watson far-fetched and fanciful, and I think there is something to be said for the traditional derivation, "The loch of hell." There is no sea-loch in Scotland more beautiful on a fine summer day there is none more terrifying and dangerous in winter gales. Many lives have been lost in Loch Hourn, once the scene of great herring fishings.
The Antiquities of the Parish
The most famous antiquities in Glenelg are the two brochs or so-called "Pictish towers" in Glenbeg. At one time there were at least four brochs in Glenbeg, but of the most easterly and the most westerly only the site - a heap of jumbled boulders and stones-remains. Dun Telve and Dun Trodain, however, still stand to the height of some thirty feet in parts of their walls. They are of the type of circular building of which the best-known and best-preserved example is the broch of Mousa on a small island in the Shetlands. There is the double wall, with galleries and stairways in the walls. These curious structures have been investigated and described in many publications, notably in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and it is unnecessary to spend time on them here.
I may, however, recall the traditional tales of the Fingalians which associate them with these ancient structures. I use the word "Fingalians," although it is anything but correct, to describe the "Fiann," the warrior-band of Fionn. The tradition is that Fionn and his followers lived in these brochs and often went hunting in Skye. According to the version of the story recorded by the late W. C. Mackenzie, the Fingalian women were careful never to take food in the presence of their men-folk, but nevertheless managed to remain 'comely and well-favoured." The men wondered how the women managed to live on so little nourishment. One day, therefore, one of the warrior-band, Gairidh, was left at home while the other men went to Skye to hunt. Gairidh feigned illness and lay on his bed so that he could watch the women. He fell asleep, however, and the women promptly took strong wooden pegs and fastened Gairidh's seven locks tightly to the bottom of the bed, to keep him out of the way, and then they proceeded to feast on the finest food that glen or river could produce. Gairidh suddenly awoke, was irritated to find he was fastened to the bed, leapt to his feet with a mighty effort, and in so doing left every lock of his hair and the skin of his skull on the bed. Mad with pain, Gairidh rushed out, gathered brush-wood which he placed around the locked door, and set fire to the dwelling with the women inside, so that none escaped. Meanwhile, over in Skye, Fionn and his hunting men saw the pall of smoke arise and suspected all was not well at home. They hurried back, vaulting over the "narrows" of Kylerhea on their spears. One of them, Reithe, failed "to make it" and was drowned, whence the name "Caol-Reithe" (Kylerhea). Fionn and his men found their women dead and Gairidh missing. At last he was discovered skulking in a cave and was suitably dealt with.
There are just two things I might add to the story. One is that at Kylerhea they point out the mark of the feet where the Fingalians took off as they vaulted over the narrows. The other is that near the Kylerhea narrows is a site called "lomair nam Fear M6ra" (The ridge of the big men), alleged to be the burying-place of the Fingalians. It is said that once upon a time a bold man began ploughing up the place, in defiance of local warnings. He turned up a human skull, which was so big that it easily fitted over the head of the biggest man present (alleged to be the Rev. Cohn Maclver, minister of Glenelg from 1782 to 1829). Just at that point, however, a terrible storm of thunder and lightning arose, and the ploughing speedily ceased and the skull of "Gairidh" or some other Fingalian was promptly buried again.
In Glenmore, on the glebe and quite close to the Manse, there is another site, locally referred to as a "dun," but more properly it is a "cairn." It appears not to have been excavated at any time, but has, like the brochs, suffered dilapidation at the hands of builders of dykes and dwellings.
In Glenmore~one on the glebe, the other at the foot of the glen at Galder-are two hill-top enclosures, by the name of "Am Bitghan." The one on the glebe has inside it the traces of a smaller building, possibly a little chapel. It may be that, during the early years of the Norse occupation, before the Norse themselves became Christian, the Christian community at Glenelg continued Christian worship within the safety of this fortified enclosure or "Baghan."
At Balvraid in Glenbeg there is an earth-house. It was excavated, but has now fallen in and would require to be opened up anew. In the same glen there is a small stone circle and nearby a large cup-marked boulder. On the hill between Glenmore and Glenbeg there are traces of another stone circle. At Bernera there are cup-markings on a flat rock, known locally as "The Fairy Foot-prints."
At Scallasaig in Glenmore there is what some have called "A serpent mound," and it is said to have contained an urn. There are several mounds and knolls which seem to me artificial and might be worth investigating.
The Ownership of Glenelg
For upwards of five hundred years Glenelg was included in the wide domains of the Chiefs of the Clan Macleod. A charter of 1282 speaks of Glenelg as having previously belonged to the King of Man.
Olave the Black, King of Man, was born circa 1175. As King of Man he ruled over Lewis and Harris, Uist and Glenelg. A friend of his, Paul Bacach, was at that time Sheriff of Skye, and ruled Skye for the King of Norway. Olave had a son, Leod It was from this Leod that the Clan Macleod and their Chiefs have come. I must admit that there are various theories about these matters in these far-off times. I merely follow what seems to me the most reasonable interpretation of the available information.
Olave sent his son, Leod, to be brought up by his friend, Paul Bacach, in Skye. The result was that, when Olave and Paul died, Leod became the heir of both. From Paul he inherited most of Skye, Harris and Uist from his father, Olave, he got Lewis and Glenelg, and, to crown all, he married the daughter of MacRaild and with her got the rest of Skye. Somehow or other he also acquired Gairloch. All these lands he held as a vassal of the King of Norway.
When the Battle of Largs (1263) broke the power of the Norse in Scotland, the Western Isles and mainland were given to the Scottish Crown, but Leod now held his lands as a vassal of the Earl of Ross, to whom the king of Scotland had given the superiority of these former Norse possessions.
To his son, Torquil, Leod left Lewis and Gairloch. To his son, Tormod, he left Skye, Harris and Glenelg.
It would appear, however, that the Macleods only possessed two-thirds of Glenelg. The other third, "the Ards of Glenelg," belonged from an early date to the Frasers of Lovat.
Between 1307 and 1314 Glenelg was taken from the Earldom of Ross and included in the Earldom of Moray, then held by Bruce's friend, Thomas Randoph. The Macleods thus held Glenelg as vassals of Randolph. In a charter dated 1342 King David II granted to Malcolm, chief of Macleod, two-thirds of Glenelg, namely, eight davochs and five pennylands, on condition that the latter should have ready for the king's use, when required, a galley or "birlinn" with 36 oars.
It was about this time, apparently, that a feud began between the Macleods and the Frasers, which lasted for 300 years. It is said to have begun with Fraser's suspicions of the relations between the Macleod chief and Fraser's wife. It is unnecessary to trace the story of this feud in detail. The necessary documents are printed in "The Book of Dunvegan."
Alasdair Crotach, the 8th chief, who became chief in 1480, is said to have been the last chief to occupy the dwelling in Glenelg, known as "Caisteal MhicLeo'id." There remains no trace of any building on the traditional site, on the edge of a steep rock above the main road at Galder. When the foundations were still visible it was found to measure only 18 feet by 34 feet, and therefore could not have t~ce~ much of a castle. It was probably a "hunting lodge," but no doubt well fortified. It was certainly difficult of access. Here the MacLeod chiefs lived from time to time, when they visited their Glenelg estates. It is said that one night a child of Alasdair Crotach's fell from a nurse's arms at the window of the castle and down over the precipice and was killed, and the place ceased to be occupied. The chiefs moved their residence to a new dwelling which they built on Dail-mh6r, where the Free Church Manse now stands.
In 1507 Alasdair Crotach seized the Fraser third of Glenelg, which was then valued at £40 a year. By 1527 the Macleods owed the Frasers £800 for the land they had seized. In 1533 one-third of the two-thirds of Glenelg which belonged to the Macleods was given by the king to Hugh Fraser of Lovat as security for the sum which the Macleods owed him for his land which they had taken. The weary squabble dragged on. In 1539 a good opportunity occurred for reuniting Glenelg and settling the quarrel. Alasdair Crotach's son, William, married Lovat's daughter, Agnes. Unfortunately, William and Agnes had no male heir, and the feud broke out anew. William and Agnes had a daughter, however. Her name was Mary. She was only nine years of age when her father died and left her the heiress of his lands in Harris, Skye and Glenelg. There was naturally keen competition for the privilege of being her guardian. Mary spent some time at the court of Mary Queen of Scots and may have been one of "The Queen's Maries."
At last in 1612, three hundred years after it had started, the squabble between Macleod and Fraser over the Glenelg lands was settled by Rory Mor Macleod paying the sum of £9,000 to Fraser. From this time onwards the value of the Glenelg estate steadily increased in value. The following figures may be of interest. The rental of the Glenelg estate was as follows in the years indicated (the money is sterling):
Year
1735 £335 5 7
1755 £407 6 8
1773 £536 11 7
1798 £1322 14 5
During the eighteenth century the Macleod chiefs found themselves burdened with increasing burdens of debt, and several times it was proposed to sell the Glenelg lands. This was finally done in 1811, when Glenelg was purchased from Macleod by a Mr. Bruce for the enormous sum in those days of £98,500.
It was, however, for Mr. Bruce and his successors an excellent investment. The coming of large-scale sheep-farming (resulting in the removal of the smaller tenants and the consolidation of older holdings) meant a steady increase in rent.
Here is the rental of the Glenelg estate, as possessed by Mr. Michael Bruce, in the year 1824. I give it from a manuscript given me by my predecessor as parish minister, the late Rev. Alexander Mactaggart.
Editor Note: The amounts are in pounds shillings and pence
Arnisdale and Lochournhead - 670 0 0
Camusbane and Lochournside - 68 0 0
Corran and Lochournside - 147 10 0
Kylerhea, Barnera and Galder 382 3 4
Beorblich 18 12 9
Immergraddan, Leol and Milton 140 0 0
Beolary, Upper Myle, Mylemore,Pitalmic,
Leanachan - 500 0 0
Knockfin and Eatanbhaich (Aodann a' bhathaich) - 100 0 0
Scallasaig and Swordlan - 400 0 0
Islandreoch Sandwick Raasay Inchkennel & Culnanune 700 0 0
Correry - 70 0 0
Balavriaid - 95 0 0
Kirkton and Cossaick - 54 10 0
Barrack Ground, 40 acres arable land at £2 each 80 0 0
Rent of houses on Barrack ground, and gardens - 45 10 0
Salmon fishing - 20 0 0
Kelp shares - 25 0 0
Total Rental - £3,516 6 1
Bruce did not long retain the estate. It was soon sold to Charles Grant, M.P. for Inverness-shire, and later Lord Glenelg, and Secretary of State for the Colonies. Later the estate passed into the possession of Baillie of Dochfour, but bit by bit it has been sold off to new proprietors, including the Department of Agriculture for Scotland and the Forestry Commission.
The Church of Glenelg
The saint whose name has been associated with Glenelg is a certain Coemgan or Cuimen. In various documents the name is variously spelt. In an old map dated 1600 the Glenelg Church is called "Kilchammerin." In Blaeu's map (1640) it is "Heglis Kilchummerin." In a document of 1650 it is Kilchuimen and Kilchonen, and in the Argyle Inventory of 1671 it is Kilchuman.
In view of the different spellings and also of the fact that there were several Celtic missionaries with very similar names (as, for example, Cumine, Cummene, Comman and Cummian), it is difficult to decide which person is associated with Glenelg. Cosmo Innes (in "Origines Parochiales") says that the church of Glenelg was apparently dedicated to St. Coemgan. The "g" would become soft or silent, and so the name might become "Caomhan" or "Cuimean." Innes also states that Cuimen's church, according to some old maps, seems to have stood on the right bank of a small stream falling into the Bay of Glenelg near the village of Kirkton, which is the exact site where the present parish church stands.
According to the late Dr. G. A. Frank Knight (in his "Archaeologica1 Light on the Early Christianising of Scotland"), the Cuimen who introduced Christianity to Glenelg was the person who also gave his name to "Cille-chuimein" (now in English Fort Augustus). This, he says, was Coemgan Ailbhe, "Cuimen the Fair." He was born in Ireland, and at an early age crossed over to lona to serve as a monk under his uncle, Leghine. Later he became the seventh Abbot of lona and spent the rest of his days there, except when he paid an occasional visit to his native Ireland or went forth on missionary journeys to the north. It was while on these evangelising journeys that he founded a church at the present Fort Augustus and another in Glenelg.
Cuimen died in 669. We may therefore claim that the Christian Faith has been professed and Christian worship continued in Glenelg for almost 1300 years. There is no other ecclesiastical site in the parish (that is, in Glenelg proper), except the site of the alleged chapel in Bitghan Bhuorblaich, already referred to. We have reason to believe, therefore, that Christian worship has continued on the site where the present parish church stands for almost thirteen centuries. Whether it has continued without interruption is another matter. Since the area came early under Norse domination, and the Norsemen were, to begin with, pagan, it is very likely that, for a time at least, the ecclesiastical site may have been abandoned. But we have tradition to tell us that it was restored again as early as the early 13th century.
Before passing on, one may hazard the suggestion that "Kilchammerin" means “Cille-chuimein-erin," – “The church of Cuimen of Ireland." One might also mention that in 1561 the "Ards" of Glenelg were held by Macleod of Dunvegan and Glenelg under the Abbot of Iona as superior.
According to the History of the Clan MacRae, a certain Crotach MacGilligorm built a church at Glenelg and another at Kilmore in Skye early in the 13th century. This Crotach's father, it is said, was killed in battle with the Frasers of Lovat, and Crotach, then a child, had his back broken by the Frasers lest on growing up he might avenge his father's death. Being hunchbacked, he was called "Crotach," and was trained for the priesthood by the monks of Beauly. He eventually journeyed to the west and, as already stated, founded a church at Glenelg.
Cosmo Innes notes that there is no reference to the church of Glenelg or its clergy in any documents or records prior to the Reformation.
After the Reformation the parish of Glenelg was included for a time in the Presbytery of Lorn, then for a period in the Presbytery of Skye, and then again for another period in the Presbytery of Lorn. In 1724 Glenelg was included in the Presbytery of Lochcarron (at first called Presbytery of Gairloch) and Synod of Glenelg, both of which were erected that year. Glenelg was the seat and meeting-place of the Synod for many years.
It is unnecessary to list the names of the parish ministers or, from 1843, the Free Church ministers. The essential details about them will be found in the "Fasti" and in "Annals of the Free Church." It will suffice here to put on record certain matters of interest not already in print.
Four ministers are named as serving the parish in the 17th century - Alan Clerk, Allan Maclennan, Sweyn Mac-Sweyn (who was intruded) and John Morrison. At that time, according to local tradition, the manse and glebe were in Glenbeg, and Glenbeg happened to be the part of the parish likely to be first reached by cattle-raiders from Lochaber. The story is told that the Lochaber men came on one occasion and drove away the minister's cattle. At the head of the Glen, however, they lost their way. They met a stranger and asked him to direct them to the hill-track leading home to Lochaber. The stranger undertook to guide them, but he actually led them into a place where they were ea~ly set upon and suitably handled by the Glenelg men. The stranger was the Glenelg minister, whose prowess won the applause of his parishioners. Which of the afore-mentioned four ministers this was we cannot say.
From the Records of the Presbytery of Lochcarron, I extract the following items which refer to Glen elg:
The first relates to a "presbyterial visitation" by the Presbytery. At Glenelg on 16th September, 1730, the Presbytery met. There were present Mr. Donald Macleod (Lochalsh), Moderator, Mr. Murdo Macleod (Glenelg), Mr. John Maclean (Kintail) and Mr. John Beaton (Glenshiel). The "visitation', started with the minister of Glenelg lecturing to his congregation, who had assembled, on Psalm 17 and preaching on Psalm 48, verse 11, in the presence of the Presbytery. The Presbytery approved of his discourses, and he "was encouraged in the Lord." Then, the minister being removed, the elders and the heads of families in turn were questioned by the Presbytery. "The usual questions being put to them, they gave satisfying answers to them, considering the situation of the bounds." "Thereafter the schoolmaster, precentor, session-clerk, and beddal being called for, the minister, elders, and heads of families represented that the beddal is lying sick so that he could not attend at the time but that he is diligent and faithful in his office that there is no parochial but a charity school in the parish, and that there is no precentor. Which being considered, the Presbytery seriously recommended to them to use all proper methods for getting a parochial school erected in the parish according to law, and to employ a proper person to be precentor and session-clerk." The minister gave his excuse for not producing his session books and was ordered to have them ready the next time. "The Presbytery finding that the day is far spent have delayed the visitation of the parochial library till to-morrow."
On the following day the Presbytery proceed to "visit" the parochial library. "Master Murdoch Macleod, minister of Glenelg, in whose custody the said library is, produced the same, and the Presbytery, having viewed the books therein and compared the same with the catalogue thereof, have found that the said library is in very good case," but a certain number of books were missing, and the minister was instructed to recover them as soon as possible.
Unfortunately we do not have a list of the books in the library, and the library itself has vanished long ago. We do have, however, in the Presbytery minutes a list of the books found to be missing at this visitation, and I quote some of the titles to indicate the sort of "light reading" that the people of that time indulged in. One suspects that the borrowers from the library consisted of the minister, the schoolmaster and some of the local gentry (the tacksman class). It is not likely that many of the ordinary people could speak English, much less read books in English or in Latin.
The books missing from the Glenelg parochial library in 1730 included the following:
Cyprian, On the Lord's Prayer, printed 1702.
Calvin's Institutions, Englished by Morton, printed 1634.
Petrie's Church History.
Brough's Holy Feasts and Fasts, printed 1657.
Sarnold's Supplication of Saints or Book of Prayers, 1678.
Talbore's Rational Account of the Causes and Cures of Ague, printed 1672.
Lensden's Novi Testamenti Compendium Graecum, 1682.
Barony's Apologia de formali objecto fidei, 1657.
A Brief Answer to the Quaker's Vinditia Veritatis, 1703.
Three copies of The Plain Man's Reply to the Catholic Missionary.
Asheton, Against Blasphemy (two copies).
Barow's Brief State of the Socinian Controversy.
Pastoral Advice to a Young Parson (two copies)
A Short Account of Religion.
The Country Parson's Admonitions to his Parishioners.
Asheton's Exhortations to the Holy Communion.
Doctor Asheton's Sermons before the Natives of Kent.
Leighton on the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Decalogue (four copies).
Fleming, On the Death of King William (three copies).
A Rebuke to Uncleanness.
Dr. Stillingcourt's Prayers.
A Persuasive to Observe the Lord's Day.
An Earnest Exhortation to House Keepers.
The Rev. Murdo Macleod, a graduate of King's College, Aberdeen, was minister of Glenelg from 1707 to 1755, when, at the age of seventy-seven years, he demitted office "from old age and infirmity." However, a few months after his demission he became the occasion of scandal in the parish and was deposed from the ministry. Two years later he married (for the second time) at the age of seventy-nine.
In the Presbytery Recdrds, 1732, we find the following:
"There being a 'fama clamosa' that Mr. Murdo Macleod, minister at Glenelg, did upon some day of the week immediately after the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in his parish cruelly beat one Donald Melllichurvich in Mull (now Myle) to the effusion of his blood, upon which his wife coming to assist him and crying 'Murder' that the neighbours might convene to rescue him, the said Master Murdo used her likewise barbarnusly and inhumanly, and Mr. Murdo Macleod, being interrogate as to these particulars, confessed judicially that being provoked by the said Donald MelUicharrich, he did beat him, and that the said Donald's wife coming to his assistance and raising a clamour he threw her down also and put his foot upon her neck to stop her vociferation." rhe Presbytery appointed a committee to enquire. Later the committee reported that the minister "did strike the said Donald Mclllicharich and Anna MeLerinan his wife foresaid upon such an occasion as served to aggravate the offence." The Rev. Murdo Macleod was therefore "sharply rebuked" and threatened with higher censures unless he mended his ways of carrying out his pastoral duties.
The 18th century ministers of Glenelg, including the redoubtable Rev. Murdo Macleod, were quite gone from local memory in Glenelg in my early days there. The furthest back that local tradition, ministerially, went was to the Rev. Cohn Maclver, who was minister from 1782 to 1829. Several stories were told of him. One was to the effect that on one occasion, when he had Dr. John Macdonald of Ferintosh to assist at the Glenelg Communion, he remonstrated with Macdonald for calling his parishioners sinners. "Chan 'eil ach aon pheacach anns an sgir seo," arsa Maighistir Cailean, "Domhnall Ruadh ud shuas~" ("There's only one sinner in this parish, Donald Roy yonder.")
The two ministers who were most spoken of were the Rev. Alexander Beith and the Rev. John MacRae.
Beith was minister of Glenelg from 1830 to 1839. He died in Stirling in 1891. At the Disruption he threw in his lot with the Free Church. A grandson of Beith's was the late Major Ian Hay Beith ("Ian Hay"), the well-known author, and a great-grand-daughter is Miss Janet Beith, who won some measure of fame over twenty years ago by winning a 20,000 dollar prize in a world novel competition with her novel, "No Second Spring," which is based on Alexander Beith's diary of his life as minister at Glenelg. In 1933 the Beith family erected a mural tablet in Glenelg Church in memory of their ancestor, and Miss Janet Beith was present at the service of dedication which I had the honour of conducting.
While in Glenelg, Beith lost four of his children by death within the space of six weeks (three girls aged 12, 9 and 2, and a boy aged 4). They are buried in Glenelg, and the tragic circumstances are described in Beith's little book, "Sorrowing Yet Rejoicing." Dr. Beith was a prolific writer, and published quite a number of books, pamphlets and articles. The Kirk Session Records say that he laid down the ruling that in future not more than two glasses of whisky were to be drunk before "lifting" the corpse at funerals, and not more than three more after it had been consigned to the grave. Local tradition speaks of Beith with respect, although there are stories of his awkwardness as a Gaelic preacher, in which language apparently he was not altogether at home. He was a native of Campbeltown, received a D.D. degree from Princeton, U.S.A., and was Moderator of the Free Church General Assembly.
The Rev. John MacRae, minister from 1840 to 1875, is often spoken of. He and a party with him saw a "sea serpent" in Loch Hourn, but I cannot at the moment find my notes on this interesting experience.
Some Old Families
Glenelg having been for so long Macleod property, it was only to be expected that most of the gentry or tacksman class would be Macleods, and two families especially may be mentioned~the Macleods of Eileanreach and the Macleods of Arnisdale.
Donald Glas Macleod, descended from lain Borb, 6th Chief of Macleod, was one of the most distinguished warriors of his day. He was killed at a comparatively early age at the battle of Carinish in North Uist in 1601. He was the progenitor of the Macleods of Drynoch. His great-grandson, Norman, 4th of Drynoch, became the first of Eileanreach in Glenelg. The Laird of Macleod sent Norman to be factor in Glenelg to guard that part of the Macleod estates against the ravages of the Lochaber cattle-lifters. He was factor of Glenelg from 1727 to 1747, and his tombstone in the Glenelg Churchyard carries a lengthy and highly eulogistic Latin inscription. He was succeeded in Drynoch and Eileanreach by his son, John, who was succeeded by his brother, Donald. Donald was succeeded by his son, Norman. This Norman, 7th of Drynoch and 4th of Eilean-reach, was factor from 1779 until the estate of Glenelg was sold in 181 1. He then bought the farm of Knock in Sleat, Skye.
The Presbytery Records have references to some of these Macleods. In 1728 Norman of Eileanreach, as factor for Macleod, tried to block the minister's attempt to get a new glebe assigned him. In 1729 the minister of Glenelg reported to Presbytery "that according to appointment he did rebuke Norman Macleod of Drynoch sessionally for his Sabbath profanation in company with the Lairds of Macleod, Mackinnon, and Tallisker, and others."
A sister of Norman, 4th of Eileanreach, was the wife of the Rev. Cohn Maclver, Glenelg, while a daughter of Norman was married to a later minister, the Rev. John MacRae ("Maighistir lain").
Another notable family was the Macleods of Arnisdale, but, since the Rev. Donald Mackinnon has written a book about them, we need not spend any time on them here.
From 1764 to 1778 the factor of Glenelg was John Murchison, tacksman of Beolary, in Glenmore, a distant kinsman of my own. He is the Murchison referred to by Johnson and Boswell as having sent them a present of rum and sugar when they visited Glenelg. He also presented to the Glenelg Church two beautiful Communion Cups, inscribed with his name and the date 1796, which are still in use. He was an Elder of the congregation.
The State of the People
Glenelg, being one of the most fertile parishes on the west mainland, at one time carried a considerable population, but with the increasing pressure of higher and ever higher rents, caused by the competition of large-scale sheep farmers from the south for Highland hill grazings, emigration set in. Between 1770 and 1774, 169 emigrants left the parish. In 1785, 14 left. Two years later another 10. In 1793, 130' went away. In 1849 more than 500 people had to leave Glenelg. They had petitioned the proprietor, Baillie of Dochfour, to provide some means of existence for them at home by carrying ou~ land reclamation and improvements in the district or, failing this, to help them to emigrate. He chose the latter alternative. He contributed £2,000, and the Highland Destitution Committee contributed £500, to the cost of passage money, free rations, a month's maintenance after arrival in Canada, and clothing for the more needy persons. The 500 sailed in the ship "Liscard." But even before this date there was already in Canada a parish called '~Glenelg" with a population greater than the home parish, mostly emigrants and descendants of emigrants from Glenelg.
It is said that at one time there were some twelve townships in Glenmore. The day came when there were less than half that number of houses altogether. It was good sheep country, as will be seen from the following figures. In Glenmore there were two farms, Beolary with 4,500 sheep and Scallasaig with 3,100 sheep. Further south there was the Eileanreach tack carrying 5,400 sheep, and Arnisdale carrying 4,300.
The following information from the Minutes of Evidence of the Napier Crofters' Commission may be of interest:
"The number of persons without land in Kirkton is about twenty families. They pay 5/- for a house. They were dispossessed of their lands when their crofts were made into a sheep farm, fifty years ago and later, but some within the last ten to twenty years." "The Widow Cameron, paying £12 rent, was evicted and got no compensation for the barn and byre she built. France (the factor) took possession of the barn and gave the byre to others, and he let her land to four people for grazing, and they pay £17 altogether, and he had one-third of the land himself for nothing. This eviction happened ten years ago. Jane Fraser had a croft with rent of £6. She was evicted and her land divided into three lots."
Another man testified: "The hill (grazing of Cosaig) now belongs to Eileanreach. I have seen the whole of Cosaig belong to the crofters who were in Kirkton and Cosaig. They lost the first part of it more than 40 years ago, when old Currie was factor. Then by stages the fence was moved to the back of our houses and we lost all the land, and we were brought to poverty."
Donald MacRae, aged 73, said: "I have seen the Great Glen (Glenmore) from top to bottom full of people, considerably over sixty years ago" (he was giving this evidence in 1883, so this takes us back to 1823) "there were a number of small townships, but they were bigger than they looked. Behind them in the hills they had a shieling for every township. A great many went to America, some to Australia. Their lands were made into bigger lands and given to the few who remained.. The clearing was gradual. The glen was gradually cleared down and down, township after township, until they reached the glebe. I will give you the names of nine townships, each with its shieling - Maolmore, Maol-uachdarach, Bolanalin (Baile an ailm), Cnocfhuin (Cnocfhinn), Ardaun, Abathalith, Achadachuirn, Airithcheachan, Toamcluiadain, Gallatair, Achdain." (One is surprised that a Commission, of which Professor Donald Mackinnon of the Edinburgh Celtic Chair was a member, should have been so careless with the spelling of Gaelic place-names, some of these I cannot identify at all.) MacRae went on: "All these are uninhabited now, except for shepherds. These clearances did not begin in Macleod's time, but in the time of Bruce. It was Bruce's factor that began it. I have seen Bruce myself. Bruce was a good proprietor, but he had bad servants. The policy was to deprive the people of their beasts and so reduce them to poverty that this might be made an excuse for sending them to America. The people had horses and cattle and sheep and the fishing of loch and river salmon. In the last town-ship each tenant had 10 milk cows and a horse and a few sheep. The first number who went to America were those from the upper part of the glen. They had their stock which they sold and paid their own passage. Six of my own brothers went. The process of taking the land began sixty years ago at the head of the glen. In the time of the famine in 1846 I saw 400 go away in one day, and they had lost their land 25 years before that, but they had been allowed to stay on as landless cottars."
Robert Somers, in his " Letters from the Highlands” (1848), has this to say about Glenelg: "The whole of the beautiful and fertile strath called Glenelg Proper, anciently the property of the Macleod, now belongs to this successful Bristol merchant (Mr. Baillie). . . . Glenelg Proper is famed for the richness of its pasture. To near the tops of the hills, the green grass feels smooth and soft under the tread as a luxurious carpet. . . . In the bottom of the glen, which is wide and level, but in which, for many long years, there has been a total cessation of the agricultural operations necessary to clean and dry the soil, large tracts of ground lie soaked with water, and covered with fog and rushes. This rich but neglected and deteriorating glen is eight or nine miles long. . . . At the head of Glenelg Proper is Scallasaig, a grazing farm, with about 3,000 sheep. Further down I passed Beolary, another sheep farm, with a stock of 4,000. Two or three acres of turnips were the only marks of cultivation I could discover on either of those large farms. I came next to Immergraden, a club farm, with four tenants, who pay £120 of rent, and cultivate on the old system keeping eight or nine cows each, and only a few sheep. Further on a little I passed the manse, with its glebe of nearly 400 acres, about one-eighth of which is arable. About a mile on, I at length reached the village or Kirkton of Glenelg, its population penned as usual along the sea coast, and struggling to support existence by a half-and-half dependence upon the resources of land and water. Of the 148 families in the village of Glenelg, 57 have no land; the remaining 91 have lots carrying from half an acre to two acres each."
We may conclude this section by mentioning that in the 1920's the farms of Beolary and Scallasaig were bought over by the Department of Agriculture and divided up into small-holdings, and to-day Glenmore carries a bigger population than it did forty years ago.
The Clarsair Dall
Roderick Morrison, Ruairidh Dall, was a descendant of the Morrisons of Lewis, the "Breves" or hereditary judges of that island. The last "judge" was John of Habost, Rory's great-great-grandfather.. Rory's father was John of Bragar. Rory lost his eyesight when at school in Inverness. Smallpox was the cause of his loss. He was a gifted bard and musician, and became official harper to the Laird of Macleod. It is said that he studied in Ireland. His father is said to have complained that '~the education of Rory as a musician cost him more trouble and expense than that of the two parsons." Two of Rory's brothers were ministers.
One of them, John, was minister at Glenelg from 1699 to 1706, and was later minister of Urray.
It was Iain Breac Macleod, the 16th Chief of Dunvegan, who engaged Rory Dall as his family harper, giving him in return for his services the farrn of Tota-Mor rent free. Tota-Mor is in Glenelg, but the name is not now heard. There is, however, a Site called "Tobhta a' Chlarsair" near the school, while vague traditions of the harper survive in the district.
Most of Rory's poetical compositions are addressed to Iain Breac, his Chief, who died in 1693, and was succeeded by Roderick Og, a man utterly unlike his father. Iain Breac had lived in the "grand manner," befitting a great Highland Chief, having as his bard the famous Gaelic poetess, Mary Macleod, "Mairi Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh," as his pipers the MacCrimmons, and as his harper Rory Dali. The new Chief inaugurated an "anglified regime" at Dunvegan, dispensing with the services of family bard and harper and other retainers. Rory Dall was evicted from his farm in Glenelg and ended his days in his native Lewis between 1725 and 1735, and was buried in the old cemetery at Eye near Stornoway. His "Oran Mor MhicLeoid bewails the departed glory of Dunvegan.
The Barracks of Bernera
Every visitor to Glenelg is sure to ask about the roofless high walls, standing grim and desolate, a short distance from the shore and a little to the north of the Church and the village of Kirkton. This building is what is locally known as "An Gearasdan" (The Garrison), but usually referred to as "The Barracks of Bernera."
For maintaining peace in the Highlands in the late 17th and early 18th centuries-no easy task for the Government of the day-two methods wer~ adopted. The one method was to recruit some companies of native Highianders (later known as "The Black Watch," "Am Freiceadan Dubh," from their dark tartan). These companies patrolled wide districts and kept a watchful eye on cattle-reivers and blackma~ers. The second was one first adopted by Cromwell. This was to form a series of forts along the line of the Great Glen. Cromwellian forts were erected at Inverness and at Inverlochy (now Fort William), and probably also at Cille-chuimen (now Fort Augustus).
However, in the beginning of the 18th century, the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1719, added to the still continuing "peaceful industries" of cattle-stealing and blackmail, called for greater vigilance and stronger methods, and the "Act for Disanning the Highianders" after the Fifteen Rising proved worse than useless. "After the disarming act was passed, and those companies (that is, the Black Watch) were broke," according to Lord Lovat's Memorial of 1724, "there were some other measures laid down for preserving the peace of the Highlands." Among these further measures was the strengthening of existing forts and the building of new barracks "at a very great expense." Thus there were four permanent garrisons in the Highlands-Ruthven (near Kingussie), Cille-chuimen (later Fort Augustus), Inverlochy (later Fort William), and Bernera in Glenelg.
The Barracks of Bernera are not historically so important as those others mentioned, but as a party of military was stationed there continuously from about 1720 till after 1790, and as the ruined walls, remarkably well preserved, are still an object of interest, it may be well to set down some information about this reminder of old unhappy far-off things.
In a series of 18th century MS. plans of old castles and fortifications in Scotland, which were a number of years ago lent to the National Library of Scotland by the War Office, there are several which refer to the Barracks of Bernera. Included in these documents is "A Prospect of that Part of the Land and Sea adjacent to the Barrack to be built in Glenelg," with the date 1720 appended. Another plan, dated 1719, shows the Fort Barrack of Bernera in Glenelg and Surrounding Country, showing land to be purchased, and also showing the rubble-stone quarry whence the stone was to be taken, and the officers' and workmen's houses. There is also a plan of the Barrack, dated 1719. The features designated on the plan include "Piles of Barracks," "Brew and Bake House," "Guard House," "Ramparts Vaulted," "Officers Bogg House," "Plan of the Loopholes," "Bogg House for Private Men," "Draw Well," "Drain," and plan of gable end, elevation and section of the barracks, and elevation of the ramparts.
There were four floors or stories, including the ground floor, and the two large buildings were surrounded by a high wall with an entrance gate. To-day, these buildings, apart from being roofless, are in remarkably good condition.
The exact year of the erection of the Barracks of Bernera is not known~ Pennant, Knox, and the Rev. Cohn Maclver all give 1722 as the date of erection, and this would seem to be borne out by the dates on the plans above mentioned. On the other hand, the "Domestic Annals of Scotland" record how, in February, 1721, two factors, who had been appointed to uplift the rents on the forfeited estate of Seaforth in Kintail, and were being baulked in their endeavours by the redoubtable Colonel Donald Murchison of Auchtertyre (a distant kinsman of my own), "caused a constable to take a military party from Bernera Barracks into Lochaish." In September of the same year, the same two factors arranged to have "an addition of fifty soldiers from Bernera." It would appear, therefore, that the Barracks were erected before 1722. There are still traces of a date carved on the keystone of the main entrance, but the stone is now so weather-worn that only the first two figures can be deciphered with any certainty (thus, "17-"). However, some of the older people in Glenelg, twenty-five years ago, said they remembered the date as " 1719," which is probably correct, for in 1718 (according to the Lochcarron Presbytery Records) the government engineers began to prepare for building on the piece of land which had been acquired for the site of the barracks.
The land taken over for the barracks included both the minister's glebe and land owned by the proprietor, Macleod of Macleod.
According to the "Book of Dunvegan," Volume II, page 97, "about the year 1720 MacLeod involuntarily parted with a piece of land at Bernera in Glenelg," and some bundles of papers in the Dunvegan Muniment Room refer to the matter.
According to Canon R. C. Macleod's reading of these papers, the Government in 1720 built a barrack at Bernera, apparently without asking any permission. This land was worth about £33 a year. They also spoilt a salmon fishery which produced from eight to ten barrels of salmon a year, "by the nastiness which was thrown out of the barracks," and took possession of a moss where the people had been accustomed to cut peats. In 1734 Macleod applied for payment, in compensation for the loss sustained by him, but it was not until 1749 that he received payment. He was then paid upwards of £1,600. He received 25 years' purchase for the net value of the land (amounting to £825), 13 years' purchase for the fishing rights (amounting to £299), and the balance for interest on the purchase money since the land was taken over.
The land thus taken over by the Government from Macleod included what had formerly been the minister's glebe. It would appear that the previous minister, the Rev. John Morrison (minister from 1699 to 1706) had exchanged this glebe for 8 boils bere of yearly compensation, an arrangement which was also accepted by the succeeding minister, Rev. Murdo Macleod (1707-1755). This arrangement, however, seems to have left the minister with some right to resume the land in question as ~ebe-iand, if he so desired. This is indicated by the minutes of a meeting of Presbytery held at Glenelg in November, 1728, for "designing a glebe."
"None of the heritors compeared, nor any in their name, except Norman Macleod of Drynoch, factor for the Laird of Macleod, who in name of the said Laird of Macleod protested against the Presbytery's designing a glebe in this parish, in regard there was a glebe formerly designed by the Presbytery of Skye which was possessed by the late minister, who did afterwards take from the said Laird of Maclend eight boils bear yearly in compensation for the said glebe, as the present minister continues to do." Whereupon, "the said Master Murdoch Macleod, minister at Glenelg, reprotested that neither he nor his successors in office shall be eased by the said protest for the reasons following, viz., Primo, that granting there was a glebe formerly in the parish, yet the same is now in the hands of the Government, the ingineers and others employed in the year 1718 to design a convenient place for a barrock in Glenelg having condescended on the said glebe as a part of the precincts of the said barrock ; Secundo, the said glebe being in the said Laird of Macleod's possession, as the said factor owns in his above protest, when the Government pitched upon it, and he having alienated the same or allowed it to have been alienated without interruption in prejudice of the minister, it is obvious that in all equity and law the minister should have a new glebe designed him out of the said Laird of Macleod's lands in the parish for the above reasons, to which may be added that the said Laird of Macleod's lands are the best ewest to the Kirk except the said precincts of the Barrock, nor can the Laird of Macleod be at any loss by the desired new designation since he has recourse to the Government for the lands they have taken of him, who will no doubt give him compensation if he seek it, if he does not ' sibi imputet.'
The Presbytery then enquired "if there be any kirklands in the parish, and where it lies, but, having got account of none, they with the discreet men of the parish and the forenamed landmetster (Evan Macleod) took a view of the ground next adjacent to the Church, except the forenamed precincts, and with the landmetster measured out four acres of arable land for a glebe with a half-acre for the stance of a manse, office-houses and garden, and that upon the ground called Lossel and Lonaloskin, bounded on the east by the river, on the south by a stank dividing it from the field called Achnadrochid, on the west by the moss conterminating with the precincts of the barrock, and on the north by a small stripe running from the foresaid moss into the river . . and the Presbytery caused march and meith the same and set up march-stones." Also, "having not found grass for a horse and two cows lying convenient to the said glebe," the Presbytery instructed the heritors of the parish to pay the minister and his successors in office a yearly sum of £20 Scots in lieu thereof. They also "ordained the said minister and his successors foresaid to have fire, ish and entry, foggage, feal, and divot, with liberty of fire and fewel."
For what reason we know not - the records being silent - this new glebe was never occupied by the minister, nor was a manse built upon it, and in 1763 the Rev. Donald Macleod, Murdo Macleod's successor, requested a glebe, and the Laird of Macleod "agreed, for himself, his heirs and successors, to give the Farm of Buorbiach," extending to almost 400 acres, to the minister of Glenelg and his successors in office, in lieu of a glebe, in all time coming, for a yearly rent of "twelve boIls of victual, that is to say, eight boils of oat meal and four boils of bear, to be paid in kind or converted at the rate of ten merks Scots per boll together with the sum of £5: 9: 51 sterling in lieu of multures."
This farm is still in the possession of the minister of Glenelg, but now as a glebe, and not in lieu of a glebe.
Some forty or fifty years ago it was reduced in size to 300 acres and designated as a glebe.
To return to the barracks of Bernera: it would appear, then, that the building of the barracks began in 1718, and may not have been completed until 1722, while the keystone already referred to may have been fixed in position in 1719.
Local tradition says that some of the material used in the building of the barracks was taken from the so-called Pictish brochs in Glenbeg, some four miles away. This is corroborated by Pennant, who writes: "In 1722 some 'Goth' purloined from the top (of Dun Telve, the lower broch) seven feet and a half, under pretence of applying the materials to certain public buildings."
Knox, the fishery expert, writing in 1786, says that "these buildings (the barracks) were made, it is said, a notorious job ; and their present ruinous state, in so short a time (that is, some 66 years after their erection) seems to confirm that assertion." Nevertheless, the walls are still almost entire, except that many of the corner-stones have been removed, and may be seen built into the corners of several houses in the district.
The Rev. Colin Maclver, writing in 1795, says "Of the house that was formerly appropriated for the use of the soldiers, the skeleton only remains, but the officers' barracks are still habitable."
The barracks consisted of "two houses, containing 24 apartments, for the accommodation of 200 soldiers." Apparently the barracks were never occupied by the full complement of men. General Wade, in his Report on the Highlands in 1724, addressing the King, says: "Your barracks were afterwards built in different parts of the Highlands, and parties of the Regular Troops under the command of Highland Officers, with a company of thirty Guides (established to conduct them through the mountains) was thought an effectual scheme, as well to prevent the rising of the Highlanders disaffected to Your Majesty's Government, as to hinder the depredations on your faithful Subjects. It is to be wished that during' the reign of your Majesty and your successors no Insurrection may ever happen to experience whether the Barracks will effectually answer the end proposed; yet I am humbly of opinion that if the number of troops they are built to contain was constantly quartered in them (whereas there is now in some but thirty men) and proper provisions laid in for their support during the winter season, they might be of some use to prevent the Insurrection of the Highianders; though, as I humbly conceive, (having seen them all) that two of the four are not built in as proper situations as they might have been." One wonders whether Bernera was one of the two, in Wade's judgment, unsuitably situated.
One of Wade's proposals was that "Quarter Sessions be punctually kept at Killichimen, Ruthven in Badenoch, and Fort William, and if occasion should require at Bernera near the coast of the Isle of Skye." In 1725 Wade suggested that "the Regiment quartered at Fort William remain there during the summer and supply the Barracks of Ruthven and Bernera with Garrisons."
Maclver (in 1795) says that from the time of their erection "till after the 1745 there were commonly one or two companies of foot quartered" in Bernera Barracks ; "but, since, a smaller command was deemed sufficient; and for twenty years back there has been only a serjeant or corporal, with a few privates." In September, 1721, as already noted, fifty soldiers were sent from Bernera to aid the factors on the forfeited estates. In 1772 Pennant refers to the barracks as "handsome and capacious, designed to hold 200 men; at present occupied only by a corporal and six soldiers," and adds: "The country lament this neglect. They are now quite sensible of the good effects of the military, by introducing peace and security ; they fear lest the evil days should return, and the ancient thefts be renewed, as soon as the 'Banditti' find this protection of the people removed."
In 1773, Boswell, as he passed through Glenelg to Skye with Dr. Samuel Johnson, wrote: "As we passed the barracks at Bernera, I looked at them wishfully, as soldiers have always everything in the best order; but there was only a serjeant and a few men there." In 1786 Knox facetiously reports: "Here (at Bernera Barracks) I was entertained by the commanding officer, and his whole garrison. The former was an old corporal, and the latter was the old corporal's wife ; the entertainment, snuff and whisky."
In August 1745 the "Dutillet" or "La Doutelle" - the French frigate which had just landed Prince Charles Edward at Loch-nan-Uamh at the outset of the Forty-five Rising-sailed up the Sound of Sleat and through the narrows of Kylerhea, between the mainland (Glenelg) and Skye. This note occurs in the captain's log: "At mid-day I was abreast of a big building lying between two mountains in a flat, the approach to the building being, say, 4 leagues off. When we got well in front of it, we made out soldiers about." But the perilous propinquity of "red soldiers" did not dismay the Frenchman. He sailed past Bernera barracks on Wednesday, 18th August, and a mile or two further on (opposite Loch Duich and Eilean Donan) "rounded a point behind which were four small English craft in a bight called Caihoyheston" (that is, "Cailleach Stone," in Gaelic "Sgeir na Caillich," still a much used anchorage), "and these I captured without firing a shot." It was not until the following Saturday that the French frigate moved on. A week later, the Laird of Macleod, laird of Glenelg, wrote to Lord President Forbes from "Sconser on the road to Glenelg ": "The privateer is sailed to the northward, and it is true she took three meal barks and ransomed them, and sent some of her crew with the ships, where the young Chevalier was. They took as much of the meal as they thought proper, and paid for it, and dismissed them."
In the Barracks of Bernera in 1746 died Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat. It is said that he was a Jacobite at heart, but alienated himself from his clansmen by identifying himself with the Hanoverians, and so he won for himself the following epitaph:
"If heaven be pleased when sinners cease to sin,
If hell be pleased when sinners enter in,
If earth be pleased to quit a truckling knave,
Then all are pleased - Macdonald's in his grave!"
Although their Chief did not side with the Prince, many of the Macleods did support the Jacobite cause, and some even from Glenelg. The presence of the garrison in their midst, however, must have had a restraining effect. A report on the state of the Highlands in 1750 stated that "the people (of Glenelg) are much civilised and polished by the Barracks of Bernera." The Presbytery Records show that in 1744 "Alexr. Watt, Deputy Barrak Master of Bernera," was appointed to visit the school of Glenelg, along with the Rev. Murdo Macleod, the minister, and Norman Macleod of Drynoch, factor; and in 1756 "John Forbes, Barrackmaister Depute of Bernera," was appointed to visit the school, with two others. In connection with delinquency cases before the Presbytery, "one Serjeant Cruise, late of the Barracks of Bernera," is mentioned in 1741, and 4' Serjeant Archibald Campbell of Inveraw's Company and Lord John Murray's Regiment" in 1749. Local tradition says that all the young men of Glenelg had to attend at the barracks one day per week for instruction and drill. Knox records that "many years ago, the Board of Trustees at Edinburgh purchased several acres of land at the head of Lochcarron and sent Mr. Jeffries of Kelso to instruct the inhabitants in spinning, weaving, etc." Mr. Jeffries made great improvements, but "so averse were the people to innovations and to instruction that Mr. Jeffries was forced to hire soldiers from the barracks of Bernera for the purpose of digging, planting, and trenching."
The New Statistical Account (1836) has no mention of the barracks of Bernera. It is probable that the military were finally withdrawn sometime in the 1790s.
A scrap of manuscript, passed on to me by the late Rev. Alex. Mactaggart, but from what source I know not, states that the barracks were occupied till 1797, and that the 48 acres on which the barracks stand were bought back by the Laird of Macleod in 1811 for £925 (probably Scots, says the note). At that date it appears there was a population of 200 persons on the lands of Bernera barracks. Twelve cottages with a garden attached to each paid a total rent of £51; 38 acres were let to sub-tenants at £2 per acre. There were " 12 houses of common country kind erected by the occupants, with a garden attached to each, rented at 5/3 each." " 12 rooms in the barracks at 20/-each yearly."
The Glenelg Kirk Session Records show that in 1831 some of those in receipt of Kirk Session Poor Funds were resident in the barracks. At the time of the evictions, according to local tradition, several families, ejected from their own homes, found refuge in the barracks. An old man, still living in Glenelg 25 years ago, told me that his mother as a girl lived in the barracks. Local tradition also says that a rascally factor burnt the thatch roof off the building and so got the wretched families ejected once more. It Is also stated that the Glenelg Free Church, built about 1846, was roofed with slates from the barracks, which lie less than half a mile away. It is very likely that the barracks were slated. It is also likely that, as the buildings deteriorated, roofing of thatch may have been used.
The military occupation of Glenelg has left its mark on the district in one peculiar way. In Glenelg the custom of "walking funerals" still continues, but the coffin comes last in the procession, instead of at the head as in most other parishes. This is locally believed to be due to the influence of military funerals from the barracks of Bernera to the Glenelg Churchyard in the old days. There is, indeed, in the Churchyard a very fine sculptured tombstone, dated 1730, which marks the grave of one of the Bernera officers. The fields surrounding the barracks are still known locally in Gaelic as "Grunnd an Righ "-" The King's Ground." The land is now used mostly as common grazing, although some of the more arable portions has been divided into crofts.
The soldiery who once were quartered in the barracks have their descendants in Glenelg. I was given to understand that the surname Nixon, of which there was a family or two in Glenelg for two or three generations, although none now remain, were descendants of someone who had been stationed in the barracks.
There are still in Glenelg several members of a family of
Macleans who are descended from an Angus Maclean, who was born in 1776. This Angus was the son of "the Red Corporal" who was in the barracks. The story is that Maclean, the Red Corporal, gave his child, Angus, to the keeping of MacGiliivray, who was innjceeper at Glenelg, remarking, "When he grows up he may marry your daughter." Angus Maclean and Ann MacGillivray were married in 1799, and from them descended several families, and their great-great-grandchildren are in Glenelg still, as is testified by information on a leaf of an old Bible.
The Old Gateway to Skye
Reference has already been made to the narrow sea-crossing between the mainland and Skye at Kylerhea, the place where Fionn and his warriors used to vault across on their spears. For many centuries this was the main ferry in and out of Skye. By it great droves of cattle from Skye and Uist passed on their way to the southern trysts. By it men from Skye crossed on warlike and peaceful expeditions to the mainland. By it the bands of reapers, each with a sickle, crossed on their way to the harvesting in the Lothians or Fife.
The broad flat-bottomed ferry-boat, propelled by oars and sometimes by sail, survived into my own time. The Kylerhea ferry came to an end about the beginning of the first world war, when the ferry-boat, or "gabard," became a total wreck in a storm and was not replaced. The traffic had so fallen off that it was not worthwhile replacing the boat.
The coming of the railroad, first to Strome Ferry, and later to Kyle of Lochaish, killed the Kylerhea Ferry~ In the 1930's the ferry was re-opened as a car ferry, but although it remained open for some years, was closed during the second world war, and was re-started again after the war, it could not compete on equal terms with the ferry at Kyle, chiefly because of the unsatisfactory roads leading to it on both mainland and Skye, and latterly also because of the facilities offered to motorists by the new Dornie bridge. In the days when crossing to Skye by Kyle meant having to cross Strome Ferry or Dornie Ferry as well, Kylerhea was worth trying, in spite of bad roads, but Dornie Bridge changed the situation.
I remember as a boy seeing cattle ferried across in the old "gabard." I also remember seeing cattle swimming across the narrows, attached by a rope to a rowing boat which led the way for them.
In evidence given before the (Napier) Crofters' Commission in the 1880's we get some information about how the ferry operated. Donald Martin, crofter, Kylerhea, testified: "We had at one time our land very much cheaper than we have it to-day. Our rents were raised twice upon us, and the reason why we had the land less at first was that we were engaged at the ferry at Kylerhea, and all the cattle leaving Uist and Lewis and Skye were ferried across this kyle. Our land was then rented at only 25/-, as we had to be in constant attendance at the ferry. At that time there were neither steamers nor trains to relieve us of that work, but now there are both, and we have no work at all; and all our land was after that raised twice. Our souming is two cows, but we have to keep one of these upon the stance of the drovers, and We can oni~ winter one of them with what grows on our own land. We have no horses or sheep. We have to be out 16/- in seaware to plant our potatoes (each of us). There is no seaware on our own land at all. What we have of seaware on our land would not plant a bag of potatoes. This man (Malcolm Macpherson) and I are the furthest out of our township, and it is very little of either corn or potatoes or clover that grows on our land that is not consumed by the deer. Our township is not fenced and we are not able to fence it. The proprietor will not do it. Corrie (that is, 'Fear a' Choire,' the tacksman of Corry, Strath, who was estate factor) raised our rents 15/-, and Tormore (another factor) raised it 15/-. Our rents are thus double what they were then, and we have only a small bit of ground." Asked how many families there were in Kylerhea, Martin replied: "Thirteen families have land. There are 11 crofters in our township, and the innkeeper has another croft or two." Asked if those who worked the ferrr'-boat drew the toll of the ferry, Martin replied: "We were getting 6d for every head of cattle we ferried, and the half of that went to the innkeeper. There were five of us manning the boat, and the threepence was divided among us, except what was charged for grass and oats." Asked what they made in a day on the average, Martin replied: "Since the trains began to take away the stock we get little or nothing. There was a time when we would make £13 or £14 in the year, and now we wi~ not make more than £5. We must be in constant attendance at the ferry for ferrying of stock (that is a condition of our crofts), but not for ferrying passengers. Asked if they had not to attend at regular times for passengers, Martin replied: "There is only ferrying to be done at market times." Asked if they were compelled to be present at the ferry all the year round, traffic or no traffic, Martin replied: "Yes, we have to be in attendance, whether there are markets or not. We are the crew of the boat. Before the steamers came regularly there was a good deal of traffic and we drew a good deal of wages and the rents were low. Now our rents are high and the traffic has almost disappeared. We get half the ferry dues. If we refused to attend, we might be expelled from our land."
At the Kylerhea ferry there is a slipway on the mainland side and another on the Skye side, both built by Telford in the beginning of the 19th century. Also on each side of the ferry there is an old inn ; the one on the Skye side stands empty, the one on the Glenelg side is used as a youth hostel. Many stories could be related of both. The main-land one is believed to be the one in which Johnson and Boswell spent an unpleasant night in 1773. I myself ~ould like to have some evidence that this inn was actually in existence then. I think the inn that these two tourists slept in is now represented by ruined walls a short distance away.
An interesting side-light on the Kylerhea ferry is found in Lord Cockburn's "Circuit Journeys." Crossing with his coach into Skye in September, 1841, he writes thus of the Kylerhea ferry: "This ferry, though boasted as the best in Skye, is detestable, at least for carriages, and as ill-conducted as possible. But what can a ferry be for carriages, when ours is only the third that has passed this year, and the object of the landlord of the ferry-house on each side is to detain instead of advancing the passenger, and where, when at last it is seen that they can carry it on no longer, the only machinery for putting the vehicle on board consists of dozens of lazy and very awkward Highianders, all scolding in Erse, who almost lift it and throw it into the groaning boat."
Knox, in 1786, refers to the Kylerhea ferry thus: "I had an agreeable passage through that part of the channel called Kyle Ree, which, though no more than a quarter of a mile wide, has a depth of water sufficient for the largest ships. Here the flood tide runs at seven miles an hour; but at the lowest ebb this strait is the usual passage where horses, and black cattle, are swum across between Skye and the mainland; for though this is the principal passage to that great island, it is not accommodated with a horse4erry. When horses are to be taken over, they are pushed off the rock into the water. A small boat with five men attends, four of them holding the halters of a pair on each side of the boat. When black cattle are to cross the Kyle, one is tied by the horn to a boat, a second is tied to the first, and a third to the second, and so on, to eight, ten or twelve."
An Agricultural Survey of Inverness-shire in 1813 states that "All the cattle reared in the Isle of Skye which are sent to the Southern markets from that island pass from that island to the mainland by the ferry of Caol Rea. Their numbers are very considerable, by some supposed to be 5,000, but by others 8,000 annually, and the method of ferrying them is not in boats . . . but they are forced to swim over Caol Rea. For this purpose the drovers purchase ropes which are cut at the length of three feet, having a noose at one end. This noose is put round the under jaw of every cow, taking care to have the tongue free. . - . All the beasts destined to be ferried are led by the ferryman into the water until they are afloat. . . . Then every cow is tied to the tail of the cow before until a string of six or eight be joined. A man in the stern of the boat holds the rope of the foremost cow. The rowers then plie their oars immediately. . . . The ferrymen are so dexterous that very few beasts are lost."
Daniel Defoe, in 1726, refers to the Kylerhea ferry, and says that 400 cattle could be taken across in a few hours.
Kylerhea, which had 140 residents sixty years ago, now has seven. The inn, once bustling with activity, stands empty and ruinous. My own father must have been among the last of the lads of Kylerhea, who in their teens made the long journey on foot to Falkirk Tryst with a drove of cattle.