Gairloch in North-West Ross-Shire / Its Records, Traditions, Inhabitants, and Natural History, with a Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree, and a Map and Illustrations

In the above extracts detached sentences and paragraphs have been quoted, but any reader who cares to compare the quotations with the original report will, I am sure, allow that the extracts present a fair epitome of the Commissioners' views.

It is but right to add, that the Commissioners make the following recommendation on this subject:—

"It is our opinion that provisions should be framed, under which the crofting class would be protected against any diminution, for the purpose of afforestment, of arable or pasture area now in their possession, and by which the areas which might hereafter form the most appropriate scene for expanding cultivation and small holdings, should be preserved from curtailment; if this were done, the interests of the class for whom we are specially concerned would be effectually secured."

Grouse shooting is of course a sport largely indulged in by sportsmen tenants in Gairloch, as in other parts of the Highlands. Grouse are not so abundant on the west coast moorlands as in some other districts. This is principally due to two causes,—the larger proportion of bent-grass and rushes to heather, which is the food of grouse; and the cold hail and rain which often occur just at the time the grouse are hatching. There is one compensation, viz., the grouse disease does not appear so frequently, nor wreak such wholesale destruction, on Gairloch moors as on other better stocked grounds elsewhere. In many years nearly all the first nests produce no young birds, so that by the Twelfth "cheepers" are still abundant, and it is far pleasanter to defer grouse shooting until a fortnight later.

The delights and the healthfulness of grouse shooting have been favourite subjects of sporting writers. There are few peculiarities in grouse shooting in Gairloch. Perhaps it is worth mention that mixed bags are more frequent here than in many districts, and this is especially true in the latter part of the season, which by-the-by yields out and away the most enjoyable and invigorating sport. It is a pity that so many sportsmen from the south run away to their partridges and pheasants, and leave untouched and unenjoyed the very pick of Highland sport. Many sportsmen, even of some experience, would be surprised to find how well grouse lie to dogs on the west coast up to the very last day of the season. In and after October the following varieties may be added to the bag of grouse, viz., woodcock, snipe, wild duck, teal, golden plover, rock-pigeon, hares, and rabbits. Of course black game and partridges are also frequently met with, as well as roe-deer.

Grouse and ptarmigan are shot in all the deer forests of Gairloch. There are only three separate grouse shootings in the parish, viz., those attached to Inveran, Poolhouse, and Drumchork.

List of Books and MSS. quoted or referred to.

Beauties of Gaelic Poetry. By John Mackenzie.

Bennetsfield MS.

Bishop R. Forbes' Journals, and Church in Ross. By Rev. J. B. Craven, 1886.

Blaeu's Map of the North of Scotland, 1660.

British Birds. By William Yarrell, V.P.L.S., F.Z.S.; revised and enlarged by Newton and Saunders; completed 1885.

British Lichens. By W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., &c., 1856.

British Wild Flowers, illustrated by John E. Sowerby; with Supplement by Salter and Sowerby, 1876.

Bronze Weapons and other Remains found near Poolewe. By William Jolly, F.G.S., F.R.S.E.

Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland (1726). Reprinted 1876.

Carmen Pooleviense. By H. F. Wilson, M.A., &c., Cambridge, 1885.

Celtic Magazine. Edited by Alexander Mackenzie, F.R.S.

Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. By Martin Martin, circa 1695; reprinted 1884.

Douglas's Peerage.

Dr Scott's Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ.

Early Records relating to Mining in Scotland. Collected by R. W. Cochran-Patrick, M.P., LL.B. Cantab., F.S.A. Scot., &c., 1878.

Ettrick Shepherd's Works. Revised by Rev. Thomas Thomson, 1873.

Gaelic Topography of Scotland. By Colonel James A. Robertson, F.S.A. Scot., 1869.

Genealogical Account of the Macraes. By Rev. John Macrae, who died 1704.

General Survey of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty. By Sir George Steuart Mackenzie of Coul, 1810.

Geological Magazine.

Geological Sketches at Home and Abroad. By Archibald Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S.

George Jamesone, the Scottish Vandyck. By John Bullock, 1885.

Guide to the English Lakes. By Harriet Martineau.

Guide to the Highlands. By George and Peter Anderson.

Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. By John MacCulloch, M.D., F.R.S., L.S.G.S., 1824.

Hints for the Use of Highland Tenants and Cottagers. By Sir Francis Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, published 1838.

History of the Mackenzies. By Alexander Mackenzie, F.R.S., F.S.A. Scot.

History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland from a.d. 1493 to a.d. 1625. By Donald Gregory, F.S.A. Scot., 1836.

Leabhar na Feinne. By John F. Campbell of Islay.

Letterfearn MS. History of the Mackenzies.

Letters from the Highlands. Reprinted from the Times, 1884.

MacAlpine's Gaelic Dictionary.

Manufacture of Iron in Great Britain. By George Wilkie, Assoc. Inst. C.E., 1857.

Map of "the Kingdome of Scotland." By John Speed, 1610.

More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands. By Her Majesty Queen Victoria, 1883.

My Schools and Schoolmasters. By Hugh Miller.

Natural History Notes from Russian Asia. By A. H. M., Field, October, 1883.

Odd and End Stories of Dr John Mackenzie, Eileanach (in MS.).

Origines Parochiales Scotiæ. Vol. II.

Pennylesse Pilgrimage. By John Taylor, printed 1633.

Present State of Great Britain and Ireland. Printed by J. Brotherton, London, 1747.

Poems of William Ross, the Gairloch Bard.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London.

Records of the Presbytery of Dingwall.

Records of the Presbytery of Gairloch and Loch Carron.

Remarks on Dr Samuel Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides. By Rev. Donald M'Nicol, A.M., 1779.

Report of the Royal Commissioners on the Crofters and Cottars of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, 1884.

Rough Notes on British Birds. By E. T. Booth.

Saint Maelrubha: His History and Churches. By William Reeves, D.D., M.B., Vice-Pres. R.I.A., &c., 1859. Printed Vol. IV. of Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland. By Hugh Miller.

Scottish Highlands. By Rev. Thomas Maclauchlan, LL.D., F.S.A.S.

Sculptured Stones of Scotland. Published by the Spalding Club, Vol. II.

Songs and Poems. By Duncan Mackenzie, "The Kenlochewe Bard." Edited by Alexander Mackenzie, F.R.S.

Statement in MS. By the Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch, 1885.

Statistical Account of Scotland. Compiled by Sir John Sinclair, 1792; referred to in this book as the Old Statistical Account.

Statistical Account of Scotland, 1836; referred to in this book as the New Statistical Account.

The York Buildings Company: A Chapter in Scottish History. By David Murray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., 1883.

Tour in Scotland. By Thomas Pennant, in 1772.

Tour through the Highlands of Scotland and Hebride Isles in 1786. By John Knox.

Valuation Roll of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty.

Various Superstitions in the North-West Highlands and Islands of Scotland, especially in relation to Lunacy. By Arthur Mitchell, A.M., M.D., &c. (1860), printed in Vol. IV. of Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Words and Places. By Rev. Isaac Taylor.

Statement of Authorities for Traditions, &c., embodied in this Book.

Memoirs of Bards and Pipers.

The History of the Mackenzies above referred to is that of which Mr Alexander Mackenzie, a native of Gairloch, is the author. The Celtic Magazine is edited by the same Alexander Mackenzie. The Gairloch traditions taken from it are believed to have been mostly communicated to the Editor by Kenneth Fraser, of Leac nan Saighead, now an old man.

Where the traditions obtained from the sources stated above differ from the accounts of the same incidents given in old MSS., I have preferred to adopt the versions supported by the authorities referred to, believing them to be quite as reliable.

TABLES.

I.

II.

Places on the Road from Kenlochewe to Torridon.

This road is within the parish of Gairloch only for the first six miles after leaving Kenlochewe, the places printed in italics are therefore outside the parish.

The road beyond the village of Torridon is the private approach to Torridon House.

Places on the Road on the South Side of Gairloch (the Sea Loch).

Places on the Road to the North of Gairloch (the Sea Loch),
being the South and West Sides of the North Point.

Places on the Road North of Laide,
on the East Side of the Greenstone Point,
starting from Aultbea.

The road beyond Laide is rough, but passable by carriages.

Those wishing to visit the places on the shores of Loch Ewe and to the north and east of Aultbea are recommended to stay at the Poolewe Hotel. The distances of the above-named places from Poolewe may be calculated by adding 7½ miles to the distance as stated from Aultbea.

Distances of Places on Loch Maree
accessible by means of the Steamer from Tollie Pier.

A special trip of the steamer may at any time in summer be arranged (at an hour not to interfere with her regular trips) to convey a party direct from Tollie Pier to Ru Nohar or vice versâ. In that case the distance between the two extremities of the voyage measures exactly twelve miles.

Distances of Places (accessible by Road) from the Gairloch Hotel.

III.

The Registrar-General's returns of the population and numbers of houses at the census taken in each of the following years is given below. The census of 1801 is believed to be imperfect, and that of 1811 gives a slightly less figure than the Rev. James Russell's estimate (see page 114). The population of Gairloch in 1801 was probably over 2000.

Number of Houses.

IV.

V.

APPENDICES.

Extracts from Old Writers and Records, &c.

A.

"Mr Farquhar Macra the second son of Christopher MacConnochie was born at Islandonan, anno 1580, being a seven months' child howbeit he became afterwards to be a man of a very strong body, and his father seeing his good genius for learning sent him to the school of Saint Johnstown, where he stayed four or five years and became a great master of the Latin language, as appears by some discoveries of his yet extant. From Perth his father sent him to the college of Edinburgh, where he became a pregnant philosopher beyond his condisciples, and commanded Master of Arts under the discipline of Mr Thomas Reid his regent, who afterwards became Principal of the College, all the members of which pitched on Mr Farquhar as the most accomplished and capable to take Reid's place as Regent. But Kenneth Lord Kintail, being then in Edinburgh, disapproved of the design, and prevailed with the members of the college to pass from Mr Farquhar, who himself preferred to be a preacher of the Gospel to any other calling whatsoever, and for that end had for some months preceding heard the lectures and lessons of Mr Robert Rollack, professor of divinity. So that omitting that opportunity of improving his great abilities he was brought by Lord Kenneth home to Chanery of Ross, where he was overseer of the Grammar school which then flourished there, and stayed for the space of fifteen months and passed his tryals. He became a sound, learned, eloquent and grave preacher, and was pitched upon by the bishop and clergy of Ross as the properest man to be minister of Garloch that he might thereby serve the colony of English which Sir George Hay of Airdry, afterwards Chancellor of Scotland, kept at Letterewe, making iron and casting cannon. Mr Farquhar having entered there did not only please the country people but also the strangers, especially George Hay. In the year 1610 Kenneth Lord Kintail brought Mr Farquhar with him to the Lewes, where he preached the Gospel to the inhabitants, who were great strangers to it for many years before, as is evident from his having to baptize all under forty years of age which he did, and married a vast number who lived there as man and wife thereby to legitimate their children, and to abolish the barbarous custom that prevailed of putting away their wives upon the least discord. This was so agreeable to the well thinking part of the people that my Lord Kintail promising to place such a man among them made them the more readily submit to him, so that all the inhabitants at this time took tacks from him except some of the sons of MacLeod of Lewes, who fled rather than submit to him. My Lord falling sick returned in haste home to Chanery of Ross where he died, and was the first of the family that was buried there, leaving the management of his affairs to Rory Mackenzie his brother, commonly called the Factor of Kintail, of whom are come the family of Cromarty. Mr Farquhar married Christian MacCulloch, eldest lawful daughter of MacCulloch of Park, on the first day of December 1611, dwelt at Ardlair, where several of his children were born.

"But Sir George Hay went from Letterew to Fife. He seriously invited Mr Farquhar to go with him, promising he would get him an act of Transplantation and his choice of several parishes of which he was Patron, and besides give him a yearly pension from himself and endeavour to get him ecclesiastical promotion. Mr Farquhar could not in gratitude refuse such an offer, and was content to go with him, was it not that Colin Lord of Kintail prevailed with Sir George to dispense with him, Lord Colin himself purposing to transplant him to Kintail, which was then vacant by the death of Mr Murdoch Murchison, uncle by the mother to Mr Farquhar, who accordingly succeeded his uncle both as minister of Kintail and Constable of Islandonan in the year 1618, as will appear by a contract betwixt Lord Colin and him dated at Chanery that year. Mr Farquhar lived here in an opulent and flourishing condition for many years much given to hospitality and charity....

"Mr Farquhar being rich when he came from Garloch provided his children considerably well, having six sons and two daughters that were settled in his own life time, viz. Alexander, Mr John, Mr Donald, Milmoire or Myles, Murdoch, and John....

"In the year 1651 Mr Farquhar, being old and heavy, removed from Islandonan by reason of the coldness of the air to a place called Inchcruiter, where he lived very plentifully eleven years; some of his grandchildren after his wife's death alternately ruling his house, to which there was a great resort of all sorts of people, he being very generous, charitable, and free-hearted.

"In the year 1654 when General George Monk passed through Kintail with his army, they in their return carried away three hundred and sixty, but not the whole of Mr Farquhar's cows, for which after the restoration of King Charles the II., he was advised to put in his claim; but his love of the change of affairs made him decline it, and at his death he had as many cows as them, and might have had as many more were it not that they were constantly slaughtered for the use of the family when he had his grandchildren and their bairns about him. Being at last full of days, and having seen his children that came of age settled after he had lived fifty-four years in the Ministry, ten of which at Garloch, he departed this life in the year 1662, and the eighty-second of his age. He was buried with his predecessors at Kilduich in Kintail."

B.

Mr Pennant accomplished most of his tour in the Western Highlands and Islands by means of a sailing vessel. Landing at Dundonnel at the head of Little Loch Broom, on 30th July 1772, in tempestuous weather, he was hospitably entertained by Kenneth Mackenzie, Esq. of Dundonnel. He made this note here:—"Dundonnel,—Determine to go by land to visit Loch Maree, a great lake to the south; and direct Mr Thompson to sail and wait for us at Gairloch."

After a rough ride, occupying most of the day, and which seems to have been by way of Achneigie, thence by Glen na Muic and the heights of Kenlochewe to the lower end of Glen Dochartie (a route still indicated by a mountain track), he writes as follows (vol. ii., page 328) under date of 1st August 1772:—

"Black morassy heaths succeed, named Gliann-dochartai. Dine on the side of a rill at the bottom, on plentiful fare provided by our kind host, whose son Mr Mackenzie, and another gentleman of the name, kindly undertook the charge of us to the next stage. Ride through a narrow strath called Kin-loch-ewe, where we first saw the signs of houses and a little cultivation since morning. This terminates in a meadowy plain, closed at the end with Loch-Maree: the night proved wet and tempestuous; we therefore determined to defer the voyage till next day; and to shelter ourselves in a whisky house, the inn of the place. Mr Mackenzie complimented Mr Lightfoot and me with the bedstead, well covered with a warm litter of heath: we lay in our cloaths, wrapped ourselves in plaids and enjoyed a good repose. Our friends did not lose their sleep; but great was our surprize to see them form their bed of wet hay, or rather grass collected from the fields; they flung a plaid over it, undressed, and lay most comfortably, without injury, in what, in a little time, must have become an errant hot bed: so blest with hardy constitutions are even the gentlemen of this country!

"At seven in the morning (Aug. 2) take a six-oared boat, at the east end of Loch Maree, keep on the north shore beneath steep rocks, mostly filled with pines waving over our heads. Observe on the shore a young man of good appearance, hailing the boat in the erse language. I demanded what he wanted; was informed, a place in the boat. As it was entirely filled, was obliged to refuse his request. He follows us for two miles through every difficulty, and by his voice and gestures threatened revenge. At length a rower thought fit to acquaint us, that he was owner of the boat, and only wanted admission in lieu of one of them. The boat was ordered to shore, and the master taken in with proper apologies and attempts to sooth him for his hard treatment. Instead of insulting us with abuse as a Charon of South Britain would have done, he instantly composed himself, and told us through an interpreter, that he felt great pride in finding that his conduct gained any degree of approbation.

"Continue our course. The lake, which at the beginning was only half a mile broad, now, nearly half its length, widens into a great bay, bending towards the south, about four miles in breadth, filled with little isles, too much clustered and indistinct. Land on that called Inch-maree, the favoured isle of the saint, the patron of all the coast from Applecross to Loch-broom. The shores are neat and gravelly; the whole surface covered thickly with a beautiful grove of oak, ash, willow, wicken, birch, fir, hazel, and enormous hollies. In the midst is a circular dike of stones, with a regular narrow entrance; the inner part has been used for ages as a burial-place, and is still in use. I suspect the dike to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient superstition of Paganism had been taken up by the saint as the readiest method of making a conquest over the minds of the inhabitants. A stump of a tree is shewn as an altar, probably the memorial of one of stone; but the curiosity of the place is the well of the saint; of power unspeakable in cases of lunacy. The patient is brought into the sacred island, is made to kneel before the altar, where his attendants leave an offering in money; he is then brought to the well, and sips some of the holy water: a second offering is made; that done, he is thrice dipped in the lake; and the same operation is repeated every day for some weeks: and it often happens, by natural causes, the patient receives relief, of which the saint receives the credit. I must add that the visitants draw from the state of the well an omen of the disposition of St Maree; if his well is full, they suppose he will be propitious; if not, they proceed in their operations with fears and doubts; but let the event be what it will, he is held in high esteem; the common oath of the country is by his name; if a traveller passes by any of his resting-places, they never neglect to leave an offering; but the saint is so moderate as not to put him to any expense, a stone, a stick, a bit of rag contents him.

"This is the most beautiful of the isles; the others have only a few trees sprinkled over their surface.

"About a mile farther the lake again contracts. Pass beneath a high rock, formed of short precipices, with shelves between, filled with multitudes of self-sown pines, making a most beautiful appearance.

"The south of the water is bounded with mountains adorned with birch woods, mixed with a few pines: a military road runs along its length. The mountains are not very high, but open in many parts to give a view of others, whose naked and broken tops shooting into sharp crags, strangely diversify the scene, and form a noble termination.

"Towards the bottom of the lake is a headland, finely wooded to the very summit. Here the water suddenly narrows to the breadth of a hundred yards, and continues so for nearly a mile, the banks cloathed with trees, and often bending into little semilunar bays to the very extremity; from whence its waters, after the course of a mile, a continual Rapide, discharge into a deep and darksome hole, called Pool-ewe, which opens into the large bay of Loch-Ewe.

"The lake we had left is eighteen miles long; the waters are said to be specifically lighter than most others, and very rarely frozen; the depth is various, in some places sixty fathoms; but the bottom is very uneven; if ten feet of water were drained away, the whole would appear a chain of little lakes.

"The fish are salmon, char, and trout; of the last is a species weighing thirty pounds.

"Land; are received by the Rev. Mr Dounie, minister of Gairloch, whom we attend to church, and hear a very edifying plain comment on a portion of Scripture. He takes us home with him, and by his hospitality makes us experience the difference between the lodgings of the two nights.

"Aug. 3. Take a view of the environs: visit the mouth of the river, where the salmon fishery supplies the tenant with three or four lasts of fish annually. On the bank are the remains of a very antient iron furnace. Mr Dounie has seen the back of a grate, marked 'S. G. Hay,' or Sir George Hay, who was head of a company here in the time of the Queen Regent; and is supposed to have chose this remote place for the sake of quiet in those turbulent times.

"Potatoes are raised here on the very peat-moors, without any other drains than the trenches between the beds. The potatoes are kiln-dried for preservation.

"It is to be hoped that a town will form itself here, as it is the station of a Government-packet, that sails regularly from hence to Stornoway, in Lewis, a place now growing considerable, by the encouragement of Lord Seaforth, the proprietor. This is a spot of much concourse; for here terminates the military road, which crosses from the East to the West sea, commencing at Inverness, and passing by Fair-burn and Strath-braan to this place. Yet I believe the best inn on the last thirty miles is that of Mr Roderick Mac-donald, our landlord the last night but one.

"Ride about six miles South, and reach Gair-loch; consisting of a few scattered houses, on a fine bay of the same name. Breakfast at Flowerdale; a good house, beautifully seated between hills finely wooded. This is the seat of Sir Hector Mackenzie, whose ancestor received a writ of fire and sword against the antient rebellious owners; he succeeded in his commission, and received their lands for his pains.

"The parish of Gair-loch is very extensive, and the number of inhabitants evidently encrease, owing to the simple method of life, and the conveniency they have of drawing a support from the fishery. If a young man is possessed of a herring-net, a hand-line, and three or four cows, he immediately thinks himself able to support a family, and marries. The present number of souls are about two thousand eight hundred.

"Herrings offer themselves in shoals from June to January; cod-fish abound on the great sandbank, one corner of which reaches to this bay, and is supposed to extend as far as Cape Wrath; and South, as low as Rona, off Skie; with various branches, all swarming with cod and ling. The fishery is carried on with long-lines, begins in February, and ends in April. The annual capture is uncertain, from five to twenty-seven thousand. The natives at present labor under some oppressions, which might be easily removed, to the great advancement of this commerce. At present the fish are sold to some merchants from Campbeltown, who contract for them at two-pence farthing a-piece, after being cured and dried in the sun. The merchants take only those that measure eighteen inches from the gills to the setting on of the tail; and oblige the people to let them have two for one of all that are beneath that length. The fish are sent to Bilboa; ling has also been carried there, but was rejected by the Spaniards. This trade is far from being pushed to its full extent; is monopolised, and the poor fishers obliged to sell their fish at half the price to those who sell it to the merchants.

"The want of a town is very sensibly felt in all those parts; there is no one commodity, no one article of life, or implement of fishery, but what is gotten with difficulty, and at a great price, brought from a distance by those who are to make advantage from the necessities of the people. It is much to be lamented that after the example of the Earl of Seaforth, they do not collect a number of inhabitants by feuing their lands, or granting leases for a length of years for building; but still so much of the spirit of the chieftain remains, that they dread giving an independency to their people; a false policy! as it would enrich both parties; and make the landlord more respectable, as master of a set of decent tenants, than of thousands of bare-footed half-starved vassals. At present adventurers from distant parts take the employ from the natives; a town would create a market; a market would soon occasion a concourse of shipping, who would then arrive with a certainty of a cargo ready taken for them; and the mutual wants of stranger and natives would be supplied at an easy rate.

"By example of a gentleman or two, some few improvements in farming appear. Lime is burnt; sea tang used as manure; and shell sand imported by such who can afford the freight. But the best trade at present is cattle: about five hundred are annually sold out of this parish, from the price of one pound seven to two pounds five a-piece. About eighty horses, at three pounds each, and a hundred and fifty sheep, at three pounds per score. The cattle are blooded at spring and fall: the blood is preserved to be eaten cold.

"We found our vessel safely arrived at anchor with many others, under the shelter of a little isle, on the south side of the bay. Weigh, and get under sail with a good breeze."