Fàilte! (Welcome!)

Fàilte! (Welcome!)
This blog is the result of my ongoing research into the people, places and events that have shaped the Western Isles of Scotland and, in particular, the 'Siamese-twins' of Harris and Lewis.
My interest stems from the fact that my Grandfather was a Stornowegian and, until about four years ago, that was the sum total of my knowledge, both of him and of the land of his birth.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything that I have written (not least because parts are, perhaps, pioneering) but I have done my best to check for any errors.
My family mainly lived along the shore of the Sound of Harris, from An-t-Ob and Srannda to Roghadal, but one family 'moved' to Direcleit in the Baighs...

©Copyright 2011 Peter Kerr All rights reserved

Sunday 23 June 2013

Three Casualties of WWI

I was looking at the excellent online site Harris War Memorial and noticed that two of the men died in Bedford, and hence are also recorded in this online Roll of Honour here.

The two Hearachs were:

Norman Macleod of 8 Urgha, Harris (Father, Kenneth Macleod) who died on 31 December 1914 aged 19.

Donald McKinnon of Tarbert (son of Malcolm and Mary Morrison Mackinnon) who died on 24 December 1914 aged 31.

In addition to these, there is also the grave of Donald MacLean from Lochmaddy, North Uist who died on 6 January 1915. his age is not given, but a search of the records shows him recorded as having been just 19 years old. He appears in this list on the Berneray to Vatersay Tribute site .There are no next-of-kin recorded for Donald, and I cannot locate his signing-on papers, but I hope to be able to discover who he belonged to.


I was intrigued by these three deaths of Privates in the 4th Cameron Highlanders occurring within a fortnight and discovered this excellent site that explains why they were in Bedford, and the reason why so many deaths occurred there at the time: The Bedford Highlanders

Here are photographs of the WWI section of the cemetery.

 Private Donald MacLean's gravestone is on the front-right: