About the Hebrides No VIII

'Tarbert in Harris, to which the Clansman conveyed us from Loch Maddy in North Uist, was described to us by a residenter of the place, though not a native, as consisting of 26 dwelling-houses and 13 shops – he begged pardon, business premises of “merchants”. This is possibly a rather rough-and-ready summing-up, but it is correct enough in so far as indicating that the number of the latter is distinctly out of proportion to the number and requirements of the former.

The village stands at the head of East Loch Tarbert, that indentation of the sea that cuts into the land from the Minch to about a quarter of a mile from the head of West Loch Tarbert, similarly indenting it from the Atlantic, the so close approach of the two all but constituting the southern portion of Harris an island. As it is, the march between the two districts is here, the proprietor of North Harris being Sir Edward H Scott, Bart., and of South Harris the Earl of Dunmore.

The houses are all on the north or right hand side as you enter by the steamer, ust where the loch or bay becomes a creek of 300 or 400 yards in length, and narrowing to less than 50 yards at the top. The first structure to catch the eye is the Free Church, a plain enough building, erected on the summit of an eminence jutting into the sea immediately eastward of the pier. Close at hand, but standing a little lower, is the manse, a comfortable-looking, white-washed house, with a neatly-kept kitchen garden in front and sheltered so far from the wind and spray by some trees – the latter not of any dimensions, truly, but still forming a show of “wood” surpassing what we had seen as yet in working up the Long Island. Then comes the wooden pier, up from which, by a path that winds round to westward, you pass the schoolhouse (the of teacher which is also the registrar for the district, &c.), and get onto the main road or street, on the right of which stand the houses and stores of which, as above mentioned, the village consists. To right and left respectively of the pierhead is a row of eight or ten of these, some slated and others roofed with zinc, and all of one storey only.

Beyond these, going on to the head of the loch, there is a hiatus, to which succeeds a row of about a dozen newer-looking houses, two or or three of which are of two storeys and “semi-detached” from their neighbours. At the very head of the bay is the old Tarbert Inn , now disused as such; and across the road from this, almost down on the shore, the modern post and telegraph office. Following the road westwards two minutes' walk brings you to the new Tarbert Hotel, in the very centre of the isthmus, and 30 or 40 yards further on is the house of the medical man of the district, Dr Stewart, which commands the view away down West Loch Tarbert.'

This is a gem of a description of Tarbert from 130 years ago and I only wish that I could name the author! However, we can identify '...Dr Stewart...' as James Stewart for this young 'Physician and Surgeon' from Perthshire is found living in Kintulavig in 1881 and at 15 West Tarbert a decade later

Similary, we can be sure that the teacher who was '...also the registrar for the district, &c.' was the Glaswegian Donald Bethune, he being the Schoolteacher in Tarbert in 1881 & 1891 , and that the Minister in the Manse was Roderick Mackenzie from Assynt in Sutherland who a few months after the publication of this article was giving his evidence to the Napier Commission where he makes particular reference to the work of Fanny Thomas .

We are especially fortunate in having the 1882 6-inch Ordnance Survey map (surveyed in 1878) on which to follow in the footsteps of our unknown author and then we should perhaps refresh ourselves at the '...new Tarbert Hotel ...' before returning later to examine the remainder of his piece...

Source: Glasgow Herald 16^th September 1882 p3

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wWZEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H7IMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1082%2C5453754

About the Hebrides No VII

'At the inn here we met again with one of the commercial gentlemen whom we had encountered at the different markets coming north. He was a travelling agent of the Singer's Sewing Machine Company; and in proof of how general is becoming the adoption of these useful instruments everywhere, he told me that since leaving Barra he had sold ten machines in the Long Island; and, after paying all his own travelling expenses, had remitted over £70 to headquarters, in payment or part payment of machines sold by him on his last journey in these parts. He added that now-a-days it is quite common, in what we should call little Highland tailors' shops, to find two machines going in full swing. We had had no idea previous to this time of the amount of business generally done by southern firms with the people of the Outer Hebrides, and therefore might well be surprised by one fact, among others, told us by this same gentleman – namely, that a well-known tea merchant hailing from Edinburgh, who regularly makes exhaustive journeys through the Long Island on his own account, will take home with him as the “collection” of one such visit about £1000. True, he has the great advantage of being thoroughly au-fait in the language of the natives, and he supplies numerous private customers as well as the merchants; but still – the statement surprised us.'

Before examining this account, I should like to look a little at the inn's location which was in '...Tigharry, a township not far from Griminish Point...' on North Uist where the '...somewhat humble but snug hostelry...' was kept by 'Mr Roderick Macaulay and his most capable and willing help-meet...'.

In 1841, the innkeeper at Tigh a' Gerraidh (Tigharry) was 40 year-old Donald Macaulay who remained there in 1851 & 1861 but with the inclusion of 'Farmer of 16 acres' & then 'Farmer of 14 acres' as additional occupations.

In fact some 33 households are shown with the address of 'Tigheary Inn' in 1861, the Enumerator presumably considering this it to be the appropriate means of identifying the settlement as a whole?

Unfortunately the censuses of 1871 & 1881 return no clear indication of those (if there were indeed any?) living at, or keeping, the inn but the location can easily be seen on the 1881 OS 6-inch map.

In 1891 a Roderick Macaulay aged 54 was a Farmer in the township but, once again, the inn is not mentioned so whether he is the same person who nine years earlier had been the inn-keeper I cannot say.

Returning to the article itself, it is the information to be gleaned from the agent of the Singer Sewing Machine Company that demands our attention.

Firstly, a sum of £70 in 1882 equates to at least £5200 today (and quite possibly a lot more), the figure representing a combination of full and part payments for machines and after all the agent's own expenses had been deducted from the sales. Small wonder that he had returned for another tour! I cannot find a price for a Singer sewing machine in 1882 but a close rival was on the market for about £4, equating to around £300 today.

Secondly, the image of a couple of Singer sewing machines 'going in full swing' in many 'little Highland tailor's shops' is, at one and the same time, both reassuringly 'cosy' and also a pleasing antidote to the more-usual portrayal of island folk as automatically rejecting all such innovations.

Finally, the “collection” of £1000 by the Edinburgh tea merchant perhaps comes as no particular surprise until you update it to about £75,000 in today's money. That's a lot of tea (although precisely how much I cannot say) and the wily mainland merchant maximised his return by selling directly to his thirsty 'Long Island' customers as well as to the local merchants.

There we shall have to leave these travellers for now, enjoying their refreshments in Roderick Macaulay's inn, but perhaps we'll meet them again soon for they have many more interesting insights to provide us with into late 19thC life on the Long Island...

Source: Glasgow Herald September 1882

The Board of Supervision and the Destitution in the Highlands

(From a Correspondent) Glasgow Herald 23 April 1883 page 8

'The special tour of inspection undertaken in the bitterly cold month of March by the two inspecting officers of the Board of Supervision, while it has fully corroborated the tales of distress from the Hebrides and the West Coast with which the public have for some time past been familiar, puts us in possession of nothing new regarding the deplorable condition of the able-bodied population in these regions.'

Thus begins a lengthy and very detailed article that proceeds to patiently, artfully and skilfully demolish the findings of the report published following the inspection. In this piece I am focussing upon the visit of 'Mr Peterkin' to Harris:

'Mr Peterkin next visits Harris, North and South. A striking contrast appears between the two sections. In the North the proprietor, Sir Edward H. Scott, Bart., is doing everything needful for his people; while in the South, under the Dowager Countess of Dunmore as trustee, the people seem to be suffering, and have now been helped in money to the extent of £600 from the London Committee – evidently the result of Lord Dunmore's recent visit to the metropolis to “beg aid for the distressed people.”'

A brief biography of Sir Edward H. Scott is to be found in this earlier piece which contains a link to further information on his family's contribution to Harris. The visits of SS Dunara Castle to Harris, an innovation of the Baronet's that did much for the island's economy, are recorded in the censuses and may be read here , here and here . It is worth mentioning that the 1891 visit records Malcolm McNeill of the Board of Supervision as one of the passengers, reminding us that, even eight years after the publication of the article in the Glasgow Herald, the work of that Board in the islands remained very much 'in progress'. (Those with an interest in 'Society Gossip' may also wish to read this from the Spring of 1899 regarding Sir Samuel Scott's wife. )

The aspect that interests me the most is the identification of the suffering of the people in South Harris '...under the Dowager Countess of Dunmore as trustee...' . Firstly, why was the 42 year-old 7^th Earl's 69 year-old mother acting as trustee to the Estate at a time when her son was not performing military duties abroad as indicated by reference to his recent visit to London? Secondly, the fact that we are provided with a contrast between the situation in the North (thanks to the attitude and activities of the proprietor Sir E Scott) and the situation in the South (where we are told that the proprietor went to London “...to beg aid...”) is a clear statement as to where the writer considers the blame to lie.

A century earlier Rodel had been the powerhouse of development under Captain Alexander Macleod and Tarbert was no more than a small cluster of houses at the head of  the West Loch (as can be clearly seen in Bald's 1804/5 map).

The Tarbert of the 1880s was a small yet thriving town strung mainly along the Northern shore of the East Loch whilst Rodel had been reduced to little more than an island retreat for an apparently absent landlord.

'On this estate there are about 128 crofters, of whom 74 pay rents of from £4 to £5 each; 38 pay from £5 to £7 each; and 16 from £7 to £10 each. Some of these crofters are in arrears with their rents, and are now employed in working off this burden by roadmaking and trenching near the proprietor's residence. It would have looked as well to have let the arrears to stand over in present circumstances and allowed the crofters to work their land and sow seed with a view to averting the calamities of famine next year.'

An interrogation of the 1881 census reveals 121 households headed by a Crofter which accords pretty well with the figure of 128 a couple of years later as given here. It is interesting to note that 58% of these were in the category paying the lowest rentals, 30% in the middle group and only 12% at the highest level as this gives us an indication of the distribution of rents, in this case one that is heavily 'skewed' towards the lower end.

The roadmaking was clearly limited to a small area around Rodel for, as can be seen in this evidence to the 'recently appointed Royal Commission' mentioned at the end of the article, the Bays were still in desperate need of a road and it would be another fourteen years before that was completed.

'Mr Peterkin reports that some of them have poultry and some cattle and sheep, but that the crofters would not willingly sell any stock this season. He might have added that no one would buy them at this season.'

The writer was clearly unimpressed by the Edinburgh-born Mr Peterkin's ignorance of island agriculture and ensures that we are made aware of it:

'The Harris cattle possessed by crofters are not of a good stamp, and bring but poor prices at anytime. It is said, and there is little reason to doubt it, that they feed partly on sea-weed in winter and spring, and at this time they are fit neither for being eaten or being sold to advantage.'

We should remember that the Harris cattle possessed by others, notably those of the Stewart & McRa farming families, were prized beasts that won awards but, for some strange reason, the benefit of breeding wasn't accorded to their crofting neighbours. I do have to take the writer to task on the matter of cattle consuming seaweed for my understanding is that this is actually beneficial to them and hence not a factor in their fitness for either sale or consumption?

The idea of poultry is rather comical. The poorest of the poor in the Highlands has two or three hens. If they are killed for food they will not last long, and there will be no eggs.

This is the writer's final twist of his 'pen/knife' and he then ends with a prescient predication as to what the forthcoming Napier Commission would discover:

There seems to be a providence in the present state of matters, bringing the wretchedness of the people to the surface, to give plenty of scope to the recently appointed Royal Commission.

I would dearly love to learn who the author of this article was but meanwhile here is a compilation of 'snapshots' of his 'target', William Arthur Peterkin (1824-1906 ), taken from the censuses of 1851-1901 and with his occupation shown in bold:

1851 27, Senior Clerk board of Supervision, Lewis Castle, Stornoway Distillery, Stornoway, b. Nk

(As seen in this earlier piece )

1861 37, First Class Clerk, Civil Service Poor Law, 14 Grove Street, Edinburgh, b. Edinburgh

(Wife, 5 children aged 1 to 7, a Cook, a Nurse and a Nurse Maid)

1871 47, Civil Service Poor Law, General Superintendent of Poor, North District, Scotland. Inspecting Officer of Board of Supervision Under Public Health Act, Scotland, 9 Albert Street, Nairn, b. St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh

(Wife, 7 children aged 3 to 17, a Domestic Cook and a Housemaid)

1881 57, H.M.C.S. Board of Supervision, Visitor, 25 Union Street, Inverness, b. St Cuthbert, Midlothian

(25 Union Street was a hotel kept by a 35 year-old, Donald Davidson, from Elgin)

1891 67, Civil Service – Inspector, Terry Road (North Side) Fairholm, Edinburgh, b. Edinburgh

(Wife, 4 children aged 25 to 31, 2 Domestic Servants and 2 Visitors)

1901 77, Annuitant (Retired from Civil Service), 7 Eildon Street, Edinburgh, b. Edinburgh

(Wife, 2 children aged 39 & 47, 2 General Servants (Domestic) and a Visitor)

His occupational titles of 1871 are certainly the longest that I have yet read in the censuses!

Source: Article may be read online here:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YsI-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=akwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1896%2C1652600

'A Fashionable Kettledrum' – the Gentlewoman's Self-Help Institute

It is an evening in May1870 and we are in the company of one 'Azamut-Batuk' who is gathering material for his publication, 'A little book about Great Britain', that will appear later in the same year.

In fact we are with Nicolas Leon Thieblin who wrote for the Pall Mall Gazette under the pseudonym of the 'Turk' and his article was first published in that newspaper on Friday the 13^th of May under the title 'A Meeting at Stafford House'.

Stafford House was home to the Duke & Duchess of Sutherland and was the most valuable private house in London. We know it today as Lancaster House, home to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and the change of name occurred when it was bought in 1912 by a son of the county of Lancashire who had made himself a rather large fortune out of soap. His name, by the way, was William Hesketh Lever.

But I digress and we must return to the event that brought our 'Turk' to the 'palace' (as Queen Victoria is alleged to have described it when making a comparison with her own meagre residence in London) which was a meeting of the 'Gentlewoman's Self-Help Institute' attended, as noted by Thieblin, by such men as the Earl of Shaftesbury and Mr Gladstone, the Prime Minister.

The Institute (to which I can find no further reference) had eight Patrons but it is the two who head the list that interest me the most; the Duchess of Sutherland and the Dowager Countess of Dunmore who had been a widow for almost a quater-of-a-century. . At this point I should make it clear that this Duchess of Sutherland was Anne Hay-Mackenzie and wife of the 3^rd Duke of Sutherland. It was his Grandfather, the 1st Duke, who, with the encouragement of his wife (Elizabeth, Duchess of Sutherland, who inherited her title at the age of one) had been responsible for the appalling Clearances of Sutherland. The Duchess of Sutherland who wrote on The Revival Of Home Industries for The Land Magazine in 1899 was Millicent, the 3^rd Duke and Anne's daughter-in-law, whose husband the 4^th Duke had inherited the title in 1892.

The aim of the Institute was to '...seek to place within the reach of educated ladies, widows, and daughters of clergymen, barristers, military and naval officers, and professional men, who may have been reduced from easy circumstances to narrow means, an opportunity of turning their natural or acquired abilities to account.' To this end it had acquired premises at Bessborough Gardens in Pimlico '...for the reception and sale of articles produced by ladies in reduced circumstances. These rooms are now crowded with a great variety of articles of every description — oil paintings, drawings, modelled waxwork, guipure and other lace, wool-work, embroidery, baby-clothes, and plain work of all sorts.' It was an upper-class craft sale!

I say 'upper-class' because 'Any lady wishing to become a working member has to furnish two references as to respectability, certifying to her being a gentlewoman by birth and education, which will be laid before the ladies' committee by the lady superintendent, Mrs. Howard, and, if approved, the lady so applying will be required to procure a nomination from a subscriber to the Institute, when she will become eligible to partake of the benefits of the institution in any way most advantageous to herself.' A 'subscriber' paid a guinea a year (or donated ten guineas for life membership) to secure the right to nominate one of these ladies. They could pay multiples of these amounts and nominate more ladies accordingly.

I mentioned that this was the sole reference to the Institute that I could find however in 'Webster's Royal Red Book, or Court & Fashionable Register, 1897' is listed the 'Gentlewoman's Self-Help Society' at 20-22 Maddox Street, London. Whether or not this was related to the Institute of 1870 I cannot say but it is interesting to note the existence of, and therefore a perceived need for, this similar-sounding organisation some 27 years after that May meeting in palatial Stafford House.

Robert Somers - 'Letters from the Highlands; or, the Famine of 1847'

Robert Somers (1822-1891) had only recently joined the 'North British Daily Mail' in Glasgow when he went to the Highlands to investigate the Potato Famines and the results were published in a book the following year. I have only just begun reading the tome but thought that these extracts from 'Letter XXI' on the 'Want of Plantations in Skye – Profits of the Kelp Manufacture – Extravagance of the Highland Chiefs – Its Results' were especially interesting:

'When Dr. Johnson visited the Hebrides, the lairds were only beginning to draw money-rents from their estates. A proprietor of one of the islands declared to him that "he should be very rich if he could set his land at 2½d. an acre." Every one knows how very different it is now.

Since then rents have undergone a fourfold, a six-fold, and even a ten-fold increase, and the Highland proprietors have reaped the benefit of the kelp manufacture, the profits of which far exceeded, in many cases, the rental of the land itself. We have heard of Highland proprietors receiving £10,000, and some £12,000 and £14,000 a-year from kelp alone.'

'There is no more interesting passage in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" than that in which he describes how commerce and manufactures gradually broke down the power of the feudal barons, and promoted the improvement and cultivation of the country. In rude times a landed proprietor could find no way of consuming his revenue but by sharing it with a multitude of retainers, who were necessarily always at his command, whether in peace or war. But when commerce and manufactures arose, they spread before his eyes numerous articles of curious workmanship and dazzling material, the enjoyment of which could be lavished entirely upon himself. His vanity was tickled; and for a diamond buckle, or a gilded coach, he bartered the produce which would have maintained 1,000 men for a year.'

'Towards the close of last century, the rise of rents and the profits of kelp brought the Highland chiefs within the reach of the same temptations to which the English and Lowland barons had yielded a century earlier. They introduced them into the splendid warehouses and saloons of London, filled with the richest handiwork and the rarest and costliest luxuries which the ingenuity of man could devise, or the unwearied energies of commerce could collect.

There, too, were the English aristocracy, with their princely equipages and their glittering wealth, to excite emulation and to ruffle pride. The effect was the same as when a hawker of the backwoods spreads out his toys, and trinkets, and fire-waters, before a tribe of Indians. The vanity of the Highland chiefs was intoxicated, and the solid advantages which the new tide in their affairs had opened up to them were bartered for the merest baubles. There is a staircase-window in Lord Macdonald's mansion in Skye which is said to have cost £500. In residences, dress, furniture, equipages, pleasures, and style of living, the Highland chiefs copied the English model; and while they necessarily lost their power by this new way of life, the only resources by which their rugged country and its untutored inhabitants could have been brought into a cultivated and civilised condition, were wasted in the vain attempt to rival the magnificence of an aristocracy who possessed much richer domains and larger revenues.

The decay of the kelp manufacture completed the ruin which personal extravagance had begun; and the men who had long reaped the profits of this lucrative trade passed from the scene, leaving their estates as unimproved as they had found them, a numerous population starving, and rentals reduced far below their nominal amount by the annual charges of their mortgages.

The heirs of this poor inheritance occupy a difficult and painful position. They are entitled to sympathy and indulgence. There is only one way by which they can hope to gain their lost ground, to improve their estates, or even to transmit them, in a state worth possessing, to their children. They must forsake the world, forswear pomp and fashion, retire to their country seats, live penuriously, and spend in the improvement of their properties the last farthing of their rentals which they can spare from the consumption of their families.'

The 'Letters' must have pleased his employers for, the following year, Somers became the paper's Editor (a position he held until 1859) and we may glimpse the 29 year-old in the census of 1851 living at 16 Pollok Street, Govan, Renfrewshire with his wife, Janet, and their three children.

I had some difficulty in discovering further information regarding this address but, as can be seen from the link that follows, that is hardly surprising! - The Hidden Glasgow .

(It was also an anomaly of the period that the part of the Parish of Govan that the Somers' lived in was considered to be in Renfrewshire, unlike the majority of Govan which lies in Lanarkshire.)

Wintering in the South...

'Island of Barra. - A much valued correspondent in Stornoway writes us:-

The House of Barra, on the island of the same name, in the West Highlands, the late residence of the Macneils, and the property of Colonel Gordon of Cluny, was lately totally destroyed by fire.

He also narrates the following curious circumstance:-

Two years ago a few deer were brought from Athol to Tarbat, on the island of Harris, by the late Earl of Dunmore, and there turned at large.

In the month of November last, one of these, a fine stag, swam across the Sound of Harris, a distance of about five miles, went through North and South Uist, swam across from South Uist to Barra, a distance of eight miles, remained there a month where it daily fed on the turnip field at the house of Oligary, and then returned to South Uist where it was lately seen.

“This,” says our friend, “is worth while putting in the paper.”

It really is.'

Greenock Advertiser, quoted in the Glasgow Herald of 26^th January 1846

Today, of course, his journey would require him to undertake a little less swimming! - http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/techservices/bridgescausewaysferries/index.asp

A Balanced View of the Balance of Nature?

On the 18^th of March 1842, the Inverness Journal announced that:

The Earl of Dunmore has ordered a supply of hares and rabbits to be let loose over the island of Harris.

The island does not contain much arable land, and the farmer will be remunerated as a sportsman for any loss he may otherwise sustain.

Eight days later on the 26^th of March another paper, the Manchester Times & Gazette, quoted an article in the Inverness Courier:

'The Earl of Dunmore has ordered a supply of hares and rabbits to be let loose over the island of Harris.

This must be intended as a boon for the sportsman; it will scarcely prove one to the farmer; but the island does not contain much arable land.'

I think it is clear that either a 'press release' had been the original source of these articles (with the Journal printing it verbatim and the Courier slightly altering the emphasis of the second sentence) or that the Courier had perhaps used the Journal's article as the basis for it's piece?

Whatever the case, a couple of year's later on the 20^th of April 1844 an article in the 'Scotsman' was quoted by 'The Freeman's journal & Daily Commercial Advertiser':

RATS IN THE HEBRIDES

'Generations have passed away without seeing a rat on the small island of Tarinsay, on the west coast of Harris. An innumerable swarm of these annoying and destructive vermin have of late spread over the island, notwithstanding the efforts of Mr Macdonald, the taskmaster, to extirpate them. They appear to be increasing so fast that they threaten to over-run the whole island, and keep violent possession of it.

They are supposed to have come from the island of Soay, which lies at the distance of about three miles from Tarinsay, and into which the Earl of Dunmore, some years ago, ordered rabbits to be sent. Soon after this, the rats, which were formerly very numerous on the island of Soay, completely disappeared, having removed in a body to the neighbouring island, from which they are not inclined to take their departure in a hurry.'

Note: 'Tarinsay' for Taransay is forgiveable whilst substituting 'taskmaster' for 'tacksman' was, perhaps, a Freudian slip as the island had recently been Cleared for this same John Macdonald?

Island which spent £600,000 getting rid of rats over-run by rabbits, trumpeted the Telegraph of 27th of April 2010, referring to the island of Canna, with the same story also being covered by the Guardian, which didn't mention the cost of the operation, and by the Times, whose tabloidesque headline apparently suggests that the rabbits had consumed the island itself!

Nature & newspapers sometimes seem to share similar difficulties in maintaining balance...

SHEEP STEALING

Roderick Macdonald, Scalladale, In the Isle of Harris, was charged with having, in July last, stolen four wedder sheep, the property of Mr Stewart, Luskintyre.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to fourteen years' transportation.

Inverness Journal 22^nd April 1842

We know much of Donald Stewart, the farmer of Luskintyre, but what of Roderick Macdonald of Scalladale?

The 1841 census record 7 people of that name on the island but we can ignore the youngest three, who were only 1, 2 & 7 years old, leaving us with the following quartet who are shown in order of their ages:

14, Scarp son of Donald & Margaret

28, Carragrich, Tenant

35, Obb

40, Molnahcuradh, Shepherd, wife Effy & 5 children

A decade later, those still found on the island aged 20 and over are listed below with those who match, and therefore were certainly not our man, shown in bold:

23, Scarp

25, Obe, Merchant & Innkeeper's son (He who soon married Sarah Grant)

40, Carragrich, Crofter

46, St Kilda, Farmer of 3 acres & Bird Catcher employing no men

50, Drinishader, Farmer of 4 acres, wife Catherine

It is clear that only two of those who were listed in 1841 can be positively matched in the list of 1851 leaving us with the two oldest men from 1841 as potential candidates.

So what clues might we glean from the place named in the article, Scalladale?

Sgaladail (Scaladale) is a tiny settlement adjacent to Ardvourlie in North Harris, but that is a modern place and no buildings, not even ruins, are shown there on the 1^st edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map.

A clue may be provided by this record from RCAHMS but I can see no ruins shown at NB 180 092 on the current 1:50 000 or 1:25 000 OS maps.

Nevertheless, the reference to these five possible shielings would make sense if 'Scalladale' referred not only to where Roderick was living at the time but perhaps also to the 'scene' of his crime.

Was he, in that July of 1841, living in a summer shieling and, perhaps, doing so in the capacity of Shepherd?

If so, then the 40 year-old of 'Molnahcuradh' might well be him, especially as neither he nor any of his family can be accurately identified as remaining on Harris in 1851.

It is also just possible that the Roderick we seek was already in the shieling at the time of the census, evading the enumerator's eye and thus absent from the record.

One thing that would help enormously in eliminating the man of 'Molnahcuradh' from my investigations (which I certainly would prefer to be able to do) would be if I had a any idea as to where the 53 people living in the place of that name actually were! Only seven peoples' occupations are given; two were Tenants, two were Ag Labs and three were Shepherds; suggesting that wherever the location, it was most certainly closely associated with one of the sheep farms.

In conclusion, I cannot be sure if any of the Roderick Macdonalds of 1841 were indeed our sheep-stealer but, whoever he was, his punishment of fourteen years in the antipodes was an awfully harsh treatment for taking just four of Donald Stewart's castrated sheep.

Note: The National Archives provide some useful educational information on Transportation as a punishment: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/candp/punishment/g09/g09cs1.htm

I have just discovered that Roderick Macdonald,

sentenced at his trial in Inverness in 1842 to 14 years Transportation,

arrived in Tasmania aboard the 'Emily' in that same year.

In the final 'Remarks' column is written

'Died 1845 Sepr.'

I don't know what the value of four wedders was in 1841,

but I do know it cannot be compared to the value of a human life... 

RIP Roderick Macdonald

VALUABLE AND EXTENSIVE ESTATE,

IN INVERNESS-SHIRE,

FOR SALE

The Estate of Harris will be exposed to sale in the course of next winter.

This Property forms part of the chain of Islands commonly denominated the Lewis or Long-Island.

Beside the main land of Harris, the Estate comprehends a number of Islands, of which seven are of considerable extent.

The Property extends to about 93,500 Scots acres, whereof about 7000 are Arable, and the greater part of the remainder Hill Pasture.

The Land Rent is about L3600, and the public burdens are moderate.

A Freehold and Church Patronage are attached to the lands.

There are valuable Fishing Banks, and the Shores, which are extensive, produce annually about 600 Tons of Kelp, well known in the market to be of very superior quality.

There are also several safe and accessible Harbours, and there is an excellent carriage road of considerable extent leading though the south and west parts of the main land.

The extension of steam navigation must be attended with important advantages to the Property.

Further particulars will be given in future advertisements.

Applications may be made to Messrs. Dickson and Steuart, W. S, 3 Royal Circus, Edinburgh.

Mr Donald Stewart, Factor of the Estate, resident Luskintyre, in Harris, will give directions for shewing the property.

Edinburgh, 20^th April, 1832

Source: Inverness Journal, 18^th May 1832 via Am Baile & Inverness Reference Library

This is what George Murray, 5^th Earl of Dunmore, bought from Alexander Norman Macleod for £60,000 in 1834. He considered it to have been a bargain and, with an apparent annual rental return of 6%, it is easy to see why he thought so.

One can easily imagine Donald Stewart making an excellent job of 'shewing the property', no doubt emphasising the opportunities to extend the sheep farms but perhaps forgetting to mention his ongoing legal disputes regarding the church on Berneray or the lease held by Mrs Anne Campbell of Strond & Killegray?

Confusion regarding the naming of the isles, which continues to rumble-on today, is shown by the reference to 'The Lewis' for if anything the phrase is more correctly 'The Lews' but I do not intend following that particular diversion today.

The seven islands 'of considerable extent' that accompany 'the main land of Harris' are Berneray, Ensay, Killegray, Pabbay, Scalpay, Scarp and Taransay all of which were within the Parish of Harris. The Freehold was presumably Rodel House whilst the church patronage refers to the appointment of the Minister to the Parish Church at Scarista.

Whilst there were 'valuable Fishing Banks' it was already Stornoway that was profiting the most from these for Tarbert had been overlooked by the British Fisheries Society four decades previously.

The 600 Tons of Kelp being produced at this late stage comes as a surprise for the market had collapsed 20 years ago but on the other hand we know that in 1821 the Farm of Strond had manufactured 115 tons of high-quality Kelp.

The 'extensive carriage road' was that running from Rodel to An-t-Ob and thence along the West coast to Luskintyre but the majority of overland travel was along unmade tracks and the sea remained the main 'road', a term that was still commonly used to describe such sea-routes.

Steam navigation would indeed provide improved communications however not during the lifetimes of the 5^th or 6th Earls but in that of the Charles Adolphus Murray, the 7^th Earl of Dunmore.

Note: Many more references to these matters appear elsewhere in this blog and I have merely directed readers to those pieces that might otherwise be overlooked!

HARRIS – PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR FOOTPATHS

Largely attended meetings of the inhabitants of the Bays District, and of Strond and Obbe, were held last week for the purpose of pressing upon the County Council and Government the urgent necessity of affording a grant in aid of the construction of roads and footpaths in Harris, and also of relieving the necessities of the people of affording them work.

At Flodabay, the meeting was addressed by

Kenneth Maclennan, crofter, Finsbay;

Donald Mackinnon, Flodabay;

Sergeant John Mackinnon, Flodabay, and

Alexander Morrison, Bayhead;

while at Obbe, the meeting was addressed by

Donald Paterson, crofter, Strond;

Donald Kerr, crofter, Strond, and

William Gilles, Strond.

At both meetings it was stated by all the speakers that the people of Harris were sore pressed, bordering on want, caused by the terrible weather of last winter, preventing them prosecuting the fishing.

It was also stated, that unless the footpaths partly built last year were continued and completed between the different townships and schools, the children in many parts could not yet attend school save in the best weather.

Resolutions were passed unanimously expressing the gratitude of the people of Harris to Sir George Trevelyan and Dr Macgregor, MP, for last year's grant, and a further grant this year was urgently pressed for. A petition to Parliament for a similar purpose has been signed in the Kylis, Stockinish district by heads of families representing 1056 people.

Source: Scottish Highlander 29^th March 1894 (via Am Baile & Inverness Reference Library)

(I have altered the layout in order to make the article easier to read but left the reference to Kyles Stockinish as it appeared in the original.)

It would be another three years before the road through the Bays was completed whilst the people of Strond were still waiting for their road to be completed nearly 50 years later.

Talking of those people, I was slightly surprised to realise that the Messrs. Paterson and Gilles were related to each other (and to me), by marriage, whilst we three share no connection with Mr Kerr!

William Gilles (b. abt1850) was a Stone Mason, whilst by 1901 Donald Kerr (b. abt1858) was a Road Labourer on Berneray, which probably explains why these two addressed the meeting.

It is interesting too see the reference to the bad weather of the Winter of 1893/4 which must have been particularly terrible to have prevented the men from fishing.

I suspect the reference to the difficulties facing the children in attending school was raised partly out of parental concern for their offspring's education but also because a poor attendance record for the Parish would reflect badly upon the County Council.

Contribution From India For The People Of Harris

'The Scotsman notices that the last number of the Friends of India contains an interesting statement regarding that “most desolate and poverty-stricken of the Western Isles,” Harris, with a population of 4400, the majority of whom “live in sight of starvation the whole year.” “They are always hungry: ...many of them never know what it is to feel satisfied after a meal. Poor as the other islands are, nowhere are the people in so wretched a condition as in Harris.”

The article from which we quote (and we guess it to be from the pen of Mrs Colin Mackenzie) goes on to describe the noble exertions which an English lady, Mrs Captain Thomas, the wife of the naval officer surveying the coast of Harris, has made for the last two or three years, “striving, as she has done, with all her might, and almost unassisted, to raise a population from the extremity of misery.” She has established schools, got the church finished, has collected subscriptions by which she has supported a catechist in the island for almost three years, has set on foot a bazaar by which she has raised funds for building a manse, has induced numbers of the fishermen to join the Coast-Guard service, and has brought up in Edinburgh several relays of boys and girls, who have all turned out most docile and excellent servants, and strives, but hitherto striven in vain, to raise means for enabling some of the poor and starving families of the isle to emigrate.

“Shall we not (writes the Friend of India) - “Shall we not help her?”

The appeal ends with a series of subscriptions from Hindoos and others, as H. H. the Nawab Naziur, 500 rupees; Rajab Prosuno Narain Dab Buhadur, 100 rupees, etc.

Is this not a great and deserved censure upon the apathy with which we look upon the miseries of poverty when they chance to be to near our own door?'

Inverness Advertiser Friday 22 Feb 1861

This article, obtained from the Inverness Reference Library via Am Baile's online search and order service, is, quite simply, the pinnacle of the primary sources that I have perused in relation to this magnificent lady (and also of the situation on Harris fully a decade after the final potato famine).

Everything that I have researched regarding Mrs Frances Sarah Thomas Bousfield Thomas (yes, that was her full name following her two baptisms and her first marriage!) leads up to this newspaper piece. This may come as a surprise for where is the Clo Mor, or the Stocking Knitters, or whatever? The answer is that I do not believe that either 'Harris Tweed' or 'Strond Stockings' were truly significant economic activities at this early date and it was the less glamorous work amongst the people that is described above that the exhaustingly energetic Fanny was devoting herself to at this time.

Of the publication, 'The Friend of India', I have learnt that it was created by the missionary John Clark Marshman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clark_Marshman but, although the title contains the word 'Friend', I have not discovered whether it was associated with the Society of Friends. I raise this because, although I have no proof that the Thomas's were 'Quakers', an article on Mrs Thomas appeared in 'The British Friend' of 1888.

Mrs Captain Thomas, my 'Heroine of Harris', was certainly a friend to the people of the isle...

Taking A Stance - On A Drove-Stance

On the 3^rd of December 1846 a case was heard in court between the Marquis of Breadalbane and 'James M'Gregor and others'.

The case, which is extensively recorded in great detail, was with regard to a long-standing drove-stance that had been moved and the relationship of drove roads with later, mainly military, routes.

The place in question was Inverouran in Argyll which lies just off the modern A82 road and it is what the case has to tell us regarding the history and practice of droving that particularly interests me:

"The drove-road by Glencoe and the Blackmount was used for driving sheep and cattle long before the public road was formed, and it has continued to be used down to the present time in the same way as before the formation of the present road.

Nicely reminding us that it was such paths that had formed a large part of the land communication network for many, many years.

At Inverouran, the drove-road leaves the present public road for about two miles. It runs through the drove-stances in dispute, and has been used as a part of the drove road for the sheep and cattle from time immemorial.

I suggest that 'time immemorial' implies at least several centuries of use.

Shortly before 1745, a military road was, with the necessary engineering deviations, made under the authority of parliament, on or along the line of the former and ancient drove-road, which afterwards became the road by which the cattle and sheep were driven.

The first roads were built for political, rather than economic, purposes.

In 1803 this line of road was, in common with the other roads in the Highlands, placed under the management of parliamentary commissioners, and is so still; and, with the exception of occasional deviations, the present public road runs along the line or course of the ancient drove-road.

Not all 'modern' roads follow these ancient routes so it is nice to have this particular one confirmed.

The military road, and the present parliamentary road are, substantially, in the lino of the ancient drove-road, and came in its place, and, among others, to supply its purposes, which, until recently, have been its chief use."

" On their journey, certain places for resting and refreshing sheep and cattle are indispensable. These places are generally situated at the average distance of ten miles from one another, being the safe and proper distance sheep and cattle on a journey can daily travel without sustaining serious injury, and they are called drove-stances or stages, and are invariable and indispensable accompaniments of drove-roads; and on the great drove-road by Glencoe and the Blackmount, there have been for centuries past, and as far back as its history reaches, drove-stances at stated distances, for the resting of the sheep and cattle.

So we know that the average speed of these droves was about 10 miles per day which fact is worth pondering when you consider that some of these animals would leave in July to travel all the way from the Western Isles to England!

There are fixed rates of charge for every hundred sheep, and every score of cattle, attached to each stance; and these rates, - generally 1s. 6d. for every hundred sheep, and the like for every score of cattle for each night, -have been fixed for time immemorial."

Using the Retail Price Index reveals that 1s 6d is a little over £5 today and that is for every 100 sheep or 20 cattle and for each day of the journey. 5p per sheep per night and 25p per cow which it would be interesting to compare with modern haulage rates per 10 miles!

I might return to this case to see what other snippets might be lurking there but for now I think that's enough on the disputed drove-stance of Inverouran.

Source: The Scottish Jurist Vol XII 1867

Battle of the Pens in the late 18thC

The final years of the 18thC attracted a sudden surge of learned visitors to, & commentators upon, the Western Isles.

John Knox, John Lanne Buchanan and Robert Heron each wrote of their experiences whilst John Pinkerton (aka another 'Robert Heron') embarked on a spirited attack upon all things Gaelic. We shall, however, start with a private letter between two other men of letters and learning:

Letter from Jospeh Ritson to Mr George Paton

Gray's Inn, 5^th March 1794

Dear Sir...

...Pinkerton seems busy in his intended History of Scotland. Whether it is to be the same with that advertised under the name of Robert Heron,*I cannot learn. His treatment of the "Celtic savages" is to be speedily resented in print by the Reverend John Lane Buchanan, nominal author of " Travels in the Western Hebrides," who seems, in fact, to be as very a Celt as his antagonist could possibly wish for. I am sorry to find so good a cause in the hands of such an incompetent advocate.

I indulge myself at present with the hopes of seeing you in the course of the ensuing summer: and in the mean while, request you to believe me,

DEAR SIR,

Your sincere friend and faithful

Obedient servant, .
J. RITSON.

An explanatory note is provided in the book:

*Pinkerton brought out his " Letters on Literature" under the fictitious name of " Robert Heron." It singularly happened that a " Robert Heron," a man of some literary acquirements, did then exist, and that he was about to publish a History of Scotland. Pinkerton was also at the time engaged in his History of the Stewarts, and thus the puzzle which perplexed Ritson arose. Of the unfortunate fate of the real Robert Heron, a very interesting account will be found in Murray's valuable, but undeservedly neglected, literary History of Galloway.

Source: 'Letters from Joseph Ritson, Esq to Mr George Paton. To which is added, a critique by John Pinkerton, Esq upon Ritson's Scotish Songs' Edinburgh 1879

Pinkerton appears to have previously attacked Paton in his trademark intemperate manner but clearly Ritson was less than enthusiastic that it was Buchanan who had mounted a speedy rebuttal to Pinkerton's latest attack on the Gaels. Paton was employed at the Custom House in Edinburgh and was an amateur student of Scottish antiquities. Anyone with such an interest and who dared to suggest that Gaelic culture might have an ounce of value would be a target for Pinkerton's outrageous vitriol. Ritson had previously exposed a set of supposedly ancient Ballads that Pinkerton had championed but were in fact forgeries, including some from Pinkerton's own hand.

The reason why Ritson would consider Buchanan 'an incompetent advocate' was simple. Buchanan had been a Missionary minister on Harris between 1782 and 1790 but had been found guilty of conducting unbecoming his position. He had been caught 'in flagrante delicto' in the bed of a servant of the Tacksman of Luskentire and also accused of the attempted rape of another tacksman's wife. His subsequent sacking and disgrace mean that his writings regarding the island inevitably open themselves to questions of credibility: Were the tacksmen really as appalling as he suggested and were the Harrismen as keen to become fishers rather than remain being farmers as he insisted?

Buchanan wasn't universally critical of the tacksmen but, even if those at Luskentire and elsewhere on Harris at the time weren't as terrible as he suggests, one of their successors in the form of Donald Stewart most certainly was! It is also worth pointing out that the comments made in the Statistical Account of 1794 by the Rev John Macleod reinforce Buchanan's view of the Tacksman class in general and this despite Buchanan accusing the Established Church of either ignoring, or even collaborating, in the tacksmen's persecution of the people.

Regarding the fishing, even if the relatively small population of Harris (2536 souls in 1792) wasn't too keen on going fishing themselves, that is in no way the same thing as suggesting that Tarbert was indeed an obvious site for the British Fisheries Society to develop and should have been included as such in John Knox's recommendations.

At the risk of becoming an apologist for Buchanan, I humbly suggest that, whilst he may well have overstated the situation and his writings be seen as polemical and therefore without academic value, he should be given some credit for having an intimate knowledge of the ways of Harris having lived amongst the people there for nearly a decade and, unlike some of his his detractors, never hiding behind a nom de plume nor sitting in silence at the injustices he perceived around him.

He also greatly irritated the Tory's at the time, exciting vitriolic attacks from the pages of
'The Gentleman's Magazine' of May 1794 and 'The Critical Review' of 1795.

Neither of the authors of those particular pieces provided their name...

Further reading:

JLB & 'Piscator' (aka John Knox?)

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/11/he-brought-wheels-reels-and-other.html

JLB

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/12/of-two-tacksmen-towards-close-of-18th.html

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/05/defence-of-scots-highlanders.html

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/11/john-lanne-buchanan-1768-1828-his.html

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/05/defence-of-scots-highlanders.html

Heron

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/05/heron-1794-or.html

Pinkerton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pinkerton

I have not read the Harris Kirk Session records themselves but Buchanan's crimes & their repercussions are described here:

Useful Index Pages for Statistical Accounts

I mentioned these in the last piece but thought that, as they are so helpful, I'd devote them an entry in their own right.

A project on the 'Old Roads of Scotland' has, amongst many other things, indexed the Statistical Accounts by County & Parish. This is especially useful as they have contain sketch-maps showing the Parishes and have links to the Statistical Accounts on the EDINA site and the Google Books pages.

Inverness-shire, for example, is here: http://www.oldroadsofscotland.com/stataccinverness.htm and if, like me, you get confused between your 'Sleat's and your 'Strath's, or want to search for a particular word/phrase in the Account,s then these indices & the Google pages that they link to are invaluable.

Enjoy!

The Edinburgh encyclopedia, conducted by D. Brewster, 1830

For background, the 1811 Census recorded 3569 people in Harris living in 760 houses.

Selected highlights from pages 716-7 (interspersed with a few of my comments)

The east coast of Harris is singularly indented all along with innumerable bays, creeks, and natural harbours, and presents a frightfully rocky and barren appearance when viewed from the sea.

The neighbourhood of the shore, however, is inhabited all along; and near the little settlements are patches of barley, oats, and potatoes, raised by extreme labour.

Some of these being the remnants of Captain Macleod's fishing developments of nearly 50 years earlier; and some being the result of early 19thC Clearances such as those of Horgabost, Rodel, Scarista & Seilibost.

Calligray and Ensay lie about a league and a half east from Berneray, being separated from each other, by a narrow sound called Caolas Scaire, through which the tide passes with the most impetuous current known upon these coasts. The sea in which these islands are situated, is called the Sound of Harris, and is much frequented by shipping .

All the early accounts remark upon the Sound regarding its tides & its extensive shipping.

Cattle and kelp are the chief saleable articles of produce.

The former soon to be replaced by sheep and the latter, some decades later, by Harris Tweed.

Harris and its islands contain about 900 milk cows; and about 200 head of cattle are generally sold annually to drovers. The whole stock of cattle in Harris and its islets may be about 2500.

It is difficult to imagine 2500 cows roaming around on Harris and observing some 200 cattle being driven across the land and sea to the mainland, following the fairs on the island, must have been a magnificent sight.

The sheep in Harris are of a diminutive size, of a thin lank shape, with straight horns, the face and legs white, tail short, and wool sometimes bluish-grey, sometimes black, brown, russet, or blotched of various colours: their number is about 1100.

Clearly not to the author's taste, but what a lovely palette of wool walking across the landscape!

Note that there were two-and-a-half times as many cattle as there were sheep.

On Harris a considerable tract of ground has been stocked with Tweed-dale or black faced sheep, by Mr. Mackinnon of Corry, and other gentlemen.

The word 'gentlemen' reminds us that here were are being told of the work of an 'improving' farmer from outwith the islands.

In some of the mountainous islands, they are said to have sometimes four, and sometimes even six horns.

Jacob sheep? Or Soay, Shetland, Spanish?If anyone reading this has researched the history of the primitive multi-horned sheep of Scotland I'd love to hear from you!

The number of goats is trifling.

Similarly what's the story regarding these useful (& tasty?) creatures in Scotland?

There are not less than 1000 horses in Harris, of very small size, but remarkably stout and hardy. Some of the gentlemen have larger horses on their farms, and a few asses have been introduced.

As with the cattle, the thought of 1000 horses (that's 4 horses for every 3 houses!) is unimaginable nowadays and it would be interesting to know about horse ownership in the isles in earlier times.

'...a sin against people and a denial of basic human rights.'

It was inevitable that the focus of my early interest was is in 19thC Harris for that were where I found the information for most of my early pieces. As I started to discover a richer, more varied seam of sources I was able to develop a longer-term context within which to place my findings and, quite frankly, some of the earlier pieces make me cringe with their now-obvious ignorance & naivety!

Nonetheless, they remain as records of the stumbling progress that I believe I have made and when I look at my mentor Angus Macleod's work I perceive a similarly non-linear and, at times, perceptibly perplexed collection of writings.

There are several more modern studies that, with hindsight, I should perhaps have read first but on the other hand it is good to travel on one's own path -even if on reaching the destination a pre-existing short-cut is discovered!

A common theme in all that I have read is the bias between those for whom the islander was perceived as a feckless, lazy and out-dated individual and those who understood the islands as integrated communities with values extending into realms far beyond mere monetary value.

Kelp was the late 18thC cash-crop that fuelled seasonal migration & continual population growth without the profits from the boom years being reinvested within the island to develop alternative forms of employment for when the inevitable bust occurred.

Captain Macleod's attempts at developing fishing were the nearest that anyone got to in thinking about this and, had he lived to see his plans come to full fruition, it is just possible that Tarbert, Harris could have grown & prospered in the 19thC on a par with, or perhaps at the expense of, Stornoway.

But that, too, would have foundered with the over-fishing and changes elsewhere in the economy so that once again reliance upon a single engine for the economy would have seen boom turn to bust.

All this, however, is to lose sight of the situation on the isles before the fishing, before the kelp, before the Captain and before Culloden. If any single turning-point exists for the problems that dogged the isles for all of the 19thC, and much of the 20^thC, it is surely the destruction of the clan system and the ongoing denigration of the Highlander and Gaelic culture that had started in 1745.

I shall leave it to Angus Macleod to explain this in what I think is the most succinct yet complete of his writings on this subject (and from which the title of this piece was taken): The Highland and Islands Clan System

and will merely add that all that I have written fully supports his assertion that:

'The real philosophy behind these events was the unrestricted accumulation of wealth in the hands of the privileged few, by exploiting the land as well as any other basic resource available.'

Angus Macleod - born 25 August 1916, Calbost, Pairc, Lochs, Isle of Lewis, died 2002.

The (True) Origin of Harris Tweed?

It is inevitable that, in this year which see celebrations of the centenary of the first Clo Mor to bear the Orb stamp, my thoughts should turn once again to the story of the early origin of Harris Tweed.

It is a topic that clearly exercised the late Angus Macleod too, for his archive is full of notes on the subject and these have been particularly valuable in guiding my research, although whether he would accord with my conclusions or not is quite another matter.

Are the tales told part of the oral history of the people of the island, or are they a marketing spin invented in the late 19thC to add romance to the material and conveniently mask some of the less-palatable aspects of the Dunmore years, especially those of the 1840s?

Minutes of Evidence - 12^th May 1847 John Tait Esq.

Third Report from the Select Committee on Sites For Churches (Scotland)

6290. Was anything done with a view to giving a market for the fabrics of the island?

Yes; Lady Dunmore intimated to all the people in Harris that the whole fabrics of the island, such as tartan plaids and stockings, would be taken at once by her, and paid for in ready money; and I may state that she has has received from there about 80L. worth of such fabrics, most of which have been brought up to England, and sold or given to her friends.

This represents the earliest datable, documented account of the Countess of Dunmore involving herself with 'Harris Tweed'.

No family tartan, no sisters from Strond sent to train in Paisley, or Alloa, or anywhere else.

£80 in 1847 equates to £5,360 today using the Retail Price Index (£57,800 using Average Earnings).

Her late husband had bought the whole of Harris 13 years earlier for £60,000.

This equates to nearly £5million using the RPI and almost £50million using Average Earnings.

750 times the amount 'taken at once' from the weavers & stocking knitters...

John Tait had had a long-standing & knowledgeable relationship with the family:

6259. I Believe you were one of the trustees under the will of George Earl of Dunmore, the grandfather of the present Earl ? -Yes, I was.

You are intimately acquainted with the affairs of the family, and assist Lady Dunmore in the management of the property ? - Yes, I have been consulted by her frequently.

The situation the Countess found herself in was undoubtedly complex: the Disruption of 1843; the death of the 6^th Earl of Dunmore in July 1845 (shortly followed by the birth of his last child); the start of the Potato Famines in 1846; the requests for a Free Church or churches to be built; and the resettlement of Borve in 1847 all being major features that occurred in these five short years.

It seems a little too convenient that it is in the middle of this period that she is alleged to have set the industry on its way, especially as there is no concrete evidence of her visiting Harris at this time.

The very complexity of the situation, made all the more difficult by her acting as 'Tutor' to the small boy who legally owned the property, makes it extremely difficult to differentiate fact from fiction but the more of the former that I examine the less inclined I am to accept much of the latter. As I have made clear previously, almost all the published accounts of the origins of Harris Tweed were written decades after the events that they purport to describe (and after the death of the Countess herself) by people who had a vested interest in mythologising the Dunmore proprietorship of Harris. They were fellow 'establishment' figures (or their immediate underlings) and included a titled Lady or two, Ministers of the Established Church, Factors & Farmers.

She did make a payment of £1800 pounds in the Spring of 1847 which is the earliest documented evidence of the Countess assisting 'woollen manufactures, partly knitting and partly spinning.' on Harris. It equates to perhaps as little as £180,000 today:

"In the spring of 1847, Lady Dunmore, from her private funds, supplied seed oats, and a considerable quantity of seed potatoes, to the tenants. Some have repaid their advances, but a greater number have not. Her Ladyship also provided materials for employing females in woollen manufactures, partly knitting and partly spinning. For these two purposes she expended above £1800. Nearly £1200 have also been expended on boats, fishing-gear, and the erection of a pier at West Tarbert, for the encouragement of the fishery."

It is not entirely clear if the sum of £1800 refers solely to the knitting and spinning manufactures, or if it includes the seed oats and seed potatoes too, but what is significant is that it appears in the 1851 submission of the Parochial Board of Harris. and yet this account makes no reference to any subsequent encouragement occurring in the four years following this one-off payment.

It was, I suggest, simply an attempt at recouping some of the costs of the famine relief that had been borne ('from her private funds' probably because the Trust legislation made such payments difficult for her to make directly from the estate of her 6 year-old son), rather than a part of any properly planned enterprise. That would only appear a decade later, after the famines had ended and a certain 'Mrs Captain Thomas' had appeared on the scene. A decade later still, the 26 year-old 7^th Earl's castle-building led to him having to sell the North Harris Estate for £155,000.

In conclusion, whilst there is evidence from as early as 1847 of the Countess providing some stimulus for the women of Harris to generate income from textiles, there is nothing to support the familiar myth of the origin of Harris Tweed which may well be rooted in true events but which, in it's well-spun version(s), is too full of flaws to be given the stamp of approval...

Sources:

Note: Previous pieces that may be of interest:

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/08/harris-tweed-origins-from-angus-macleod.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/06/womens-work-in-harris-hebrides.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/06/it-would-be-unjust-to-mrs-thomas.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/05/countess-and-captains-wife.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/05/tweed-specific-weaving.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/02/harris-weavers-in-19th-century.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/07/countess-of-dunmores-letter-to-rev-n.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/06/evidence-to-house-of-lords-letter-of-23.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/09/letter-from-john-robson-macdonald.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2011/02/some-notes-on-selection-from-report-to.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/11/parochial-board-of-harris-in-1851.html 

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-report-from-committee-on.html 

Characteristics of Old Church Architecture &c. in the Mainland and Western Islands of Scotland

by Thomas Scott Muir 1861

'Any one—a surveyor of taxes, a runner with the post, an old way-worn creature carrying a bolster of kelp to a Stornoway customer, or the like—who happened to go through Oab on the morning of Thursday, the eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, must have been more taken up with his own affair than that of his neighbour, if he did not suspect from the unusual stir at the door of its little inn, that somewhat quite out of the common was toward.

And so there was; for "the doctor"—as that arch-inventor Michael, my travelling servitor had dubbed me—was going to Hirt, and the thing in the course of its development having been industriously bruited, along with a signification of the doctor's willingness to accommodate all comers, the minister out of Scarista-Bheag, the schoolmaster of Oab, and Donald Mackinnon, the minister's man—a native of the island, and therefore no less valuable an accessary—were down on the spot, preordinately resolved and made ready to share in the perils of the expedition.'

This snippet gives a flavour of the tone of this description of the 'Long Island' from 1858.

I am particularly pleased that he mentions 'a runner with the post' for my cousin Roderick was a Post Runner in Strond around this time whilst Donald Mackinnon, 'the minister's man' might well be the husband of the School Mistress of 1851:

1851

Isabella Mackinnon, 31, School Mistress, Wife, Obe, ED3, b. Harris

(Donald Mackinnon, 39, Catechist & Farmer, b. Harris plus 5 children ages 1 to 10 and a female ‘House Servant’)

and 'the schoolmaster of Oab' was possibly James Stewart:

1861

James Stewart, 40, Parish Schoolmaster, Oab, ED6, b. South Uist

(Margaret Stewart, 34, Wife, b. Harris plus 7 children ages 5 months to 12 years and a female ‘General Servant’),

these two appearing in the earlier piece on 'Schooling along the Sound of Harris.