ANTIQUITY NO. 5. BRONZE CELT FOUND AT SLATADALE.SCALE—HALF TRUE SIZE.
Surnames were little used in Gairloch in old times, and it is supposed that many persons of different races who settled in the Mackenzie country were after a time reckoned to be Mackenzies. Possibly the clan name was originally adopted only as a means of connecting the follower with his chief, whose tartan of course he wore for identification.
To the present day surnames are little used in Gairloch when Gaelic is being spoken, and even in English a number of men are often called by the equivalents of their Gaelic names. These Gaelic names are formed by the addition to the Christian name of asoubriquetor byname, often hereditary, or else of the father's, grandfather's, and even the great-grandfather's Christian names or some or one of them. Thus in the minutes of the Presbytery of Dingwall, referring to sacrifices of bulls (Appendix F), we find the names ofDonald M'Eaine Roy vic ChoinnichandMurdo M'Conill varchu vic Conill vic Allister, which in English are respectively "Donald the son of John Roy the son of Kenneth" and "Murdo the son of Donald Murdo the son of Donald the son of Alexander." "Roy," properly "Ruadh," happens to be the onlysoubriquetin these two compound names. Take some examples from names of men now living:—Alexander Mackenzie, the senior piper of the Gairloch volunteers, is the son of John Mackenzie of Moss Bank; the father is known as Iain Glas,i.e.Pale John; the son is always called in GaelicAli' Iain Ghlais,i.e.Alexander [son] of Pale John. This name also illustrates the custom of continuing asoubriquet, whether appropriate or not, from one generation to another; Iain Glas is so called, not because he has a pale face, but because the byname had belonged to an uncle of his. So we find John M'Lean, the industrious crofter on the east side of the Ewe, calledIain Buidhe, or Yellow-haired John, not because he has yellow hair, but because an ancestor of his was dubbed with that byname.
Among very numerous instances of the application of bynames to men now living, the following may be given:—Donald Og, Alie Ruadh, Uilleam Ruadh, Alie Beag, Iain Dubh, Eachainn Geal, Seann Seoc, andAlie Uistean, meaning respectively Young Donald, Red-haired Alexander, Red-haired William, Little Alexander, Black John, White Hector, Old Jock, and Alexander Hugh. Young Donald is an elderly man; Little Alexander a tall man; Old Jock acquired the name as a boy because he had then an old head on young shoulders; and Alexander Hugh is so called because he had an ancestor named Hugh, though he himself was baptized Alexander only. In each of these cases the individual is either a Mackenzie, Urquhart, or Maclennan, but is never so called by his neighbours. The same system of nomenclature is similarly applied to the other sex.
It is worth notice that several Gaelic names are not translatable into English; thusEachainnis not really Gaelic for Hector, any more thanUisteanis for Hugh, but these English names have long been adopted as reasonably good equivalents for the Gaelic.
Some female names in Gairloch sound strange to lowland ears,i.e.those formed by addinginato a man's name not usually associated with that termination in the south,—for example, Simonina, Donaldina, Murdina, Seumasina (or Jamesina), Angusina, Hectorina, &c.
Upto the middle of the seventeenth century Gairloch seems to have been a continual battlefield. As to Kenlochewe, it was so often ravaged, and its population so frequently decimated, that one is surprised to find anything left of it!
Among the MacBeaths, M'Leods, Macdonalds, and Mackenzies (assisted by MacRaes), Gairloch was a veritable bone of contention; and for some time after the fierce struggles among the warriors of these clans or tribes had ceased it was still a prey to the raids of the Lochaber cattle-lifters.
What wonder that the Highlander had actually to sleep in his war-paint!
Several weapons of warfare have been mentioned incidentally in Part I., viz., the dirk of Hector Roy, the battle-axe of Big Duncan, the bows and arrows of several of the MacRae archers, and the shotgun of Alastair Buidhe Mackay. The broadsword and targe of the Highlanders were mentioned by Tacitus, and continued to be their arms when in battle array until the eighteenth century. The broadsword is often called the claymore or big sword; it was two-edged. The targe was a round shield of wood covered with leather. Bows and arrows were used against enemies at a distance, and the battle-axe was a favourite and deadly weapon at close quarters. The dirk was mostly used in personal encounters, or when heavier weapons were not at hand. All these weapons were common among Gairloch warriors, except the gun, which was rare here, and in most parts of the Highlands. Bows were made, it is said, of ash; and the present ash trees at Ardlair, and other places hereabouts, are supposed to have sprung from old trees grown long ago on purpose to supply bows.
After the "Forty-five" the clan system faded away, and it is not likely, indeed not possible, that we shall ever again see the able-bodied men of a clan gathered under their chief in battle array.
The immediate substitute for the old system was the raising by several Highland chiefs of regiments of their clansmen as part of the regular army of Great Britain. Lord Seaforth raised the regiment known as the 78th Highlanders in 1793; and, as we have seen, John, second son of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, tenth laird of Gairloch, gathered from Gairloch a company for that regiment, of which he became captain.
All the same, enlisting in the army was never popular in Gairloch; and, as a rule, recruits could be procured only by the detestable means of the pressgang, which was also used for obtaining sailors for the navy.
Dr Mackenzie, writing of the days of his father, Sir Hector Mackenzie, says:—"One of my father's amphibious crofters disappeared, leaving his wife and family to the care of Providence, without a clue to his being dead or alive, for some five years. One day myfather, superintending some job near the bay, noticed a man coming towards him with a true sailor-like roll. Intimate with the cut of every man on the estate, says he, 'Surely that is dead Donald M'Lean's walk;' and, on coming near, it certainly was Donald himself, in naval attire. 'Halloa, Donald!' says he, 'where on earth are you from?' speaking, as he always did to his people, in Gaelic. Donald pulled up, and saluting, replied in two words, also in Gaelic, 'Bho Iutharn,' the English of which is simply 'From hell.' The service on board a man-of-war was then really infernal, though Donald, who had been grabbed by a press-gang, had survived five years of it, and found his widow and children glad to see him again."
ANTIQUITY NO. 6.STONE CELT FOUND AT COVE.SCALE—HALF TRUE SIZE.
For other stories connected with the press-gang system seePart II., chap. xxv. Very few recruits are in the present day forthcoming from Gairloch for the army, navy, or militia.
The Volunteer corps, which is the "I" Company of the Ross Highland Rifle Volunteers, is well supported, and is generally over its authorised strength. It has three pipers, and the rank and file comprise a number of fine men.
Though perhaps not exactly within the subject of this chapter, the following account given by James Mackenzie of almost the first guns brought to Gairloch may be added:—
It was about 1823 that a large ship was destroyed by fire at Ullapool. Part of her cargo was saved. Besides some casks of fish-hooks, a number of guns were taken out of the burning ship. There was a man then living at Mellon Udrigil in Gairloch named Finlay Fraser; he had come as a foxhunter from Beauly; he got seven of the guns out of the ship. It is said that one of these guns of more than sixty years ago was recently to be seen preserved as a curiosity in the farmhouse of Tollie. Finlay carried on illicit distillation of whisky in a large cave on the Greenstone point. He used to steep barley in whisky, and spread it on the ground in front of a sort of screen, called in Gaelic "skar," behind which he lay in wait with one of his guns until wild geese and other birds came to eat the barley, which soon rendered them "drunk and incapable," when Finlay got easy pot-shots at them. Though the guns obtained from this ship were the first in general use in Gairloch, it is certain that guns had occasionally been brought into the parish long before.
Notwithstandingthe introduction of Christianity in the seventh century, the revival of religion at the time of the Reformation, and later on the militant piety of the stern Covenanters, the people of Gairloch did not make much progress until their previously continuous state of warfare came to an end after the "Forty-five." The abandonment of the clan system, the disarming of the Highlanders, and the proscription of their distinctive dress, entirely changed the condition of the people, and nearly assimilated them to their lowland neighbours as regarded many of the outer circumstances of daily life. The lover of romance may pardonably raise sentimental objections to the change, but it unquestionably heralded a vast improvement in the general condition of the Highland population.
The report in the Old Statistical Account (Appendix C) on the state of Gairloch in 1792 contrasts very favourably with what is known of its condition prior to the "Forty-five." The first parochial school appears to have been established in Gairloch about 1730, and in 1792 there was still only the one school; it was well into the nineteenth century before the number of schools was increased. During the minority of the present baronet the number grew, mostly at his expense, to sixteen. As elsewhere education was formerly in the hands of the ecclesiastics, but it was as a rule only to the higher classes that they imparted instruction in the old days. Even the parochial school was up to the passing of the present Education Act (1872) visited and examined by the presbytery.
Few of the people could read or write until quite recently. On 6th March 1811 the Rev. James Russell, minister of Gairloch, reported "the number of persons capable of reading English in the parish to be three hundred and twenty-four; capable of reading Gaelic alone, seventy-two; and unable to read either English or Gaelic, two thousand five hundred and forty-nine." In the present day, under the School Board system, established in 1873, education has reached a high pitch. The teachers in the ten and a half schools of the parish pass at the annual examinations by Her Majesty's inspectors about eighty per cent. of their scholars, and it would surprise a stranger to witness the general intelligence and acquirements of the school children. There are still a number of elderly people in the parish who can neither read nor write, but the rising generation are well educated.
Under the old clan system there was no organized method of relieving the poor; indeed it is certain that the mass of the population was then in miserable plight. With the progress of the church a system of relieving paupers sprang up. Under the ministry of the Rev. D. Mackintosh, the poor, to the number of eighty-four, had the annual collections made in the church, with the interest of £20, distributed among them. The collections averaged £6, 7s. Thismode of assisting the poor continued until the introduction of the present poor-law system, which is very thoroughly applied to the parish. Only one remark need here be made about it. It is, that though begging is almost unknown, and though the people have a large measure of Highland pride, they are as a rule callous to the humiliation of receiving relief from the poor-rates; nay rather, some few even appear to think that they have a positive right to draw parish pay, irrespective of the state of their purses.
The very few beggars seen in Gairloch are generally lowland tramps of the drinking class. The travelling tinkers rarely beg; they pitch their rude tents in sheltered places, and repair the tin pans of the neighbourhood. Some few tinkers are well known, and are considered respectable; others are not to be trusted. Gipsies are scarcely ever seen so far north. There is a strange old man often to be noticed wandering about Gairloch. He is a native of the parish, but is now homeless and in his dotage. He goes about seeking, as he says, the road to America. It seems that many a year ago he emigrated with his wife and family to the United States. They all became more or less insane, and all died except the father, this poor old man. He returned to Scotland, and now divides his time among those who are kind to him,—and they are not a few. Barring his absorbing anxiety he does not appear to be unhappy. He always wears a tall hat, and is respectably dressed. Her Majesty Queen Victoria mentions this old man in "More leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands." Describing the excursion to Torridon, Her Majesty writes, "An old man, very tottery, passed where I was sketching, and I asked the Duchess of Roxburghe to speak to him; he seemed strange, said he had come from America, and was going to England, and thought Torridon very ugly."
Among old customs still remaining in Gairloch are those connected with marriages and funerals, and the New Year, which is the only festival observed in the parish.
The marriage customs are a relic of the remote past. They consist of the washing of the feet of the bride and bridegroom at their respective homes on the evening before the wedding, and the putting to bed of the married couple on the night of the ceremony. Captain Burt notices these customs in 1730. Some of the younger people shirk these proceedings, especially in the more accessible parts of the parish, but as a rule they are strictly observed to the present day.
Funerals are not now accompanied by such striking peculiarities. Until the last few years, when a death occurred all the people of the township ceased working until after the funeral, which was attended by every adult male. Of course drinking was much in vogue, and the well known Irish wakes were closely imitated. Now, only those invited to a funeral are expected to attend, and the whisky is confined to the serving of a dram all round (preceded by a prayer) before the funeral procession starts, with additional "nips" whenever a halt is made for rest on the way to the place of burial, and these halts are not infrequent. Until quite lately it was customary for each man accompanying the funeral to throw a stone on the spot where thecoffin was placed when a halt was made, thus forming a considerable heap; sometimes the number of stones thrown was the same as the years of age of the deceased. This custom has been generally discontinued in Gairloch since the roads were made, though it is still in vogue in the wilder parts of the adjoining parishes of Applecross and Lochbroom. The use of whisky at funerals is not now universal in the parish of Gairloch; some ministers wisely discourage it, partly on account of its generally evil tendency, and partly because the providing of it is a serious burden on the family of the deceased, already weighted by other expenses in connection with the death or previous sickness.
New Year's eve and New Year's day are kept according to the old style, on the 12th and 13th of January, and both days are general holidays. There is always a keen contest for the "first-footing" at midnight on New Year's eve; the one who succeeds in first entering a neighbour's house claims the inevitable dram. Occasionally a shinty or "clubbing" match takes place on New Year's day.
Some old weights and measures are still adhered to; milk is sold by the pint, which is half a gallon.
The administration of justice in Gairloch is in the present day conducted as in other parts of the country, by the sheriff and justices of the peace; but until the time of Sir Hector Mackenzie, the eleventh laird of Gairloch, they say justice was administered by the chief in a rough and ready fashion. In the paddock below Flowerdale House, immediately adjoining on the east the field in which theTigh Digeformerly stood, is a small round plantation on a circular plot of land, which deserves its title—the island—as it is surrounded by a wet ditch; it is shown on thesix-inch ordnance map. It was formerly quite an island, and was approached by a plank or small foot-bridge. Simon Chisholm, the present forester and head-gardener at Flowerdale, remembers when there were the large stumps of five forest trees on this little island, one in the centre and the other four around it. In the line of the hedge which divides this paddock from the field to the west were several other large trees, some of the stumps of which remain to this day. When a trial was to take place the laird of Gairloch stood at the large tree in the centre of the "Island of justice," and one of the principal clansmen at each of the other four trees. These four men acted as jurymen or assessors, whilst the laird himself performed the functions of judge. The accused person was placed at a large tree immediately facing the island, and within forty yards of it, whilst the accuser or pursuer and the witnesses stood at other trees. When the accused was found guilty of a capital crime, the sentence of death was executed at the place still calledCnoc a croiche, or "Gallows hill," about half a mile distant from the island of justice. The Gallows hill is a small knowe close below the high road, on the south side of the ridge called the Crasg, between the present Gairloch Free church and the old Gairloch churchyard, and it overlooks the latter. A few stones still shew that there used to be a wall which formed a small platform on which the gallows stood; they say this wall wasmore complete within living memory than it now is. The ravine or fissure immediately below the platform provided an effectual "drop." When the body was cut down it would fall to the sea-shore below, and perhaps at high tide into the sea itself. The face of the sloping rock, immediately below the platform where the gallows stood, looks almost as if it had been worn smooth by the number of bodies of executed criminals dashed against it in their fall. This old manner of trial is said to have continued until the eighteenth century. But it must not be supposed that Sir Hector Mackenzie, who regularly dispensed justice among his Gairloch people from 1770 to 1826, adhered to the primitive form.
Folk-lore is little thought of now-a-days in Gairloch. Among the old men who still love it, and from whom many of the traditions and stories given in this book have been derived, are James Mackenzie of Kirkton, Kenneth Fraser ofLeac-nan-Saighead, Roderick Mackenzie of Lonmor (Ruaridh-an-Torra), George Maclennan ofLondubh, Alexander Maclennan of Poolewe, John M'Lean of Strath, Kenneth and George Maclennan of Tollie Croft, Donald Ross of Kenlochewe, and Simon Chisholm of Flowerdale. Some of them can speak English fluently.
ANTIQUITY NO. 7.—BRONZE SPEAR FOUND AT CROFT.SCALE—HALF TRUE SIZE.
Theprogress of religion among the people of Gairloch cannot readily be traced beyond the incumbency of the Rev. Daniel Mackintosh, minister of the parish from 1773 to 1802. Superstition of the grossest kind usurped the place of religion in ancient days. The Rev. James Smith, minister of Gairloch from 1721 to 1732, appears to have been the first Presbyterian clergyman who made a general impression on the people; in the time of Mr Mackintosh they had become, as he tells us in the Old Statistical Account (1792), sober, regular, industrious, and pious.
We have no records of the comparatively elaborate observances and ritual which undoubtedly attended the ministrations of the Church in Gairloch, with its fasts, festivals, and saints' days, before the Reformation. Some of the natives long clung to Episcopalianism, but the bald simplicity of Presbyterian worship was gradually adopted by the parish, and is the only form now known, except indeed an occasional Episcopal service for visitors at the Gairloch Hotel.
The present observances of the Presbyterian churches in the parish appear to have undergone little or no modification since the commencement of the nineteenth century, except by the secession of the Free Church in 1843, and that did not alter the articles of faith or the manner of worship.
As a rule the Sunday services are held at twelve o'clock, and are mostly in Gaelic. A short English service follows at two, and in some cases there is also a meeting at six.
Both the Established and Free churches hold to the doctrines laid down in the Confession of Faith and the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Divines.
The sacrament of baptism is generally administered at the close of a Sunday service; the father is required to declare his adherence to the doctrines of the Christian faith before the congregation; there are of course no other sponsors.
The sacrament of the Lord's supper is "dispensed" at the Gairloch and Aultbea Free churches twice a year, and these are great occasions in the parish. There are three days of preparation before the Sacrament Sunday, and one day of thanksgiving after it. The first day is called the "Fast-day," and is observed as a Sunday.
Dr Mackenzie, who is an earnest Free Churchman, gives the following graphic and interesting account of the church attendance and religious observances in Gairloch prior to the "Disruption," in fact about 1820. The mode he describes of holding the communion services in theLeabaidh na Ba Bàine, or "Bed of the white cow," is nearly the same now as it was in the days he writes of sixty or seventy years ago, with one exception of importance, viz., that the sort of "Aunt Sally" game he mentions is now quite unknown. He says:—
"Our people then thought nothing of a ten mile walk to and from church. Many came by boat from the coast townships, and in fine weather the well dressed and mutched people filling the boats scattered over the bayen routeto the different townships gave things quite a regatta-like look, that we shall never see again owing to the roads now everywhere. One of our largest tenants took his son to church for the first time, a mite of a man, who on being asked in the hand-shaking crowd after church, 'Well, Johnnie, what saw you in church?' replied, 'I saw a man bawling bawling in a box, and no man would let him oot.' Mr Russell made up for want of matter in his sermons by needless vigour in his manner. The said Johnnie is now risen to be a large wise landed proprietor in his old age in the Western Islands.
"Between difficult access for helpers to our pastor at communion times, and other causes, that ordinance used when I was young to be celebrated only about every third year in our Elysium of the west. Perhaps consequently the whole western world seemed to us to congregate to the occasion, from all parts of the country, over roadless 'muirs and mosses many O.' I doubt if the reasons [why they came] of the vast majority would sound well at the confessional, or look well in religious print; and it seems singular that only in the Scotch Presbyterian Church are Christians ever invited to devote five days to the communion services, while in every other church the Sabbath day alone is considered sufficient for the ordinance. Many earnest Christians think, that while on some particular and unlooked for occasion it may be right to hold religious services on week days, as a rule Christians are expected to work six days weekly, which they cannot do if they belong to the Scotch Presbyterian Church. It would appear as if an idea prevailed, that it required many clergymen to assemble at communion seasons, or else that there could be no anxious inquirers about eternity, so many accept invitations to attend; and probably on this account, instead of there being only one communion table at which there can be no difficulty in all meeting and partaking together, there are always (except in one church where I helped to improve matters) many tables, each one generally having its own clergyman in charge; the services being thus greatly protracted, probably in hopes of this causing a 'revival,' as it is termed.
"So in our west parish (Gairloch), with the communion only every third year, the crowd that attended was probably nearer four than three thousand, of whom perhaps two hundred might be communicants. Of the rest who seemed so devoted to religion (though of course very many did not pretend to such anxiety), the reply, when asked why they were not communicants, would in almost every case be, 'They were not yet worthy.' So they generally remain—refusing to obey their Saviour's dying request—unworthy, till they die,—not yet sinless! I once received as a reason for an excellent man's shrinking from the communion table, that 'his father and mother also shrank from it;' and this given by a man of good education, the secretary to a bank! But till the Presbyterianclergygrow wiser, the same sad disobeying our Redeemer's dying command will remain.
"But anent our western communion, every hole and corner within reach of our church was cleared out where straw or heather or ferns could offer a night's quarters to the crowd of communion visitors, for about a week; and such a bad time as every living eatable animal had then preparing for the visitors, who took 'neither scrip nor purse' with them on such occasions, was wonderful; and such baking, boiling, roasting, and stores of cold food, as made our kitchen a mere meat manufactory for the sacrament week; and on the Sabbath there was such a spread of cold food in the house, to which the clergymen, at a lull in their duty, and all the upper crust of the parish, were invited to attend, as was quite a marvel, involving suchlabour to every servant all day long as quite rendered their attending church at this holy fair absurd to be thought of!
"Close beside our parish church was a most wonderful hollow (theLeabaidh na Ba Bàine) in the sandy-soiled prairie. It was naturally formed, beyond memory of man, and, as we knew well, by Fingal, for a bed where his white cow was to calve. It had a complete coat of beautiful inch-long benty grass, and a thousand spades could not have formed a more perfectly egg-shaped cup, in the bottom of which was placed the wooden preaching box, and in front of it long narrow tables and benches for the communion. A few 'shuparior pershons' sent before them stools, &c., on which to sit, see, and listen, but ninety-nine of the hundred of us sat on the nicely sloping banks all around the 'bed,' till they overflowed on to the level of the equally grassed ground outside. The 'bed' was estimated to hold two thousand persons seated, and perhaps three thousand were often gathered in all to the services, packed tight to one another, as was the popular fashion at these times. A more orderly and seriously conducted congregation than that in Fingal's white cow's bed I am sure has never been seen anywhere, or more polite young men towards the women, who, often thirsty from the shadeless situation and the crush, &c., I have often seen kindly supplied with ashoefullof water from the well close to the burial ground! We often hear of grand public rooms of bad quality for hearing the speaker, but the faintest word from the bottom of Fingal's bed was heard as clearly as if in a closet. And I should be very much surprised if any one who once heard an old Gaelic psalm floating in the air, from the thousands of worshippers in the 'bed,' could forget it in a hundred years. The finest organ ever made was trash to that solemn sound.
"On the plea that so many people far from home might starve, a sort of commissariat regiment used to attend on the shore of the bay with booths for bread, cheese, and gingerbread, goodies, &c.; and I fear the report that the feeders, rather than carry away uneaten stock at nights, used to have, say, a loaf set on a stick for a shy at it with another from a set distance for a small sum, hit or lose, that same is owre true a tale, though of course it must have been the ungodly of the crowd who attended that holy fair!
"Ah! dear, dear! Who could approve of such wild arrangements at a communion season, compared with every clergyman having the communion in his own church for his own people, monthly or quarterly or so, quietly and solemnly, without a crowd of ministers and people from neighbouring parishes to injure and confuse every solemn thought with the fuss and bustle of a crowd. May God send us more wisdom than Scotland can at present shew on these occasions!"
Every visitor to Gairloch should see and hear one of the out-door communion services in theLeabaidh na Ba Bàine, if he have the opportunity.
The Gairloch people are still a church-going race, though not so regular to-day as even ten years ago. Nearly the whole populationadheres to the Free Church. Some characteristics of the Free Church services may be noted. Children are generally conspicuous by their absence. The people take no part whatever, except in the very primitive singing; and some few appear to compose themselves deliberately to sleep. The Christian festivals are entirely ignored; and the sermons, usually extempore, are on some occasions bare statements of doctrine. The Free Church organisation watches closely the religious conduct of the people. It is said there is not a crofter's house in the parish of Gairloch where family worship is not conducted every day; and the Sabbath is very strictly observed.
There is an air of settled gloom on the faces of many of the people,—intensified on the Sabbath day. It seems to partake of a religious character. The ministers, catechists, and elders nearly all oppose dancing, and every kind of music. Surely they are short-sighted! A sort of fatalism is the most apparent result of the religion of the natives of Gairloch. It has a depressing effect when illness comes.
If anything here stated is calculated to convey the idea that the religious thought and religious observances of the Gairloch Highlanders are unreal or perverted, let me correct it by adding, that as a rule their piety is genuine and practical.
ANTIQUITY NO. 8.—BRONZE CELT FOUND AT LONDUBH.SCALE—HALF TRUE SIZE.
Itis an invidious task to criticise the general characters of one's neighbours. "Charity thinketh no evil," but it cannot be blind to obvious faults. Sentimental predilections ought not to be allowed to warp the judgment, any more than prejudices based on first impressions or partial knowledge should be permitted to mature into dogged dislike. What a Scylla and Charybdis to steer through!
Highlanders have been over-praised by some, and unreasonably condemned by others: the truth is, they are like other races; there is of course an admixture of good and bad among them. But are the black sheep more numerous than the white ones? So far as theparish of Gairloch is concerned, I am of opinion, speaking from personal experience, that the black sheep are in a decided minority. Taking the people as a whole, they are unquestionably more disposed to honesty and morality than are the bulk of our urban populations.
In the old clan days all Highlanders were remarkable for fidelity to their chief and to their fellow-clansmen. Circumstances have abolished these ties to a great extent, though some remnants of the clan feeling still linger among the older people.
Courtesy and hospitality continue to be leading good qualities among all ranks of Highlanders, and the Gairloch folk are no exception to the rule.
That shrewd writer Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, after pointing out the faults of indolence and carelessness, adds, "With all their defects the people have numerous good qualities, which, under proper management and judicious direction, might become the source of comfort and wealth to themselves and to their superiors. In honesty and sobriety the people of the west coast are far superior to their inland neighbours."
Sir Francis Mackenzie, in his "Hints," pays the following tribute to the character of his Gairloch Highlanders:—"I can produce, I rejoice to say, from my own people individuals, totally unlettered, who shall in every amiable quality of which humanity can boast far outshine some of the common specimens of our students, either at Oxford or at Edinburgh; and this arises more from early training, and the good example of attentive parents, than from the natural goodness or depravity of dispositions. Long then may you retain your native honesty, your spirit of generosity, and noble courtesy. Long may you remember that true politeness is not servility; and may you never forget that rudeness is not only degrading, but unchristian; and may you ever prove to surrounding countries, that a spirit of courtesy naturally springs from the freedom and independence which, as Highlanders, have ever been your inheritance."
Love of country, or perhaps more accurately attachment to home, is a salient feature in the character of the Highlander; it has always been so, and there is no sign of any diminution of the sentiment. I have received letters from absent Gairloch men speaking in the fondest terms of affection of their homes, and avowing constant and loving recollection of the wild surroundings amid which they were brought up. Is this to be wondered at? To the dweller in Gairloch the hill pasture, the rocky shore, the rough peat moss, the mountain path, the expanse of the sea loch, with the background of lordly summits, are all his own; others may have proprietary rights, the real enjoyment is his. Pining home-sickness is the immediate result of emigration, and it is often long before the practical business of life overcomes it. No blame attaches to this natural and irresistible passion for home; on the other hand, it is evidence of a valuable depth of character and an ennobling simplicity of heart; it is in fact the sentiment which is the basis of all true patriotism.
A less admirable characteristic of the Gairloch people is their cautious, "canny" disposition; it is, however, by no means confined to them. Modern curtailment of their privileges, the advent of tourists and other strangers, and a constant need for strict economy, have tended to the growth of this trait. It is evinced in a strong disinclination to reveal their views and intentions, and a grasping keenness in driving bargains. Here is an example from my personal experience:—A crofter had made known his desire to sell a heifer; a gentleman, wanting to purchase one, came some distance to see the animal; the crofter at first denied flatly that he had anything to sell; on the gentleman turning to leave, he said he would shew him a heifer; at length he named an exorbitant price; then finding the possible customer was a judge of cattle, he reduced the figure but still held out for too high a sum; no bargain was concluded that day.
Captain Burt, in his racy "Letters" (about 1730), charges Highlanders with a want of cleanliness. A similar charge, supported by evidence of the same nasty kind, is even in the present day made against some Highlanders. Here in Gairloch the charge is not generally applicable; nay, it may truly be said that the people are in their persons even more cleanly than their neighbours in our large centres of population. True the odour of stale peat "reek," and the stains it leaves on articles of dress, sometimes convey an impression of dirtiness, but there is no real filth in this, and the presence of parasites is now-a-days very rare. Let the visitor enter one of the public schools of the parish and see the clean neatly-dressed children, and the charge will at once be disposed of.
In former days, and even to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the morals of the people were far from perfect; this is shown by the minutes of the presbytery. Happily, whether from fear of the kirk-session, or from the general improvement of recent times, offences against morals are to-day less common in Gairloch than in some parts of the lowlands.
It is singular that among Highlanders, at least in Gairloch, there is a total absence of anything like jealousy between married people; this fact by itself speaks volumes.
The principal fault of the Gairloch and other Highlanders has been variously designated indolence, lethargy, carelessness, sloth, idleness, and laziness,—all meaning much the same thing. It is often said "time is no object on the west coast," and so it would appear; nearly all meetings (except Sunday services) are from half-an-hour to an hour later in commencing than the time named; an eternal current of talk, talk, talk, accompanies every transaction, and not seldom interrupts or delays the most pressing work. It is only the male sex who are chargeable with this indolence, and amongst them it is fast giving way to greater activity; sometimes it is due to a love of dram-drinking, for which it forms an excuse; indeed it is often rightly laid at the door of whisky. All writers on the Highlands have remarked upon it, and some quotations will be given in connection with agriculture which will illustrate it. More continuousoccupation is the remedy required. It is remarkable that the Highlander never displays indolence when he emigrates, and it is principally in his agricultural attempts that it is manifested. There is every reason to believe that it is gradually disappearing.
The Gairloch population cling with marvellous tenacity to old ways of doing things, and thus general improvement is slow. On the whole they are a worthy religious people. "Man made the town: God made the country," is a saying that means more than the literal meaning of the words conveys. In the pure air and unpolluted water of the Highlands, there is less that is akin to sin and moral impurity than in the filthy crowded manufacturing town. The general sobriety, honesty, and piety of these Gairloch people, seem to me to outweigh their shortcomings.
It is a pity that some of the younger people affect a certain contempt for the old Highland characteristics, and seem determined to resemble their lowland neighbours as closely as possible. The Highland dress has for several generations been laid aside, and other distinctive ways and peculiarities, some of them ennobling and good, have fallen into disuse. Surely the people would best support their demand for a national recognition of the peculiar position they claim, by maintaining the old Highlandesprit, rather than by disowning the nobler characteristics that have so long distinguished the inhabitants of the "land of the hills and the glens and the heroes."
In concluding this chapter I beg leave to propose what must prove a beneficial stimulus to the people of Gairloch, if it were efficiently carried out. It is the establishment of an annual prize meeting for competitions in—
Home-spun cloth, plaids, and carpets produced within the parish; Gairloch hose; Vegetables, fruit, and flowers grown by Gairloch people; Highland games and athletic sports; Pipe music by local pipers; Gaelic songs by Gairloch bards.
Home-spun cloth, plaids, and carpets produced within the parish; Gairloch hose; Vegetables, fruit, and flowers grown by Gairloch people; Highland games and athletic sports; Pipe music by local pipers; Gaelic songs by Gairloch bards.
Perhaps boat races might be added to the list. Substantial prizes for merit in these competitions would unquestionably tend to encourage industry and develop excellence. If sufficient funds were forthcoming, a competent committee could readily be got together to work out the details. I earnestly invite the assistance of all who visit this romantic country towards a proposal designed to promote the advancement of its Highland inhabitants.
ANTIQUITY NO. 9.—STONE IMPLEMENT FOUND IN PEAT-CUTTING BETWEEN INVERAN AND KERNSARY.SCALE—HALF TRUE SIZE.
Distinctionsbetween different races, which depend on varieties of character, customs, or means of livelihood, require discriminating study for their apprehension. But a different language and an unusual dress are marks which present themselves to all observers—the one to the ear and the other to the eye—even on the briefest scrutiny. The inhabitants of Gairloch have still a language entirely different to that of the lowland Scotch, and they used not long ago to wear a dress only known in the Highlands.
To this day the Gaelic language is universal among the people of Gairloch, and they cling to it with the utmost affection. In it are embalmed all the traditions and stories of the days that are gone, and the songs and poems of the bards both past and present.
Gaelic, which in the old books is called "Erse" or "Irish," has many dialects. The language of the natives of the west coast of Ireland is not materially different from that of the Scottish Highlanders. The Gaelic of Gairloch is considered tolerably pure, though William Ross, the Gairloch bard, who studied the subject closely, thought the Gaelic of the Lewspar excellencethe purest form of the language.
In the Old Statistical Account the Rev. Daniel Mackintosh stated that Gaelic was in his time the prevailing language in Gairloch.
Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, in his "General Survey," expressed the opinion that Gaelic was dying out; but the Rev. Donald M'Rae, minister of Poolewe, in his paper on the parish of Gairloch in the New Statistical Account, stated that the language then (1836) generally spoken was the Gaelic, and added, "I am not aware that it has lost ground within the last forty years." Mr M'Rae's remarks on the admixture by young men of English or Scotch words with their Gaelic, and on the purity in other respects of the language as spoken in Gairloch, will be found inAppendix E.
The Gaelic language is as prevalent in Gairloch to-day as it was when Mr M'Rae wrote his paper nearly fifty years ago, notwithstanding the near approach of the railway (within five miles of the parish boundary), and the greatly increased communication by steamers, which has taken place during the interval. The religious services of the people are conducted in Gaelic (though short English services are often added); there are scarcely any houses where English is spoken round the table or by the fire-side, though comparatively few are able to read Gaelic. At the same time the knowledge of the English language is undoubtedly on the increase, and the schools are taught in that language. Nevertheless even children fresh from school seldom speak English when playing together.
Some ten years ago there was a great agitation for the restoration of Gaelic teaching in the Highland schools, and the movement has recently been revived, with the result that the Government are aboutto sanction instruction in Gaelic as part of the curriculum, or at least as an "extra subject." It was stated during the early stage of this agitation that in many places Highland children learnt English only as a parrot would, and did not understand its meaning. I took the trouble to see how this was in Gairloch schools, and I can only say that the imputation did not apply to the children I examined, for not only did many of them read English remarkably well, but searching cross-examination proved that they thoroughly understood the meaning of what they read.
There are still many of the older people who are unable to speak English fluently, and some who do not understand it at all. The English spoken by the young people as well as by most of the older natives who speak it is a particularly pure form, untarnished by provincialism or Scottish brogue. The smattering of Scotch occasionally to be met with is confined to those who come in contact with persons from the Lowlands. Occasionally a curious phrase occurs, the result of a literal translation of some Gaelic expression. For instance, wondering whether a grouse which flew behind a hill was the worse of a shot that had been fired at it, I asked a stout young gillie, whose position enabled him to see further round the hill, whether the bird had come down. He replied, "When she went out of my sight she had no word of settling."
Gaelic literature has been well represented in Gairloch. John Mackenzie, the author of the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry," and many other works in Gaelic (Part II., chap. xxii.), was a native of Gairloch; and Mr Alexander Mackenzie, the editor of theCeltic Magazine, and the author of many valuable works (some containing Gaelic pieces), is also a Gairloch man. The Gaelic books especially pertaining to Gairloch are the poems of William Ross, the Gairloch bard, edited by the late John Mackenzie, and the poems of Duncan Mackenzie, the Kenlochewe bard, edited by Mr Alexander Mackenzie.
There has been much diversity of opinion upon the question whether it would not be better that the Gaelic language should be discouraged and be assisted to die out. I believe some few of the Highlanders themselves have adopted this unpatriotic view, but the contrary opinion, so ably advocated by Professor Blackie, now appears to be gaining ground. It seems quite possible that the Highlander may not only have a thorough command of English, but may also retain his own expressive language with its ennobling traditions. No doubt a knowledge of the language which is the medium through which most of the business of the kingdom is conducted has its importance; but surely the retention of their own tongue by Highlanders must tend in great measure to foster a patriotic feeling, which should lead them to do credit in their lives and conduct to their native glens.
There is no separate record of the dress anciently worn by the natives of Gairloch, but it was unquestionably the same as that of all the other inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland, viz., the Breacan an Fheilidh, or belted or kilted plaid. In theCeltic Magazine, Vol. VIII., is a treatise on the "Antiquity of the Kilt," by Mr J. G.Mackay. One curious fact he mentions is, that the Norwegian king Magnus, in his expedition to the Western Isles of Scotland in 1093, adopted the costume then in use in the western lands, which no doubt included the parish of Gairloch; so that we may if we please picture our prince of the Isle Maree tragedy as wearing the Highland dress. From this notice of King Magnus, and more particularly from the account given by John Taylor (Part IV., chap. xx.) of the deer hunting at Braemar, we learn that the Highlanders in old days expected all who came among them to adopt their peculiar garb.
Sometimes the belted plaid was worn along with the "triubhais," or "truis," or trews, a prolongation upwards of the tartan hose, fitting tightly to the skin and fastened below the knees with buckles. These trews were very different in appearance and make from the tartan trousers worn by some Highland regiments in the present day. Oddly enough the only representation extant of a Gairloch man of the old days, viz., DonaldOdhar, exhibits him in the tartan trews. This representation is in the Mackenzie coat-of-arms on the Sabhal Geal at Flowerdale. It was doubtless executed by a southern sculptor, long after DonaldOdharlived and fought. But unquestionably the most usual—almost universal—form of the Highland dress was the tartan plaid gathered into pleats round the waist, where a belt kept it in position (thus forming the kilt), the rest of the plaid being brought over the shoulder. The name of the dress thus formed (Breacan an Fheilidh) means the plaid of the kilt.
The present form of the Highland dress, in which the kilt—sometimes called "philabeg"—is made up as a separate garment, has given rise to much controversy. The strife is said to have originated in a letter in theScots Magazinein 1798; it was stated that about 1728 one Parkinson, an Englishman, who was superintendent of works in Lochaber, finding his Highland labourers encumbered with their belted plaids, taught them to separate the plaid from the kilt and sew the kilt in its present form. Others say that the inventor of the kilt was Thomas Rawlinson, of the Glengarry ironworks, who about the same date and for the same reason introduced the supposed new dress.
Mr J. G. Mackay, in the treatise already referred to, proves incontestably that the separate form of the kilt is very ancient, and cannot have been the subject of a comparatively modern invention. The truth seems to be that, whilst the belted plaid was most generally worn, as requiring no tailoring, the separate kilt is of equal or greater antiquity, and was at all times occasionally used on account of its superior convenience, especially in those localities where the tailor's art was practised. An incidental corroboration of Mr Mackay's view is to be seen in a plan of Aberdeen, dated 1661, preserved in the municipal buildings of that city. In a corner of the plan three figures are represented, two of them in the lowland costume of the seventeenth century, and the third, a young man, dressed in a kilt and short coat without plaid, being exactly the form of the Highland dress as now generally worn. The Highland figure was probably introduced to record the then semi-Highland character of Aberdeen.
In order to repress the Highlandesprit, an act (20th George II., cap. 51) was passed after the battle of Culloden, which rendered it illegal for any man or boy after 1st August 1747 to wear the Highland dress. The effect of this law was various. In some parts it was rigidly enforced, and the kilt was generally abandoned, whilst those few who persisted in wearing it were severely punished. In other places evasions of the act were winked at by the authorities; men who procured the legal breeches would hang them over their shoulders during journeys; others used the artifice of sewing up the centre of the kilt between the legs; whilst others again substituted for the tartan kilt a piece of blue, green, or red cloth wrapped round the waist, and hanging down to the knees, but not pleated.
In the Old Statistical Account (1792) there are many references to the Highland dress and to the effect of the passing of this act. In the account of the parish of Petty, Inverness-shire, we read, "The Highland dress is still retained in a great measure. The plaid is almost totally laid aside; but the small blue bonnet, the short coat, the tartan kilt and hose, and the Highland brogue, are still the ordinary dress of the men. The women in like manner retain the Highland dress of their sex, but have adopted more of that of their low country neighbours than the men."
The Old Statistical Account tells us nothing of the dress of the inhabitants of Gairloch; but in the notice given of the neighbouring parish of Kincardine, in the same county, is the following:—"The act 1746, discharging the Highland dress, had the worst of consequences. Prior to that period the Highland women were remarked for their skill and success in spinning and dying wool, and clothing themselves and their households, each according to her fancy, in tartans, fine, beautiful, and durable. Deprived of the pleasure of seeing their husbands, sons, and favourites in that elegant drapery, emulation died, and they became contented with manufacturing their wool in the coarsest and clumsiest manner, perhaps thinking that since theymustappear like the neighbouring lowlanders, the less they shone in the ornaments of the lowland dress they would be the more in character. Their favourite employment thus failing them, rather than allow their girls to be idle they made them take to the spinning of linen yarn, in which few are yet so improved as to earn threepence per diem, and much, if not the most of the small earnings of these spinners, is laid out upon flimsy articles of dress; whilst that conscious pride, which formerly aspired at distinction from merit and industry, is converted into the most ridiculous and pernicious vanity."
The act forbidding the kilt was repealed in 1772. It had in many parts done its work, and though its repeal was in some places hailed with joy and celebrated by the bards, the Highland garb does not appear to have generally regained its former position as the ordinary dress of the people.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, as James Mackenzie and others inform me, the kilt was still the dress of many men in Gairloch, who never put on the trews until old age came, and in some cases not even then. As an instance, he says he remembers seeing HughM'Phail, a Gairloch man then living at the head of Loch Broom, measuring out herrings from his boat on a cold day in a hard winter, with four inches of snow on the ground and thick ice. Hugh wore only his shirt and kilt; he had put off his jacket for the work. He and his two brothers always wore the kilt; they were all fine men, and two of them were elders of the church of Loch Broom, under the Rev. Dr Ross. Other incidental references to the Highland dress of Gairloch men will be found in James Mackenzie's stories inPart II., chap. xxv.
Up to the present generation the kilt was still occasionally worn in Gairloch, especially at festive gatherings. That it had become infrequent, yet was not altogether abandoned, may be inferred from the following advice given upon dress in his "Hints" by the late Sir Francis Mackenzie, Bart.:—"The nature of this must depend upon your local situation, since it is evident that what is fitted for our mountains would be ill suited to the wants of the fisherman. As an inland labourer or shepherd, the ancient costume of the country, the kilt, hose, plaid, and bonnet, with a warm stout cloth short jacket, will be found the most serviceable, since it admits of a pliancy in the limbs admirably adapted either for labour or climbing our bare and heathery hills. No danger can possibly arise from exposing the limbs to the wet and cold, whilst the loins and back are protected by the thick folds of a kilt and plaid from severity of weather. I may too, without being liable to the charge of national vanity, say, that however much the dress of our ancestors has been lately laid aside, it gives a manly and graceful appearance at all times to the wearer. I have witnessed its attractions amongst the sons and daughters of peace in every country of Europe, and it has marked our bravery in battle wherever a plaid has appeared. It has the sanction of antiquity in its favour; it is associated with the virtues and triumphs of Roman citizens; and I should regret its being laid aside, because I am decidedly of opinion that national dress is everywhere a strong incentive to the wearer not to disgrace the region which he proudly claims as the country of his birth."
The Highland dress is now only worn in Gairloch by a few gentlemen, pipers, keepers, and some of the better-to-do schoolboys. Its disappearance from among a people who cling so tenaciously to the Highland tongue is passing strange. By some it has been attributed to the inferior hardiness of the modern Highlander, a reason which is perhaps suggested by the following remark in the "General Survey" of Sir George Steuart Mackenzie (1810):—"The first indications of the introduction of luxury appeared not many years ago, in the young men relinquishing the philabeg and bonnet, which are now almost rarities."
The Gairloch company of rifle volunteers originally wore the kilt, but about the year 1878, in common with the majority of the battalion to which they are attached, they agreed to substitute Mackenzie tartan trousers. The change was made partly on the ground of economy. After the review of the Scottish volunteers at Edinburgh on 25th August 1881, which was attended by the Ross-shirebattalion, including the Gairloch company, a general wish was expressed that the example of the volunteer battalions of the adjoining counties should be followed, and the kilt resumed. The Gairloch company unanimously petitioned their gallant colonel to restore the kilt.
The ordinary dress of most Gairloch men is now the same as in the lowlands, except that some of those engaged as shepherds, keepers, and gillies wear knickerbockers, which display the hose; some men still carry plaids and don the blue bonnet.
Gairloch is justly celebrated for its hose, which are knitted in immense variety of pattern and colour, some being in imitation of old forms of tartan. In the old days the hose worn with the Highland costume were cut from the same web as the tartan of which other parts of the dress were made, but now all hose are knitted. The "diced" patterns are relics of the old tartans.