CHAPEL OF SAND OF UDRIGIL.
The church at Tollie Croft, now called Cruive End, is not likely to have been of any antiquity. In 1733 the kirk-session of Gairloch petitioned the presbytery to enlarge the "chapel at Pollew," and the presbytery agreed to do so. This was probably the place of worship at Tollie Croft close to Poolewe. It was no doubt the church where Mr Thomas Pennant heard the Rev. John Dounie preach in 1772, for it was close to the place where he would land from his boat on Loch Maree (seeAppendix B); the Rev. D. Mackintosh mentioned it in 1792. Old people now living remember the Rev. James Russell preaching in this little church as lately as 1826. At that time Duncan Mackenzie, the innkeeper at Poolewe, previously butler to Sir Hector Mackenzie at FlowerdaleHouse, used to read the Scriptures to the people in the Cruive End church pending Mr Russell's arrival from Gairloch. This church would be very convenient for the minister of Gairloch when he had his manse only a mile away at Cliff, Poolewe, as was the case between 1759 and 1803.
The turf-built church in Tollie bay, where the Rev. J. Morrison used to hold his humble services, was only a temporary expedient during his short and troublous incumbency.
The old chapel of Inverewe, on the east side of the river Ewe, close to the former mansion-house of the Kernsary estate, seems to belong to the seventeenth century, judging from the appearance its ruins now present, but there is no record whatever of its history. The Rev. Kenneth Mackenzie, proprietor of Kernsary, preached there, as we have seen, during some part of the seventeenth century.
The present church of Poolewe was completed in 1828.
If there was a rectory, parsonage, or manse in Gairloch before the Reformation, it must have then ceased to be church property. The Rev. Farquhar MacRae, who became vicar of Gairloch about 1608, lived at Ardlair, on the north-eastern shore of Loch Maree. Ardlair is near Letterewe, where dwelt the ironworkers for whose special behoof Mr MacRae was sent to Gairloch by Lord Mackenzie of Kintail; and it may have been part of the arrangement under which Sir George Hay acquired the woods of Letterewe from Lord Mackenzie for the ironworks, that his lordship should allow Mr MacRae the use of a house at Ardlair, which was also on his property.
Poor Mr Morrison, in 1711-16, had no glebe, manse, or legal maintenance, and his hut in Tollie bay was on land leased by himself.
In 1728 a manse and glebe were provided by the heritors for the minister of Gairloch at Achdistall, near where the Gairloch hotel now stands.
In 1759 the presbytery exchanged the glebe at Achdistall for other land at Clive, or Cliff, close to Poolewe, and a manse was shortly after erected on the new glebe.
In 1803 the old glebe of Clive was exchanged by the presbytery for a portion of the lands of Miole at Strath of Gairloch, and a new manse was erected at once. This is the present manse of Gairloch; it was added to in 1823, when Hugh Miller, then a mason, took part in the work. His experience in Gairloch at that time is recorded in "My Schools and Schoolmasters."
The present manse of Poolewe was built in 1828.
The old Free church at Gairloch, and the Free manse there, were erected shortly after the Disruption in 1843. The church having become unsafe was pulled down in 1880, and the present handsome building erected on the same site.
The Free church and manse at Aultbea were also erected soon after the Disruption. The Free Church has also mission churches or meeting-houses at Poolewe, Opinan, and Kenlochewe in Gairloch parish. The first minister of the Gairloch Free church was the Rev. Duncan Matheson, who was succeeded by the Rev. John Baillie, thepresent minister. The first minister of the Aultbea Free church was the Rev. James Noble; to him succeeded the Rev. William Rose; after whose death the Rev. Ronald Dingwall, the present minister, was appointed.
Manyvisitors to Gairloch, and not a few of the inhabitants, will learn with astonishment that the manufacture of iron was carried on in the parish from remote times, and that there are still abundant remains to testify to the magnitude and importance of the industry. There are many places in this wild and picturesque Highland district where are to be seen to this day large heaps of slag and dross, and remains of blast-furnaces or bloomeries; whilst many acres of arable ground, as well as of uncultivated moorland, are still thickly strewn with fragments of charcoal and of several kinds of iron ore.
The remains of ironworks examined in Gairloch may be roughly divided into two classes, viz:—(1) The ancient ironworks, of which there are no historical records extant; and (2) The historic ironworks of Loch Maree.
The ancient ironworks or bloomeries are the subject of our present chapter. Some of them appear, as we should expect, to belong to a later period than others, but nothing can be said with precision about the date of any of them. They will be described inPart I., chap. xx.
There are some interesting notes on the subject of ancient Highland ironworks in the curious book entitled "Remarks on Dr Samuel Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, by the Rev. Donald M'Nicol, A.M.," published in 1779, and extracted inAppendix G. Mr M'Nicol does not give his authorities, but there is ample ocular demonstration of the truth of his statement, that "the smelting and working of iron was well understood and constantly practised over all the Highlands and Islands for time immemorial." Other writers have expressed the opinion, that iron was made throughout Great Britain long before the Roman invasion.
Perhaps a coin now in my possession, which was found some years ago in a field on the bank of the river Went in Yorkshire, near large quantities of ancient heavy iron slag, may be taken as giving some clue to the date of the older ironworks. It is an ancient British coin of the type of the quarter stater of Philip II. of Macedon. The British coinage is supposed to have been in existence at least as far back as 150b.c., and this is one of the early types.
The querns frequently found in all parts of the Highlands shew that the ancient inhabitants grew some corn,—that they had some acquaintance with "the staff of life." It seems a reasonable inference,that they used iron implements for tilling their lands and securing their crops. It is certain that some iron weapons, tools, and implements, besides those employed in agriculture, were in use in the Highlands in those old days. An iron axe-head, of the shape of the bronze celt figured among our illustrations, and with the aperture for the handle similarly in a line with its axis instead of at right angles to it, was found in 1885 in the garden at Inveran; its remains are much eaten by rust, but there is enough to shew that this iron axe is of an old type. It may be objected, that if iron implements for peace or war were extensively used in ancient days there would be more relics of them. The obvious reply to such an objection is, that iron is so liable to oxidation that most of the smaller iron articles of ancient times must have perished from that cause. Many of the small masses of rust-cemented gravel and earth, found everywhere, may have originally had for their nucleus an ancient iron implement, or a fragment of one. If it be allowed that the Picts or other early inhabitants of the north used iron tools and weapons, the question at once arises,—Where and how did they procure them? The remains of the ancient class of ironworks supply the answer. Those so-called savages well knew where to procure iron, and how to fabricate from it the articles they required,—another proof that the Picts were by no means the uncivilised barbarians that some people suppose.
The ancient ironworks of Gairloch were probably not more numerous than those of some other parts of the Highlands and Islands. There is little doubt but that many of the remains, both in Gairloch and elsewhere, have been obliterated by the husbandman, or concealed by overgrowth of heather and other plants. In many places throughout Sutherlandshire, Ross-shire, and Inverness-shire, as well as in other Scottish counties, there are large quantities of iron slag. The Inverness Scientific Society have examined remains of ancient iron-smelting near Alness in Easter Ross. The Rev. Dr Joass, of Golspie, and Mr D. William Kemp, of Trinity, have to a certain extent investigated some Sutherlandshire remains. There are also quantities of slag on the Braemore estate, on the shores of Loch Rosque between Achnasheen and the eastern boundary of Gairloch parish (Part IV., chap, iii.), and in many other parts of Wester Ross, as well as in the island of Soa off the west coast of Skye, and many other places.
At the iron-smelting works near Alness a native hematite iron ore was used, as well as what is termed bog iron. Bog iron is also believed to have been used at a bloomery near Golspie, Sutherlandshire. This bog iron appears to have been commonly employed by the ancient ironworkers; it was extracted by the action of water from ferruginous rocks and strata, and was accumulated at the bases of peat bogs. In process of time granular masses of oxides of iron were thus formed, sometimes covering a considerable area. Within the parish of Gairloch there are still quantities of bog iron to be seen, apparently formed exactly in the manner described. The localities will be stated inPart I., chap. xix. No bog iron has been found in proximity to any of the remains of ironworks; probably the iron-smeltersconsumed all that was conveniently near the scenes of their operations. In the neighbourhood of all the remains of ironworks in Gairloch are found ferruginous rocks and shales, or rust-coloured earths. The best samples of these rocks have on analysis yielded but eight per cent. of metallic iron, and the rust-coloured earths are by no means rich in the metal. But there can be no doubt that bog iron was formerly present in the vicinity of these rocks, shales, and earths; and the analyses of the ancient iron slags prove to demonstration that such bog iron was the ore used at the ancient bloomeries.
Mr W. Ivison Macadam, analytical chemist of Edinburgh, is hopeful that the analyses he has undertaken may in course of time throw more light on the methods and productions of the ancient ironworkers. It is not probable that we shall ever know much of their history. According to the Rev. Donald M'Nicol they made iron "in the blomary way, that is by laying it under the hammers in order to make it malleable, with the same heat that melted it in the furnace." In the present day the processes of smelting iron and of producing malleable iron are separate and distinct; these ancient artisans probably combined the two. The slags produced at their furnaces contained a large proportion of metallic iron. Mr Macadam has found fully fifty per cent. of iron in most of the samples of ancient Gairloch slags he has analysed, and at some modern ironworks quantities of ancient slag have actually been found worth resmelting. The wasteful richness of the old slags can be easily accounted for; the ancient methods of smelting were comparatively imperfect, labour was cheap, the iron used cost nothing, and the forests whence was derived the charcoal for smelting it were apparently inexhaustible, whilst the business was no doubt carried on more for the supply of local and immediate wants than as a branch of commerce. If the ironworkers could obtain by their primitive processes enough iron to supply their own requirements, they would naturally be careless of the amount of metal wasted.
The fuel universally used for iron-smelting, until far into the eighteenth century, was wood-charcoal, and even to the middle of the nineteenth century it was still employed at two blast-furnaces in Scotland. Every part of the Highlands, not excepting the parish of Gairloch, was clothed with dense forests of fine timber. Far up the mountain slopes, and down to the rocky shores of the sea, the fir, oak, and birch flourished in wonderful and beautiful profusion. There is no poetic license, no picturesque exaggeration in this statement. Everywhere the relics of trees are to be seen to this day, and much of the timber used by Gairloch crofters in roofing their dwellings and for other purposes consists of branches found underground. The disappearance of the great Caledonian forest has been accounted for in several ways; some have conjectured that a vast conflagration or series of conflagrations destroyed it; others think that its destruction was more gradual, and resulted from the labours of the charcoal burners and similar doings. In Gairloch there are charred stumps still to be seen preserved in peat bogs, that support the conflagration theory; but there is also widespread evidence of extensive charcoal burnings, so that there must be some truth in both these modes of accounting for the destruction of the woods. Some localities of charcoal burnings will be mentioned inPart I., chap. xx.
McLAGAN & CUMMING, LITH, EDINRSIR GEORGE HAY OF MEGGINISH, KNIGHT,THE IRONFOUNDER OF LOCH MAREE,FROM A PORTRAIT BY FERDINAND,IN DUPPLIN CASTLE.
All the ancient Gairloch ironworks are in the vicinity of burns. This fact raises a strong inference that the older ironworkers, like their historic successors, utilised the water-power afforded by adjoining streams for the purpose of working machinery. The Rev. D. M'Nicol's statement, already quoted, that hammers were used to produce malleable iron confirms the inference; and the remains of dams or weirs, and other expedients for augmenting the water-power, convert the conjecture into an established fact. It appears certain, then, that heavy hammers worked by machinery, with water for the motive power, were used in remote times,—another testimony to the ingenuity and mechanical skill of the ancient inhabitants of the Highlands. The tuyere for a furnace-blast found atFasagh(seeillustration) is another evidence of that skill.
The reader must please remember that the ancient ironworks referred to in this chapter are quite distinct from the historic series to which our next is devoted.
Tothe lonely and romantic shores of the queen of Highland lochs belongs the curiously incongruous distinction of having been the scene where the new departure in iron-smelting processes, which commenced the present series of Scottish ironworks, was inaugurated. How wonderful it seems, that the great iron industry of Scotland, which to this day enriches so many families and employs so many thousands of workmen, should have sprung from this sequestered region! The claim to the distinction is based on the facts, that up to the present time no records of any earlier manufacture of iron have been discovered, and that the iron industry established here early in the seventeenth century became, as we shall shew, of such national importance as to call for special legislation. It appears to have been in 1607 that Sir George Hay commenced ironworks at Letterewe, on Loch Maree, which were continued for at least sixty years. It is true that in 1612 a license previously granted by the king to "Archibald Prymroise, clerk of his maiesties mynis, his airis and assignais quhatsomeuir ffor making of yrne within the boundis of the schirefdome of perth," was ratified by Parliament, but the date of the license is not given, and we hear no more of these Perthshire ironworks.
It was not until the eighteenth century that the seed sown by Sir George germinated, and the iron industry began to spread in Scotland.
The iron furnaces in Glengarry, referred to by Captain Burt, are said to have been established by a Liverpool company, who bought the Glengarry woods about 1730.
The iron-smelting works at Abernethy, Strathspey, were commenced in 1732 by the York Buildings Company. This company was formed in 1675 to erect waterworks on the grounds of York House in the Strand, London, and was incorporated in 1691 as "The Governor and Company of Undertakers for raising the Thames water in York Buildings." The operations of the company have been described by Mr David Murray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., in an able pamphlet entitled "The York Buildings Company: A Chapter in Scotch History." The company raised at the time of its incorporation the then immense capital of £1,259,575, and conducted not only the original waterworks, but also enormous speculations in forfeited estates in Scotland; the company also carried on coal, lead, and iron mines, the manufacture of iron and glass, and extensive dealings in timber from the Strathspey forests. Their agents and workmen in Strathspey are described in the Old Statistical Account as "the most profuse and profligate set that were ever heard of in this country. Their extravagances of every kind ruined themselves and corrupted others." Their ironworks were abandoned at the end of two years,i.e.in 1734, or, according to the Old Statistical Account, in 1737. They made "Glengarry" and "Strathdoun" pigs, and had four furnaces for making bar iron. The corporation of the York Buildings Company was dissolved in 1829.
The Loch Etive side, or Bonawe, ironworks, were commenced by an Irish company about 1730. They rented the woods of Glenkinglass, and made charcoal, with which they smelted imported iron ore. That company existed till about 1750. In 1753 an English company, consisting of three Lancashire men and one Westmoreland man, took leases, which ran for one hundred and ten years, and these were renewed in 1863 to the then manager of the company for twenty-one years, expiring as lately as 1884. By the courtesy of Mr Hosack, of Oban, I have seen duplicates of the leases under which the undertaking was carried on. The works comprised extensive charcoal burnings and the blast-furnace at Bonawe; they were discontinued before 1884.
Other important works of a similar character were afterwards established by the Argyle Furnace Company, and by the Lorn Company, at Inverary.
In a work on "The Manufacture of Iron in Great Britain," by Mr George Wilkie, Assoc. Inst. C.E., published in 1857, it is stated that the Carron works were established in 1760 by Dr Roebuck of Sheffield and other gentlemen; that in 1779 two brothers of the name of Wilson, merchants in London, established the Wilsonton ironworks in Lanarkshire; that in 1788 the Clyde ironworks were established in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and that in that year there were only eight pig-iron furnaces in Scotland, of which four were at Carron, two at Wilsonton, one at "Bunawe in Lorn," and one at "Goatfield in Arran," the two latter being worked with woodcharcoal for fuel. The furnace at Bunawe is that already noticed as on Loch Etive side. Of the alleged furnace at "Goatfield in Arran" there are no records or remains to be found in Arran to-day. Probably Goatfield was in Argyleshire.
But we need not here further trace the wonderful growth of the still existing series of Scottish ironworks. To establish our claim to precedence, it will suffice to shew that the furnaces on Loch Maree were commenced by Sir George Hay more than a century earlier than any of those just named.
Pennant, in his tour of 1772 (Appendix B), mentions the time of the Queen Regent as the period when Sir George Hay was head of a company who carried on an iron furnace near Poolewe; this statement is given on the authority of the Rev. John Dounie, minister of Gairloch. The regency of Mary of Guise extended from 1542 to 1560; so that the historical commencement of the ironworks on Loch Maree might date as far back as the middle of the sixteenth century. But Sir George Hay lived at a later date, and Mr Dounie must have been inaccurate in this respect.
From Donald Gregory's history of the Western Highlands, Alexander Mackenzie's history of the Mackenzies, and several old MSS., including the genealogy of the MacRaes (Appendix A), we glean the following facts:—
In 1598 a party of gentlemen, known as the "Fife Adventurers," obtained a grant from the crown of the island of the Lews, and took steps to plant a colony there. Mackenzie of Kintail and the M'Leods of the Lews, ceasing for the time their own feuds, combined to oust the Fife Adventurers. In 1607 the king granted the Lews to Lord Balmerino (Secretary of Scotland and Lord-President of the Session), Sir George Hay, and Sir James Spens of Wormistoun (one of the original "Fife Adventurers"), who in 1608 renewed the attempt to colonize the Lews, but without success. In 1609 Lord Balmerino was convicted of high treason and executed, thus forfeiting his share. Sir George Hay and Sir James Spens about that time sent an expedition to the Lews, but Neil M'Leod, secretly backed by Mackenzie of Kintail, opposed the intending colonists, who were driven from the island. Mackenzie was raised to the peerage in the same year with the title of Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, after he had induced Sir George Hay and Sir James Spens to give up their scheme and transfer their rights in the Lews to himself. Lord Mackenzie, in part payment, gave them the woods of Letterewe for iron-smelting; the arrangement was concluded in 1610, and Lord Mackenzie then obtained a fresh grant to himself from the crown.
But we can carry back the history of the Letterewe ironworks to a slightly earlier date still.
The Rev. Farquhar MacRae was appointed vicar or minister of Gairloch by Bishop Leslie of Ross in 1608, in order that he might "serve the colony of English which Sir George Hay kept at Letterewe." Mr MacRae continued his work in Gairloch parish till 1618, and his son informs us, in the "Genealogical Account" (Appendix A), that on his death in 1662 Mr MacRae "had lived fifty-fouryears in the ministry, ten of which at Gairloch." Thus it is evident that he was ordained vicar of Gairloch in 1608. This was two years before Sir George Hay acquired the woods of Letterewe from Lord Mackenzie, but the later date of his acquisition of those woods does not preclude the possibility of Sir George having already commenced the manufacture of iron there, perhaps in a tentative manner. It will be noticed that the Genealogical Account of the MacRaes speaks of Sir George Hay's undertaking at Letterewe as a going concern when Mr MacRae was sent in 1608 to minister to the ironworkers. It seems almost certain, therefore, that it had begun in 1607, for we cannot but assume that the appointment of Mr MacRae to Gairloch was made to supply a want that must have taken at least a year to develop. The conclusion that Sir George Hay began the Letterewe ironworks in 1607, receives some confirmation from the fact that the grant of the Lews to him and his colleagues took place in the same year. The two matters were very probably connected. Either Sir George was led to enter into the Lews adventure from his being located at Letterewe, so near to Poolewe, the port for the Lews, or—which is more probable—the advantages of Letterewe attracted his attention when at Poolewe planning the subjugation of the Lews. The date (27th January 1609) of the act forbidding the making of iron with wood (Appendix G) is not inconsistent with the commencement of the ironworks in 1607. Assuming that the prohibition was (as seems likely) aimed at the Letterewe ironworks, it is reasonable enough to suppose that they must have been begun in 1607, so as to have attained sufficient importance to excite the alarm of the legislature in January 1609. News from the Highlands took a long time to travel so far as Edinburgh in those days.
We hear nothing more of Sir James Spens in connection with the ironworks.
Sir George Hay's history is remarkable. He was the second son of Peter Hay of Melginche, and was born in 1572. He completed his education at the Scots College at Douay in France. He was introduced at court about 1596, and seems at once to have attracted the attention of James VI., who appointed him one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber, and in 1598 gave him the Carthusian priory or charter-house at Perth and the ecclesiastical lands of Errol, with a seat in Parliament as a peer. But he declined the peerage, was knighted instead, and subsequently adopted the profession of the law, in which he attained to great distinction. He seems to have been a favourite with the king, whom he defended when in 1600 the Earl of Gowrie was killed in his treasonable attempt on his majesty's life. Assisted by the favour of the crown, Sir George acquired large territories both in the Highlands and Lowlands. (See extract from "Douglas's Peerage,"Appendix G.) But some think that at the time he settled at Letterewe he was under a cloud. Political troubles had arisen; one of his partners, Lord Balmerino, had been convicted of high treason and executed; so that the statement that Sir George had chosen the remote Letterewe "for the sake of quiet in those turbulent times" appears reasonable enough. Thefact that he occupied the leisure of his enforced retirement in establishing and improving iron-smelting, is a standing testimony to the energy of this remarkable man. He is said to have resided some years at Letterewe, or at least to have made his headquarters there. No doubt Lord Mackenzie would provide the best habitation he could for the learned and enterprising lessee of his woods. Probably Sir George lived in an old house on the site of the present Letterewe House.
The only Gairloch iron-furnaces which we can be sure were carried on by Sir George Hay were those at Letterewe, Talladale, and the Red Smiddy near Poolewe. (They will be described inPart I., chap. xx.). The vast woods of Letterewe were undoubtedly the prime motive that led Sir George to start the ironworks there. They must have been very extensive, for it is the opinion of those who should know, that each furnace would annually use as carbonised fuel the product of one hundred and twenty acres of wood. The works Sir George conducted seem to have combined two classes of industry,—(1) The manufacture of wrought-iron, the ore being smelted with charcoal into a mass of metal called a bloom, which was hammered whilst yet hot into bars of wrought iron, or into various articles used in the arts of peace or war; (2) The manufacture of pig-iron and articles of cast-iron, the metal being poured into moulds.
The Letterfearn MS. says, that at Letterewe "Sir George Hay kept a colony and manufactory of Englishmen making iron and casting great guns, untill the wood of it was spent and the lease of it expired."
The Genealogical Account of the MacRaes tells of "the colony of English which Sir George Hay of Airdry kept at Letterewe, making iron and casting cannon."
The Bennetsfield MS. mentions the grant of the "lease of the woods of Letterewe, where there was an iron mine, which they wrought by English miners, casting guns and other implements, till the fuel was exhausted and their lease expired."
Pennant notes in his Tour (Appendix B), that the Rev. John Dounie had seen the back of a grate marked "S. G. Hay," or Sir George Hay. Those acquainted with old inscriptions tell us that the initial S was a usual abbreviation for the title "Sir."
It appears, then, that Sir George not only produced articles used in warfare, but also such goods as we are accustomed to procure at the ironmonger's.
It is certain that improved processes of iron-smelting were introduced at Furnace, Letterewe, and perfected at the Red Smiddy, Poolewe, so that the results obtained at the latter place were almost on a par with those of the newest methods of the present day. The credit of these improvements must be given to Sir George Hay. In resuscitating the ancient manufacture of iron, he brought the intelligence of his cultivated mind to bear on the subject in a practical and successful way.
The "new industry" thus commenced on the shores of LochMaree soon attracted the attention of the government. Reference has already been made to the act of 27th January 1609, prohibiting the making of iron with the natural woods of the Highlands. The act is printed verbatim inAppendix G. There seems little doubt, as previously remarked, that it was intended to injure Sir George Hay. It was probably passed on the instigation of a political foe.
But Sir George must have still possessed considerable influence at court, and the importance of his new industry must have produced a strong impression, for on the 24th of December 1610, at Whitehall, the king gave him what appears to have been a monopoly of the manufacture of iron and glass throughout the whole of Scotland, for thirty-one years from that date, and this gift was ratified by Act of Parliament, dated 23d October 1612. The delay of two years in its ratification seems a little strange, and perhaps indicates that whilst Sir George continued such a favourite with his king as to receive from him so valuable a "Christmas box," he still had enemies in the Privy Council or the Parliament of Scotland. The ratification will be found inAppendix G; it recites the license. It would appear from a Scots Act passed 16th November 1641, that several noblemen and gentlemen had obtained monopolies of other manufactures,—probably about the same time. That act brought these monopolies to an end in the same year (1641) that Sir George Hay's monopoly of the manufacture of iron expired. Whether Sir George carried on ironworks elsewhere than on Loch Maree we know not, but it is most likely that they were his principal, if not his only, undertakings of the kind.
In 1613 a proclamation was made by the Privy Council restraining the export of iron ore out of the country, so that the enterprise of the new industry should not be hindered or disappointed (Appendix G). If the act of 1609 prohibiting the making of iron with wood had been obtained by an enemy of Sir George Hay's, the adverse influence of the foe was now at an end. Possibly Sir George had by this time returned from the Highlands, for we find that in 1616 he was appointed Clerk-Register. If so, his personal influence may have over-ridden that of his former political enemies. Under this proclamation Sir George became able to procure the clayband ironstone almost at his own price. He used it extensively both at Furnace (Letterewe) and at the Red Smiddy, as well as at Talladale.
There is another record relating to Sir George Hay's iron manufacture; it is the curious license anent selling of his iron, granted to him by a Scots Act, dated 4th August 1621, and printed inAppendix G. It purports to be a license to Sir George to carry his iron to any port or harbour of the free burghs royal, and to dispose of the same to any person notwithstanding the privileges and liberties of the burghs. This license, granted fourteen years after the commencement of the Letterewe ironworks, testifies to the vigour with which the enterprise had been pushed. It would seem that the quantity of iron produced now only required a free market. The monopoly granted to Sir George, the proclamation restraining the export of iron ore, and the special license he now obtained for selling his iron in royal burghs, were exceptional provisions, whichwould now-a-days be considered antagonistic to cherished political principles. To what extent Sir George profited from the advantages granted to him we cannot tell. That he became a rich man there seems no doubt, and the ironworks on Loch Maree may have added to his wealth.
THE MINISTER'S STONE, ARDLAIR.
John Roy Mackenzie was the prudent, business-like, and hospitable laird of Gairloch during the residence at Letterewe of Sir George Hay, who appears to have had a furnace at Talladale on John Roy's Gairloch estate. Doubtless some intercourse took place between them, but as John Roy had been previously engaged in warfare, and could not, so far as we can judge from the story of his youth, have been a man of much culture, it is unlikely that he and Sir George became very intimate. But Sir George, the learned lawyer and man of science, had a thoroughly congenial friend in the great Latin scholar the Rev. Farquhar MacRae, vicar of Gairloch, whose house at Ardlair was but a three miles' walk or row from Letterewe House. The account given inAppendix Aproves that the friendship of this accomplished and genial clergyman was much appreciated by Sir George, who endeavoured to induce Mr MacRae to accompany him when he himself returned to the south. A remarkable rock or stone at Ardlair, called "The minister's stone" (seeillustration), is still pointed out as the place where Mr MacRae used to preach in English and Gaelic. No doubt he also preached at Letterewe; and we are told that he "did not only please the country people, but also the strangers, especially George Hay." The interesting memoir of Mr MacRae, inAppendix A, is well worth perusal; he married in 1611, and brought his bride to the parsonage at Ardlair, where several of his children were born. Unquestionably therefined life of the vicar and his family at their beautiful and retired home, would be more enjoyable to Sir George than the rougher habits of the natives of the country, nay, even than the society of the fighting laird of Gairloch himself.
The date when Sir George left Letterewe is not certain; the reason of his departure is plain,—he had superior calls on his presence in the south. After he left his Highland retreat his career was one of unbroken success and distinction. In 1616 he was appointed Clerk-Register, and on 16th July 1622 he was constituted High Chancellor of Scotland. He was raised to the Peerage by the title of Viscount Duplin and Lord Hay of Kinfauns in 1627, and was created Earl of Kinnoull by patent dated at York 25th May 1633. As chancellor he won "the approbation of the whole kingdom, and the applause of all good men, for his justice, integrity, sound judgment, and eminent sufficiency." He died in London in 1634, aged sixty-two. Some account of the statue of his lordship, of the epitaph on his monument, and of the portraits of him still extant (seeillustrations), will be found inAppendix G. If we may trust the expressions contained in the epitaph, it would almost appear that the iron-founder of Loch Maree became, under his king, the ruler of fair Scotland, for he is termed "the great and grave dictator of our clime."
But the departure of Sir George from Letterewe did not stop the progress of his ironworks on Loch Maree. The concession or monopoly granted by the crown had still many years to run, and the works were unquestionably continued for a long further period under a manager or factor. The last manager is said to have been called John Hay, a name which obviously suggests that he was a relative of Sir George.
In the Gairloch churchyard is a picturesque tombstone, evidently of considerable age. It has a well carved skull and cross bones, and underneath them a shield (originally faced with a brass), with a design below it resembling an inverted fleur-de-lis. At either side of the shield are the letters I and H, of large size. The inscription round the border of the stone is only partly legible. It runs as follows:—
* * R ‧ LYIS ‧ IOHNE ‧ HAY ‧ SON * * HAY ‧ OF ‧ KIRKLAND ‧ WHO ‧DIED ‧ AT ‧ LOCH * * * * * *
It is said that this stone was sent to the port or wharf at Port na Heile, in Gairloch (the present Gairloch pier), some years after the death of John Hay, to be placed over his grave; that he was the last manager of the Letterewe ironworks; that he died, and was probably buried, at or near Letterewe; that the stone lay at the port for many years; and that, ultimately, when the situation of John Hay's grave had been forgotten, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the second baronet and ninth laird of Gairloch (who succeeded 1703, came of age 1721, and died 1766), authorised one William Fraser to place the stone in the burial-place of his (Fraser's) family, where it now lies. It is added that "Sir Alexander received a stone from William Fraser for it."
McLAGAN & CUMMING, LITH, EDINRSIR GEORGE HAY, 1ST EARL OF KINNOULL, HIGH CHANCELLOR OF SCOTLAND,THE IRONFOUNDER OF LOCH MAREE,FROM A PORTRAIT IN DUPPLIN CASTLE,ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGE JAMESONE, THE SCOTTISH VANDYCK.
These statements about the Hay tombstone are from the mouth of James Mackenzie, who says that William Fraser and his own grandfather were first cousins, and that the facts about the gravestone were told him on their authority when he was young. He is corroborated by other old Gairloch men.
Although this John Hay, whose father appears from the tombstone to have been Mr Hay of Kirkland, was probably a relation of Sir George Hay, it is impossible to fix the degree of relationship. Sir George Hay's father had three sons, Patrick, George, and Peter. This Peter was designated as of Kirkland of Megginch. He had a son called Francis, whose great-grandson Thomas succeeded to the earldom of Kinnoull, on the direct line of Sir George Hay, the first earl, becoming extinct in the person of William, the fifth earl, in 1709. Possibly Peter Hay had a son known as James Hay of Kirkland, or else some collateral relation of the family bore that designation, for we gather from a short account of the parish of St Martins, Perthshire, contained in a footnote to the account of that parish in the Old Statistical Account, that a James Hay acquired Kirkland by an exchange with Mr John Strachan, minister of St Martins. The son, Thomas, of this minister, "after his return from his travels, when he had waited on the earl of Kinnowel his son as his governour for the space of three years, became conjunct with his father, and died minister there in the year 1671." Kirkland was a "good manor house;" it was built of old by the abbot of Halyrood-house, and was afterwards the minister's manse. It is possible that this Kirkland may not have been the same as Kirkland of Megginch. In all probability, however, John Hay, the last manager of the Loch Maree ironworks, was a son of James Hay, and the latter was a relative of the great Sir George. It was indeed natural that Sir George should prefer to entrust his ironworks to a relative rather than to a stranger.
After the death of the Earl of Kinnoull, his ironworks appear to have fallen into a languishing condition, possibly from the timber being exhausted. In Knox's Tour it is stated that Mr Alexander Mackenzie of Lochend, in 1786, told the author (Mr Knox) that cannon were still made at Poolewe in 1668. Mr Mackenzie said his grandfather had "lent ten thousand marks to the person or persons who carried on the works, for which he got in return the back of an old grate and some hammers." It is curious that these relics are the only remains known to have existed (except the breech of a cannon and some small pigs of iron) of the productions of the Loch Maree ironworks. The "back of an old grate" was no doubt the same as that which Mr Dounie told Pennant of, and the hammers, or at least one of them, must have been the same as existed in living memory. (SeePart I., chap. xx.)
So far as we can judge, the ironworks were discontinued soon after the date of the loan mentioned by Mr Mackenzie of Lochend. Thus the undertaking was carried on for a period of at least sixty years. Local tradition affirms that the industry was prolonged into the eighteenth century, but there is nothing to confirm the tradition except the story of theGille Buidhe(Part I., chap. xiv.); it speaksof men living in 1746 as being sons of one of the last of the Letterewe ironworkers.
The artisans employed by Sir George Hay are said by some to have been from Fife, by others to have been Welsh, and by all to have been "English." But this last term only means that the ironworkers spoke English, for as truly remarked by the Rev. Donald MacRae, minister of Poolewe (Appendix E), "Highlanders look upon all who do not speak the Gaelic language asSasganaich[Sasunnach] or Englishmen."
The names Cross, Bethune or Beaton, and Kemp, are still known in Gairloch parish as belonging to descendants of the ironworkers. Cross is a common Lancashire name. Mr D. William Kemp, of Trinity, who has read a valuable paper on old ironworks in Sutherlandshire to the Scottish Society of Arts, says that the name Kemp is very uncommon in Wales, but is a north of England name, and was common in Cumberland after the fourteenth century, artisans of that surname having settled in that county in the reign of Edward III.
It is probable that Sir George Hay's artisans were mostly from Fife; they were very likely some of the men who had been taken by the "Fife Adventurers" to the Lews, with the object (frustrated as we have seen) of establishing a colony there. To these Fifeshire men were no doubt added a few (including a Cross and a Kemp) who had come with iron ore from Lancashire or Cumberland. Of course all of them were ignorant of Gaelic.
These ironworkers remained in Gairloch for several generations; some of them became permanently settled in the parish. It is said that at one time an epidemic of smallpox carried off a number of them. Narrators of Gairloch traditions differ as to where the ironworkers buried their dead. Some believe it was at the burial-place on flat ground near the head of Loch Maree, which is accordingly called to this day Cladh nan Sasunnach, or "the Englishman's churchyard," but others say, with more probability, that the beautiful burial-ground on Isle Maree was their place of sepulture. This last view is in accord with the information obtained by Dr Arthur Mitchell (Part II., chap. xi.), and appears to be the better opinion.
I do not think the Cladh nan Sasunnach was used for interment so recently as the time of Sir George Hay's undertaking. I examined this strange place on 12th May 1884. There are indications of twenty-four graves, all with the feet pointed towards the east, and all covered more or less with large unwrought stones. There are head and foot stones more or less distinct to all the graves, which, from their dimensions, might well be called the graves of giants. I opened two of the graves in different parts of the group to the depth of four or five feet, in fact as far as the ground was workable with ordinary pick and spade. In the first grave opened, a cavity, filled with water, eighteen inches deep and much wider than the grave, was reached at a depth of between two and three feet, and below that the stratum was nearly as hard as concrete. There were no indications whatever of organic remains. In the case of the second grave opened, which was the largest and most marked of the group, nowater was reached and no remains were found. To the depth of about four feet the gravel was comparatively loose, as if it had been wrought at some time. Below that it was so hard that evidently it had never been moved by man. Now, had there been interments here in the seventeenth century, there must surely have been some traces of them. My own opinion is, that these graves date back some centuries earlier than the ironworks, in fact to the period when tradition says it was usual to bury the dead in shallow graves scraped out of hard gravel, and then to cover the graves with large stones, the hardness of the gravel and the weight of the superincumbent stones being intended to hinder wolves from exhuming the bodies.
We should like to know more about the ironworks, and particularly about the men who were employed at the furnaces, and their families and circumstances. The struggles that had engaged the MacBeaths, Macdonalds, M'Leods, and Mackenzies for two centuries, and had rendered Gairloch a veritable battlefield, were at an end in Sir George Hay's time. With the exception of occasional raids on Gairloch by Lochaber and other cattle-lifters, there was now peace throughout the parish. The Scots Act of 27th January 1609 (Appendix G) speaks of the "present generall obedience" of the Highlands, as contrasted with the previous "savagness of the inhabitantis." Letterewe was then, as now, a peculiarly retired spot; there is still no access to it for wheeled vehicles; Sir George Hay's choice of it as a retreat from political troubles confirms the view that it was safe and secluded; the mountains behind Letterewe had long been a favourite hunting-ground of the lords of Kintail (Part I., chap. iv.); and we may well believe that Sir George and his men were able not only to carry on their business without interruption, but also to enjoy in peace the sport afforded by the district. At the same time, it must be remembered that the natives were still in a half savage condition, miserably fed, clothed, and housed, and entirely destitute of education. Very loose notions of morality were prevalent; and to a great extent the old principle that "might is right" still ruled the daily life of the people. They say that some of the ironworkers, severed from home ties, and finding themselves far away from the executive of the law, became reprobates. One of the latest of the ironworkers, or a son of one of them, was known as the Sasunnach Mor, or "Big Englishman"; he is said to have been a wild character. A crofter and carter now living at Londubh is a great-grandson of the Sasunnach Mor; the last Mackenzie of Kernsary testified, in the presence of persons now living, to the descent of this Londubh crofter from the Sasunnach Mor. But whatever were the idiosyncrasies, either of the early or of the latest ironworkers, there can be no doubt that they all led rough and almost lawless lives in their wild Highland homes.
Thefirst question that most people ask, when they hear of the ironworks in the parish of Gairloch, is,—Where did the iron that was smelted come from? The answer can only be supplied by an examination of the remains of the ironworks now to be met with, and of their neighbourhood. Of records bearing on the subject there are none. There are but two incidental notices that help to throw light on the question; both are comparatively modern.
The Bennetsfield MS. speaks of "the woods of Letterewe, where there was an iron mine which they wrought by English miners."
The New Statistical Account (Appendix E), in the account of Gairloch written by the Rev. Donald MacRae in 1836, says, "Sir James Kay [Sir George Hay] sent several people to work at veins of iron ore on the estate of Letterewe."
Let us discuss the questions of the ores used at the ancient bloomeries and at the historic ironworks under separate heads.
I.—At the Ancient Bloomeries.
It has been already stated (Part I., chap. xvii.) that bog iron was the source whence the ancient ironworkers of Gairloch obtained their metal, so that the terms "iron mine" and "veins of iron ore" quoted above must be considered as referring—unwittingly perhaps—to it. The ingredients of ancient Gairloch iron slags, as ascertained by Professor Ivison Macadam, shew that they have unquestionably resulted from the smelting of bog iron. His analyses and conclusions will in due time be made public; they will prove that the iron ore used at the ancient ironworks in the parish of Gairloch was undoubtedly bog iron.
Mention has been made of ferruginous rocks, shales, and earths existing in the vicinity of the old ironworks. Local tradition affirms that these were the sources of the iron used in the old days. It appears certain that bog iron was found in the vicinity of these ferruginous strata,—probably derived from them,—but they cannot have been the subjects of the ancient iron-smelting. Mr Macadam finds that the richest samples of them do not yield more than 8 per cent. of metallic iron, and that the sulphur they contain does not occur in the slags produced at the furnaces, as would have been the case had they been used.
The most abundant and apparent of these rocks is the large band of ferruginous stone that runs from Letterewe, in a south-easterly direction, along the shores of Loch Maree to the further end of the base of Slioch. It is so extensive, and so rusty in colour, that it can be easily discerned from the county road on the opposite side of the loch. Similar ferruginous rock appears inseveral other places, as far at least as to the head of Glen Dochartie, but not so abundantly, and therefore not so conspicuously. It also occurs in other parts of Gairloch parish. Gairloch people point out several places where they say this ferruginous rock was quarried, viz.: (1) on the south side of the Furnace burn at Letterewe, nearly a quarter of a mile above the site of the iron furnace; (2) on the face of the ridge immediately behind and above the cultivated land at Innis Ghlas; (3) at Coppachy; and (4) in a gully, called Clais na Leac, at the north-west end of the cultivated land at Smiorsair. At each of these places there are exposed scaurs or escarpments of the ferruginous rock, which are said to have been the results of quarrying, but which are much more like natural fractures. We may therefore dismiss the tradition that iron ore was obtained directly from these supposed quarries as not only unreliable but impossible.
The absence of bog iron in the neighbourhoods of the Gairloch iron furnaces or bloomeries is quite intelligible; it was no doubt all consumed by the ironworkers. Considerable quantities of bog iron are still to be seen in other parts of Gairloch, and their frequent occurrence throughout the parish confirms the contention that this description of ore formerly existed near the bloomeries, and was used at them. Most bog iron is rich in the useful metal. Mr Macadam has analysed a sample from Golspie, submitted by Dr Joass, and has found it to contain 54½ per cent. of metallic iron. Some Gairloch samples are nearly as rich, as will be seen from the results of Mr Macadam's analyses stated below.
The deposits of bog iron are locally called by the descriptive name of "pans." The following is a list of places where these deposits occur within the parish of Gairloch, as so far noticed by Mr Macadam and myself:—
1. In the churchyard at Sand of Udrigil.
2. At the highest point on the road between Aultbea and Laide.
3. In the village of Cove; masses of bog iron are built into fence walls.
4. Near Meallan na Ghamhna.
5. Near the Inverasdale Board School, where there are three "pans."
6. In the township of Strath of Gairloch; the "pans" have been broken up; they say there were several of them.
7. At the north-west end of the township of Lonmor; here too the "pans" have been broken up, and lumps of bog iron are to be seen in walls or dykes. Mr Macadam has found 51¼ per cent. of metallic iron in a heavy sample from this place.
8. Among the sand hills at the easternmost corner of the farm of Little Sand; one "pan" is entire; another is partly broken up. Mr Macadam's analysis shews 51½ per cent. of metallic iron in a sample from this place.
9. At North Erradale; "pans" broken up. Mr Macadam states that a heavy sample of bog iron from this place yields 49 per cent., and a sandy portion 38¾ per cent. of metallic iron.
10. At South Erradale. There is a fence wall, locally calledGaradh Iaruinn, or the "iron dyke," entirely composed (for fifty yards of its length) of masses of bog iron, varying from 3 to 13 inches in thickness, and some of them nearly a yard in length. The dyke was erected in 1845, when the present system of crofts was being established in Gairloch. Quantities of bog iron are also to be seen in other dykes, and the soil of probably about two acres of the adjacent cultivated land mainly consists of comminuted bog iron. There must have been large deposits of it at this place; one or two unbroken masses still remainin situ. Mr Macadam finds that the heavier kind yields, on analysis, 50 per cent. of metallic iron, whilst a sandy portion contains 46½ per cent.
11. On the farm of Point, Gairloch, near the house of Mr MacClymont, farmer. The heavy bog iron analysed by Mr Macadam yields 50 per cent. of metallic iron, and some red sand from the same place contains 15 per cent.
II.—At the Historic Ironworks.
Mr Macadam is of opinion that bog iron was not only used at the ancient bloomeries, but also at some of the historic furnaces in Gairloch parish, particularly at Letterewe and Talladale. He gathers this from the general character and composition of some of the slags found at these places. It was in the early stage of Sir George Hay's career as a manufacturer of iron that he used the native bog iron ore; later on he began to import iron ores of a different kind from other parts of the kingdom,—at first in order to mix them with the local bog iron, and afterwards, perhaps, for separate use. The introduction of these imported ores may have been primarily due to the failure of the supply of the bog iron; it undoubtedly led to a vast improvement in the results obtained at Sir George Hay's furnaces.
The evidence that Sir George imported what we may term foreign ores is not far to seek.
At the Letterewe ironworks there are to be seen fragments of two kinds of imported iron ore, scattered in the soil of the field adjoining the furnace, or built into fence walls; they are red hematite ore, and clayband ironstone.
Mr J. E. Marr, F.G.S., has described these foreign ores as follows:—"Red hematite exactly the same as that in the Furness and Whitehaven districts in England. Large masses of a brown clay ironstone; one of these masses being a septarian nodule, with radiating crystals along the cracks; the other being bedded, and containing numerous plant and fish remains, but no shells; these fossils shew them to belong to the carboniferous system."
Some small fragments of similar clay ironstone have been found on the traditional site of the Talladale iron furnace.
On the bank above the ironworks on the river Ewe, called the Red Smiddy, are fragments of clayband ironstone, which Mr Marr has described as follows:—"Clay ironstone nodules, mostly blue inside,and weathering red and yellow on the outside. Many of these were septarian; and when fossils occurred they were of shells, and there were no traces of plants or of fish remains. This ore, in fact, is entirely different from either of the two kinds found at the Letterewe furnace. At the same time, the fossils shew that it also belongs to the carboniferous system."
On the west bank of the pool at Poolewe, the landing-place both for Letterewe and the Red Smiddy, is a considerable heap of red hematite exactly similar to that found at Furnace, Letterewe. At the same place are many masses of clay ironstone, which include all the varieties found at Letterewe and the Red Smiddy. In the soil in the bank below Poolewe church, where a jetty and storehouse were erected in 1885, there are also large quantities of clayband ironstone, which were not seen by Mr Marr.
Mr Macadam has examined and analysed samples of all these foreign ores. He is unable to draw the same distinction as Mr Marr between the apparent varieties of clayband ironstone, and thinks that they were in all probability from the same place, and that most likely the south of Scotland. He finds that the samples of hematite ore contain metallic iron varying in quantity from 30 to 60 per cent. The samples of clayband ironstone he finds to yield from 6 to 38 per cent. of metallic iron; they also contain a considerable quantity of lime.
Mr Marr thinks that these foreign or imported ores were mixed with local ore. The lime in the clayband ironstone would render it a useful ingredient from its quality of acting as a flux. Mr Marr adds, "The theory of intermixture of local and imported ores receives support from a similar case in Wales which has come under my observation, where somewhat impure ore containing quantities of phosphorus, occurring among the old slaty rocks of North Wales, is carried to South Wales to mix with the carboniferous ores."
For convenience of reference in our next chapter, the several sources from whence iron was obtained for the smelting-furnaces on Loch Maree, and in other parts of Gairloch, may be classed as follows:—
1. Bog iron obtained locally.
2. Red hematite. Same as found in Lancashire and Cumberland, and unquestionably imported thence.
3. Clayband ironstone, possibly in two varieties. This was also imported either from the south of Scotland or elsewhere.
Thefollowing descriptions will include all the remains of ironworks so far noticed within the parish of Gairloch, whether belonging to what we have called the ancient class, or to the more modern historic set.
The slags found in and about the various remains are broadly divided by Mr Macadam into two classes, which he describes as follows:—
(1.) A dark black slag, compact and heavy, in some cases slightly porous; the percentage of iron in this slag is high; in many samples more than half is iron.
(2.) A gray light porous mass, resembling the slags formed in blast furnaces at the present day; this slag contains a large proportion of lime, and a comparatively small proportion of iron.
The descriptions of iron ores found at the different places are indicated by numbers referring to the list of ores at the end of the last chapter.
It appears certain that there were ironworks in the following different places in Gairloch parish,—
1. Glen Dochartie; three places.2. Fasagh.3. Furnace, Letterewe.4. Talladale.5. Garavaig, on Slatadale farm.6. Red Smiddy, near Poolewe.
1.Glen Dochartie.
The traveller proceeding from Loch Maree to Achnasheen may notice, to the right of the road, about four hundred yards before the head of Glen Dochartie is gained, and on the seven hundred feet contour line of the ordnance survey, a scattered heap of small pieces of the slag No. 1. The burn runs past not many yards below. No site of a furnace can be identified. On the other side of the road, about three hundred yards up the hill, on the thousand feet contour, are more extensive similar remains, with the same kind of slag. Mr Macadam finds that this slag contains 66 per cent. of metallic iron, and no lime as silicate. There is red earth in the neighbourhood resembling what is found with "pans" of bog iron. The burn runs past, but is now in a deep gully. At the foot of the glen, more than a mile nearer Kenlochewe, and a little to the west of the bridge over the burn, are fragments of similar slag, and traces of charcoalburnings. The place is on the ancient beach, about twenty feet above the level of the road. No doubt all these remains are of considerable antiquity; they may perhaps have been parts of the same undertaking.
2.Fasagh.
The most extensive remains of ironworks on Loch Maree are on the south side of theFasaghburn, close to where it runs into the loch. This burn comes from Loch Fada, a considerable sheet of water to the north of Slioch. There are remains of a sluice or dam where the burn leaves Loch Fada, evidently used long ago to regulate the water supply. The burn flows into Loch Maree at its south-east corner, close to the head of the loch. There are indications of a large artificial bank, probably the remains of a dam, formed at right angles to the burn, near the site of the ironworks; but the burn has of late years been subject to great floods, that have to some extent varied its course, and altered the surrounding features.
There are two places which seem to have been the sites of furnaces or bloomeries; at each of these spots, which are near each other, and have a small watercourse (now dry) running alongside, there is a mass of slaggy material surrounding a root or stump of a tree. In the same part is a quantity of blackish material, weathering red and splitting on exposure like quicklime, and on all sides are heaps and scattered masses of dark heavy slag No. 1. The tuyere (seeillustration) of a furnace was in 1882 removed from a cottage close by, where it had been for a long time; it is now in the possession of Mr Macadam, and is to be placed in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. I have obtained from an old man at Kenlochewe, an ancestor of whose brought it from the Fasagh ironworks, a curious article (seeillustration); it is of cast-iron, and seems to have formed part of the apparatus for working a large forge-hammer. In examining the furnaces with Mr Macadam in April 1886, we found a portion of a thin bar, which appeared to be of iron. They say that a massive hammer head brought fromFasaghwas long at Culinellan, and that an anvil at the Kenlochewe smithy was formed from part of it. Not far from the sites of the furnaces is a mound of rust-coloured earth like that found with bog iron (ore No. 1). There are evidences of extensive charcoal burnings on the other side of the burn, to the west of the ironworks.
Mr Macadam has supplied the following results of his analyses of samples of substances obtained atFasagh:—The slaggy material from tree roots contains 66 per cent., the blackish material 73 per cent., and the dark slag 68 per cent. of metallic iron; the slag also contains 11 per cent. of silica; the bar of iron contains 63 per cent. of metallic iron, and a large quantity of carbon.
About half a mile to the east of theFasaghworks, at the foot of the crag called Bonaid Donn, is a small circular pond, or rather a large hole in the middle of a circular marsh. It is calledLochan Cul na Cathrach. There is a perpetual flow of spring water from this hole, and the surrounding marsh prevents close approach to it. It isthe common tradition, accepted with the fullest credence, that into this hole the last ironworkers atFasaghthrew all their implements when the furnaces were discontinued. Possibly a drag might bring something to light, or the hole might be drained. The tradition is so firmly believed, that it produces on one's mind a strong impulse to search the hole, and try to find something bearing on the nature and history of the Fasagh ironworks.
From the character of the slags, the comparatively complete state of the remains, and from the tuyere and other things having been discovered, it seems probable that the Fasagh works, whilst belonging to the ancient class of ironworks, were amongst the most recent of that class; and Mr Macadam thinks it possible that Sir George Hay may have commenced his operations at this place in continuation, no doubt, of older ironworks.
3.Furnace, Letterewe.
The remains of the ironworks at the hamlet of Furnace, a mile south-east of Letterewe, are perhaps the most generally interesting in Gairloch, as being especially identified with Sir George Hay. The furnace which gives its name to the hamlet is on the north-west bank of the "Furnace burn," about one hundred yards from its confluence with Loch Maree. The remains of the furnace are tolerably complete, and a hole in its lower part looks as if it had been the aperture for the blast. On the banks of the burn are masses of sandstone, which formed part of the furnace. Some fragments of vitrified bricks are also to be seen. In the soil of the adjoining field, and in its fence walls, are quantities of the ores 2 and 3. In places the soil is quite red with fragments of hematite. In other places it is stained black with charcoal burnings, and many fragments of charcoal are to be found. No doubt the water-power of the burn was utilised, and Loch Maree afforded an easy means of transport of imported ores from Poolewe, where they were landed.
The slags found about this furnace are of both classes. May we not conclude from this fact, that Sir George Hay commenced the manufacture of iron on the old methods anciently in vogue, and that it was at Letterewe that he began the improved processes which were afterwards carried to still greater perfection at the Red Smiddy? This furnace belongs of course to the historic class.
4.Talladale.
A strong local tradition places the Talladale furnace on the bank of a small burn about one hundred and fifty yards south-east of the Talladale river; it stood in the corner of the field nearest to, and to the west of, the road. They say that when this field was reclaimed and trenched, large quantities of slag were turned up, and were buried in the land and in drains. The few specimens of slag found on thesurface in 1883 are of both kinds. Some small fragments of ore discovered are No. 3. It seems pretty certain, therefore, that the Talladale furnace was carried on by Sir George Hay, and that it belongs to the historic class of ironworks.
5.Garavaig, on Slatadale Farm.
The Garavaig furnace stood in a slight hollow in the east corner of what is now the easternmost field of the Slatadale farm, close to where the Garavaig burn (on which are the Victoria Falls) runs into Loch Maree. They say the water-power of the burn was anciently increased by artificial means. When I first examined the field where the furnace stood it was newly ploughed, and part of it was stained black with fragments of charcoal, indicating extensive burnings. The farmer stated that he had buried immense quantities of slag in the drains and soil of this recently reclaimed field. There are still numerous fragments of No. 1 slag on the surface, so that the furnace belonged to the ancient class. The farmer said that he had noticed indications of there having been a furnace in the slight hollow already mentioned, and the fragments of slag are thickest there. The agricultural operations have reduced the place almost to a dead level. No kind of iron ore is found, but the locality is just the place where one would have expected "pans" of bog iron might have occurred.
6.Red Smiddy, Near Poolewe.
The remains of the iron furnace on the river Ewe are still called A Cheardach Ruadh, or "the Red Smiddy." They are more perfect, and therefore to some extent more attractive to one studying the subject, than any of the others. Unquestionably they are also more recent. That the Red Smiddy was part of Sir George Hay's undertaking appears certain; but it was very likely under his manager or factor that it was established, and probably a number of years later than the Letterewe furnace. The slags are exclusively of class No. 2, and closely resemble those formed in blast-furnaces at the present day, thus demonstrating the progress Sir George made in the art of the manufacture of iron after his commencement at Letterewe. Mr Macadam finds that this light slag is completely soluble in acids, and that it contains 16 per cent. of oxide of calcium, and only 23 per cent. of metallic iron. The ore found on the bank above the Red Smiddy and elsewhere near its remains are of the No. 3 class. Many of the fragments of ore have been roasted. This process does not seem to have been adopted at any of the other furnaces. It is another indication of the more recent date of the Red Smiddy, and of the improvements in the methods pursued there. The Letterewe and Talladale furnaces appear to have been originally established solely for the smelting of bog iron (No. 1). Gradually the paucity of that ore, the advantage of mixing imported ores with it, and their superiorquality, led to the introduction of the latter; and then the convenience of having a furnace near the place where these imported ores were landed, led to the establishment of the Red Smiddy. No doubt timber for charcoal burning was at first obtainable in every direction, and afterwards, if there were not a sufficient quantity standing near the Red Smiddy, it could easily be floated down to it from Letterewe or other places on Loch Maree.