Highland Newspapers online - and an obituary of Father James MacGregor

It’s been a long time coming, but a new age is slowly dawning for Highland history. At long last, Highland newspapers are being digitised and put online – for a price! So far, the British Newspaper Archive has made available a complete run of the Inverness Courier up until the end of the 1860s, and just a single year, 1879, of the Oban Times. When all newspapers from the Highlands (and further afield) are finally digitised and accessible on computer, it will revolutionise our understanding of the history of the region, allowing us to search and browse not only the news being reported in their pages, but also all the fascinating columns, letters, lore, poetry, song, and advertisements they contain: all this without having to travel to libraries and wade through fiddly, noisy, eye-aching reels of microfilm.

 

There are, of course, problems. Firstly, Optical Character Recognition is still not good enough to allow accurate and comprehensive searches of what we’re looking for: over and over again coarse, irregular newspaper fonts and smudged ink (to say nothing of curled page edges or poor digitised images!) play havoc with our investigations. We can never be sure that we haven’t missed that crucial piece of evidence: in the end, hit-and-miss searches are still no substitute for comprehensive, methodical, page-by-page trawls. When it comes to searching for Gaelic words, of course, these problems multiply exponentially – though, as the language has historically used Roman letters, Scottish Gaelic is not so unsearchable as its Irish cousin (at present, though this may well change).

 

A more serious problem, one maybe needing to be addressed as soon as possible, relates to different editions of single newspapers. Newspaper runs, of course, have always been altered and adjusted as fresh news comes in during the evening and the night. Again, newspapers have printed and continue to print different editions for different areas. There is no such thing, then, as an official, canonical, single specific issue of, for instance, the Inverness Courier or the Oban Times for a particular day.

 

A major problem for us in the Highlands is that different newspaper editions might offer local news, local columnists, or local occasional literature (particularly material in Gaelic) that might not have been printed in the ‘main’ edition. As we might expect, such local editions have a particularly low survival rate, and it would be rather catastrophic if old numbers from these runs were to end up in a skip because the main edition of the newspaper was now ostensibly ‘safely online’. In the future we shall still have to consult hard paper copies (no matter how fragile), trawl through microfilms (no matter how exasperating), or browse newspaper cuttings-books (of which we have a plethora, from several different owners, in the Carmichael Watson Project).

 

Over the next few blogs we’ll print some Carmichael-related material (and maybe some non-Carmichael-related material too) culled from newspapers in the Highlands and beyond. Here, to begin with, is an obituary for Father James MacGregor, Roman Catholic priest at Ardkenneth, an t-Ìochdar, South Uist. The piece was printed in the Inverness Courier for 25 April 1867. Maighstir Seumas had died some time previously, on 15 February, of what appears to have been a painful kidney infection.

 

Obituaries are fascinating in what they tell us of how contemporaries viewed the deceased, and the little glimpses and hints they give into personalities. As a search for his name in the Carmichael Watson Project, the Calum Maclean Project, or Tobar an Dualchais  demonstrates, Father James MacGregor remained well-known in tradition for well over a century after his death, not just as a local character, but also for his reputation as a healer, occasionally employing somewhat unorthodox methods.

 

Notes from Uist.

   A correspondent in the Long Island writes as follows: –
   ‘Two persons have lately died in this quarter who will be much missed – the Rev. Jas. Macgrigor, Roman Catholic priest, South Uist, and Mrs Macdonald, Scolpaig, North Uist. Both died at the age of seventy-seven. Mr Macgrigor was a native of the interior of Perthshire. He studied at the Roman Catholic College of Lismore, Argyllshire, before that seminary was removed to Blair, Aberdeenshire. After leaving Lismore he was appointed to the mission station of Lochaber, where he remained for ten years. Thence he was transferred to Iocar, South Uist, where he laboured for the long period of thirty-nine years. Mr Macgrigor was a man of humour and cheerfulness, and endowed with much sound common sense. He was tolerant towards all, and lived in peace and charity with all men. It was be safely affirmed of him that he was equally beloved and respected by all classes and all denominations. He had a good knowledge of medicine, and the people had great confidence in his skill. Like the noble Fingal of old, of whose son’s poems he was fond to the last, his door was never closed. His greatest delight was to see people at his house, and as far as in his power to administer to their comfort and happiness. If Mr Macgrigor had a predominant weakness, it was land-improving and iron gates. He had tons of iron rails and iron gates about him. On the short approach leading to his house at Aird-Choinnich he had no fewer than three or four ponderous iron gates, each more complex than the other in its construction and fastenings. This, upon one occasion, led to a witty remark from the late Bishop Murdoch, of Glasgow, himself a man of much humour. Upon his coming to Aird-Choinnich on one occasion rather unexpectedly, and experiencing some difficulty in getting through the gates, he remarked that ‘if Father Macgrigor guarded the way to heaven as effectually as that to his house, it would be no easy task effecting an entrance.’ Mr Macgrigor was a man of great integrity, and at heart a thorough gentleman. With the exception, perhaps, of the funeral of the late greatly-beloved and regretted Dr Maclean, of Milton, so large a concourse of people as that which attended Mr Macgrigor’s funeral has not been seen in this quarter for many a day. Protestant widows were there, equally demonstrative in their grief as their Roman Catholic sisters; and Protestant ministers were there, who united with Roman Catholic priests in saying that they had all lost a friend whose equal they were not likely soon to see again. – Mrs Macdonald, Scolpaig, was a native of Skye. She was a lady of a fine presence and personal appearance, and of much culture and intelligence. Although none could escape feeling that he was in the presence of a lady of superior attainments, her unassuming modesty prevented her revealing the rich stores of her mind to any but her intimate friends. Mrs Macdonald was highly respected by all, and greatly beloved by the poor.’

Mrs Macdonald, Scolpaig, was Barbara née Tolmie (1789–1867), daughter of John Tolmie (1742–1823), Seoc Tolm, tacksman of Uiginish in Skye. She was the widow of Captain John Macdonald (d. 1843), tacksman of Scolpaig in North Uist, and mother of John Macdonald of Newton (1824–88), factor of North Uist from 1855 and a close family friend of Alexander Carmichael.

Bibliography:
Inverness Courier, 25 April 1867, 7
Mackenzie, Hector Hugh. The Mackenzies of Ballone (Inverness: Northern Chronicle, 1941), 94–9.

Image:
St Michael's, Ardkenneth.

A Powder Horn and a Red Pebble from Coll

A great thing about the Carmichael Watson Collection is that you can never quite be sure what will turn up next. Here’s a transcription of CW503 fos.143–5, a short piece written by Carmichael, probably in the 1880s or 1890s, about two objects connected with the Macleans of Coll, more specifically with Donald Maclean, ‘Young Coll’, the son and heir of Hugh, thirteenth laird of Coll, who was drowned in the Sound of Ulva on Sunday 25 September 1774. Maclean had won a name for himself far beyond the Highlands for having taken Dr Samuel Johnson and James Boswell under his wing during their tour to the Hebrides, between 23 September and 17 October 1773.

We are still trying to locate the Macleans’ red quartz pebble, but the powder horn has already been the subject of a blog just a few months ago. Carmichael’s essay turns our previous conclusions on their head! The powder horn is given what appears to be a fairly trustworthy provenance, suggesting that it wasn’t just described as being from that island because there happened to be a stray mention of a Coll powder horn in a waulking song.

The donor of the red quartz pebble was Mary MacInnes (c. 1816–1903), Taigh a’ Ghearraidh, North Uist, the daughter of Angus MacInnes, cottar, and Ann née MacDonald. She gave Carmichael Fenian material as well – the tale A’ Bhruighin Chaorainn (CW104/17 [fos.39–40v]), and probably a version of Laoidh Fhraoich (CW104/18 [fos.40v–42]) – on 3 April 1866. We aren’t told what her service was to the member of the Macleans of Coll, though it’s interesting that she appears as a ‘nurse or domestic servant’ in the household of Donald MacAulay, innkeeper at Taigh a’ Ghearraidh, in the 1871 census, and as a ‘fever nurse’ in the 1891 census.

We don’t know – yet, at least – who the anonymous woman from Smearcleit, South Uist, who donated the powder horn might have been. Interestingly enough, the one informant we have record of in Carmichael’s papers from that township was also a MacInnes (though surely of a quite different family), Angus MacInnes (c. 1798–1871), son of John MacInnes, crofter, and Ann née Steele.

We don’t know why Alexander Carmichael compiled so many short essays like this one. They may have been written as brief and hitherto unlocated articles for periodicals or newspapers. On the other hand, they may have been put together as ‘show and tell’ talks for local Highland societies in the Lowlands, or even for Carmichael’s own friends and acquaintances.

                                                     [later hand: Clach bheag nan tursanan]

                                                                                            Various [later hand: Frìth]

 The writer has a small pebble of red quartz
that was used in making the frith and other forms
of occult sciences. It is called Clach Bheag
nan tursanan – the little stone of the quests.
   The pebble belonged to the Macleans of Coll
by whom it was much prized and sacredly kept.
It came down to them through remote antiquity.
I got the stone from Mary Macinnes, cottar,
Taigh-a-ghearruidh, North Uist. She got it from
a member of the Coll family to whom she
had been of great service in her day.
   This pebble of red quartz had been used
in the frith in discovering the body of Donald
Maclean of Coll when he was drowned in
the sound of Ulva. Donald Maclean
was engaged to one of the two daughters of
Sir Hector Maclean of Innis Choinnich. He
was on his way to Innis Choinnich and along
with him several friends among them an
English gentleman. Among others in the boat
was [blank] Maclean of [blank]
who quarrelled with Donald Maclean
over Sir Hector’s daughters. The much
overladen boat was upset and sank beneath
their feet only one man escaping. He climbed
up the mast the top of which was above water,
Maclean of Lochbuie demanded the man
to come down and give place to his better.
Bha thusa bhos mo chionns an de agus
tha mis os do chionns an diugh, ars an duine.
Bha thu fada gu leoir os mo chionn anns
an t-saoghal seo. Bithidh sinn cothram [del: anns
an ath] [addition above: ’s an] shaoghal [addition: thall]
   The only man saved was [blank
                     ] He lived till a good old age
but he was wisely reticent over the drowning
but indicated that there had been foul play
in the boat.
   The death of Donald Maclean of Coll
made a great sensation all over the [del: whole]
British Isles to whom he was known and
endeared through Dr. Johnson and Boswell.
He greatly endeared himself to all who knew
him and very specially so to his own people of Coll.
   The writer has also the pow[d]er horn that
belonged to Donald Maclean. It was found
upon his body. It was taken possession
of by a man from South Uist living in Coll.
The man brought the horn to Uist and
I got it from his great grand daughter at
Smearcleit South Uist.
   The pow[d]erhorn is now plain the silver
mounting having been taken off. The initials
of Donald Maclean are on the side of the horn
                     A. Carmichael

References:
CW503 fos.143–5.

Image:
Donald Maclean's powder horn.

St Donan’s House, South Uist

Eilean Donan Castle

From whom Alexander Carmichael got this snippet of information concerning St Donan’s House, South Uist, is not now known with certainty. Archaeological remains, particularly those with an ecclesiastical connection, were of great interest to the collector, something which is reflected in his folklore notebooks. Aside from providing rough measurements of the actual site, Carmichael then proceeds to give some traditions about it stating that the saint is said to lived there. Mention is then made of the nearby township of Kildonan – where the museum is now located – and how it was cleared during the 1830s. Before this rather sad event, Flora MacDonald, the most famous Jacobite heroine, is said to have lived in this township after she had separated from her husband, Allan MacDonald of Kinsburgh (c. 1720–1792), who is said to have come to visit Flora in his dotage.

St. Donans house in Eilean Donain
L[ength] 50 x 26 feet with several surrounding ruins
Length of Isle 70 y[ar]ds. B[readth] 50 yards. This isle
is about 25 y[ar]ds from the next isle which is ab[ou]t
50 y[ar]ds from Claddh [sic] Donain. Cladh Donain
is a peninsula with a no of ruins and that
of a chapel & altar and the font in a herds
house at Milton & used as a crotag. Isl[e]
Donain is a small gre[e]n fertile isle field
of nettles & viratus Alba. St Donan is said to have
lived here & the the [sic] large ruin is called ‘Taigh-
Dhonnain’. Graves and caibeil are in the
Peninsula of cleadh [sic] Don[ain]. Near by is the hamlet
of Kildonain the ruins of many houses fr[om] which
the people were ousted ab[ou]t 40 y[ea]rs ago. Beautiful
land now a sheep track. Ab[ou]t 20 tenants
Flora MacDonald is said to have lived here
left her husband fr[om] jealousy.
Alain Chi[n]sburgh came to Lochaoineart and
was so infirm with rheumatism & flesh & age
that he had to be carried upon a cra-leaba to Bornish
where he remained that night and proceeded next day
to Kildonan to Flora’s house. How long they remained

St Donan, a Columban saint, is closely associated with one of the Small Isles, namely the Isle of Eigg, where he suffered the death of a martyr on 17 April 617. Tradition says that this day was being observed as Easter Sunday. The Felire of Oenus the Culdee says (in translation):

“With the festival of Peter the Deacon,
To glorious martyrdom ascended
With his clerics of pure lives Donnan of cold
Eigg.”

Many are the place-names associated with St Donan, ranging from Carrick, Loch Garry, Kintyre, Arran, South Uist, and, of course, Kintail. The iconic Eilean Donan Castle situated on the island of St Donain is a familiar site and has been used in many films through the years such as The Highlander and as the Scottish HQ for MI6 in the James Bond movie The World is Not Enough. But don’t be fooled by the way it looks: it was restored during the twentieth century (completed in 1932 after twenty years of restoration work) from the ruins of a fortified structure which dates to around the thirteenth century.

Reference:
CW150/82, ff. 55v–56r.
Image:
Eilean Donan Castle.

A Charm to Avert the Evil Eye

Evil Eye / Droch-Shùil

Another example of the use of a thread cure used as a charm to avert the evil eye, or droch-shùil, was collected by Alexander Carmichael on 10 April 1875, from the recitation of Fionnghal NicLeòid, Flora MacLeod, a cottar, from Carnan, Ìochdar, South Uist. Immediately following the charm, the reciter then goes on to describe the actions that made such a charm efficacious. In effect, what she is describing is the method used to produce uisge-airgid, or silver-water, a cure used most commonly to heal cattle that had been subjected to the pervasive influence of the evil eye. The charmer would sprinkle the water over the animal, or in some cases, the person so affected, while reciting the verse and, if done correctly, this would relieve the sick animal or person which, according to the testimony, would make the charmer ill for the next twenty-four hours. This is most likely an example of what may be described as sympathetic magic. In recompense for such a service the charmer would require to be paid even it was merely something as insignificant like a pin.

Ni mis[e] air obair ri shuil
A uc[hd] Phead[air] a uc[hd] Phoil
A uc[hd] Phadra mhin na feaist
Is gach math ga math gan tig
Ga be rinn a t suil dhuit
Gun till i eir fhein
Gun till eir a dhaoine
Gun till eir a sprei[dh]
Eir a chaillich mhiongaich
Mhangaich bheur-luirg
Dh-eirich sa mhaduin[n]
A suil na seilbh a seilbh
na toin
Nar a lethi le a buaile fhein
A chuid nach ich na fith
ich dhi
gun ich na h eoin i
4 rin[n] an t suil dhuit.
Fear agus bean gill & ni[gh]ean
3 eile thileas e A[n] t Ath[air] s mac
agus an Spiord naomh.
Anothers – Goes ere sunrise
to a well where the living & the dead
pass – a spring that does not
dry. She puts the cuman sun-
wise round the well & strikes the
bot[tom] on the water say an ainm an
A[thai]r sa Mhi[c] san Sp[iorad] n[aomh] amen.
This is done 3 times. She then
lifts a small quant[ity] of water
a glassful will suffice. Then
3 leugagan beaga bronach
from the edge or bot[tom] of the
well. She throws on over the
guala thoisgeul left saying
Rosad [ag]us farmad na bhas
deoi[gh] a bheo’aich [bheothaich] (no’n duine)
sin a lai[gh] eir a siod. She then
brings home the 2 other & silver
 (1/-) (6d is broken money & will not
do) or a brooch in the water
which she bri[n]gs home sprinkles
it on the animal saying an
ainm an A[thai]r sa Mhic san
Sp[iorad] N[aoimh]. The illness then
leaves (a greim?) the sick
and goes to the expert which
makes her sick & vomiting
for 24 hours. She w[ou]ld re-
quire to be well paid – some
thing must be given her – even
a pin.


References:
Carmina Gadelica, ii, pp. 56–57.
CW111/89 & 90, ff. 20v–21r.
Image: Evil Eye / Droch-Shùil.

Never Refuse a Drink from a Fairy

Shawbost, Isle of Lewis

Perhaps one of the best defining characteristics of the fairly folk is their moral ambivalence towards people. Whatever else may be said about them it was downright foolhardy to insult them in any way for they took umbrage at any perceived slight and would then immediately exact revenge. Here, for example, is one such story collected by Alexander Carmichael from a reciter in South Uist in September 1872:

Two were pas[sing] a si[thein] & hea[r]d mais

readh with[in] glug us glag. They

were plough[ing] near the Sith[ein]. I wish
I had a drink of what she is maist
to cais[g] mo iota[dh]. Thainig bean
chaol chota uain[e] mach agus
deoch aic[e] ann an corn. & she
off[ered] it to him & he refused it.
Fhir a shìn mo dheoch s nach
do gha[bh] mo dheoch galar na te duie
a chir Chiad-aoine na ceann
orst. She then of[fered it] to the other & he took [it]
Fhir a gha[bh] mo dheoch ’s nach do dh iarr
mo dheoch rath is buai[dh] gam bi eir
a cheann.

This fairy legend must have been fairly common as there is evidence for plenty variants. A contemporary example collected by Rev. Malcolm MacPhail, a colleague of Carmichael’s, was printed in the journal Folklore, entitled Sìthichean Chaipighill, named after a place in Shawbost, Isle of Lewis:

The fairy legend associated with the two Caipighill knolls is the following. A woman who happened to be passing between these two hillocks one hot summer day heard the sound of churning in the fairy knoll (chuala i fuaim maistreaidh anns an t-sitheain). She said (sotto voce): “Is truagh nach robh mo phathadh air bean a’ ghlugain” (“It is a pity my thirst was not on the churning woman”). (“Glug” is the noise of fluid in motion, but confined in a vessel.) No sooner had the words escaped her lips than a fairy woman (a ’bean shith) attired in green came out of the “sithean” with a drinking cup (a ’cuach) of buttermilk in her hand, and offered it to the woman to drink. At this sudden and unexpected answer to her wish she felt a good deal put out, and declined the fairy’s hospitality, giving as her reason for so doing that she was not thirsty. “Why then did you wish for it?” said the fairy woman (“Carson mata a dh’ iarr thu i,” arsa’ bhean shith). Observing the woman’s embarrassment, she said : “Are you afraid it will injure you?” (“Thubhairt i am bheil eagal ort gu’n dean i cron dhuit”). “Yes,” she said (“Tha,” ars’ ise). “The misfortune of her who put the first comb in her head on Wednesday be mine if it will do you any harm” (“Galar na te a chuir a’cheud chir cheud-aoin ’na ceann armsa ma ni i cron ort”).  “What misfortune is that?" said she. “The misfortune of having neither son, nor daughter, nor grandchild, nor great-grandchild” “Coid an galar a tha’n sin?” ars ise. “Tha arsa’ bhean-shith, galar a bhi gun mhac, gun nighean, gun odha, gun iar-odha”). This legend is of some interest philologically, as it indicates that Wednesday (Di-ciadain) was the day of the first fast. Thursday (Diar-daoin) the day after the fast. Friday (Di-h-aoine) the fast-day. The legend clearly shows that these days of the week derived their names from “aoin” (a fast), and that these fastdays were considered so sacred that the first woman who ventured to comb her hair on a Wednesday was believed to have been punished with sterility for her profanity. (I was acquainted with some people in my young days who would not comb their hair on Sunday.) This view is strongly corroborated by a Lewis proverb: “O aoin gu h-an-aoin,” i.e. “From the calmness of sacred fast to the most admired disorder.” It was considered unlucky to marry on Friday, and even at the present day Thursday is the day usually selected for “tying the nuptial knot.” In reading the Apostolical Constitution a few months ago I discovered that Wednesday and Friday were held as sacred fast-days, as the subjoined note shows:

“Wednesday and Friday Fasts.—The reason for fasting on the days specified is given in the Apostolical Constitution thus because on the fourth day judgment went forth against the Lord, Judas then promising his betrayal for money, and on the preparation (fast), because the Lord suffered on that day the death of the cross.” (The Church of the Sub-Apostolic Age, by Professor Heron, p. 185.)

References:

CW108/89, f. 23r.

MacPhail, Malcolm, ‘Folklore from the Hebrides II’, Folklore, vol. 8, no. 4 (1897), pp. 380–86.

Menefee, S. P., ‘A Cake in the Furrow’, Folklore, vol. 91, no. 2 (1980), pp. 173–92.

Image: Shawbost, Isle of Lewis.

A Cure for Syphilis

Fr. George Rigg

Folk cures taken down by Alexander Carmichael form not an inconsiderable part of his fieldwork notebooks. Book-ended between a song and a note about North Rona, a cure for syphilis is related, whereby the healing power of ‘Sugh brist lus-nan-laogh and the Meacal’ [the sap from bruised golden saxifrage and its root] is noted as ‘ordered by’ Fr. James MacGregor (c. 1790–1867) who was a priest in Iochdar, South Uist, for many years.

Sugh brist Lus-nan laogh

and the Meacal ordered

by Rev. Father MacGrigor

Ioc[hd]ar the man in S[outh] Uist

for cure of syphilis.

Irrespective of whether such a cure was effective or not, it reflects the fact that such cures were known about and perhaps even used in the absence of a qualified practitioner. Medical assistance in South Uist even in Carmichael’s own day would have been difficult to come by and there are eyewitness accounts of disease wiping out many of the poor. One such outbreak of typhus, similar to the one mentioned recently regarding Lismore, carried away Fr. Alan McDonald’s close friend (and successor at Daliburgh) Fr. George Rigg who died from the disease in 1897:

News has been received of the death of the Rev. George Rigg, priest at St. Peter’s, Dalibrog, in South Uist, one of the Outer Hebrides, in the diocese of Argyll and the Isles. Father Rigg met his death owing to a devotion not less that that of Pere Damien. The family of one of his parishioners, a Hebridean cottar, consisting of a man, his wife and child, were all attacked by typhus fever at one and the same time. The neighbours were loathe to approach the cottage in which the stricken family lay ill, and for weeks, with the exception of the doctor, who paid his daily visit, the priests unassisted nursed the sick household, cooking for them, and performing all the necessary and unpleasant menial offices attached to this self-imposed task. As a result he contracted the fever in its worst form, and died, after terrible sufferings, a few days ago, in the presence of his sister and the priest of the other South Uist parish, who had nursed him devotedly.

Such was impact of such a loss that not only did Fr. Allan compose a Gaelic elegy for him but so did Donald MacCormick and Donald Patterson.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries syphilis was common throughout Europe but with the advent of modern antibiotics such as penicillin has subsequently seen the rate decline rapidly. If left untreated syphilis in its tertiary stage of development is severe and may result in syphilitic insanity as well as death.

References:

CW120/303, ff. 84 v–85r.

Laments composed for George Rigg can be heard here:

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/93108/1.

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/26582/1.

http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/79600/1.

Image: Fr. George Rigg (1860–1897).

The Burial Ground of Clanranald

Angus MacLellan, South Uist storyteller

According to a short account noted down by Alexander Carmichael there were only three Clanranald chiefs thought to have been buried at Howmore in South Uist. The last of them is said to have been Dòmhnall mac ’ic Ailein, a man who had an extremely evil reputation and who managed to earn himself the sobriquet Dòmhnall Dubh na Cuthaige (‘Black Donald of the Cuckoo’). This, on first appearance, may seem like a harmless enough nick-name until it is realised that the ‘Cuckoo’ refers to his gun and every time it sang somebody was murdered:

Only 3 of the Clanran[ald] bur[ied] in How[more].
Do[mh]nu[l]l mac ic Ail[ein]. was the last of
bur[ied] in the turn[in]g at Hough. Do[mh]nu[l]l
was fath[er] to Allan of Sherri[fmuir]
& son to Iain Muid[eartach]. He m[arried] da[ugh]t[er]. of heir
of Harris. Bha fear eile ga toirst
a mach he built a pla[ce] for her
in Canna & left 6 men to guard her
while away in the wars. She tied on
the blanket & let herself down & went
with her parmo[u]r. Her
pl[ace] is call[ed] [Blank in MS]
built by him. Do[mhn]u[l]l died in Can[na]
& 12 boatsmen went to fetch home
his corpse. The wind drove them
into Tearmatrai[gh] S[outh] Harris fr[om] where
they travel[led] thro[ugh] N[orth] Uist to Hough.
When teo[gh]l[ach] an taotari got
the oi[gh]reac[hd] they bur[ied them] at Nunton

The story of Dòmhnall Dubh mac ’ic Ailein and his eventual burial is given at great length by Fr. Charles MacDonald in his Moidart or Among the Clanranalds and such was this chief’s reputation that it continued to be a topic for the ceilidh house. John Lorne Campbell recorded a version of this tale from the recitation of the great storyteller Angus ‘Beag’ MacLellan (1869–1966), styled Aonghas Beag mac Aonghais ’ic Eachainn ’ic Dhòmhnaill ’ic Chaluim ’ic Dhòmhnaill, from Loch Eynort, South Uist, on 1 November 1950, and here given in translation:

This Black Donald of the ‘Cuckoo’, one of the Clanranalds, lived at Caisteal Tioram; and I understand that he was not a very good man. He had a gun, which he himself called the ‘Cuckoo’; and he would say to anyone who did anything to him ‘I’ll put the “Cuckoo” to you’. That’s how he was called ‘Black Donald of the “Cuckoo”.’ He hanged an old woman at Caisteal Tioram for stealing a snuff-box; and the spot had been called Tom na Caillich, ‘the Old Woman’s Mound’, every since.

Once Black Donald heard that there was a priest on Canna who wanted to go to Uist. Black Donald went with his boat to Canna. It seems there was an animal that followed the Clanranalds – it followed him, Black Donald, anyway – its picture is on the stone on their grave at Howmore. The animal was following the boat, and the day became very bad. The animal was on top of each wave that followed the boat. One of the crew said it looked as if they wouldn’t manage, that they would be lost. Black Donald himself was steering, and the animal came alongside the boat. At last Black Donald beckoned to it, and it came on board. The sea improved then, and they got to Canna.

Black Donald made a plan to remove a plank from every boat on Canna, so that the priest could not get away to Uist. He kept the priest seven weeks on Canna. One day, when the priest was down on the shore, he saw a boat going past, and he began to beckon to it. The boat kept in to the shore, and the priest got into it, and where it was going to but Loch Eynort! When the boat took off from the land, the priest turned and looked back and said:

‘I am not asking torment for your soul, but that your body may be kept here unburied as long as you’ve kept me.’

When Black Donald was dying on Canna, he was in terrible distress. People were going in to see him. There was a widow’s son there, a brave, strong fellow. A whistle was heard outside the house, and the man who was in the death-throes on the bed got up to go out. Everyone who was there cleared out but the widow’s son, who caught hold of Black Donald and put him back on the bed. Then they heard another whistle, and he tried to get out. The widow’s son caught him at the door, and put him back on the bed. There was someone standing on a knoll opposite the house, and he was so tall that the could see the island of Rum between his legs. This person went away, and they saw him walking on the surface of the sea over to Rum. This has been the worst piece of sea ever since, the sea between Rum and Canna.

As long as Black Donald was alive, he was thanking God and the widow’s son that the widow’s son had kept him in the house; and when he died, there came bad weather; and his body was seven weeks on Canna, before they got away with it to Howmore and the day they went with it, there came such a gale that they had to land at Peterport in Benbecula, and take the body from there overland to Howmore. Black Donald is buried there along with the other Clanranalds, and I understand that he was not the best of them.

References:

CW 90, fos. 34r–34v.

Campbell, J. L., Canna: The Story of a Hebridean Island (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2002), pp. 87–88.

MacDonald, Fr. Charles, Moidart or Among the Clanranalds (Oban: Duncan Cameron, 1889), pp. 82–99.

Image:

Angus MacLellan, South Uist storyteller.

Am Beannachadh Bealltain or The Beltane Blessing

Bealltain, Beltane, is the first day of May. On May Day all the fires of the district were extinguished and the 'tein eigin,' need-fire, produced on the knoll. This fire was divided in two, and people and cattle rushed through for the purification and safeguarding against 'ealtraigh agus dosgaidh,' mischance and murrain, during the year. The people obtained fires for their homes from this need-fire. The practice of producing the need-fire came down in the Highlands and Islands to the first quarter of this century [19th century]. The writer found traces of it in such distant places as Arran, Uist and Sutherland. In 1895 a woman in Arran said that in the time of her father the people made the need-fire on the knoll, and then rushed home and brought out their 'creatairean,' creatures, and put them round the fire to safeguard them, 'bho'n bhana bhuitsich mhoir Nic-creafain,' from the arch-witch Crawford.

The ordeal of passing through the fires gave rise to a proverb which I heard used by an old man in Lewis in 1873: - 'A Mhoire! mhicean, bu dora dhomhsa sin a dheanamh dhuit na dhol eadar dha theine mhoir Bheaill,' An Mary! sonnie, it were worse for me to do that for thee, than to pass between the two great fires of Beall.

BEANNAICH, a Thrianailt fhioir nach gann,

Mi fein, mo cheile agus mo chlann,

Mo chlann mhaoth ’s am mathair chaomh ’n an ceann,

Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann,

Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann.

Gach ni na m’ fhardaich, no to ’na m’ shealbh,

Gach buar is barr, gach tan is tealbh,

Bho Oidhche Shamhna chon Oidhche Bheallt,

Piseach maith, agus beannachd mallt,

Bho mhuir, gu muir, agus bun gach allt,

Bho thonn gu tonn, agus bonn gach steallt.

Tri Pears a gabhail sealbh anns gach ni ’na m’ stor,

An Trianailt dhearbha da m’ dhion le coir;

O m’ anam riaraich am briathra Phoil,

Is dion mo chiallain fo sgiath do ghloir,

Dion mo chiallain fo sgiath do ghloir.

Beannaich gach ni, agus gach aon,

Ta ’s an teaghlach bheag ri m’ thaobh;

Cuir Crois Chriosd oirnn le buaidh baigh,

Gun am faic sinn tir an aigh,

Gun am faic sinn tir an aigh.

Trath threigeas buar am buabhal bho,

Trath threigeas cuanal an cual chro,

Trath dh’ eireas ceigich ri beinn a cheo,

Treoir na Trianaid bhi triall ’n an coir,

O treoir na Trianaid bhi triall ’n an coir.

A Thi a chruthaich mi air tus,

Eisd is fritheil rium aig lubadh glun,

Moch is anamoch mar is iul,

A d’ lathair fein a Dhe nan dui,

A d’ lathair fein a Dhe nan dui.

BLESS, O Threefold true and bountiful,

self, my spouse, and my children,

My tender children and their beloved mother at their head.

On the fragrant plain, on the gay mountain sheiling,

On the fragrant plain, on the gay mountain sheiling.

Everything within my dwelling or in my possession,

All kine and crops, all flocks and corn,

From Hallow Eve to Beltane Eve,

With goodly progress and gentle blessing,

From sea to sea, and every river mouth,

From wave to wave, and base of waterfall.

Be the Three Persons taking possession of all to me belonging,

Be the sure Trinity protecting me in truth;

Oh! satisfy my soul in the words of Paul,

And shield my loved ones beneath the wing of Thy glory,

Shield my loved ones beneath the wing of Thy glory.

Bless everything and every one,

Of this little household by my side;

Place the cross of Christ on us with the power of love,

Till we see the land of joy,

Till we see the land of joy,

What time the kine shall forsake the stalls,

What time the sheep shall forsake the folds,

What time the goats shall ascend to the mount of mist,

May the tending of the Triune follow them,

May the tending of the Triune follow them.

Thou Being who didst create me at the beginning,

Listen and attend me as I bend the knee to Thee,

Morning and evening as is becoming in me,

In Thine own presence, O God of life,

In Thine own presence, O God of life.

References: Taken from Carmina Gadelica, vol i, pp 182-185. Collected from Donald Wilson, aged 101, crofter, Airdmhor, South Uist.Image: Image taken from http://foodmapper.wordpress.com/tag/local-food/

The Pipers of Smerclete – II

In a previous blog from last year the well-known South Uist tradition regarding the Pipers of Smerclete was given and so, as a kind of reprise, here is another version. Alexander Carmichael was not adverse to take down the same stories – sometimes from the very same reciters – allowing comparisons to be made. This is clearly an advantage when looking at repeated versions of a tale or, for that matter, migratory legends or stories with an international resonance. In this instance, Carmichael neglected to take down the name of the reciter but it seems likely that it was collected in Kilpheder, a village in close proximity to where the action of the story takes place. Basically, as in the previous version of this story given in an earlier blog, as well as many other variants that have subsequently either been printed or collected, a fairy gifts an idiotic son – who was only good for looking after cattle – with such an ability to play music on the pipes that no one else could match his peerless skill. The crux of this particular version of tale hangs on the proverbial phrase: “ealain gun rath” skill without luck, or “rath gun ealain” luck without skill. The choice had to be a wise one, otherwise the fairies would get the upper hand. By making sure that the door of the fairy mound was closed by either a knife or a nail (something made of steel or iron in order to counteract fairy bewitchment), the so-called half-witted son managed to get both luck and skill which stood him in good stead, as he became a celebrated piper.

Sithein a Phiobaire Kil Pheadair
S[outh] Uist. Used to hear pip[ing] ther[e].
Clan[n] an t Saoir Smearcleit wer[e] c[e]lebr[ated]
pip[ers] a mach s a staigh cha
ro[bh] ann a gheo[bhadh] buai[dh] orra. One
son was a “lecheallach” unfit for a pip[er]
So he was sent to faire buaile crui[dh]
He saw the sith[ein] light & he ent[ered]. First
plac[in]g a Knife or nail in the door
aft[er] which the sith[ein] could close it.
“Rath us ealain rath us eal[ain]” said he
& all the sith[ein] pip[ers]. Rath gun eal[ain] rath
gun eal[eain] they rep[eated] & tried to close the door
& keep him but they could [not] so they
were obl[i]g[ed] to give him also the eal[ain] Go you
hom[e] said the sean bod[ach]. sì & send
the bones of the black dead horse
at y[ou]r fath[er’s] door & get a pipe made
& you shall be a pip[er] such as non[e]
of y[ou]r people nev[er] saw. He did & got a pipe & sett[led]
to piob[aireachd] & eclip[sed] them all. We may stop
if you re[frain] said his fath[er] and bro[ther] for no one
will list[en] to you so go you to [sic] out into
the world and not m[e]n[tion?] us. He did so
& he was celebr[ated].

References:

CW 160 ff., 22v–23r.

D.M.N.C., ‘Uamh an Oir’, An Ròsarnach (1917), pp. 159–71.

Ella C. Carmichael, ‘“Never was Piping so Sad, and Never was Piping so Gay”’, The Celtic Review, vol. II (1905–06), pp. 76–84

Fr. Allan McDonald, ‘Pìobairean Smearclait (The Pipers of Smerclait)’, The Celtic Review, vol. V (1908–09), pp. 345–47.

Image: Still from Pìobairean Bhòrnais. Many thanks to Catrìona Black http://www.ambocsa.co.uk/ for permission to use her image.

Tragic Deaths of Flora MacDonald’s Brothers

There can be little doubt that Flora MacDonald is one of the most famous Highland heroines. She is, of course, chiefly remembered for the help she gave to Prince Charles Edward Stuart in making his hair-breadth escape from South Uist to Skye. When on the point of being captured, she intervened and disguised the Prince as a maid called Betty Burke who was supposed to be one of Flora’s companions as she was making her way to visit her mother in Skye. The ploy worked a treat and the Prince remained uncaptured. The Prince had been on the lam for a number of months as a fugitive in the wake of his disastrous defeat at Culloden. Flora was born in Milton on South Uist in 1722 and was the daughter of Ranald MacDanald there, and his wife, Marion, a daughter of Angus MacDonald. She later married Allan MacDonald of Kinsburgh, Isle of Skye, and had a large family of five sons and daughters. She died at Kingsburgh aged sixty-eight in 1790 and was buried in Kilmuir Cemetery. Alexander Carmichael collected this historical anecdote about the tragic deaths of two of Flora MacDonald’s brothers, Alexander and Donald, from Donald MacInnes (c. 1800–1880), who belonged to Balgarva in South Uist, sometime in September 1872. It is also interesting to note that the aunt Isobel whom Flora’s brother visited was married to mac Leaspa ’ic a’ Mhinistear who is described as having visited Rìoghachd nan Daoine Buidhe which probably means ‘Kingdom of the Yellow-skinned People’ – perhaps a veiled reference to China – where the king’s daughter had fallen in love with him. Expecting to marry him, the king’s daughter made him a suit of multicoloured feathers, but he returned to Scotland to marry ‘his friend Isebal’.

Alex[ander] brother to Flora Macdonald shot
in Carras[a]y. was on a vis[i]t to his Aunt Isebal
ni[gh]ean fir Airi[dh] mhuil[ean]. Saw a flock of ducks
in the Creagun below the house. He rush[ed]
to the gun not know[ing] it was load[ed] It went
off & kil[led] him. Old Don[ald] who was th[e]n
2 y[ea]rs saw the blood. He was sent
with this Isibel. Isibels hus[band]
was mac Leaspa ’ic a mhinisteir.
He was long in rio[ghac]c[hd] nan daoine bui[dhe]
& the da[ugh]t[er] of Ri[gh] nan dao[i]n[e] bui[dhe]
fell in love with him & ex[horted] him to marry
her. She made him a deise of itean
ian – dhan na chuile dath bha eir ial[aith] nan speur & an deise
e[i]le do shioda agus uisgair eir
But he ran from her & came home & mar[rried]
his friend Isebel.
Flora & the Prince left Buail
Unacleit at Minngeary Milton
& crossed to Lochaoineart fr[om]
which they sailed.
Don[ald] saw her bro[ther] Angus who was
a thorough soldier. Poor Donald! He went
away one day to cut rushes & was found dead
aged

References:
CW 106, fos. 26r–26v
Image:
Portrait of Flora MacDonald, oil on canvas, by Allan Ramsay (1713–1784)

St John’s Wort or St Columba’s Plant

Another short anecdote from Archibald Currie (1821–1896) from Iochdar, South Uist, collected at the same time, was one which concerns St John’s wort or, as it is sometimes referred to, St Columba’s plant. This plant is, in any case, known under many other names in Gaelic such as achlasan Chaluim Chille, which Carmichael literally translates as ‘armpit package of Columba’ and has many medical properties that were well-known to herbalists who practiced folk medicine. The first recorded use of this plant for medicinal purposes stems from ancient Greece. Since then St John’s wort has been used over the centuries for mental conditions as well as for other health problems and it was (and still is) used as a remedy for the debilitating effects of mild to moderate depression:

Achlasan C[aluim]-chille gun sire[adh]
gun iar[raidh] is scraped ag[ainst] its bark & a crosgag
(a ring) is made & place[d] in the
bottom of the milk boyne
Cneapag is the first worsted put
on the fearsaid the round ball
before the crosgag is made
C[alum] Cille the best herd that ev[e]r
lived & this he [presid[e]s?] ov[e]r sprei[dh]

Introducing a piece about St John’s wort in Carmina Gadelica, Carmichael adds that the plant has other very useful properties aside from those which may be termed medicinal. Indeed, St John’s wort could claim to be a panacea for all ills, whether physical or otherwise:

Saint John’s wort is one of the few plants still cherished by people to ward away second-sight, enchantment, witchcraft, evil eye, and death, and to ensure peace and plenty in the house, increase and prosperity in the fold, and growth and fruition in the field. The plant is secretly secured in the bodices of the women and in the vests of men, under the left armpit. Saint John’s wort, however, is effective only when the plant is accidentally found.

Echoing the first phrase to be met with in the above fragment, a fuller version of the incantation was provided by Carmichael:

‘Achlasan Chaluim-chille,
Gun sireadh, gun iarraidh!
Dheoin Dhia agus Chriosda
Am bliadhna chan fhaigheas bas.’


Saint John’s wort, Saint John’s wort,
Without search, without seeking!
Please God and Christ Jesu
This year I shall not die.

It is specially prized when found in the fold of the flocks, auguring peace and prosperity to the herd through the year. The person who discovers it says:–


‘Alla bhi, alla bhi,
Mo niarach a neach dh’ am bi,
An ti a gheobh an cro an ail,
Cha bhi gu brath gun ni.’


Saint John’s wort, Saint John’s wort,
Happy those who have thee,
Whoso gets thee in the herd’s fold,
Shall never be without kine.

References:
CW 106, fo. 33r.
Carmina Gadelica ii, pp. 96–101.
Image:
St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) or achlasan Chaluim Chille.

Clanranald Stronghold of Dùn Raghnaill

Dùn Raghnaill

Lying some eighty yards from the southern shore of Loch Druidibeag is the ruin of a once impregnable fortlet still known as Dùn Raghnaill. Alexander Carmichael may have visited this island fortlet for himself and taken some measurements of it but, if he did, these do not seem to have survived. It is likely that this short historical narrative was collected from John MacInnes, or Iain mac Phàdruig (c. 1804–1894), who belonged to Stilligarry in South Uist, on 29 January 1875. On this winter’s day Carmichael took down a great deal of historical lore relating to the MacMhuirich bardic family, local antiquities and a most prestigious Fenian story ‘Ceudach nan Collachain Òir’ which MacInnes had heard from a fellow South Uist storyteller – and who may have been related to another Donald MacPhie recorded previously by both John Francis Campbell of Islay and Hector MacLean – Donald MacPhee, or Dòmhnall mac Aonghais ’ic Phroinsiais, in Carnan. Later Carmichael said of MacInnes that ‘several volumes of old lore, mostly heroic tales, died with this nice, intelligent man.’ Of other materials taken down from MacInnes by Carmichael, three items appear in Carmina Gadelica: versions of Beannachadh Leapa, Ora Cuithe and Féith Mhoire.

Dun-Ra’ail

Built by Raol [Raghnall] mac Ailein. He

lived at Dremisdale & his son

on [sic] Mor[a]ir. A hard spring came

& the son came ashore at Loch

sgiopart for provender. I cant

give you any said the father – it’s

scarce with myself – I have only 3

stacks. At night the son went

out & began taking down a stack

The gre eir [greighear] came in & wakened

his master & told him his son was on

the top of the stack taking it away. Up

Rose Clanranald in his night-shirt with

his bow in hand. He threw & knocked down

his son & the sheaf together. His son left

a son in Mor[a]ir & Clan fearing that his

own grandson might come & kill

him built Dun-Ra[ghna]il[l]. The ath &

iodhlan are on “Eilean nan tailear”.

Perhaps the historical veracity of this particular anecdote can be questioned. Why would Clanranald’s son take the trouble to travel all the way from Morar, on the western seaboard of the Highlands, to South Uist? Reading between the lines, it seems rather implausible that he would go so far as this in order to gain some victuals. It would appear that this story hangs upon a power struggle between father and son, probably in order for the son to gain clan supremacy. The taking of the haystack was probably not the immediate reason but rather the final straw (pun intended!) which saw Clanranald fetch his bow in order to dispatch his son; nor, would it appear, that the fortlet was built in order to stop the aggression of a grandson seeking revenge for the death of his father.

Dùn Raghnaill appears to date to around no earlier than the sixteenth century which, according to tradition, was the earliest Clanranald stronghold in South Uist. It was occupied until relatively late: it was in use as a prison in 1610, and a marriage contract for one of Clanranald’s daughters was signed there in 1653.

An archeological description quoted from the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland provides more detail from a fairly recent excavation of this ruin though it fails to mention that the kiln and cornyard were located in the nearby island of Eilean nan Tàillear as noted down by Carmichael:

Dun Raouill, Loch Druidibeg. The island is largely natural, though possibly modified to the NE. Its entirety above water is covered by a substantial rectilinear drystone dun. At least three phases of building are evident. The first is the outer walling 1.5–2m thick, slightly denuded around the NE and SW corners, as well as along the W edge. The only gap is at the entrance on the SE corner. The passageway is largely overgrown and filled with rubble. The second phase of building is the construction of the inner chambers, the larger western one possibly being earlier than the eastern one. The walls are lower than the outer skin, roughly 1–1.5m high, and 1m thick. The eastern cell appears to be lower and thinner, 50cm high and 75cm wide, though this may be largely due to differential survival. The walls of the smaller eastern cell and the NW corner of the larger western cell appear to have been consolidated at a later date, apparent in a single skin of stones creating curvilinear ends to both chambers. Both are heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs.

References:
CW 106/124, ff. 51v–52r.
Carmina Gadelica, i, pp. 82–83.
Carmina Gadelica, ii, pp. 130 –1; pp. 132–35 & p. 345 n.7
Dun Raouill [http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/9879/details/south+uist+loch+druidibeg+dun+raouill/].

Raven, J. A. & Shelley, M., ‘South Uist and Benbecula Duns (South Uist Parish), Survey’, Discovery Excavation Scotland, vol. 4 (2003).

Image: Aerial photograph of Dùn Raghnaill.

The Cailleach or Corn Dolly

Once a widespread European custom was to form a corn dolly or maiden out of the last sheaf at harvest time. Traditions of such customs were still in living memory during the 1960s in Scotland, and perhaps they are still being carried out in some parts of Europe. The most common Gaelic term for this last sheaf is ‘cailleach’ but it is also referred to as ‘maighdean(n) bhuana’ or ‘harvest maiden’  and also ‘clàidheag’ which became in Scots ‘clyack’. The following three short anecdotes were probably collected by Alexander Carmichael from Angus Currie (c. 1787–1877), described as a pauper from Iochdar, South Uist, on 30 October 1872. In such rural settings there was a measure of pride fuelled by rivalry in being the first to gather in the harvest. Whether out of spite or just for fun, a neighbour who had finished the harvest work would invariably throw the cailleach over to a rival neighbour who was still toiling away taking in the corn.

The “cailleach” was sent fr[om] a neigh[bou]r
who finish[ed] cut[in]g his corn to his unfinish[ed]
neigh[bou]r. This was consid[ered] a great disgrace
& has been the cause of many quarrels.
A man went fr[om] Bornish on horse
back with the cailleach & left it Milton.
A man started aft[er] him caught
him in Ro[e]-glas bro[ugh]t him back
shaved his whiskers & head & sent
him home with bearradh eoin
us amadain.
Dul an Droma in Gearry
Geanacha sent the Caill[ea]ch
to Patra Nicolson Cnoc na
moine Ben[becula] The mess[en]g[e]r
was cau[gh]t stript naked & so sent
home. A tacksman would
rather find his best cow dead
than the cail[leach] in his iomaire buain
Two neigh[bours] at Ioc[hd]ar had about
equal buana to do at night. One
got up at midnight so as to finish
before his neigh[bour]. Just when near
his buain he met his neigh[bour] ret[urnin]g
home after finishing & building a
cairn at the end of his neigh[bour’s]
rig wherein he stuck the cail[leach].
The cail[leach] is the last cut sheaf
of corn decorated up with cuiseagan
buatharlain & tied with rags &c

According to Calum Iain Maclean in a posthumous article, the name given in some parts of the Islands and West Highlands to the last handful that was thrown into the plot of a neighbour was a’ Ghobhar Bhacach, presumably meaning the Lame Goat. Such a name gives quite an appropriate description of a sheaf of corn thrown at neighbour who is behind with the harvest. In other parts of the Highlands and Islands the ‘cailleach’ was dressed up with ribbons and took pride of place at the Harvest Celebration. By the time Carmichael collected these anecdotes, it would seem that the custom of the last sheaf was probably still fairly strong, but by the end of the nineteenth century it seems to have been in decline as Calum Iain Maclean noted:

In the last century, however, in Uist, the sending of the sheaf gave rise to nothing more than an occasional outburst of vituperative verses about the cailleach, reviling her as if she were an ugly old woman. According to the late Fr. Allan McDonald, the townships of Daliburgh and Kilphedar fought about the cailleach, but the practice has now ceased in South Uist. When one crofter finishes his harvest before his neighbour he says “Chuir mi a’ chailleach ort”, “I have put the cailleach on you”.

References:

CW 106/118, ff. 41r–41v.

Maclean, Calum I., ‘The Last Sheaf’, Scottish Studies, vol. 8 (1964), pp. 193–207.

Image:

Corn field.