Pentland Road - 2

Wednesday, June 13th, 1883. The Napier Commission is sitting in Tarbert, the main village in Harris and is interrogating 62-year old John Mcleod, a crofter and fisherman from Ardhasaig, a few miles west of Tarbert. Commissioner Sheriff Nicolson asked him how he lost his land thirty years ago. Thereby hangs a tale. There was a lady in Uist and a gentleman in Skye, and my brother had a vessel, and he came in the vessel with Donald Macdonald from Monkstadt [Isle of Skye], and he went to Balranald [North Uist] in order to remove from thence the young lady, whose parents were not willing that she should marry the young gentleman in the ordinary way. They wished her to marry the man who was at the time factor upon the estate; but this man took her away. The factor, Macdonald, had his revenge upon me and my two brothers for this act, though we were quite innocent of it. One of my brothers was at the time in Borv, and another in Scalpa, and I had a sister in West Tarbert. The fo...

The Napier Commission is sitting in Tarbert, Harris, in June 1883. Another excerpt from the submission by Ardhasaig crofter John Mcleod. He describes the consequences of the clearances in Harris.  The end of it was that my family, when they grew up, scattered into all parts of the earth; and some ot them are dead in a foreign land, and others I know not where they are,—and I am alone. Hundreds suffered equally with myself. There are at least twice as many both in North and South Harris without lands as there are that have land. I think it is a sad condition of affairs in this place. There is not a family in the whole of Harris where there are two sons but one of them at least is in the service of the Queen, perhaps two, and neither they nor their fathers can obtain a foot of the soil upon which they could live. It would appear that, when Britain becomes involved in a struggle with another nation in the future, they must send for the deer and sheep of Harri...

Donald Macdonald, an man of 74, was called to give evidence to the Napier Commission of Inquiry into the conditions of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands when it came to Tarbert, Harris. He represented the village of Grosebay, corrupted to Grosaway in the Napier Report. In response to question 18122, this story emerges of the clearance of Rodel. I saw my mother with her youngest child taken out of the house in a blanket and laid down by the side of a dyke, and the place pulled down. My mother was in child-bed at the time. The child was only born the previous night, and my father asked M'Leod, who was proprietor at the time, whether he would not allow them to remain in the house for a few days, but permission was not given, only he came to the dykeside where she lay and asked what this was, and when he was told he asked him to lift her up and remove her to an empty barn, and it was there she was put.

Lady Matheson's Memorial This small memorial stands prominently above Cuddy Point in Stornoway. It is a memorial to Sir James Matheson, proprietor of Lewis from 1844 until his death in 1878, erected by his wife. The memorial was recently restored and a ceremony was held to celebrate the event. Sir James was a controversial figure in history, both on the international (opium) and national stages. In recent times, I have transcribed the findings of the Napier Commission into the conditions of crofters in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, which took place in 1883. His chamberlain, William Mackay, waxes lyrical about Sir James’ achievements, listing all the improvements he has made in his 34 years in the Lews in reply to question 16833 on the link here . Be warned: it is a lengthy statement. By the time of the Napier Commission’s visit to Lewis in June 1883, Sir James Matheson had been dead for five years. His wife, Lady Mary Jane Matheson, showed herself to be a les...

At the hearings of the Napier Commission in Stornoway, in June 1883, the following discussion developed between the witness, Donald Martin from the village of Back and the Commissioners. It illustrates graphically the attitude towards Gaelic speakers by English speakers - including their own clergymen. 16138. Sheriff Nicolson . —Are there no Gaelic words for 'compensation' and ' improvements ' ? —Well, I would endeavour to express it in Gaelic. 16139. Is there not a good Gaelic word for improvement ? —Yes. 16140. Why did you not put it in Gaelic when you were writing the Gaelic paper? Why did you choose English ? —Because I was not certain that the Gaelic phraseology would express the same thing. 16141. If you never heard the people speaking, or if you had never spoken yourself about compensation for improvements in Gaelic, what first put it into your head ? Was it English-speaking people ? —I knew very well what the English phrase meant, but I was no...

Someone was looking for a Canadian soldier, surname Murray, who had died in the First World War, leaving behind a widow, Christina, and three young children. Christina died not long after the end of the war, and the children were adopted. The question was: is there a Canadian soldier from WW1, who died in the conflict and was married to a Christina. I looked up the listings for anyone called Murray on the website for Veteran Affairs Canada, which displayed all that were killed in WW1. I then cross-referenced those against attestation papers, which are displayed on the website for Library & Archives Canada, using the service numbers. And after more than 100 searches, I finally found the man I was looking for: On the website of Veteran Affairs Canada, James Watson Murray is quoted as being the husband of a Christina Murray. His attestation paper does not mention the name of his wife, but he is marked down as married. James Watson lies buried at Contay; further de...

Bosta Beach, 2006 In June 1883, the Napier Commission into the condition of the crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands visited the village of Breasclete, a mile from the famous Callanish Stones. They were hearing from a villager from Great Bernera, just across the water from Breasclete. The people of Bernera found themselves prevented from properly entering their cemetery, just off the beach at Bosta. I relay that part of the discussion. Today, in 2010, there are TWO gates into Bosta Cemetery. 14849. Lord Napier, Commission Chairman:  With regard to the dyke which prevents you getting into the burial ground, why was there not a gate left in it through which you could carry the bodies ? — Murdo Macdonald, Tobson, Gt Bernera:  When the dyke was being made I was working at it, and we made a gate for the purpose of access to the churchyard, and it was shut up and filled with stones, and notice was sent to us by the farmer of Linshader that we must fill...

On 28 February 1916, a man named Norman Maciver walked into an army recruitment centre at Saltcoats in Saskatchewan, Canada. Norman was a man of small stature, half an inch short of 5 feet, with a chest circumference of only 30½ inches. He was apparently eager to join the Canadian Expedionary Force fighting in France. His mother, erroneously named Mary Macaulay on his enrolment paper, lived a dozen miles away in Wroxton. Norman was born in the Isle of Lewis in 1899 and not married in 1916. On 12 December 1916, he was signed off medically unfit. On 20 January 1917, a man named Norman Maciver walked into an army recruitment centre at Melville in Saskatchewan, Canada. Norman was a man of small stature, half an inch short of 5 feet, with a chest circumference of only 31½ inches. but apparently eager to join the Canadian Expedionary Force fighting in France. His mother, Mary lived a dozen miles away in Yorkton, where he himself also lived. Norman was born in the Isle of Le...

My perusal of attestation papers for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in the First World War revealed some unusual details, some actually quite tragic. A 31-year old trapper from the Canadian Northwest Territories, George Mckenzie, was apprehended on 14 October 1918 after not reporting for military duty. Since 1917, the military draft had been in force in Canada. The numbers of volunteers had seemingly dropped off dramatically as the heroic battles on the Western Front showed themselves to be pointless bloodbaths in which thousands of Canadian lads had perished. George Mckenzie had been called up 11 months previously, but not reported for duty. His place of residence is quoted as Fort Smith, a settlement on the Salt River on the border between Alberta and Northwest Territories. He was born in 1887 in Fort Resolution, 60 miles to the north on the shores of the Great Slave Lake. If he was a trapper, it stands to reason he would not receive his summons for nearly a year. ...