Pentland Road - 2

I quote from Wikipedia on the background to this statue, which was erected near Helmsdale in 2007: [It] commemorates the people who were cleared from the area by landowners and left their homeland to begin new lives overseas. The statue, which depicts a family leaving their home, stands at the mouth of the Strath of Kildonan, and was funded by Dennis Macleod, a Canadian mining millionaire of Scottish descent. An identical 10 ft-high bronze "Exiles" statue has also been set up on the banks of the Red River at Winnipeg, the city founded by those who left Scotland for Canada. Mr Macleod has said that the statues celebrate the achievements made by Scots who went to Canada. Well, I would be quite happy to acknowledge the fact that some of the Scots did go on to do great things. But those having departed Helmsdale, and that's what we're talking about, certainly did not do well. I am going through the Napier Commission's Report, which was sitting at Helmsdale on ...

Pentland Road is the blog where my stories, related to local history in the Isle of Lewis, will be posted. My involvement with the First World War history of Lewis stems from a feeling that I, coming from one of the European countries occupied by Nazi Germany between 1940 and '45, owe a debt of gratitude towards British (and other) forces who were instrumental in lifting the yoke of national-socialism. I would like to think that digitising this aspect of Lewis history will serve to repay a minute portion of that debt. I have no personal connection to the island, nor to any of the men whose story is told in these posts. Maybe this makes it easier for me to work through this history, as I am not emotionally involved. I can however empathise with the pain, felt by relatives and friends, who suffered bereavements in the Great War. But it is not possible to imagine what the aftermath of the Iolaire Disaster must have felt like, when more than 200 were lost at a stroke in the early h...

Coincidental to find on a day of snow and ice in his home island the report of the death of Donald Murray, the son of Angus Murray, 31 Swainbost in Ness. I copy the tribute from the Stornoway Gazette of 22 February 1918, amended with details gleaned from his death record. Donald was a sailor on the merchant steamer Saint Jerome which was docked at Curtis Bay, Baltimore. On 31 December 1917, he had been ashore buying some clothing, but on returning to the steamer he slipped off the wharf, the whole place being one sheet of ice at the time. Donald was for some time mail driver between Ness and Stornoway, before the advent of the motorcar, and was a great favourite on the entire route. Much sympathy is extended to his parents, brothers and sisters in their bereavement.

Bàthadh Chunndail is an event in the history of Ness which occurred in 1885. Twelve fishermen were lost as they were setting out from the bay at Cunndal, west of Eoropie. Angus Morrison, 36 Eoropie, was the skipper and his remains were the last to be recovered from the sea. He was buried on the machair nearby, just above Eoropie Beach (Traigh Shanndaigh). A memorial cairn has been placed there. Today (27 November 2010), a ceremony was held at the Comunn Eachdraidh in Habost (Ness) to commemorate the loss, and to dedicate a new memorial cairn to remember all those lost, 125 years ago. The event was to have taken place at Traigh Shanndaigh, but due to the inclement weather it was relocated indoors. I apologise for the scant information available, which is based on a reference in the report of the 2006 Ness Archeological Landscape Survey. Apparently, more info is held at the CE Nis office; if I learn more, I shall add it to this post.

Tracing casualties from the First World War is throwing up some strange findings, particularly as I continue to peruse tribute articles in the Stornoway Gazette from the last two war years. Today, I came across the above man in a tribute from December 1917. And I can find no reference to him whatsoever. He is not in the Roll of Honour for North Bragar although his brothers are mentioned. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission only knows a soldier called Isaac Campbell, not a seaman. And Isaac is mentioned as being lost at sea due to enemy action, meaning his ship was mined or torpedoed. He is not listed on the Naval History website either. There is no definitive record of merchant shipping crews lost in the war - that I know of. Isaac had emigrated to Canada around 1907, but had returned to join the RNR. As things turned out, he "took seafaring", by which I suppose the Merchant Navy is meant, rather than the Royal Naval Reserve.The account in the Gazette is not very clea...

At the time of posting (November 2010), there is once again a vehement discussion going on about closing rural schools in the Outer Hebrides. Many rural schools were axed in the late 1980s, and another round of closures could see numbers of schools reduced by up to 11. Two schools had no pupils in the previous school year, which highlights the problem of depopulation. Back in 1960, the Secretary of State for Scotland was asked about the number of pupils in five Lewis Schools. It showed the marked decline over the preceding 40 years. I have added the 2010 school roll . 1920 1930 1939 1950 1959 2010 Tolsta 234 185 185 165 145 49 Bernera 96 92 90 43 45 18 Carloway 173 97 108 63 64 30 Balall...

This story starts on 13th December 1866, when Kenneth Maciver, a fisherman from Coll, Isle of Lewis, wed his bride, Mary Munro, a domestic servant, living in the same village. Kenneth was the son of crofter Colin Maciver and Margaret Matheson. Mary was the daughter of grieve Alexander Munro and Janet Macdairmid. Nearly fifteen years after their marriage, the enumerators for the 1881 census found Kenneth and Mary with their children Alexander (aged 13), James (11), Murdo (9), Donald (3) and Margaret (1). The child called Donald was born on 4 February 1878, and he is the subject of this article. Kenneth and Mary had twelve children in all, but by the beginning of 1917, only five were left alive. On 14 April 1889, Kenneth and his family embarked the emigrant ship “Scandinavian” for Canada at Glasgow. They were among about 300 Scottish and Irish emigrants who were seeking a new life in the colonies. Upon arrival in Halifax, they proceeded inland and settled at the Lothian c...

This blog will contain stories, which I have unearthed from the history of the Isle of Lewis. The period is from the late 19th century to the present day. Exceptions confirming the rule, of course. The stories will be copied from my other blogs, primarily Atlantic Lines , and others that I have sourced myself (many times with the aid of others) will be added. The focus will be strongly on the First World War. The title? The Pentland Road is a single-track road that runs between Stornoway and the villages of Breasclete and Carloway. It was designed to be a light railway, which was to have transported fish from the quays at Breasclete and Carloway to the processing facilities in Stornoway. However, the designs did not progress beyond the stage of a trackbed. And it was not until the 1980s that a metalled road was put in place. The Pentland Road is a historical roadway, and I hope to make this blog a conduit for what I have found out about this island's history. The below text i...

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has put the details of Evander Macleod , who drowned in the torpedoing of HMS Otway in July 1917, neatly on its website. Following the heavy loss of Lewis sailors in that sinking, the Stornoway Gazette also made mention of their names. Evander has since slipped under the radar. The Roll of Honour, published in 1921, does not refer to his death; the Lewis War Memorial does not mention him, and neither does the Point War Memorial at Garrabost, only a few miles from his former home at 34 Lower Bayble. The loss of life during WW1 was, proportionately, heavy in the Isle of Lewis, and it is only to be expected that a few unfortunates will be missed in transcription. I trust that in time for Remembrance Sunday, Evander will be given the proper place amongst the ranks of island men who made the supreme sacrifice during the Great War.

Today is the 92nd anniversary of the Armistice of 1918, when the guns fell silent after four years, three months and seven days of carnage. November 11th has since been adopted as a national day of remembrance for the UK and many other countries, who were actively involved in the First World War. The dead of the Second World War and other conflicts since are similarly commemorated on that day. Remembrance Sunday, which will be observed next Sunday (14 November) is the formal occasion of Remembrance. The war dead of the Isle of Lewis number 1300 for the First World War. This number, when viewed in the proper perspective, is quite appalling. Total population of Lewis in 1911: about 30,000 Total male population: about 15,000 Total number who were in active service, including the Merchant Navy: about 6,000 Total number killed between August 1914 and November 1918: about 1100 Total number drowned in the sinking of HMY Iolaire on 1 January 1919: about 200

This triple alliteration is not attempt at levity. The county of Caithness, the far northeastern corner of mainland Scotland, saw some of the worst abuses encountered by the Napier Commission. My transcriptions took me to the coastal town of Lybster. The Commission could have done with more than just one session in Caithness, as several written statements were handed in, without people being interrogated on their content. James Waters, a representative for Dunnet, the northernmost point on the British mainland, recounts an instance of heartrending cruelty. An aged couple, who had brought up four sons and seven daughters on the said farm, fell a little in arrears to the landlord. The factor having unlimited power, hypothecated his subjects, and as soon as law would allow it was sold by auction for ready money; I was an eye-witness to this. The mother of this large family had been an invalid for years. The factor was looking on when all was sold off but the blankets; they...

Many a youngster would tell a white lie when trying to enlist in the armed forces, early in the 20th century. It is referred to as "putting your age on", in other words, saying you're older than you are. I found a good example in a Lewis soldier, James Macleod, who was born in Callanish as an illegitimate child. In February 1912, he enlisted with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, and told the recruiting officer he was 17 years and 2 months. As James was born on 24 January 1897, he was in fact not much older than 15 years and 2 weeks. His height was 5 feet 3½ inches and only weighed 120 lbs, 54 kg. Six years after joining the Argylls, James was killed in action near Ypres on 8 May 1918. His body was never recovered, but his name is inscribed on the Tyne Cot memorial at Zonnebeke, 6 miles northeast of Ypres. A few days ago, I saw aerial footage from 1919 of the battlefields around Ypres, and of the village of Passchendaele, which was all but obliterat...

Duncan Macdonald was 19 when he was killed to the east of Arras, in April 1917. It took a while for his death to be confirmed; it was not until British forces captured the territory where he was lost that they found his remains. Taking his personal effects with them, the British buried him near Fampoux. Duncan was on my list, but only knowing that he was with the Seaforth Highlanders did not help matters much; nor the fact that his entry on the War Graves register only gives an initial "D", rather than his full name. The soldier was the son of a gamekeeper, and the article in the Stornoway Gazette that pointed me in his direction mentions the fact that his parents lived at Scaliscro, the shooting lodge some 25 miles west of Stornoway. Duncan's birth, which occurred on 5 March 1896, took place at Ath Linne, a hamlet on the Lewis Harris border some 20 miles south of Stornoway. The entry on the War Graves register refers to his parents living at Gress Lodge, 9...

I copy part of the evidence given to the Napier Commission at Lochinver, on the west coast of northern Scotland, in July 1883. Assynt, the area surrounding Lochinver, was owned by the Duke of Sutherland, and his name continues to be cursed by many. I am not in a position to give a balanced view of the issue - but the actions perpetrated in his name do not do the Duchy of Sutherland any favours whatsoever. John Mackenzie, Clashmore, was accused of being a ring-leader in a case of preventing what was regarded as an encroachment of the rights of the neighbourhood by Mr David Humphrey, and in face of every evidence to his innocence, he was sentenced to lose his croft, and he is now a pauper invalid and a burden to his neighbours. Donald Macleod, Clashmore, came in for the vengeance of the same power in connection remotely with the resistance offered to Mr Humphrey, when cutting off part of the Baffin pasture, when some boys went to obstruct the work. On this, Mr M...

Daniel was a sergeant-major in the 5th battalion Canadian Infantry (Saskatchewan Regiment), the Fighting Fifth, when he was killed in action on 28 April 1917, aged 41. His link to the Isle of Lewis did not become clear to me until I was going through tributes in the Stornoway Gazette for 1917. The article, which sourced its information from a Canadian newspaper, the Yorkton Enterprise (Saskatchewan), gave quite a bit of information, but there was no reference to him from local files. Let me quote the article first. From the "Yorkton Enterpise" (Sask, Canada) to hand we cull the following:- "Word was received by Mr Maciver, Saltcoats, on 19th May, that his son, Sergt Major Dan Maciver, D.C.M. of the Fighting Fifth battalion, had been killed in action. Dan, who was well known and a prime favourite throughout the district, was born at Coll, Lewis, Scotland, and came to Canada with his parents in 1889, settling in the Lothian Colony. Whilst still in his teens...

Private DONALD MACIVER Last address in Lewis: 17 Knock, Point Son of Murdo and Mary Mciver, of 17 Knock, Point Service unit: 179th Canadian Infantry Service number: 859994 Date of death: 24 May 1920 at the age of 28 Was gassed; quoted as severely wounded Interred: Winnipeg (Brookside) Military Cemetery, grave Mil. 246 He does not feature on the local war memorial in Garrabost, and is not listed as deceased in the Roll of Honour, presumably because he died 18 months after the end of the First World War. However, Donald still qualifies for inclusion as he passed away before 1922 (the CWGC cut-off point) and he was born in Lewis.