Gairloch

“ 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. ”

“ It seems highly probable that Gairloch, Loch Broom, Coigeach, and Assynt, being the adjacent parts of the mainland, were at first similarly held by the Siol Torquil, a branch of whom called the Siol Mhic Ghille Challum also acquired the island of Raasay. In this case their original claim to Gairloch would be derived either from the first lord of the Isles, or his son Donald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross. On no other theory can the sway of the M'Leods in Gairloch be accounted for consistently with the history of the times, unless indeed it was purely the result of "vaulting ambition." ”

“ Gairloch is not without examples of very rare birds, but those usually seen, though rare in many parts of the kingdom, are mostly the common birds of the Highlands. They are interesting enough to all,—to the lover of nature they are delightful; let the gunner spare them; let the bird-nester allow them to rear their young in peace. In the bright spring-time there is to my mind nothing sweeter than to listen on a calm evening to the sounds of the various birds that haunt the neighbourhood of Inveran. ”

“ The very few beggars seen in Gairloch are generally lowland tramps of the drinking class. The travelling tinkers rarely beg; they pitch their rude tents in sheltered places, and repair the tin pans of the neighbourhood. Some few tinkers are well known, and are considered respectable; others are not to be trusted. Gipsies are scarcely ever seen so far north. There is a strange old man often to be noticed wandering about Gairloch. He is a native of the parish, but is now homeless and in his dotage. He goes about seeking, as he says, the road to America. ”

“ The scene of our story is laid in this beautiful and hallowed island. St Maelrubha had been long gathered to his fathers, and the sacred college of Iona had appointed a successor to his hermitage on Isle Maree, who in turn had made room for another. The occupant of the cell at the date of our story is an aged saint of peculiar sagacity and piety. Long known to the wild people of Gairloch for his bold denunciations and shrewd penetration, he had acquired by his stern eloquence and ascetic life an extraordinary influence over them. ”

“ There are two modes of reaching Gairloch from Kenlochewe. One, described in the next chapter, is by the county road past Grudidh bridge, Talladale, Slatadale, and the Falls of Kerry to the Gairloch Hotel. The other is to take the steamer from Ru Nohar, down Loch Maree to Tollie pier, and to proceed thence by road to Gairloch, as described in Part IV., chap. xiii. The mail, which, as has been said, is worked by Mr M'Iver, of Achnasheen, is not at present in connection with the steamer. ”

“ Further admixture of blood took place by the settlement in Gairloch of Highlanders of other septs, particularly the MacBeaths, M'Leods, MacRaes, and Macdonalds. The ironworkers left their mark on the breed, in such names as Cross, Kemp, and Bethune or Beaton. In more recent times sheep-farming brought lowland blood, identified by the names of Watson, Reid, Stewart, MacClymont, Lawrie, Boa, &c. Again, it is said, no doubt with truth, that some few English or even foreign sailors have at different times settled in Gairloch, owing to shipwrecks or other causes. ”

“ I remember once leaving Aultbea, after an early breakfast, walking to Laide, and owing to a dead calm not reaching Ullapool until 9 p.m.
The pedestrian who is able to take advantage of the rougher roads not traversable by carriage, and the canoeist who, in summer weather, can explore any part of the coast at his pleasure, will find other means of entering Gairloch. Our map will shew all that is needed. ”

“ There is a roomy house at Carn Dearg, about three miles from the Gairloch Hotel. It was erected by Mr George Corson, of Leeds, and commands a fine view of the bay of Gairloch and the Minch with its islands. It is remarkable for its high-pitched and red-tiled roof. The old house on Isle Ewe is occupied by Mr William Reid, the farmer. The farmhouse at Slatadale is a modern building. The Established Church manses at Gairloch and Poolewe, and the Free Church manses at Gairloch and Aultbea, are substantial houses. ”

“ The traveller may return by road to Gairloch back the way he came. But if he is able to face it, he should recross the Meikle Gruinard river, and, ascending the Little Gruinard river, which drains the Fionn Loch, reach Poolewe by the skirts of the mountains, through as rough and picturesque a country as could well be imagined. He has still another course open to him, which will bring him back to the common-places of life. He may order a carriage from Dundonell Hotel, at the end of Little Loch Broom, ten miles distant, or he may take himself thither on foot. ”

“ The men being young, and not over-burdened with wisdom, believed her, because they thought she had the power of divination. They set sail in the morning for Gairloch, and the black galley was full of the M'Leods. It was evening when they came into the loch, and they dare not risk landing on the mainland, for they remembered that the descendants of Domhnull Greannach (a great Macrae) were still there, and they knew their prowess only too well. ”

“ It rises beyond the centre of the deep gorge, which has dense woods on either side. In the dark depths of this gorge the River Kerry is seen gleaming far below. Another mile brings us to the bay and hamlet of Charlestown, in an inner recess of the Gairloch sea-loch. The houses clustered about the head of this bay (called in Gaelic Ceann an t' Sail, or "the head of the salt water") are now generally included in the term Gairloch, as applied to a village or place. The first house we come to is Glen Cottage, the residence of Mr Donald Mackenzie, west coast manager for Sir Kenneth Mackenzie. ”

“ Perhaps the cannon ball and the bullets had been there since the fight when Ruaridh M'Leod was driven from the island. The remains of John Roy's house confirm Captain Burt's accounts of the "huts" in which the Highland lairds of his day (early in the eighteenth century) resided; the chiefs seem to have been generally little better lodged than their clansmen.
3. On Eilean Suainne were the houses or huts where the sons of John Glassich Mackenzie, the second laird of Gairloch, dwelt in the sixteenth century, and where Alastair Breac, the fifth laird of Gairloch, resided from about 1628 to 1638. ”

“ Some young men of the parish go south, and obtain situations either for the winter season or all the year round, and they often contribute towards home expenses.
The women of Gairloch, like all other Highland women, are noticeable for their industry. It is they who carry home heavy creels of peats for the household fire,—peats in the treatment of which they had taken an active share the previous summer; they herd the cow, and manage the house. ”

“ This wonderful magician was well-known to many people now living, including Mr O. H. Mackenzie. There are many other stories current in Gairloch, showing that Alastair could render his boat, or indeed anything else, invisible, even without the use of any special formula. There were three fishermen, named respectively Macpherson, Watson, and Fraser, all living on the south side of Gairloch, who were partners in a large decked fishing-boat. At that time Glen Dubh, to the north of Stoir Head in Sutherlandshire, was an important herring fishing-station. The "south side" men were there fishing. ”

“ Many of the old traditions of the Gairloch seannachies have centred in Hector Roy and the deeds of his followers, but in the present generation they are passing out of mind, so that our account of the famous warrior cannot be so complete as it might have been made fifty years ago. ”

“ Turn to the right, and cross the curious narrow wooden bridge over the Achtercairn river or burn. To the right, a little way from the road, is the manse of Gairloch (Part I., chap. xvi.) , and then the fishing village of Strath or Smithstown is entered, at the back of which there was formerly much bog iron. There are two good merchants' shops, a boat-building yard, several shoemakers' shops, and a meal-mill. The straggling village of Lonmor lies to the right of and above the road after we pass Strath. Here plenty of bog iron is still to be met with (Part I. chap. xx.) ”

“ The love of pipe music, and of songs in their native tongue, is as powerful to-day with the Highlanders of Gairloch as it can ever have been. At a dinner of the Gairloch volunteers, on 8th May 1884, the thrilling music of the pipers, and the Gaelic songs exquisitely rendered by Mr Alexander Macpherson of Opinan, one of the volunteer sergeants, seemed to arouse the enthusiasm and stir the feelings of all present to an extent it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to effect by any other means. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There is an elevated place on the north point of Gairloch, called Bac an Leth-choin, or "the hillock of the cross-bred dog." About mile to the east, and much lower, is a ridge called Druim Carn Neill, or the "ridge of the cairn of Neil." Fionnla Dubh na Saighead one day spied a man named Neil M'Leod near his own house at Melvaig, at the south-west corner of the North Point. Finlay fired an arrow at the man and wounded him. Neil, who was a swift runner, fled eastwards over the high ground. ”

“ On the side of the Crasg overlooking the churchyard, and a few yards west of the high road, is the Cnoc a Croiche, or "gallows hill," overhanging a steep ravine (see page 116) .
Surmounting the Crasg we rapidly descend, and passing the new Free church (which actually contains a stained-glass rose window) on the left, and the Free church manse with its well-kept garden on the right, we reach at last
The Gairloch Hotel. ”

“ Possibly neither this Murdo nor his father pressed their claim to Gairloch, being sufficiently occupied in keeping possession of Kintail. [14] Ten years after King Robert II. had confirmed Kintail to Black Murdo of the Cave, the same king confirmed the grant of Gairloch made by the Earl of Ross to Paul M'Tyre (Part I., chap. i.) . But we hear no more of Paul M'Tyre; and, as an old writer has well said of this time, "during this turbulent age securities and writs, as well as laws, were little regarded; each man's protection lay in his own strength." ”

“ Folk-lore is little thought of now-a-days in Gairloch. Among the old men who still love it, and from whom many of the traditions and stories given in this book have been derived, are James Mackenzie of Kirkton, Kenneth Fraser of Leac-nan-Saighead, Roderick Mackenzie of Lonmor (Ruaridh-an-Torra) , George Maclennan of Londubh, Alexander Maclennan of Poolewe, John M'Lean of Strath, Kenneth and George Maclennan of Tollie Croft, Donald Ross of Kenlochewe, and Simon Chisholm of Flowerdale. Some of them can speak English fluently. ”

“ These old ironworks belong to the ancient class treated of in Part I., chap. xvii. Loch Rosque is over three miles long, and is placed on our list of Gairloch lochs, inasmuch as its western end juts into the parish. Observe on the other side of the loch pieces of detached walls, erected to enable sheep to shelter from the cutting winds which often sweep through this glen. Most travellers get rather tired of Loch Rosque, yearning as they naturally do for the superior attractions of Loch Maree. A small burn near the west end of Loch Rosque is the boundary of Gairloch parish. ”

“ To the south the summits of the distant Gairloch mountains and the rocky ranges of Craig Tollie and Cliff Hill, with the mouth of the River Ewe and the bay at the head, of Loch Ewe in the foreground, form an enchanting picture. From the village of Poolewe the house—surrounded as it is with planted woods now well grown—is a pleasing object. There are walks in these woods, and separate sea-bathing places for ladies and gentlemen. There is the best anchorage for yachts of the largest size close to the house. ”

“ Among other Norwegian names in Gairloch is "Sgeir," i.e. a detached rock; it occurs in Sgeir Bhoora, Sgeir an Fharaig, &c. So also the suffix dale or dal is Norwegian; it occurs in Thorisdale, Talladale, Slatadale, Erradale, Inverasdale, &c. Naast is believed to be a Norwegian name. Other Norse names are given in the Glossary.
It has been supposed that the Danes did not invade the west coast, but an examination of Gairloch names shews that they were most likely here. Some of the Vikings were Danes. Mr Taylor says that the termination aig signifies a small bay, and is Danish ”

“ The chiefs of the MacBeaths had at least three strongholds in Gairloch, viz., Eilean Grudidh on Loch Maree, the island on Loch Tollie, and the Dun or Castle of Gairloch, all to be described in our chapter on the antiquities. Seven generations of MacBeaths occupied Eilean Grudidh, which seems to have been the last they held of these fortalices. The M'Leods, after a long struggle, subdued the MacBeaths, and expelled most of them from Gairloch. Those who were driven out fled to Applecross, where their descendants are to this day. ”