Old Brute of a Horse

Gathering Peats

“There was not a horse in all Badbea, but one old nag which belonged to a man of the name of George Sutherland, who occupied the east most lot in the place. The old animal was a regular visitor at our place, picking up a mouthful of sweet grass which grew on a flat in front of the house, which we were in the habit of reserving for our cow. The pony's visits were not welcome on this account. 

Flat ground in front of a house at Badbea.

One day when he put in an appearance I felt inclined to resent his intrusion, and walking up close behind dealt him a cut with a thorn switch. The old brute lifted his heels and dealt me a blow on the left side on the head, which sent me reeling and sprawling, bleeding and groaning. This ugly kick left a mark which I have carried about with me to this day.”

My Comments:

There was such a shortage of pasture on which to graze animals at Badbea that the residents had to do many of the jobs that a horse could have done. This included carrying peats, and bringing fish or seaweed up the steep track at Achencraig.

Accidents of the kind described must have caused much anxiety as there was little to be done to restore health and very little chance of getting a doctor.

George Sutherland doesn’t appear on the earliest Badbea and district census of 1841 so he must have been there prior to that.

In the Farm Horse tax rolls of 1797 - 1798 only 9 men in the Latheron Parish had horses – some having several - Mr William Sinclair Esquire had sixteen and the Rev William Gunn had two.

Source: Alan Roydhouse unpublished 1977. This article was published by Alexander Gunn but the Northern Ensign original is missing. Alan Roydhouse had access to many of Gunn’s articles while he was resident in Helmsdale in the nineteen seventies.