Article VIII written by Alexander Gunn was printed in the
Northern Ensign on 23 December 1880 – Part A
Ruined Crops
Farmers in the upper parts of the parish of Halkirk
suffer much at times from late harvests. These upland districts are liable to
early frosts which frequently come when the crops are green and consequently
render them comparatively useless. Tenants are thus deprived of seed corn for
the spring, and they have to get supplies from other districts of the county.
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Thurso
River at Halkirk in winter
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Gerston
Water near Halkirk
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On one of these occasions, when the crops were all
blighted, “Alister Macheorish” whose farm was situated in the upper part of
Halkirk, was deprived of his seed-corn by an early frost, but being told that
Captain Sutherland of Mey had good corn, he got ready two horses, and a man to
accompany him to Mey, to get some of the captain’s grain. Alister and the
Captain were not on the best of terms the last time they met, which was at the
Georgemas when Alister called the Captain an ugly name, which greatly incensed
him, but soldier and all as he was, he dare not challenge his opponent to a
fight.
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Castle
of Mey. This castle has a long history
and would not have looked much like this at
the
time of the story
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Cattle
in the grounds of the Castle of Mey
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On Alister arriving at Mey, the Captain received him with
all seeming kindness and friendship, inviting him to his house which invitation
was accepted. The captain showed his guests in before him to the parlour, and
on entering himself he locked the door on the inside on himself and his guest,
whom he invited to be seated, after which he opened a press and drawing out a
sword, stepped up in front of Alister, and asked him if he was as good a man
today as he was the last day he met him at the Georgemas. Gunn sprang to his
feet, seized a chair by the top rails, and putting himself in an attitude of
defence,if not of defiance, he replied he was quite as good then as he was
when they last met.
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John
Thurso,Trustee,Castle of Mey,with a large sword!
Source: Caithness.org
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The brave Captain was rather surprised, and not a little
frightened at the boldness of his opponent, and considering discretion the
better part of valour, cooled down, asking his friend to sit down, while he put
back his sword without drawing a single drop of blood. Then getting his bottle,
he entertained Gunn with a quaich or
two of Highland whisky, and gave
instructions at the same time to fill the sacks with the best seed corn in his
barn with which he sent Alister home, and for which he refused to take any
payment. It need hardly be said that there never was a dispute between these
two men afterwards, but they lived on the most intimate and friendly terms.
Alister though possessed of such great bodily strength,
did not live to be an old man, but died in the prime of life, from the effect
of an injury he received. While he was assisting the miller of the district and
others in bringing a millstone to the mill through the river they were....to a
[shelf] just where the stone sank and stuck. Alistar went forward and putting
his arm through the eye of the stone lifted it up and carried it to the dry
ground from whence it was conveyed to its destination. The effect proved too
much even for his great strength and was the means of sending him to a
premature grave.
As already said that while he was possessed of much
prodigious strength, he was a quiet, kind and obliging man and much respected
by all who knew him. He was a tall handsome man fully six feet and was the
first in Caithness who wore the shepherd tartan plaid. He was never married but
was engaged to the beauty of Caithness, a Janet Gunn who afterwards became Mrs
William McKay a much respected and widely known woman throughout the whole
country.
Donald, Alister’s brother had a large farm also in the
Strathnaver district and after Alister’s death Donald made up his mind to set
out and go to Canada to try his hand to farming in that distant land. In those
days emigrants from Caithness for the Americas embarked at Scrabster. The ships
called on their way out at Cromarty then at Scrabster - Note: The scan is almost impossible to read but I will transcribe from another article next blog.
Note: The variations in names for the same person:
- Alister Macheorish
- Alaster Gunn
- Alaster M’Horish
- Alaster M’Hearish
- Alexander Gunn
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| Gunn Clansman by McIan |
My Comments:
More legends of Alistar and his brother Donald:
The following article was written later by Alexander Gunn and
amplifies some of his comments above. The entire article can be found at:
History of the
Clan Gunn. Supplement. Twelfth Instalment. By Thomas Sinclair, M.A. http://clangunn1.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/sinclair-gunn-supplement-12-1721903.html
Mad Bull
Their father’s
name was George, and he was tacksman of Dalnaglaton. Alaster, when born was a
weakly child, so much so that for a long time he was cradled in wool in a sort
of basket, but after some time he began to thrive, and as he grew in years he
grew in strength.
While a mere lad Donald and he were sent to the wood for a
load of ‘cabers’ to repair the house. During their absence the bull went mad,
and their mother for fear he would meet them on their way home and attack them
unawares, climbed onto the roof of the house, and as the lads approached the
house with their burden of sticks warned them. The infuriated animal, on seeing
them, made straight for them. Alaster took a caber out of the bundle, and
arranged with his brother that when the bull came up, Donald was to turn and
retreat. Donald retreated, and just as the bull was passing Alaster, he dealt
him a stroke along the back, which caused him to fall as if he had been shot,
and he never rose. It was found afterwards that every rib was broken away from
the backbone. This was the first of Alaster’s exploits.
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A caber is a tapered tree pole that is these days used at
a traditional Scottish athletic event
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| Big man with a caber! Caber_Toss Wikipedia |
‘Is boyach am boronach Sheonag Guine a ro horo is nich horo,’ and so on.
She, however was not to die an old maid, but
married William Mackay, farmer of the Braelaid, Braemore, for many a year. They
had a large family, and both died there. I was in the house once and remember
well the appearance of the goodwife. She bore even then, though well up in
years, traces of her youthful charms. The Braelaid people were possessed of numerous
cattle, sheep and goats. They were followed in the farm by descendants.
Captain James Sutherland
Captain James Sutherland was 5th Lord Duffus
in 1826 and had a tack of the estate of Mey from 1772 to 1786.
Spittal Hill Market
When Gunn says the Captain was brave in settling with
Alistar, the background is that Alistar, who had a life-long reputation of
great strength, had a previous encounter at the Spittal Hill market with
Captain Sutherland, where armed with an oak club Alistair broke the Captains
sword in pieces and drove the hilt into his hand then let him go instead of
killing him. The captain was shamed and rode off in disgrace.
Source: Gunn, Robert. “The Strong Man of Dalnaglaton.” In
Tales from Braemore Caithness legends and
mysteries, Dunbeath: Whittles, 2008.
Licentious behaviour!
James Sutherland, 5th Lord Duffus (1747-1827) (restored
1826), who died unmarried. He eloped in December 1771 with the
seventeen-year-old Lady Mary Hay, the daughter of the Earl of Erroll,
Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, and the wife of Major-General John
Scott; she was divorced by her husband, Sutherland's colonel at the time. He
abandoned her, never married, and recognized 10 illegitimate children in his
will. However, he is said to have at least 60 illegitimate children. The barony
was claimed by the nearest heir male (and also by the 5th Lord's nephew):
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Duffus
