Dawe Pounces On Taylor

I have transcribed the first court report of the visit to the house of William Taylor by the Excise Officer Mr Dawe. It is such a classic story of the task of the Inland Revenue Officers to apprehend the illicit manufacture of whisky, and the efforts made by crofters, with the help of friends and neighbours, to evade them.

The actual trial report (next blog) throws a little more light on Taylor’s story.

IMPORTANT ILLICIT STILL SEIZURE

Stemster Hill. Now deserted and returning to bog

Loch Stemster

Another important seizure of an illicit still has been made in the Lybster district. On the morning of Thursday, the 19^th inst, Mr Dawe, Supervisor of Inland Revenue, left this place on a reconnoitring expedition, with the view of eliciting information as to the working of an illicit still which was known to be in the neighbourhood of the Loch of Stemster. For this purpose, and with the view of guarding against his operation causing suspicion in the neighbourhood, he first took a train to Bower, and from thence pursued a course across the moorlands, striking downwards in a southerly direction till he came to Chapel, where he left one of his officers. Having accomplished this journey he lodged for the night about twelve miles distant from the scene of next day’s operations. During Thursday, Mr Dawe was evidently observed by persons on the watch.

Mr Dawe struck out across the moors

On Friday accompanied by the Lybster officer, Mr Henderson, Mr Dawe struck out across the moors from Lybster to the Stemster Hill, between which and Rangag, is the suspected place, called Ballachyle about four miles from Achavannich to the east. It occupies a kind of gully and it is an isolated and sequestered spot, particularly congenial to such an occupation. Up to that time, however, Mr Dawe only knew the name of the party and neighbourhood but not the house. By a little manoeuvring, however he managed to call at the very dwelling. Here a little natural curiosity was manifested by the inmates which showed the officers that they had struck the proper trail. It is one thing to know where a thing may be found in a general way, and quite another to get it into possession. After going a short distance from the place, and returning again, a search was determined upon with the view of seeing if there were any illegal operations being carried on in the premises. These buildings consisted of two houses adjoining each other, lengthwise, of the ordinary construction. First the search of the living room of William Taylor, labourers and dyker, was begun but with no result. In the next room, leading out of the other, were two beds. Under these, on the floor, were found scattered a few grains of malt, which had been left conveniently handy for the benefit of the officers in their investigation, beside about half a dozen of stone jars, some of which had the smell of liquor. Mr Dawe then left the house for the purpose of rummaging the house of the sister, Mrs Taylor adjoining. In this house there was nothing found with the exception of an ordinary quart bottle or wort. 

Illicit still at the Colbost Museum

Investigation of the fowl house

An investigation was then made of a fowl house and another of the outhouses with no result. At the end of the second house – Mrs Taylors – there was a pendicle construction of a peculiar design, so that it would not be observed by any person coming in the ordinary direction, and which opened by means of a lock and key towards the hill side. The key having been obtained there was found a mash tun, what was evidently used for fermenting, and bags which contained grain, from the remaining grains contained in them. A very important portion of this house was a small piece of dead wall which evidently had been lately rebuilt up, and, on poking with their sticks, they found it to contain a properly built furnace site for the fire, with a hole for the still, and an arrangement by which the smoke would escape to the house vent.

Search the peat stack

The peat stack having been searched, and beyond finding some barrels which were empty, sunk in the ground, covered by a large Caithness flag and a divot, little else was got. It was not till after some ten hours searching that the still was got hold of in a large rectangular cistern which was constructed of Caithness stone, and placed in close proximity to the house. This copper still would hold from 30 to 40 gallons. A considerable number of half threats were used in order to get quit of the officers, one asking Mr Dawe if he knew what Samson was told, that the Philistines were upon him. All this would not do, with tact and determination Mr Dawe held to his purpose and completed his work.

A rough and dark night

Increasing the difficulty and danger of the enterprise it was a very rough and dark night. 

The still was obtained

When the still was obtained it was carried by the officers in the direction of the Stemster farm, occupied by Mr Waters, sheep farmer, who was roused up, and the demand made, in the Queen’s name, for a horse and conveyance. Mr Waters was, we believe, very reluctant to comply with the request to provide horse and cart for the officers; but at last did so. After a number of articles were placed on the conveyance they were driven on to Lybster, and from thence to Wick.

A fine of up to £800

We believe the trial will not take place from some time. A fine of £200 is the fine for malting; and £600 for the possession of a still. It certainly was exceedingly daring for two revenue officers to attempt the seizure and complete it in such a solitary place, without personal violence being used. We believe it is stated that Taylor maintains he has not done anything with the still for twelve months. This will all come out at the trial.

John O Grout Journal 19 Sept 1878

How is Whisky Made?

To help understand some of the terms in the story here is a brief explanation on how whisky is made.

Traditionally there are five stages to the process - malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation.

Step 1 - Malting

Barley contains starch and it is this starch which needs to be converted into soluble sugars to make alcohol. For this to occur, the barley must undergo germination and this first part of the process is called 'malting.

The barley is soaked for 2-3 days in warm water and then traditionally spread on the floor of a building called a malting house.

When the barley has started to shoot, the germination has to be stopped by drying it in a kiln. Traditionally peat is used to power the kiln and it is at this point where the type of peat used and length of drying in the peat smoke can influence the flavour of the final spirit. The barley is now called 'malt' and this is ground down in a mill, with any husks and other debris being removed.

Step 2 - Mashing

The ground down malt, which is called 'grist', is now added to warm water to begin the extraction of the soluble sugars. The water is normally from a pure, reliable, local source. The liquid combination of malt and water is called the 'mash'. It is put into a large vessel called a mash tun and stirred for several hours.

During this process, the sugars in the malt dissolve and these are drawn off through the bottom of the mash tun. The resulting liquid is called 'wort'.

Step 3 - Fermentation

The wort is cooled and passed into large tanks called washbacks. These are traditionally made of wood. Here the yeast is added and the fermentation begins. The yeast turns the sugars that are present into alcohol.

Step 4 - Distillation

In Scotland, the wash is traditionally distilled twice.

The stills are made from copper, which has been found to be the best material for extracting impurities from the spirit as it is being distilled and consist of a bowl shape at the bottom that rises up to the neck at the top.

The wash enters the larger wash still and is heated. The liquid vaporises and rises up the still until it reaches the neck, where it condenses.

Step 5 - Maturation

The spirit is put into oak casks and stored.

Source: http://www.whiskyforeveryone.com/whisky_basics/how_is_whisky_made.html

John O Grout Journal 19 Sept 1878

The Excise Officer

William Dawe comes to the wedding

William Taylor was aware that the stranger in the midst of the wedding party was William Dawe the Excise Officer (on behalf of the Inland Revenue Department monitoring the illicit production of whisky, known as ‘smuggling’). Both Williams were keeping an eye on each other. While the law was on the side of Dawe, he was at a wedding that was full of local people who would defend Taylor, with even the chance of a skirmish breaking out. What was more, if Taylor was going to be successfully charged with making illicit whisky, Dawe had to be very careful that he got the right man and that he had good evidence.

So as the wedding party continued, whisky did indeed run out. William Taylor was not a happy man. Dawe heard Taylor lamenting that ‘he had not more of the home-made stuff because of the suspicious attentions of the excise to the locality’. Dawe made note!

Finally Taylor decided to leave Halsary and get more ‘refreshments’ from home. He returned with more of the ‘home-made’ stuff of which Dawe actually partook, and later used his sampling as evidence against William Taylor.

Both these men used wit and cunning to do what they had to do.

Dawe eventually departed the gathering at Halsary. He kept his records judiciously and spent the next few months vigilantly getting what information about Taylor he could. He knew well enough that Taylor was in the habit of distilling but to succeed in court he had to put his case painstakingly. It was well known that crofters, tenants, landlords and even magistrates often supporting each other’s part in this business and all got some personal reward.

It was not until September of 1878, nine months after the wedding at Halsary that Dawe made his move on Taylor.

In the meantime, James Taylor moved into the Rangag teashop with his wife Catherine, affectionately known as Kitty.

Catherine McLeod in old age (the only photo I have of her) 

The house on the Causewaymire Road at Rangag that had been the home of Catherine’s parents and was now Catherine and James home. 

Not looking very romantic in this picture of the interior of the Rangag house. Shows the back fireplace and Caithness flags on the floor. It was being used as a farm building at the time of this photograph.The house probably originally had Caithness flags on the roof like the Halsary building as they were both built at the same time. This house is now restored. 

To be continued...

A Wedding at Halsary

A Wedding at Halsary

A wedding was announced to be held on December 28,1877. Banns were proclaimed according to the Forms of the Free Church of Scotland.

Young James Taylor, farm hand, of Stemster, was going to marry Catherine McLeod of the Rangag teashop. She had been on her own for a few years since her parents both died, but had stayed living in the Rangag house where her mother had run a grocery business. Tea became fashionable and popular so Catherine became a tea merchant. But James was young and handsome and she said “Aye” – actually, they both spoke Gaelic so maybe she said ‘tha’.

The wedding was to be held in the Halsary meeting house just up the Causewaymire road from Rangag, at Tacher. It was a big building with room for a crowd. Highland hospitality allowed that after a marriage the doors were to be opened to all, be they strangers or not.

The Halsary meeting house in 2011

Welcome Rev David Ferguson

David Ferguson the Free Church minister would have arrived on his horse and put it in the horse yards. David knew the McLeod family well enough as he was the minister for Achreny, Westerdale and Halsary – all places the McLeod family had attended church. David had conducted the marriages of Betsy McLeod and Willie Williamson in 1859, Jessie McLeod and William Burnett in 1863, Alexander McLeod and Jessie Ross in 1868. He was said to be “a man of genial disposition, upright and straight forward in word and deed. He had a strong and well-built frame, indispensable for his work, which extended over an area of many miles of hill and moor” Source: The Achreny Mission – Part 3 – After the Disruption.

The Horse Enclosure at Halsary

Witness William Tait worked for his uncle Benjamin Tait on one of the big Stemster farms

James Taylor was a herd boy in 1871 working for William Waters on a big farm at Stemster next door to where William Tait was working. They were probably boyhood mates.

All went well. The marriage was conducted. A crowd arrived (including a few strangers), and the party began. As was customary, whisky was provided for the guests.

The Taylor family, like many in the district were poor – so poor, in fact, that father William couldn’t even pay the rent for his small house. It was paid by the Parochial Board of Latheron (who granted small amounts of ‘Poor relief’ for paupers).

They might have been poor but William and Janet Taylor wanted a good party for their son and his bride. The only way to do that was to provide ‘home-made’ stuff.

Whisky was an important feature of social life and used as a welcome for guests. Like most Scots, Stemster locals had long had their own stills hidden in the glens and hollows. Problem was, home distilled whisky was illegal. And just who were those strangers at the party?

To be continued 

Note: Re Whisky see also the blog “Smuggling” posted November 30, 2014

Duke of Portland Wins Again

The Duke and Duchess of Portland at Badbea

Langwell Lairds Past and Present – Is it the Dawn of a New Day?

Written by Alexander Gunn aka A Native of Badbea. Printed in the Northern Ensign 26 June 1894 Part E

To the Editor of the Northern Ensign

Continued from previous blog..

“Amongst other good acts of the Duke, I saw that he had given a park to the Swiney crofters. Mr Turner's name was mentioned in connection with this, but if the credit is his, he must have changed his mind since he expressed his views to me on one occasion on board the Wick steamer about crofters and crofting. Mr Turner's evidence before the Deer Forest Commission showed very plainly what his feelings were towards the crofters on the estate: and were the Duke to take a favourable view of my surmises, I imagine he would not have a very cordial helper in his factor.”

Winifred, Duchess of Portland

“Of course the people will say this is nothing but building castles in the air. Well, be it so. The Deer Forest Commissioners are to give a report, and were they to propose any change on the Berriedale estate, I think it very likely this is where they would recommend land to be given to the crofters, or rather a crofter township to be set up in Auchincraig etc. It would disturb the Duke's deer less than in any other part of his estate, and would be easier yielded by the Duke. Of course were the Upper Borgue to be cultivated it would do little in disturbing the deer: but I shall not speculate any more in that direction. I don't expect to see the views I have set forth acted upon, but who knows but others may. In the course of years greater wonders have taken place.”

I am, etc,  A Native of Badbea.

My Comments:

Mr Turner was the factor for the Duke of Portland. A factor in Scotland was a manager who dealt with a variety of property matters from collecting rents to property repair and maintenance. They were supposed to act in accordance with the owner's wishes but as can be seen from the Duke’s comments, his factor Mr Turner, had a great deal of influence and opportunity to advise the Duke.

Looking back to the time when he first came into his noble heritage, the Duke made a touching reference at the Welbeck Tenants’ Show, in 1906, to the death of his agent, Mr F. J. Turner, who for 48 years was in the service of the fifth Duke and himself. 

“When I first came to Welbeck, now twenty-seven years ago,” said the Duke, “I was a mere boy, very ignorant of the ways of the world, and more ignorant still, if it were possible, of business habits and of the management of a great estate. I shudder to think what might have been my fate, and the sad fate of those dependant upon me, if Mr Turner and others, who guided my footsteps had been different from what they proved themselves to be. It was in his power to make or mar the happiness and prosperity, not only of myself, but also of many of those who live in this district and who farm my land.”  Source: http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/portland1907/portland8.htm

Alexander Gunn must have had a chance meeting on the Wick steamer with Mr Turner and of course took the opportunity to raise issues of crofters.

Re Swiney - I could not find a record of the Duke giving a park to the Swiney crofters.  The Duke of Portland had purchased the estate of Swiney from John Gordon in1877. In the early 1890s there were public meetings and much discussion in the newspaper about the need for a road from Swiney to Osclay. It was said the largely attended Swiney school had no road passing near it from any direction. There was discussion with Mr Turner about what contribution the Duke of Portland would make. It seems that in the end the Duke “did not feel called upon to subscribe to the road” and thought the road should be paid for by rates. The Duke said he would build a good footpath from Achavanich to the Swiney school with a new bridge at the Reisgill burn. That is quite a long footpath – between 7 and 8 miles - and for those travelling by foot it would have been very welcome. Tenders were called in March 1896 to build the road. In 1899 Mr Turner gave details of the number of crofters on the Duke’s estates of Lybster and Swiney. He gave the population of the district as 231 tenants paying rent from 100 pounds down.

Road from Swiney to Achavanich. Osclay is near the blue circle.

The frustration of unjust land distribution just went on and on for crofters and Alexander Gunn took every opportunity to speak publicly about it. He was always hopeful and always made good suggestions to improve the conditions of the crofters while respecting the land practices of the estate proprietors. Sadly, his dreams never came true.

The two maps here with coloured areas were produced in the report by the Deer Commission.

The map above is a detail of the Latheron map showing the tiny bit of marginal land – pink – owned by the Duke of Portland that was recommended for possible use by the Langwell crofters. It is exactly the area of marginal, infertile, rocky land that the poor Badbea crofters had struggled to survive on for decades. How ridiculous was that. Although Gunn seems to think that given support and proper tenure it was workable. I wonder if the Duke and Duchess had either read the report or knew what was in it and that was the reason they went to have a look at the Achnacraig land and pathway. .

This map shows more of the Latheron area. The next bit of land (26) coloured yellow, then more pink (27, 28, 29) belonged to Edwyn Sinclair of Freswick and then at the top of the main map is land from the Ulbster estate.

Key to the maps

Alexander Gunn stated in his opening paragraph of this letter “Wonders will never cease” and “Is this the dawn of a new day?” a real live Duke and Duchess paid a visit to Badbea.

Gunn then ends this letter with some wishful suggestions for a fairer distribution of the Langwell land, which unfortunately, as we have noted previously, never happened.

A wander round this inhospitable landscape today will show the crofters eventually gave up the struggle.  

The following article, also relevant to the Caithness Deer Forest Parks, is from the website of the Hebridean Connections

https://www.hebrideanconnections.com/subjects/58366

Background to the Deer Forest Royal Commission of Inquiry, 1892, by Angus “Ease” Macleod Calbost and Marybank

Around 1800 there was no objection to the people taking a stag at any time, but in 1832 the Day Trespass Act was passed and any person found trespassing in pursuit of deer could be fined.

 In the 1840s deer shoots and deer forests were greatly popularized when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the Highlands and took part in the shooting of deer. The Queen’s interest and example in deer hunting in the Highlands encouraged both female as well as male members of the aristocracy to participate in this blood sport.

Demand for Highland deer forests continued for the rest of the 19^th century, as did the rent charged by the land owners. There was no way the crofters could compete with the rents the aristocracy were prepared to pay for sporting parks. In the circumstances there was a steady increase in the number of deer parks in the Highlands, particularly in the second half of the 19^th century when profits from sheep farming declined and the former sheep farms were converted into deer forests.

A total of 73 deer forests existed in the Highlands in the early 1870s and according to Napier that number had increased in 1884 to 110, covering an area of almost 2,000,000 acres. The Parliamentary return for 1891 shows that there were 130 deer forests covering 2,472,133 acres. By the 20^th century 34% of the land of the crofting counties were under deer forests and that trend continued until the first world war at least. On the last occasion the figures were published in 1957 there were 2.8 million acres of land devoted to deer forests.

The truth is that the natural resources of the Highlands and Islands, including the land, were always developed in a haphazard manner, with little consideration for the welfare of the native population. The Park Deer Raid of 1887 had a profound effect on public opinion at that time, and even the Establishment duly noted the social instability, which could be produced by that form of land use. However nothing was done to alleviate the plight of the crofting community.

Four years later the widespread land-raiding of 1891 also failed to bring about any significant change for a fairer distribution of the available land resources. However, it seems the anguished cries of the crofting population penetrated, to some extent, to the establishment, because on the 6^th December 1892, the fourth Gladstone Ministry, which gained power that year, set up a Royal Commission of Enquiry to look at the unchecked expansion of the deer parks in the Highlands and Islands, and earmarking deer forests which might be suitable for small-holdings. That Commission is usually referred to as the Deer Forest Commission, or the Brand Commission, so named after its Chairman, David Brand, Sheriff of Argyll.

The remit of the Deer Forest Commission, Highlands and Islands, was as follows:

“Whereas we have deemed it expedient that a Commission should forthwith issue to enquire whether any, and if any, what land in the Counties of Argyll, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, now occupied for the purpose of deer forest, grouse moor, or any sporting purpose, or for grazing, not in the occupation of crofters or small tenants, is capable of being cultivated to profit or otherwise advantageously occupied by crofters or small tenants.”

The Highland and Island crofting population welcomed the Deer Forest Commission, and the people of Park, in Lochs were delighted, as they felt that their hour had come at last. No one, they felt, could deny that there was suitable land for new crofts in the Park Deer Forest. After all, a whole area of Park Deer Forest was occupied by hundreds and hundreds of crofters until they were evicted earlier in that century.

The Report of The Royal Commission, Highlands and Islands, 1892, scheduled the deer forest land under three categories, and each category was identified by a colour scheme, thus: category 1 – yellow, was land that was suitable for new holdings, category 2 – pink, was land which could be advantageously occupied as extensions of grazings by neighbouring crofters, category 3 – brown, was land considered suitable for occupation as moderately sized holdings or farms, at rents exceeding the statutory limit of 30 yearly. In other words, land holdings larger than crofts, for which there was no demand by crofters.

The crofters failed to appreciate that the remit of the Deer Forest Commission only asked them to schedule, or identify, the available land. They were not asked to create new land holdings. Therefore it was necessary to appoint some other authority in order to create new landholdings and distribute them, before the landless cottars could benefit from the exercise. There was therefore plenty of scope for the landowners’ lobby to exert their influence and ensure that the Highland and Island deer forests came to no harm. …

The Deer Park Forest survived unscathed after the Royal Commission, and the landless cottars were left as before in overcrowded barns and temporary homes on their friends’ lands. The Deer Forest Commission was a political manoeuvre, and at the end of the millennium the Park Deer Forest is still intact as one unit extending to 44,000 acres of sterilized land, while most of the local crofter population have by now given up the struggle.

Once again the landowners won the contest.

Noble Duke and Duchess

The Duke and Duchess of Portland at Badbea

Langwell Lairds Past and Present – Is it the Dawn of a New Day?

Written by Alexander Gunn aka A Native of Badbea. Printed in the Northern Ensign 26 June 1894 Part D

To the Editor of the Northern Ensign

Continued from previous blog..

The Sixth Duke and Duchess of Portland

Source: http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/portland1907/portland8.htm

“But I must return to the noble Duke and Duchess, who wandered along as far as Auchincraig, and down to the shore, deserted and forgotten. Well do I remember when 13 boats went out from that creek during the herring fishing season, when thousands of barrels of herrings were cured, and hundreds of pounds of hard cash circulated in the district: but when Auchincraig was desolated this industry ceased. 

From the North East Folklore Archive

One wonders what was the Duke's idea in visiting these places, and causing the path down to the shore to be repaired. Has he been thinking of repairing the waste places, and putting Auchincraig under inhabitants once more? The Duke has done many noble and commendable deeds since coming into possession, but such a deed as I am surmising as possible would add a laurel to his crown far above and beyond any of his former acts. Auchincraig, divided into lots, with hill pasture all the way to the Black Dyke to the east, and below the turnpike road to the west as far as Auld House, Eshlaven, Clashvrick, adjoining Auchincraig, where there were three tenants, would make a fine lot for one with a share of the hill pasture described. Then Polbait would make a nice little lot. Then one tenant in the Borgue, and four or five in the Slure, with hill pasture, all below the turnpike road to the Ord on the west and to the quarry west of the Black Park on the side of Ousdale - such a division would leave the Ousdale tenant with a very respectable farm and on the other hand it would not disturb the Duke's deer. Then the repairing of the path to the shore would have some meaning and some use too.”

To be continued...

A close look at the Google Earth picture of Achnacraig shows the 

remains of two possible tracks down the hill to the shore. 

My Comments:

Achnacraig and Auchincraig, Highlands are the same place. There are probably other places with similar names in Scotland.

It is interesting that back in the days of intense crofter occupancy, every small hamlet had its own name, significance and could be easily located. Plus Alexander Gunn's remarkable memory recalls these places. 

There are plenty of on-line resources discussing the importance of the herring industry to the north of Scotland. See for example http://www.nefa.net. For decades Alexander Gunn wrote with unabated wrath and passion about Donald Horne’s closing down the fishing industry and clearing the residents at Auchnacraig. No real justification was ever found for this senseless clearance and loss of both an income and way of life for the residents. Looking at the maps it is clear that the steep land at Auchnacraig would never be productive farmed with sheep. The Ousdale farm nearby was not part of the Achnacraig activities.

As usual Alexander Gunn repeats his wish that these lost hamlets will one day be restored to Langwell tenants.

Sworn at!

The Duke and Duchess of Portland at Badbea

Langwell Lairds Past and Present – Is it the Dawn of a New Day?

Written by Alexander Gunn aka A Native of Badbea. Printed in the Northern Ensign 26 June 1894 Part C

To the Editor of the Northern Ensign

Continued from previous blog..

“The old laird was not such a bad man, although he was very passionate, and the least thing set him in a rage, when his language was anything but polite. There was a man George Grant, one of the Auchincraig tenants, with whom, for some cause or other, the laird got angry, and swore at him. George was relating the incident to some of his neighbours after returning home, and he was asked, "And what did you do George?" "I swore at him," was the reply. The statement was doubted by the neighbours, when George confessed it was after he crossed the bridge that the swearing took place on his part - a distance of fully three quarters of a mile from the big house.”

Bridge on the driveway to Langwell House

“As I have said, James Horne was not without good parts, but when his nephew Donald came into possession the very first thing he did was to turn out every one of the thirteen families in Auchincraig, the Cairn, and Badrinsary.”

To be continued..

Stoddard Lectures on Ireland, 1909  “An Evicted Family” www.maggieblanck.com/Mayopages/Eviction.html

My Comments:

It is not difficult to find comments indicting that others did not have a high opinion of either James or Donald Horne, for example:

'.......but of James Horne I have a very different opinion, in all respects, a most troublesome, litigious man as ever was.”

Source: Dep 313 National Library, Edinburgh. Letter to Marchioness of Stafford, 16th Dec. from Wm Young, Factor.

“The grandfather of Donald Horne WS was a blacksmith, without any connexions among the gentry, but a clever fellow who made money, bought a piece of land called Scouthal, gave his family a good education, and was latterly received in Society. One son, if I remember right, entered the Army and died s.p. Another was Count Horne [James] who made a considerable fortune as a WS and died a bachelor. He left the bulk of his means to his nephew Donald. I remember the Count, an old man with a large red nose (which the Collector says he derived from his father) crawling about the streets of Edinburgh and turning round as a young and pretty girl passed and gaping after her with a goatish stare. This propensity also he derived from the old blacksmith, and among them they transmitted it to Donald whose pranks are notorious, and were at one time likely to prove dangerous to himself. Donald's father had the same failing. He lived always in the Country, married a respectable lady of the name of Williamson, and enjoyed an indifferent reputation. He in fact was about the worst man of the Clan.

Source: JAMES ROBERTSON'S JOURNAL JBL 98 1 1842 Journal or Book of Memoranda & Jottings kept by James Robertson Sheriff Substitute Commenced at Stornoway 21 July 1841 continued at Tobermory 27 March 1842 and at Kirkwall on 14 March 1846 Vol: II. Kirkwall 31 January 1847 J.R.

Ruins at Achnacraig