The Catholic Highlands of Scotland

JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY

Donated by

The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province

from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor

University of
St. Michael's College, Toronto

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BY THE SAME AUTHOR

ANCIENT CATHOLIC
HOMES OF SCOTLAND

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

THE HON. MRS MAXWELL SCOTT

OF ABBOTSFORD

Forty Illustrations. Handsomely bound in cloth^ extra gilt.
Price 4.r. net (postage

"In this very interesting and pleasant book, Father Blundell deals in
an attractive way with the history of some of the old Scottish Houses
which were centres of Roman Catholicism during the 300 years between
1550 and 1850." — Banffshire Journal.

11 Father Blundell has carried out a difficult task with judgment and
painstaking research." — Perthshire Advertiser.

" A work of singular interest, religious, artistic and historical." —
Tablet.

"The writing of this book has obviously been a labour of love to
Father Blundell, and it was well worth doing. He has brought the facts
regarding these old houses and the scenes enacted within their walls into
a handy volume, which is made additionally attractive by numerous and
excellent illustrations. " — Tribune.

"A good test of the excellence of a book is the regret with which we
lay it down, and a desire for more of the same kind and quality.
'Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland' well stands this test." — Dublin
Review.

CONTENTS

CARLAVEROCK BEAUFORT

LETTERFOURIE TRAQUAIR

TERREGLES KIRKCONNELL

GLENFINNAN FETTERNEAR

BY DOM. ODO BLUNDELL, O.S.B., F.S.A.ScoT.

CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS
OF SCOTLAND

THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

With Thirty-three Illustrations. Price $s. 6d. net (postage

CONTENTS

Strathbogie.— Marquis of Huntly defends the Old Faith
—Catholic Dukes of Gordon— Chapels at Robieston, Gibston,
Huntly, Mortlach — Meeting-place of Vicars Apostolic — Shenval
— Altitude in feet of Highland Chapels — Succession of Priests.

Glenlivet I. and II.— Battle of Glenlivet— History of
Scalan, 1713-1777; Details and Plan of Building; Bishop
Hay's Affection for it — Chapels at Minmore.Tombae — Abbe
Macpherson, Agent at Rome, Agent for British Government —
Chapelton.

Strathavon. — Great Fidelity to the Old Faith — Succession
of Priests — Chapel at Tomintoul.

Glengairn. — The Highland Home — Customs — Music in
Church — Schools and Scholars — Rev. Lachlan Mackintosh
and other Priests— Corgarff Chapel — John Michie.

Braemar I. and II. — Jacobite Memories — Sheriffmuir —
Cattle-lifting — Castle of Braemar — Continual Succession of
Priests from Reformation onwards — Present Church.

Badenoch. — St MicheaPs— St Kenneth's— Coil-an-Tuin—
Stron-an-Duin — Kingussie — Macdonalds of Gellovy, Aberarder,
Tullochrom, Garvamore, Sherrabeg.

Lochaber I. and II. — The Clan Donald and Clan
Cameron — Chiefs of Keppoch — Jacobite Sympathies — The
Great Montrose — Inverlochy — Iain Lorn — Battle of Mulroy —
Risings of 1715 and 1745 — Maighstir Iain Mor and later
Priests — Achnacarry Papers.

Strathglass. — MS. of Rev. Angus Mackenzie — Maighstir
Iain— u Growth of Popery "—Piety of Catholic Highlanders —
Bishops John and Aeneas Chisholm — Chapels at Fasnakyle,
Eskadale, Marydale, Beauly— Evictions— Fraser Highlanders.

THE CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF
SCOTLAND

THE

CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS
OF SCOTLAND

THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS
AND ISLANDS

BY

DOM. ODO BLUNDELL, O.S.B., F.S.A.(SCOT.)

Author oj

" The Catholic Highlands of Scotland (Central Highlands}"
" Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland "

SANDS & CO.

37 GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH

15 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN

1917

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

SOON after publishing the first volume of " The Catholic
Highlands of Scotland/' I was able to spend two months
in Rome, where the archives of Propaganda were most
courteously placed at my disposal. As the time was
limited, I confined myself entirely to copying such letters
as related to the Highland District. These copies lay
untouched, until the present war, and my appointment
as Catholic chaplain with the Fleet, gave me an un
expected opportunity of putting them in order. They
then afforded me great interest and helped to pass the
long winter evenings. But the circumstances were not
altogether favourable for writing, since there were no
books of reference at hand by which to check my own
statements or those of the writers of the letters. This
must be my apology if any inaccuracies have crept in.
Once again I must thank those who most kindly read
through and corrected each chapter, as also those who
assisted me with the illustrations.

F. 0. B.

H.M.S. Agincourt,

l&th July 1916.

CONTENTS

_. PAGE

BARRA j

SOUTH UIST ..... 26

KNOYDART 62

MORAR .... gg

ARISAIG jjy

MOYDART .... 134

GLENGARRY .... 160

THE LESSER ISLES AND OTHER DISTRICTS

THE LESSER ISLES .... 192

GLENMORISTON ... 202

GLENCOE .... 203

STRATHERRICK ... 204

NOTES • •• T .... 306

INDEX .... 208

vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Invergarry Castle ..... Frontispiece

To face page
Castlebay. The Catholic Church and ancient Castle

of the MacNeils .23

Sandray Crofters 27

Chapels at Ardkenneth, Bornish, Daliburgh and

Eriskay .48

Former Chapel at Sandaig, Knoydart ... 82
Church of St Cumin, Loch Morar . . -. .115

St Mary's, Arisaig, with Ruins of pre-Reformation

Church . • 129

Samalaman Lodge, showing the old seminary . .141
Samalaman College, with later additions . . - 152

Lismore College and Chapel (now part of Kilcheran

Lodge) .156

Fort Augustus in 1746 . . . . . .190

THE CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS
OF SCOTLAND

BARRA

MENTION of Barra and its adjacent islands occurs in
the correspondence of Father Francis White and his
companions with their Superior, St Vincent of Paul.
Father Dermit Dugan had been sent, along with Father
Francis White, to the Hebrides in 1651, and laboured
there with great zeal, but unfortunately his strength
failed him, and he died in 1657, as he was about to visit
the Isle of Pabba. The following is one of his letters,
which I give almost in extenso : —

" LETTER of Father DERMIT DUGAN, priest of the Congre
gation of the Mission, Missionary Apostolic in
the Hebrides, and in the Highlands of Scotland,
to the Very Rev. F. VINCENT OF PAUL, Superior
General of the said Congregation of the Mission.

"MosT REV. AND DEAR FATHER, — If your Reverence
has not yet received any news of me, I may say that this
has not arisen from want of diligence on my part. God
knows how much fatigue and solicitude the delay has
cost me, and the enquiry after this first opportunity,
which I trust will indeed prove a safe one. The Hebrides
A 1

2 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

being very far from the mainland, and not having
intercourse with the other districts, the opportunities
of sending letters to distant places are very rare. To
arrange some means of correspondence I have been
forced, however unwillingly, to desist from the pressing
duties just begun by me, for the salvation of these poor
Islanders, and to return again to Scotland on foot with
great fatigue in order to establish, as I have done, a
correspondence with your Reverence. . . .

" Having by God's help somewhat recovered [he had
fallen ill on arrival at Glengarry] I left my companion
Mr Francis White in the Highlands of Scotland, whilst I
went, conformably to my orders, to the Hebrides, where
God has deigned to make use of me, a most unworthy
instrument, to work the effects of His great mercy,
having prepared for me the hearts of all these people,
who welcomed me as an angel from Heaven, especially
the Laird of Clanranald, Lord of the Isle of Uist, to whom
His Divine Majesty gave the grace of conversion along
with his wife, his son, their family and all the gentry,
their vassals.

"MacNeil, Lord of the Isle of Barra, having heard of
me, sent a gentleman to beg me to do his island the same
service as I had done to the Laird of Clanranald. The
Lord of the Isle of Capaga (sic), who is a nobleman
of importance, together with seven or eight of the
chief gentry of those parts, made me similar requests,
whom I shall with God's help, satisfy as soon as
possible.

"I was also occupied with the inhabitants of the Islands
of Eigg, Islay and Canna, in which 800 or 900 persons
have been converted. These were so little instructed

BARRA 3

in the Christian religion that there were scarce 15 of
them who knew any of the mysteries of our holy Faith.
I hope that others will soon follow the example of these
first converts. The chief desire of these people is to
acquire the knowledge of the elements of our holy Faith,
and that with so great ardour, that when I am teaching
Christian doctrine the noblemen and married ladies
often beg me that I would question them in public to
the end that — as they said — their minds might be more
impressed with what they heard.

" I found amongst them persons of 70, 80, 100 and
even 120 years of age, who had never received Holy
Baptism ; these I instructed, baptized, and after a
short time they passed to a better life. At this moment,
no doubt they are praying God for those who have
procured them so much good.

" The greater part of the inhabitants were living in
concubinage, but we have remedied this by joining in
matrimony those who were willing, and separating the
others. I have found some of the inhabitants of
Uist, who called themselves Catholics, and had some
knowledge of the Sacraments of Penance and the
Holy Eucharist. This was due to their having been
to Confession and Communion formerly to some
Fathers of the Order of St Francis who came here
from Ireland, but these people were so little instructed
that they did not know how to make the sign of the
Cross.

" Money is very scarce in these parts ; nevertheless
everything is very dear here, and what increases my
poverty is that I need two men ; one assists me on my
journeys and in passing from one island to the other,

4 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

and when I travel by land lie helps me to carry the
vestments for Mass and my few other effects, I myself
having quite sufficient difficulty in walking on foot over
bad roads as much as 14 or 15 miles before saying
Mass. The other attendant, whom I have instructed to
that end, assists me to teach the Pater, Ave, and Credo,
and serves Mass, there not being any one else except him
who can do so.

" The want of means wherewith to purchase a small
boat for crossing from one island to the other has pre
vented me from making more journeys ; for although
we are in great need, still we have not received anything
from these people, amongst whom (as some are very
timid) the contrary practice would have hindered the
fruits of our labours not a little. . . . Ordinarily we take
only one meal a day, which for the most part consists of
nothing else but barley bread or oatcake, with cheese
or salt butter, and we pass sometimes whole days without
being able to find anything but what we have carried
with us. Our drink in summer is plain water, and in
winter we have a little meal boiled in it, which indeed is
very injurious to my health, being as your Kev. knows,
of a phlegmatic temperament. It is true that in some
places we find a little beer or whisky, but this is of rare
occurrence. Any one who wishes to have meat must
buy a whole beast, a stirk or an ox, because there are no
butchers in this country.

" The meat which the Islanders do sometimes eat,
makes one disgusted, for they are content to half cook it
on the embers, and then they throw it on the ground on
the straw, which with them serves for table, table cloth
and plate, so that we scarcely ever eat it. (Note I.)

BARRA 5

" When we travel in summer, it is necessary to make
in the forest some sort of hut in which to pass the night,
or else to sleep in the open air on the ground, exposed to
the weather, against which we protect ourselves as best
we can, with our cloaks which we use in this country
in place of the ' ferraiola ' ; but even when we reach
some cottage, we often do not find any straw to lie on.

" In these Islands and in the whole of the Highlands
of Scotland there are no priests except my companions
and myself ; but in the Lowlands and the Eastern
district, where English is spoken, there are between
Regulars and Seculars six or seven in all, who are reaping
great fruit, especially the two sent by the Congregation
of Propaganda.

" Since God opens with so great generosity the treasures
of His mercy for the conversion of these people, I think
that the greatest service your Rev. can do them, is to
despatch persons who are able to instruct them, who
know the language of the country well, and especially
who know how to suffer hunger and thirst and to sleep
on the ground. It is further necessary that we have an
annual salary, otherwise there is no means of our sub
sisting. We would also need a schoolmaster to teach the
youths, and he too must have his salary. ... I write
nothing to your Rev. of the good success which God gives
to the labours of Francis White, my companion, whom I
left on the mainland, as I hope he himself will give an
account of it."

Throughout these accounts of the early missionary
labours in the Highlands and Islands, when it is said that
so many persons were " converted," this must be under-

6 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

stood of their being granted the grace of the sacraments
which hitherto they had never had any opportunity of
receiving ; and of acquiring correct instruction, in place
of the erroneous ideas which the absence of proper
teachers had allowed to grow up amongst them. This is
clearly proved by the following extract : — " The natives
of the islands adjacent to Scotland can, as a rule, be
properly called neither Catholics nor heretics. They
abhor heresy by nature, but they listen to the preachers
from necessity. They go wrong in matters of faith
through ignorance, caused by the want of priests to
instruct them in their religion."

For the same reason many had not received baptism,
since we know from other sources that those who wished
to remain Catholics had the greatest objection to being
baptized, and to having their children baptized, by any
but the Catholic priest. No doubt this is also the reason
for what is stated in the letter that many were living in
concubinage — no priest had come that way to bless the
marriage.

The islanders had a great devotion to holy water, and
their requests for it are often mentioned at this period.
In the report written a few years after the foregoing (1655)
it is stated : " In the Isle of Barra there was great dearth
of seaweed, which the sea ordinarily throws up upon the
shore and with which the inhabitants of that island are
accustomed to manure their land. Mr Dugan went to
the place where they generally gathered it, and having
there sprinkled Holy Water, that same day the sea
threw up so great ajquantity, that it lasted them the
whole year."

A little further on, the same report states : "In the

BARRA 7

aforementioned Island of Barra, a young man having
been converted, along with his brothers and sisters, as
well as the son of the minister, their devotion gave great
edification to all the country round. All the people of
that island are so anxious to learn, that when Mr Dugan
had taught a little boy the Pater, Ave, and Credo, on
returning to the same place two or three days later he
found that all, both young and old, had learned the
prayers. There are many other places of which the
inhabitants have been converted and ask for more
instruction. There are between 6,000 and 7,000 souls in
these places, some of whom are far distant from others,
whence it is most difficult to serve them all, unless the
Missionaries who work there are assisted by others."

Father White appears frequently in the history of the
mission at this time, and especially under Glengarry,
where he had his chief abode, and where he died in 1679.
It must suffice here to give the character of him as pre
sented by Mr Alexander Winster, the Superior of the
Mission, in his Report for 1668. He says : " Francis
White, an Irishman, aged 45, studied Philosophy and
Theology at St Lazarre, Paris, in the Congregation of the
Mission, and was there ordained priest. In the High
lands of Scotland, where he has laboured for fifteen
years, he has shown himself to be a priest most ready
to undergo labours and poverty, and to be most zealous
for the salvation of souls. The Highlands indeed owe
him a great deal."

In the same Report the Prefect speaks of the Catholic
school in Barra, and regrets that in seventeen years the
schools in Glengarry and Barra had given no fit student
to the Mission. He proposes to start a school in the

8 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Enzie instead. However, in 1700, Bishop Nicolson
speaks of the school in Barra, but after that date we
hear no more about it.

Our next source of information is dated 1671, when
Mr Francis Macdonel l reports : " The Isle of Barra is
six miles long and three broad. The landlord is the
Laird of Macneil ; there are about 1,000 Catholics in it,
amongst whom is the laird himself. Father George
Fanning, a Dominican, labours here with good results.
This father, according to the Procurator of the Mission,
has no patents or faculties from the Sacred Congregation.
His ground for staying there must be either the privileges
of his Order or else because he believes that these people,
being as it were abandoned and in extreme necessity
of Sacraments, any priest may come to their assistance.
This is indeed one of the strongest arguments urged by
almost all those working in these British Isles and also
in England ; and they claim to have a right to continue
their functions and their work, all the more as they
persuade themselves that recourse to Borne is either
impossible or unnecessary, and that the delays of that
Court are intolerable. For these reasons they think
that they should not leave those souls to perish. How
ever, these and similar views are creeping in very fast,
and if they are not remedied by giving them Superiors,
very few will in time have recourse to the Holy See."

There is much more of interest in this Report, which
is, accordingly, reprinted here in part.

1 The name Macdonald appears in various forms, and frequently
the name of the same person is written differently in different
documents. I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to retain the
spelling in the documents themselves, even at the risk of apparent
inconsistency.

BARRA 9

'« Father FRANCIS MACDONEL to Monsignor BALDESCHI,
Secretary of Propaganda.

"ARMAGH, IQth July, 1671.

- When I heard that His Grace the Primate of Ireland
had received from the Sacred Congregation the care of
the Scottish Islands, or Hebrides, I hastened hither to
Armagh from the Isles, in order that I might suggest
how the Faith might be propagated in those islands.
Grace himself greatly desired this summer to return
there with me, but I was of the contrary opinion, in
asmuch as a report has spread of the arrival of the
French, whom the Scots are said to favour, so that if his
Grace the Primate were to go there, every one would
think that he had come to prepare the way for the French.
It is for this same reason that no Missionaries are to be
sent there this summer, as the news of their arrival would
at once get abroad and they would be cast into prison.
For it is proposed to effect the union of the two kingdoms
of England and Scotland in one Parliament, to which
union the Islesmen are strongly opposed. Now, if the
Primate were to visit them, it would at once be said,
that he came to foster the opposition to this union.

-The best and safest method of propagating the
Catholic religion in these Islands, and of strengthening
it for the future, is to select some youths and to send
them to Rome, or to the seminaries on the Continent,
to be educated and promoted to the priesthood. Being
natives, these may later do much good in the Isles and
will be more gladly welcomed there. Meantime, his
Grace the Primate should send thither some Irish priests
or religious, since the people of these islands understand

10 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

nothing but Gaelic and they can hope for spiritual
assistance from none but the Irish, since the Scots
(Scoto-Angli) speak a corrupt form of English, and
experience has long since proved that they afford no
spiritual help to the Isles.

" Moreover, so small an allowance as fifty scudi l is not
sufficient for the Missionaries destined for that field
of labour. A priest must support, besides himself, one
and perhaps two servants to carry the sacred vestments,
books and other things from place to place. Now, what
are fifty scudi a year amongst two or three ? Certainly
were I not related to the Lords MacDonell, who have
great influence in these islands, I could not have sub
sisted there until now. Father George Fanning also,
of the Order of Friars Preachers, would have perished
from hunger before now, were it not that he lived with
the Laird of Barra. He has not received a sixpence from
the Sacred Congregation for the past eight years, although
he has laboured much and with great fruit. I myself
have received nothing for two and a half years, and
three years allowance will be due me next February.
The Sacred Congregation only gave me one vestment,
when two were very necessary, for the journey has often
to be made from island to island, and there is great danger
and difficulty in taking vestments between the five islands
where there are Catholics. Indeed there should be one
set of vestments in each island, so that the priest be
saved the labour and the danger of carrying them about.

" From my receiving no answer to them, I conclude
that my various letters to the Sacred Congregation have

1 Five scudi were worth £1.

BARRA 11

been lost on the way, and hence in future I shall write
through His Grace the Primate, and I shall hope for the
reply also through him. It would greatly help our
Mission if a letter were sent to the Marquis of Antrim,
who is of the family of MacDonell, and has many
followers in the Isles ; also it would be a good thing
to write to the most noble Donald MacDonell, Chief of
Clanranald, for though he externally professes to be a
heretic, still he is very well disposed towards us and has
a great number of Catholic dependents ; lastly it would
be of great service to write to the illustrious Gillerane
MacNeil, of Barra, who is a Catholic."

The Report of the Archbishop is almost a repetition
of the points suggested by Father Macdonel. It will
be noted that the Archbishop himself reported un
favourably of the proposal to place the Scottish Hebrides
under the jurisdiction of the See of Armagh, and his
reasons as given below are cogent enough. Presumably
nothing further was heard of the proposal, though at a
later date we find Bishop Nicolson placing one Vicar-
General over the Highland priests, and another over the
Irish of his vicariate. With the appointment of a
separate bishop for the Highlands in 1731, such a measure
ceased to be of any use. After giving a list of the larger
islands and their dimensions the Archbishop states :

" The proprietors of the Islands possess vast dominions
on the mainland of Scotland, of which the inhabitants
are much inclined towards the Catholic Faith, whereof
they retain many signs and rites ; whilst they dislike the
Protestant ministers, even though the lairds follow that
creed for political reasons.

12 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" On this point the Procurator of the Missions has
considered the advisability of NOT separating these
Missions from those of the mainland of Scotland since
the Lairds are able, so long as the Missions are thus
united, better to protect them and to prevent discord.
Besides, those gentlemen, not being able to learn dis
tinctions of jurisdiction, desire the Missionaries, accord
ing as there is need, sometimes to go to the mainland
and sometimes to the Islands, and if they were to decline
to do so, they would run the risk either of being removed
from the Mission, or at least deprived of protection.
The fact is that the Lairds rule these people very
despotically and the Missionaries must not offend them
if they wish to live there.

" In the Islands wheat is not indigenous, but there is
barley, oats and spelt. Oxen, cows, horses, flocks and
deer abound, also fish and birds in great variety, and a
great quantity of fish are caught. In these islands are
no woods and no fruit trees on account of the violence of
the sea winds, especially the north winds, which burn
and cut up everything."

The writer goes on to describe the ordinary food,
which is just as stated by Father Dugan. He also speaks
of the poverty of the priests and of their hardships, and
adds : " Whence one can gather that no stranger Mission
aries will be found willing to come to the assistance of
these people, to whose hardships they either cannot or
will not accustom themselves, as experience shows only
too plainly. Hence there remains but one means of
helping them, and that is by schools in which youths
may be taught here. For if the boys are sent away from
the islands, we run the risk of their never returning any

BARRA 13

more after they have tasted the delights of Italy, France
or Flanders. Indeed it will exceed our expectations
if those who have been brought up there will be willing
to return to teach, without the inducement of a good
salary.

" The Archbishop of Armagh writes that the best
method of propagating the Faith in these islands is, first,
to send there Missionaries knowing the Gaelic language,
well grounded in virtue, and inflamed with zeal for souls.
The Procurator of the Mission, however, is of opinion
that the Irish are scarcely fitted to minister there, inas
much as there would be danger of the jealousy of the
Royal Council, and if this were aroused, the liberty now
enjoyed would be lost. Hence it is necessary for many
very important reasons to do everything as far as possible
by means of priests of their own nation, and to leave the
jurisdiction over these people with those who are Scotch
by nationality, and that the Irish be there as their
assistants.

" Secondly to send youths of that nation to be educated
in parts beyond the sea, who would be more acceptable
to these people than foreigners. On this point is copied
in extenso the reflection made thereon by the Procurator
of the Mission, who says : ' You would hardly believe
the affection which these people bear towards their com
patriots, and the facility with which they lose that title,
inasmuch as those who go away, and are educated out
side their Highlands, are no longer considered such, and
are called Anglo- Scotch. Hence it is most necessary
that the youths be taught on the spot the knowledge
necessary for Sacred Orders.' '

Regarding the statement that there are no trees in

14 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

these islands, it is noteworthy that this want has partly
been supplied by Nature herself, a very large amount of
timber being washed ashore on the west coast of the
islands. This is no doubt due to a great extent to the
influence of the Gulf Stream, which washes ashore the
timber from many a vessel which has been wrecked in
the gales of the Atlantic. For generations this was the
free gift of Nature to the islanders, but not many years
ago the Board of Inland Revenue declared such timber
to come under their control, and it is now sold by
Government.

What is said above about the jealousy of the Privy
Council of Scotland as regards Irish influence is better
understood when one remembers that only twenty-five
years before, Montrose had, time after time, defeated the
forces of the Covenant — and of the Government — by
the aid of his Irish veterans, sent to him by the Marquis
of Antrim, of whom mention is also made in the fore
going.

Our next source of information regarding Catholic life
in Barra is the report of Mr William Leslie, written after
his Visitation in 1678. He is always entertaining, and
his description of the lairds of Barra is quite in accord
ance with all we know of the history of that clan. What
would Propaganda have said if a case of "priest-stealing"
had come before them ? He says : " Having attended
to the most important affairs of the Catholics of Canna,
we embarked for the Isle of Barra. The wind failed us
and night came on, and with the night, a thick heavy fog,
so that the sailors themselves lost their bearings, and we
were in a pitiable plight. I proposed that as the summer
night was short they should not row, but should wait for

BARRA 15

the daylight when the sun might pierce the mist. The
Skipper however pretended that he knew the course,
and wanted the sailors to take to their oars. Others
wanted to follow a different course, and being contra
dicted by the Skipper and by Munro, they threw down
their oars, and putting their hands on their weapons
prepared for a murderous fight. This lasted for some
time. The danger was that we might pass the Islands
and be carried out into the ocean, where in an open
boat without a compass we might drift to America or
Nova Zembla, and would all certainly be lost. What
was at the bottom of the trouble was that another boat
steered by the best Skipper in the country had followed
another course, and now they were sorry they had not
done so too.

" In the end the sailors again took to their oars and
rowed on, not caring where they might land, or whether
they never landed at all. With that the mist began to
lift and the Island of Uist appeared close at hand. I set
myself to rouse their spirits, telling them to keep the
island in sight till daybreak ; this they did, but they were
hard put to it through hunger and the long watch, yet
before sunrise we landed on a small islet and rested there
some hours. About nine o'clock in the morning we
landed in Uist and after having taken some refreshment
we sailed to the Isle of Eriska, where we stayed eight
days. We were well received and kindly entertained by
an old lady, the widow of the former Laird of Moydart.
Here we ministered the rites of holy religion as usual
to all the Catholics, who came in crowds from far
and near.

" Having engaged a boat we sailed to the island of

16 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Barra. Here we stayed thirteen days, treated right
royally in various parts of the island, but particularly
by the Chief in his strong castle of Kismula.1 This is a
huge building, reared on a great rock and completely
surrounded by the sea. Whatever member of the family
is in possession of it, even though not the eldest, is
regarded as Chief of the whole island. I visited every
district, and the Sacraments were administered and all
the services held for the benefit of the Catholics, who
gathered round us every day with equal joy to them and
to us. When we were on the point of leaving, the inhabi
tants showed themselves much displeased with Munro,
because he would not remain with them, and if I had not
been with him, I firmly believe that they would have kept
him by force. Indeed they had some idea of keeping me,
imagining that since I was an official of the Pope, if they
retained me in their power, they could make a treaty with
His Holiness to obtain priests from him as the ransom of
his delegate. I had as much as I could do, even backed
by the Laird, to escape from them, and then, only by
promising to go to Kome and throw myself at the feet of
His Holiness and put before him their neglected con
dition and their spiritual needs. At length after much
weeping and many laments they agreed that I should
depart, and Munro with me, but they swore blood-

1 An interesting prophecy is connected with Castlebay. It
stated that the MacNeils would be lairds of Barra until the bay
was a forest of trees. The bay is nearly a mile square, and very
deep in parts, so that there seemed little chance of its becoming
a forest, or of the MacNeils ceasing to be lairds of Barra.
However, they sold their whole property some fifty years ago.
It might seem that the prophecy had failed, therefore, but that is
not so. Nowadays in the fishing season the bay is so crowded with
boats that a person standing on the hill which overlooks it sees
nothing but the masts of the fishing fleet — a very forest of trees.

BARRA 17

curdling oaths that if they did not get a priest of their
own and Munro or any other came to the island, he would
not be allowed to leave, except by swimming, as he would
get no boat. They swore that they would sooner burn
their boats than let another priest leave in one. Indeed
it would be quite in keeping with the character of these
Islanders that they would send an expedition to steal
the priest of a neighbouring locality, and this would be
the cause of deadly enmity between them."

Mr Leslie estimated the number of Catholics in the
Highlands at 12,000, with three or four priests, all of
them except one from Ireland. From other sources we
know these priests to have been Fathers Francis White;
George Fanning, Francis Macdonel and Robert Munro.
It was largely owing to the representations of Mr Leslie
that the first Vicar Apostolic for Scotland was appointed
in the person of Bishop Nicolson. As has so often
happened in the history of the Church, men of re
markable ability have been found for posts which
appear to have been called into existence at the very
moment when these men were at hand to fill them.
Such a man was Bishop Thomas Nicolson, such also
was Bishop James Gordon, his coadjutor and later his
successor.

Bishop Nicolson' s episcopate began with trouble.
Consecrated in 1695 at Paris, where he was in exile, he
was delayed a year and a half in Holland, waiting for a
favourable opportunity of crossing to England. At last
he arrived in London in November, 1696, only again to
be cast into prison, where he was detained for six months.
In July, 1697, he arrived in Edinburgh and undertook the
duties of his office. In September of that year he wrote

18 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

to Propaganda : "I have not as yet been able to visit
the Highlands districts, where I fear the labourers are
few and the harvest abundant. ... An attempt was
lately made to establish schools in the Highlands, but less
successfully than we anticipated, for the whole of that
country is full of garrisons, and the missioners are not
permitted to live in one place, which is greatly to our
disadvantage. Experience has taught us that in certain
districts of the North, where the protection of a great
noble, or a less hostile attitude on the part of the people,
have made it possible for priests to reside, matters go
much better, for every day a certain number are
reconciled to the Church."

In the year 1699 Bishop Nicolson commenced his
visitation of the Highlands, and in 1700 he completed it.
In his official Report, he says : " Our party arrived in
Barra on the 10th of July. The island is six miles long,
productive of good crops of corn, with very rich grazing.
The lord of the island, who was very zealous, received the
Bishop with great respect. The people, who are excellent,
really deserve a good priest but we had only one of the
Franciscans escaped from Ireland to place there until
God should provide otherwise. In Barra there are the
ruins of two or three churches and of a priory at Kilbar.
There are six other inhabited islands, which belong to
Barra, and there is a chapel in each. Of these Vatersay
is the largest, with a circumference of five miles, while
there are fourteen other smaller islands that are only
used for pasturage."

Unfortunately Bishop Nicolson does not tell us the
name of the Franciscan whom he left in Barra, but from
Mr Thomson's list we know it to have been Mr Carolan.

BARRA 19

As he had come to the Highland Mission in 1687, there is
good reason to believe that he was in Barra all that time,
since at that period the priests moved about very
little from one district to another, though within
their own district they were always on the move. In
1728 Father Kelly, another Franciscan, was in Barra,
and as he came to the mission in 1725 this latter is
probably the date of his arrival in Barra. He was
certainly there in 1730, and also in 1736, when he was
succeeded by Mr James Grant.

Mr Grant was still in Barra in 1746, when he was
arrested and imprisoned in Inverness. After undergoing
great hardships, he was liberated in May, 1747, upon
condition that he would present himself when called,
which he never was. The most ample testimonials were
given by the minister and other Protestants of Barra,
of his peaceable and inoffensive demeanour during the
time of the Rising. His health had suffered severely
from the hardships of his imprisonment, and he never
returned to the Isles. From 1755 to 1766 he was
coadjutor of the Lowland district, and in the latter
year he succeeded Bishop Smith as Vicar Apostolic.
He died in 1778.

For some years previous to 1762 Mr ^Eneas Macdonell
was priest in Barra, but he died at the early age of thirty-
six, in the tenth year of his priesthood, having come to
the Mission in 1752. For a couple of years there was no
resident priest, or, as Abbate Grant puts it, " they have
been deprived of a priest since the death of Mr ^Eneas
Macdonell, except such assistance as Diana and Tiberiop.
can give them " (Bishops Hugh and John MacDonald).
In 1765 Mr Alexander MacDonald was the priest of

20 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Barra, where he remained until his election as Vicar
Apostolic of the Highland District in 1779. Mr Allan
Macdonell (senior) succeeded, and in 1783 his congrega
tion numbered 1504, according to Bishop Alexander
MacDonald's Report. He was soon after appointed to
the Seminary, where he died, very piously, in 1788.
Mr James Allan Macdonell (junior) was here for some
years, and it was during the time that he was priest in
Barra that there was considerable friction between him
self and the laird. Bishop John Chisholm, writing in
1799, does not mention the question in dispute, but says :
" Since I wrote you, I have received two letters from Mr
Allan, of which one is very long and which I shall bring
for your perusal. In it he gives some light relative to
his innocence and Barra's persecution. Barra's conduct
from first to last is of a more black complexion than I
at first imagined. He is very unjust to me and to him.
Mr Ranald McEachan came over to give me any informa
tion he could relative to the subject, and returns to
morrow with a worse idea of McNeill than he had when
he left home." From the " Life of Bishop Hay " we learn
that when the matter was taken to court in Edinburgh
the Lord Advocate befriended Mr Allan and considered
the complaint lodged by McNeill to be trivial.

From 1805 to 1825 Mr Angus Macdonald was in Barra.
He was born in 1760 and was ordained in 1785. After his
long stay in the Isles, he was sent, in 1826, to Rome, as
rector of the Scots College. During his residence the Barra
congregation attained to numbers which it has probably
never since equalled. Bishop Ranald MacDonald states,
in his Report for the year 1822, that "Mr ^Eneas Macdonald
is in Barra. He is GO years of age and two years ago

BARRA 21

counted 2,600 Catholics in his district, of whom 200
emigrated last year." About this date we have interest
ing evidence how completely Catholic Barra has always
been. The Old Statistical Account of 1797 states that
" St Barr is the Patron of the island and has given to
it his name. The 25th Sept. is dedicated to his memory,
and is observed as a holiday. On this day the priest
says Mass and all those of the Romish religion used
punctually to attend. After Mass the people amused
themselves with horseracing and spent the evening in
mirth and conviviality." Of late years this custom has
been much on the decline. The same account gives
eloquent testimony to the Catholicity of Barra. " The
population in 1755 was 1,150, and in 1793, 1,604. The
number of Protestants has always been so small that it
was thought unnecessary to put the heritor to the expense
of building a church. There is no manse."

Here may be fittingly inserted the testimony of Bishop
John Chisholm regarding the Catholics of the Hebrides,
and especially those of Barra. Writing in 1804, he says :
" Many of the Catholics [of his vicariate] lead excellent
lives and are most steadfast in the Faith. Some how
ever, who live among non-Catholics or are near cities are
less careful in their lives and less firm in the Faith.
Those in the Western Isles and especally in the islands
round Barra are splendid Catholics, who in the innocence
of their lives and the firmness of their faith resemble the
early Christians, and have the greatest horror of heresy."

The later priests have been Mr Neil Macdonald (1825-
1835), Mr William Mackintosh (1835-1839), Mr Donald
Macdonald (1839-1851), Mr Colin Macpherson (1851-
1855), Mr William Macdonell (1856-1867). It was he who

22 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

built the "new" chapel at Craigston, of which it was said,
at the time of its opening : " It can bear a fair comparison
with the best of our Highland churches." This chapel
was built on the same site as the previous one,
which was longer, lower and narrower. One of the
oldest residents has kindly supplied me with details of
the building operations at Craigston — then the only
church in Barra : " All the able-bodied Catholics in the
island worked and laboured in one way or another at the
building, even small boys did their bit. The boys brought
cockle shells from ' Traigh Mhor ' in creels or baskets
on the backs of the Barra ponies. These shells were
burned into lime. A smack with lime and slates landed
a cargo at Castlebay. This cargo was conveyed to Craig
ston in the same manner. All the heavy wood used for
couples and joists was drift wood washed ashore from
the Atlantic. Stones were brought in large quantities by
fishing boats from the islands of Vatersay and Sandray,
and at high tide were dropped on beaches at Borve
and Craigston. They were conveyed to the building
by Father Macdonell's cart and another belonging to a
merchant in Castlebay, for the Crofters of Barra had no
carts at this time. Father Macdonell collected as much
money as he could amongst his Congregation ; but this,
I believe, did not amount to very much, as money was
scarce here in those days. Father Macdonell also
collected money in Glasgow and elsewhere. I am told
that the cost of the building was £700 over and above
the free labour given."

After Mr William Macdonell Mr John Macdonald was
priest (1867-1883), and he was succeeded by Rev. (now
Canon) Chisholm (1883-1903). Canon Chisholm built a

< -^

BARRA 23

very pretty little chapel in the island of Mingulay, but in
consequence of the regulations of the Congested Districts
Board it is no longer used, the whole population of
Mingulay having been transferred elsewhere.

Canon Chisholm's chief work, however, was building
a new church at Castlebay. In 1887 he appealed as
follows : — " The want of a second church in the island has
been greatly felt for some time past. The present church
which is seated for 500 does not give more than half the
accommodation which the Congregation would require,
since it numbers over 2,200 and in summer during the
fishing season it is increased by at least 400 more. It
is useless therefore to suppose that one priest can attend
to the spiritual wants of such a large congregation widely
spread as it is over a group of eight different islands, the
approach to which is not only a difficult, but a very
dangerous task. It is self evident therefore that the
building of a new church and presbytery has now become
a matter of the greatest necessity." This appeal was
accompanied by a very strong recommendation from
Bishop Angus Macdonald, who was always so zealous in
building fresh churches, and in furthering any proposals
for advancing the interests of the Catholic Church in his
diocese.

Two years later an extremely pretty church was opened,
and we can forgive the reverend gentleman the touch of
pride when he saw his work completed, and wrote :
" The church is beautiful in design, and the workmanship
is substantial enough to withstand the Hebridean gales
for a century or two to come. The site is extremely well
chosen, resting on the crest of a rugged and steep crag,
overlooking the village of Castlebay, and the historic

24 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

castle of the warlike MacNeils. It will be a landmark
for the daring fishermen of Barra, as they venture to
and from their deep-sea excursions . . . the church even
now, in its unfinished state can fairly claim to be second
to no edifice erected for divine worship from the Butt of
Lewis to the wave-worn cliffs of Barrahead."

Canon Chisholm henceforth had charge of the new
church at Castlebay, to which he later added a good
substantial house. He was succeeded in turn by Rev.
William MacMaster, Rev. Donald Martin, and Rev. Hugh
Cameron. Rev. William MacMaster had the satisfaction
of finishing the work begun by his predecessor and of ex
tinguishing a heavy debt on the church and presbytery.

The older chapel at Craigston was attended by Rev.
Angus Macdonald (1889-1893) and Rev. William
Mackenzie (1893-1913), who in 1906 opened a third
church at North Bay, five miles from Craigston. It
is a pretty little building, and a great convenience to
the numerous congregation around it. Near by are the
hallowed ruins of old St Barr, or Kilbarr, where may be
seen the remains of the old altar, and in a recess near the
entrance the holy water stoup, bearing silent yet eloquent
witness to the unchanged faith of Barra. By the death
of Father Mackenzie, in 1914, the Highlands lost one of
their most devoted and industrious priests — one indeed
whose life had been shortened by his constant labours
and by his utter unselfishness. I well remember the last
time I met him — at the blessing of the memorial to the
late Father Allan Macdonald, of Eriskay, who had been
his lifelong friend — and two more worthy men it would
be hard to find. The morning proved so stormy that it
was with difficulty that I could get a boat to cross from

BARRA 25

South Uist to Eriskay, whither Father Mackenzie and
the rest of the clergy had gone the previous evening.
When at length I managed to secure a boat, the crossing
was lively enough. The piper who had come with me
started his lament, the strains of which could only be
heard on shore as the little boat rose on the crest of the
great waves. The effect to those gathered outside the
Eriskay chapel was very striking.

The storm was far too severe to permit the outside
function to proceed, and though the memorial stone was
blessed quietly in the afternoon there was no possibility
of any of the clergy crossing to the other islands to get
home. On the following day the gale still continued, but
the different priests— there were seven of us — were bound
to return to their respective parishes. Father Mackenzie
and a young priest on holiday were seven hours in an
open boat crossing home from Eriskay to Barra. They
had no shelter from the wind and waves, so that on
reaching their destination the younger priest had to be
carried ashore in so exhausted a condition that it was
many days before he recovered from the effects of the
voyage. Such was but one incident in the life Father
Mackenzie led, but it made me realise that though some
things may have changed for the better since the days of
the early missionaries, the storms of which they com
plained are still very severe, and the life of the priest in
the Outer Hebrides is now, as ever, one of no little danger
and self-sacrifice. NON NOBIS, DOMINE, NON NOBIS, SED

NOMINI TUO DA GLORIAM.

SOUTH UIST

FATHER DERMIT DUG AN,1 whose letter has been quoted
at length in the preceding chapter, arrived in Scotland
in 1652 and proceeded to the Hebrides, where he was
received "as an angel from Heaven " by the laird and
people alike. Father Dugan laboured with great zeal
in this district, but his strength gave way, and he died
only five years after his arrival. His death is thus de
scribed : " There still remained an island named Pabba
(six miles south of Barra) which he had not visited. It
was a wild and weird place. The inhabitants were not
attached to any heresy, but they were totally without
instruction. Father Dugan hoped to bring numbers of
them to the practice of religion. He had his prepara
tions made for setting out to Pabba on May 10th, 1657,
but his strength failed him. He fell ill and died in the
Island of Uist on 17th of the same month. The people
amongst whom he ministered long mourned his loss ;
they revered him as a Saint, and gave his name to the
chapel where his remains were laid to rest."

The next island to Pabba is Sandray, which I remember
visiting under strange circumstances. I was staying with
Kev. Hugh Cameron, then priest of Barra, when a sick call
came from Sandray, asking the priest to visit that island.

1 He appears in Gordon's "Catholic Church in Scotland,"
pp. xv. and 627, as Dermit Grey, but his own letters to Propa
ganda, of which several are extant, give his name as Dugan.

26

SAXDRAY CROFTERS

To face page 27

SOUTH UIST 27

He invited me to accompany him, so we started off
together in an open sailing boat. When we reached the
little bay, which is the only landing-place in the island,
we had no small difficulty in scaling the cliffs to reach
the row of cottages which overlooked the sea. It was
an ideal October day, and the view from the cliffs out
to sea was very beautiful. The cottage, where lived
the old lady who was ill, was most scrupulously clean,
and she herself had that air of dignity and refinement
which one so often meets in the Highlands. As a child
she had lived in Sandray, but her parents had been
evicted, and throughout her life she longed to return
to the green crops and the heather-clad slopes of the
island. She had no family. A niece of hers married
and went to Sandray with her. A short time previously
her nephew, without asking leave of laird, factor or
anyone else, had sailed across from Barra with his
few sheep and other effects and had settled on the old
family croft. He rebuilt the house, sowed his plot of
potatoes, and was joined by two other cousins with their
families. The children were the nearest approach to
angels in human form that Father Cameron or I had ever
seen. There were four of them — the only children on
the island — and the happiness and joy of life which shone
in their faces was a real pleasure to behold. How long the
party of squatters were allowed to remain, I never heard,
but the incident impressed itself deeply on my memory.
After Father Dugan's death, Father Francis White
often crossed over to Uist. Writing in 1665, he says :
I did not receive the letter of your Reverence [St
Vincent of Paul] until the month of June, because my
devoted friend and at present my Superior, Mr Winster,

28 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

did not wish, to risk it, not knowing where I might be,
for since last September he had heard nothing from me.
I was indeed very far from him in the Western Islands
all that time, and so had no chance of writing to
him."

In 1671 Father Francis Macdonell was priest in Uist,
and he sent a lengthy report on the state of the Catholic
religion in the Hebrides to the Archbishop of Armagh,
who forwarded it to Eome. It has been quoted at length
in the preceding chapter. Father Macdonell came to the
Highlands in 1667, and was still there in 1677. Later
Father Robert Munro included Uist in his wide field of
labour. He was acting as Dean at the time of Bishop
Nicolson's visit in 1700. Of his visit to Uist the good
Bishop writes : " About midday of June 23rd, which
was Sunday, we landed at Loch Eynort in Uist, where
Mass was said in a tent which we erected on the beach.
Towards evening we went to the house of the laird at
Ormaclate, and were received with many marks of kind
ness by his lady in the absence of the Chief of Clanranald,
whom we had left on the mainland. ... In South Uist
all the people were Catholics, except about forty persons,
who attend the Minister's chapel. At twelve stations
such as presented themselves were confirmed, the numbers
reaching over 800. We were greatly pleased with the
kindness of the Chief of Clanranald and of his lady."
Father Munro, mentioned above, had come on the mission
in 1672. In this same Report, Bishop Nicolson mentions
that there were three schools in the Highlands, one in Uist,
one in Barra, one in Morar in Arisaig.

The year after this Visitation we find Fathers Shiel
and M'Fie in Uist, but as their names only appear in the

SOUTH UIST 29

list of clergy for that one year, we must assume that they
were of the number of those priests who came from
Ireland, and who in many cases could not stand the very
trying conditions which prevailed in the Highlands.

The next priest who is directly connected with Uist
is Mr Alexander Paterson, who was certainly there in
1728, having at that time been twelve years in the
Highland Mission. Mr Paterson was still in Uist in 1733,
and probably also in 1734, as in this latter year he was
transferred to Strathbogie. He was succeeded by Mr
Alexander Forester, a truly wonderful priest, whose
record is thus told by Abbe Macpherson :

Alexander Forester entered the Scots College, Rome,
in 1727, at the age of twenty-six, and left it priest in 1732.
He arrived that same year on the mission, and was charged
with the care of the Catholics of Uist. In 1746 he was
taken prisoner, and carried up to London, where he
remained, aboard a man-of-war, for six months. He
thereafter was removed to Newgate Prison. At last he
was banished for life, and arrived in Paris in the autumn
of 1747. Here he continued till the summer of the
following year, though he ardently desired to return
immediately to his flock, who, he knew, stood greatly in
need of his assistance ; bat he could not undertake the
journey for want of money to defray the expenses. After
many petitions, he at last got a small sum from Propaganda
for that purpose, and immediately set out. He arrived
safely,- and immediately took up his quarters in Uist,
where he was much beloved, and where he did a vast
amount of good. This excited the jealousy and spleen
of the Presbyterian ministers, who accused him of plotting
against Government, and of recruiting men for the French

30 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

and for the Pretender. They even procured an order
to bring a party of soldiers to the island with a view to
apprehending him. He was well aware that should they
succeed in their design, even his life might be in danger,
not on account of their calumnies, which they could never
prove, and which he could show to be false, but because
he had returned from perpetual banishment, to which
he had been condemned under pain of death. For this
consideration all his friends advised him to retire. He
again left his numerous flock, absconded amongst the
hills, until he found an opportunity of passing over to
Ireland in 1754, from whence he returned to Edinburgh
almost immediately. After a few months, hearing that
the soldiers had left the island, and that the Presbyterian
ministers had become more remiss in their search for him,
he returned to his charge, where he continued to labour
with great zeal, for many years thereafter. Abbe
Macpherson adds : " I have not learned the date of his
death." This, however, took place in December, 1780,
when the venerable priest had attained the age of
seventy- nine, having been forty- eight years on the
Highland Mission, and almost the whole of that period
in Uist.

Several notices are extant concerning the life of Mr
Forester. In 1763, Abbate Grant, agent in Rome, stated
in his Report that " when it was at all possible there were
always two priests in Uist ; now on account of the great
dearth of Missionaries they have to do with one, Mr
Alexander Forester, a truly saintly man but advanced
in years, being over 60. He had been an Alumnus of
the Scots College, Rome."

Bishop John Macdonald, writing in 1766, states that

SOUTH UIST 31

he himself had been stationed in Uist almost ever since
he came to the Highland Mission (1755) till he was made
Bishop in 1761.

In 1766 Mr Wynn had recently arrived in Uist, accord
ing to Bishop John Macdonald's letter to Propaganda,
where he says : "Mr Wynn is indeed a laborious and
willing man, and behaves to everybody's satisfaction,
for which he shall receive all the kindness we can show
him. He is settled with Mr Forester in South Uist,
where he has enough to do, his companion being now old
and infirm, so that the chief weight must be upon him,
which he bears very cheerfully." Mr Wynn left Uist
in 1770, "to our great disappointment," writes Bishop
Macdonald ; but the times were too difficult for him,
since during his years there was begun in Uist the most
remarkable persecution of the Catholics, of which there
is record in modern times.

It appears that the laird of Boisdale, Alasdair Mor
Macdonald, was publicly censured by the priest because
he had compelled his people to work on St Michael's
Day, the patron saint of the island, and celebrated by the
people as a holiday of obligation. The priest ordered
Boisdale out of the church, at that period a frequent
penance, and one which was well understood to mean
a temporary punishment. On the following Sunday
persons so punished would return to church as usual, but
Boisdale never returned. So far both accounts which I
have received agree. The Directory of 1851, however,
states that it was Mr Wynn who rebuked Boisdale, and
places Mr Wynn's residence in Uist " between 1715 and
1730." Now we have Bishop Macdonald's own state
ment that Mr Wynn was priest in Uist between 1766

32 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

and 1770. Did this incident then really occur between
these latter dates ?

Certain it is that Boisdale, who in his earlier years had
been a Catholic, began about 1768 violently to persecute
his former co-religionists. To such a length did he go
that Bishop Macdonald and the clergy brought the
miserable state of their people before Bishop Hay, who
in their interest issued a public Memorial drawing atten
tion to their sufferings. In view of the position of
Bishop Hay at the time, and of the fact that the Memorial
was given full publication, there can be no doubt about
the truth of the statements therein contained. The
Memorial is here given almost in full, only two copies of
it being known to exist.

-'MEMORIAL for the suffering Catholicks in a violent
persecution for religion at present carried on in
one of the WESTERN ISLANDS of SCOTLAND.

" An example unheard of in our days /

" The Island of South Uist, one of the largest of the
Western Islands of Scotland, is the property partly of
Clanranald and partly of his cousin-german Macdonald
of Boisdale. This last, besides what he possesses as his
own property, has also very large tracts of land in lease,
from his cousin Clanranald, so that he may have between
250 and 300 families of tenantry under him, all of the
Roman Catholic religion as all their predecessors before
them had been. Boisdale himself was baptized, and in
his younger days brought up in the same Church, but is
now a Protestant. About two years ago, he took the
resolution to cause all the people under him to embrace

SOUTH UIST 33

the Protestant religion and to extinguish the old religion
entirely as far as his power reached.

" To do this his first step was to invite all the children
in the neighbourhood to learn English and writing with
a Presbyterian preceptor whom he engaged in his family
for the education of his own children. This the poor
people, suspecting no harm, gladly agreed to, and numbers
of children were sent accordingly ; but how greatly were
their parents astonished, when after some time they
understood that the most shocking methods had been
used to corrupt their children ! That impious blas
phemies had been daily inculcated into them against
their religion ; that wicked, immoral and even im
modest sentences had been given to be copied over by
those who could write, and that when the time of Lent
came, in the year 1770, flesh meat was forced into the
mouths of those who refused to eat it, in contempt of
the laws and practice of the Church in that holy
season.

" No sooner were the parents apprised of these things,
than with one accord they called their children home,
and absolutely refused to allow them to frequent such a
school any longer. This exasperated Boisdale to the
highest degree ; he stormed and threatened to eject
them out of their lands, but the poor people preferred
their duty to God, and the peace of their own consciences
to the fear of man, and disregarded all his threats in such
a cause. Boisdale, suspecting that their pastors had
encouraged them to this conduct, turned his fury against
them ; forbid them ever to set foot in his lands, or exer
cise any of their functions amongst his people, threatened
them with the last dregs of his vengeance if they acted

34 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

otherwise, and to treat them with indignity with his own
hands wherever he should meet them. These gentlemen,
for prudence sake, kept retired for a little time, where
the necessity of their duty did not call them ; in the hope
that a little cool reflection would mitigate his anger, and
make him more moderate. But it was all in vain, he
still continued fixed in his purpose, whilst the poor people,
though exposed to every sort of maltreatment from him,
were resolute in suffering all, rather than act against
their consciences, so that not a single person yielded.
At last, some time before Whit-Sunday 1770, he calls
all his tenants together, and tells them, that he had
taken his final resolution, and had drawn up a paper in
English which he would read to them in their own
language, and was determined that either they should
sign the paper, or be thrown out of their holdings. He
then read this paper to them, which to their utter amaze
ment, they found to contain a solemn renunciation of
their religion, and a promise under oath, never more to
go near a priest.

" The poor people were shocked to hear such a pro
posal made to them ; but he, persisting in requiring them
to agree to it, or leave his lands, they made not the
slightest hesitation on the part they had to act, but to a
man, renounced his service, and gave up their lands,
resolved to beg their bread from door to door, rather
than be guilty of such impieties. This was a step he
did not expect, and which quite confounded him, for he
was sensible, that if he should let them go, his lands must
lie waste for want of inhabitants. Upon this, finding
himself forced to yield, he called them back and offered
to give them terms. The first he proposed was, that he

SOUTH UIST 35

should give them no further trouble themselves, upon
account of religion, provided only they allowed their
children to be brought up Protestants ; to which they
unanimously replied, that the souls of their children were
as dear to them as their own, and that to do a thing
to their children which they believed to be prejudicial
to them, was involving their own souls in the same
destruction.

" Upon this he seemingly complied with them, and
engaged them for another year upon his lands, to give
them time, as he said, to think better on it. But no
sooner had he got them fixed than he began his former
solicitations, and endeavoured by every means he could
think of, to force them to compliance, all which they
resisted with the most heroic constancy.

"Then it was that a proposal was made to them, by
their friends on the mainland, to try to get them settle
ments in St John's Island, in America, where a gentleman
of their clan was purchasing a considerable property,
principally with the view of assisting them and others
oppressed at home. But as the poor people for the most
part were unable to transport themselves thither with
the necessary provisions, utensils, etc., they were not
willing all at once to leave their native country, in hopes
that their master would at last relent and let them live
in peace. But in this they found themselves much mis
taken, for since then he has become much worse than
before ; for finding them determined never to renounce
their religion, he has used every means in his power to
reduce them to beggary, in which he has but too well
succeeded ; and he now tells them that they must leave
his lands next Whit- Sunday, and go to America, if they

36 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

please, when lie knows that the greater part of them
have not one farthing to carry them anywhere. The
latest accounts of them are contained in a letter from
Bishop Macdonald dated the 29th of last October, of
which the following is an abstract : — ' Since every method
failed him, he betook himself to all the artful means his
malice could devise, and has reduced them in their
circumstances within these two years past to such a
degree that few of them are worth one half of the stock
they had before that time, and the greatest part of them
are reduced to beggary, with their numerous offspring
in a remote island, 30 leagues from the Continent,
not knowing what hand to turn to, and without any
means of getting out of such a goal (sic). Their distress is
still heightened by the prospect this destructive season
presents them with, whereby the generality of these
countries is threatened with destruction.' Bishop
Macdonald then enumerates the measures taken by
Boisdale to effect his end ; 1° — by raising their rents to
three- and fourfold what they formerly were ; 2° — keeping
them in constant agitation, and that at the busiest time
of the year, so that they were forced to neglect their
crops ; 3° — perpetrating all kinds of oppression upon
them, while they, being 100 miles from any Justice
of the Peace, have no form of redress. He continues :
' To these oppressive measures he adds the most barbar
ous treatment of their persons, never accosting them but
by the terms ; You devil etc. : and venting such blas
phemies against every article of their religion, as makes
death more eligible to them than the having any con
nection with him. The uncommon veneration and
attachment to landlords and chieftains, for which they

SOUTH UIST 37

were remarkable, is by such barbarous treatment changed
into an extreme of terror and with one accord they
pray God to deliver them from him. Those who are the
more immediate objects of his fury and who are under
an absolute necessity of leaving him, are about thirty-
six families who dwell on those lands which are his own
personal property. The rest who are his subtenants
upon the lands he has on lease from Clanranald, amount
to about 600 souls, but with these he has not proceeded
to such violent excess ; and it is hoped that if he finds
the former taken by the hand and provided for, he may,
for fear of losing the whole, mitigate his cruelty against
the rest, and give them some better terms. Now as the
only way to provide for these heroic sufferers, is to
get them over to St John's Island, where the above-
mentioned gentleman will provide them with land on the
most advantageous terms, though it is not in his power
to carry them over ; and as it is impossible to raise such
a sum of money in their own country as would be
required for their passage, provisions, and the other
necessaries for a new colony, the only resource they
have under God, is to recommend themselves to the
charity of all well-disposed Catholics, hoping the above
plain narrative of their case will not fail to excite pity
and compassion.'

" The above Memorial is taken from authentic accounts
sent from Uist and especially from the letters of Bishop
Macdonald. As their case is very deplorable, whilst
their constancy and resolution, especially in such poor
country people, is most admirable, they are most earnestly
recommended to the charitable assistance of all good
Catholics into whose hands this relation may come, in

38 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

his own name and in the name of all his colleagues,
and of all the Missionaries of this kingdom by

"GEORGE DAULIS, Coadjutor.

"EDINBURGH, 27th November, 1771."

At the present date it may seem extraordinary that
such proceedings could take place within the limits of
the United Kingdom, but it must be remembered that
the Clan system, in which the Chief was supreme, was
still strong in the Western Highlands. He had the power
of life and death over his clansmen, and for centuries
that power had, in the main, been exercised with justice
and moderation. Although the power of the Highland
chief had been much restricted during the previous fifty
years, still it was very considerable, and moreover there
was no authority at hand to which appeal against it could
be made.

To these same causes were due in great measure the
hardships inflicted by enforced emigration, of wlu'ch
the whole of the Highlands was to be the scene for the
next half -century. Had all the emigrations been con
ducted with the same forethought as those of Glenaladale
from Uist, untold suffering would have been avoided,
and many bitter memories on both sides of the Atlantic
would have been saved. Moreover, the emigration it
self would have succeeded far better, since nothing but
tales of happiness and prosperity would have come back
to those at home, instead of the sad tales of misery which
only too often followed in the trail of enforced emigration.

Regarding the action of Boisdale it is a strange coin
cidence that his gross abuse of authority should have
occurred at the very time when, in Edinburgh and

SOUTH UIST 39

London, Government was granting large measures of
toleration, and when the bishops in their letters to Rome
speak of the favour they were enjoying from Govern
ment. Had such a misfortune fallen on these people one
hundred years earlier, what would have become of the
Catholics of Uist ?

Bishop Challoner had the Memorial printed at his own
expense and distributed amongst the English Catholics.
It had the desired effect, and everyone was much affected
by the suffering and heroic constancy of the poor High
landers. Public subscriptions were made for them in
London, and a considerable sum was thus obtained.
Bishop Macdonald and Bishop Hay united in thanking
Bishop Challoner for his " amiable behaviour," and
prayed God to reward him for his charity.

Bishop Hay also contributed largely out of his slender
means, as well as by his pen. Glenaladale writes to him ;
" I do certainly admire the extent and heroism of your
charity towards Boisdale's people; could I persuade
myself that you spared so much to them out of a super
fluity rather than out of what seems your whole, I could
easier reconcile myself to it."

In May, 1772, 210 emigrants sailed for St John's
Island : 100 from Uist ; the rest from the mainland.
They took with them enough meal for one year, and were
accompanied by Mr James Macdonald, missionary priest.
It was estimated that the cost of transporting the
emigrants would be about £1,500, all of which they later
most carefully repaid. They had a fine passage to
America, where they arrived in seven weeks, with the
loss of only one child. Mr James Macdonald sent
Bishop Hay a most favourable account of the French

40 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

colonists there, whom he represented as a set of excellent
people and good Catholics. In 1776 Bishop Hay wrote
to Bishop Geddes : " The Uist people are doing ex
tremely well in St John's Island, coming fast on, and
living already much better than at home."

After the departure of the emigrants, Clanranald
interposed and insisted on obtaiinng from Boisdale
religious toleration for the poor people who remained.
The Pope also brought the matter to the notice of the
young Duke of Gloucester, who was then living in Kome,
and instructed the Nuncio at Paris to speak to the British
Ambassador on the subject. The result was highly
favourable to the Highland Catholics. The persecution
was ended not only in Uist, but in other parts of the
Highlands, where the proprietors had begun to follow
the example of Boisdale.

Two years later, Mr Alexander Macdonald, priest of
Barra, wrote to Bishop Hay: "25th Sep. 1774. . . .
Since our late terror and persecution, Boisdale is quite
reformed, and is himself in all appearance the person
who repents most for his former doings. He grants his
people a most unlimited toleration in religious matters,
welcomes our clergy always to his family, uses them with
the utmost civility, and with the deference they are
entitled to. His condescension is so great that we are
allowed at times to perform some of our functions within
the precincts of his ' palace,' for to be serious he has
built such a genteel house, at Kilbride, South Uist, as I
never expected to see in the Long Island."

The change in Boisdale' s attitude towards the Catholic
Church did not extend so far as to return to his religious
duties ; or rather he seems to have deferred this until

SOUTH UIST 41

the last, and then the opportunity was denied him. His
son, who had earlier been remarkable for his piety, and
who was so zealous in the practice of his religion that he
used to walk each Sunday the twenty miles to the old
chapel at Gerinish, later became so bitter that he refused
to allow the priest to enter the house when Boisdale was
dying. Even the influence of Lady Macdonald, as
Boisdale's wife was called, was unavailing. She was a
daughter of M'Neil of Barra, and an excellent Catholic,
of whom it is recorded that she used to say her prayers
at the rock near Garrihellie, looking towards the chapel.
On Sundays, Boisdale would walk half-way to church
with her — she was his third wife — but she seems to have
had no power against her stepson's determined refusal.
Not only did he prevent his father from being reconciled
on his death-bed, but he inscribed upon the tombstone
that his father died a Protestant.

Like all the evicting and persecuting landlords, the
Boisdales have long since disappeared from South Uist.
Stranger still, when I was there in 1909, the " palace " of
which Boisdale had been so proud was being taken down
to build the cow-byres of recently settled crofters at
Kilbride. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren
of those evicted by Boisdale in 1770 were in many cases
reinstated by the Crofters Commission on the farm of
Kilbride about 1900. When the farm and policies had
been apportioned among the crofters, the question arose
what should be done with the house, which was still
in very fair condition. The proprietrix (Lady Cathcart)
stipulated that the house had to be pulled down, and it was
bought by Mr Mackenzie, Lochboisdale, who sold most
of the material later on. The " palace " of Boisdale was

42 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

thus taken down and the materials sold to the crofters
to be used in building their outhouses and cattle-sheds.
Sic transit gloria mundi !

Another of the past glories of Uist is the ruin of
Ormaclate Castle, the chief seat of Clanranald in the
island. The present imposing ruin was built by Captain
Allan Macdonald, who was killed at Sheriffmuir. It was
here that Bishop Nicolson was entertained by the
Catholic laird and his lady in 1700. To show the
grandeur of the family of Clanranald at that time, it
should be mentioned that they had another beautiful
place at Borve Castle, Benbecula, close to the present
chapel, and later a fine house at Nunton, three miles
to the north. All these were, in addition to the grand
old ruin of Castle Tirrim, in Moydart, always regarded
as the real rallying place of the clan. As I pointed out
on a previous occasion, all these lands have passed out
of the hands of Clanranald and his relatives, with the
single exception of Glenaladale, the property of the
kindly helper of the evicted Uist crofters.

But to return to the succession of priests. Mr Alexander
Macdonald was priest in Uist in 1779, and as such voted
in the election of Bishop Alexander Macdonald. In
1782 Ranald Maceachan returned to Scotland from the
Scots College, Rome. He was at once placed in Uist,
where he continued till his death, which, to the great
regret of his bishop, and indeed of all who knew
him, happened in 1803. His death was caused by a
complaint in the lungs, which arose from a severe
cold he caught in the exercise of his missionary duties.
He was a young man of great merit, and of more than
ordinary learning. His excellent qualities made him to

SOUTH UIST 43

be loved and respected even by the Protestants. (Abbe
Macpherson.)

Mr Maceachan was succeeded by Mr Roderick
Macdonald. This venerable clergyman — says the
Directory of 1870 — was born in the island of South Uist
in 1763. At seventeen he was sent to the Scots College,
Valladolid, where he was ordained in his twenty- eighth
year. On his return to Scotland, he was appointed to
Badenoch, where he was priest for twelve years (1791-
1803). He was then sent to the north end of South Uist,
and Benbecula, where, after discharging the duties of a
faithful and exemplary pastor, he died, on the 29th
September 1828, in the family mansion of Garfluich,
of which farm and lands his forefathers had been tenants
or gentlemen tacksmen (a race of landowners now nearly
extinct) for generations.

Mr James MacGregor was the next priest in the northern
portion, and he remained in charge till his death — the
long period of forty years. The following account in the
Directory of 1850 reads as if it came from his pen, for he
took a pardonable pride in the work he had accomplished
in the parish. He worked at the chapel of Ardkenneth
and at the dikes around it with his own hands, and by his
own remarkable industry stimulated that of his people : —

ARDKENNETH, KILVANAN AND BENBECULA

The mission under Mr MacGregor's charge is naturally
divided into three districts. lochar (Netherland) in the
centre, Kilvanan to the south, and Benbecula to the
north.

Ardkenneth in lochar. This chapel was erected in 1829.
It is seated for 400 persons, but 800 may assist in it at

44 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Mass without inconvenience. It has no gallery. The
dwelling-house is merely a continuation of the walls and
roof of the church, and the whole building measures
105 feet in length by 32J feet in breadth over the walls.
It is seen to a great distance in all directions, and has a
very imposing appearance.

The inhabitants of this country speak their language
(Gaelic) in great purity and with remarkable nicety.
A place of worship, if it be large, and slated, they de
nominate Eaglais, a church. If the building be not
large, but slated, they call it Caipball, a chapel ; and a
thatched place of worship they distinguish by the name
of Tighe-pobuill, house of the people.

Kilvanan or Cill-Bhainan, dedicated to St Bain or
Bainan, a thatched chapel, which stands about three
miles south of Ardkenneth, was erected about the year
1820, by Mr Roderick Macdonald, a scion of the Clan-
ranald family. It accommodates 300 persons.

Benbecula, to the north. Here is also a thatched chapel,
which was built about 1790 by Mr Ranald Maceachan,
cousin-german to the late Marshal Macdonald, Duke of
Tarentum, and affords accommodation to about 100
persons. In its day it was thought a handsome building,
but now the walls of it are failing, and something must be
done to prevent it from becoming a complete ruin ; but
whence the means are to come it is difficult to say.
Balie-Mhanich (Monktown), where the chapel stands, on
the verge of the Atlantic, was in days gone by possessed
by monks, of which fact some small traces are still to be
seen.

Of the Clan-Donuil, that branch styled the Macdonalds
of Castle Tirrim in Moydart, commonly called Clanranald,

SOUTH UIST 45

continued Catholics down to the year 1745, or for some
years posterior to that period. To this circumstance,
as a human cause, may be attributed the preservation of
the Faith in their extensive territories— viz. Moydart,
Arisaig, Isles of Eigg and Canna, Benbecula and South
Uist. It is a fact that the Clanranald of the day occasion
ally procured priests from Ireland to supply the means of
religion in this island. The last of these was Mr Wynn. . . .
The Clanranalds, since they abandoned the Faith, were
not personally hostile to their Catholic tenants, but
their factors, and the underlings of these factors, have
done a vast amount of evil by artfully and covertly
supplanting or ejecting the poor, helpless Catholics, and
by introducing and fostering in their places Protestants
from North Uist, Skye and Harris ; while the Catholics
have been expatriated and compelled to remove to more
friendly climes. Since the year 1828 about 700 Catholics
have emigrated from Mr MacGregor' s mission to America,
and still, notwithstanding this, the number under his
charge is at present (A.D. 1850) not less than 2,000.

It will be best to continue the story of these northern
chapels before returning to the southern end of the island.
The chapel at Ardkenneth is much the same to-day as
it was in the times of Mr MacGregor. The stone-cobbled
floor is probably the only one now left in the Highlands,
and when strewn with fresh sand has a neat, clean appear
ance, such as no other material procurable at that date
would ever have had, after nearly a hundred years of
continuous use.

Mr MacGregor died in 1868. He was born in 1790,
entered Lismore Seminary in 1808, and was ordained in

46 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

1816. He was priest at Fort William from 1819 to 1828,
and was removed from there to South Uist. In 1836 he
went to Ireland to collect money for the erection of his
church, which he had begun as early as 1829. During
his long residence amongst them, the people had become
greatly attached to him, and deeply mourned his loss.
In his later years he was assisted by Mr Colin Macpherson,
and afterwards by Mr Donald M'Coll.

Mr Donald Mackintosh succeeded Mr MacGregor. In
1872 he appealed for a new chapel in Benbecula. " Here,"
he says, " matters are very unsatisfactory. With a
considerable congregation at a distance of six miles from
Ardkenneth, the only chapel it could boast of was a very
old structure, which had to be abandoned a few years
ago. The people have hitherto been attended by the
priest from Ardkenneth, always with inconvenience, some
times with considerable danger to himself, owing to a
perilous ford. It is therefore proposed to form it into a
separate mission and to build a chapel and priest's house."

The priest's house was finished in 1878, when the priest
in charge appealed for funds to go on with the chapel.
" An effort," he says, " will be made to replace the
present miserable thatched chapel — the last but one of
its kind in Scotland — by one more befitting its sacred
purpose. The chapel is not only unsightly to a
degree, but far too small, 300 people are often rather
packed than accommodated in it." As early as 1850
the Directory had stated : "In South Uist there are
three slated chapels, erected through the exertions of
Messrs MacGregor and Chisholm ; there is also one black
chapel. In Benbecula there is only a black chapel, a
larger one is very necessary there." (Note II.)

SOUTH UIST 47

It is interesting to watch the growth of these chapels ;
what a couple of generations ago was the pride of priest
and people, as in Moydart, Braelochaber and Kilvanan,
is in these recent times looked upon — and certainly most
justly— as little worthy of the services of the Church, and
efforts are made to replace them by the very picturesque
chapels which now adorn so many of the Catholic parishes
in the West Highlands of Scotland. At the same time
there has also, of course, taken place a vast improvement
in the houses of the people and in their manner of life.
The new church in Benbecula was finished in 1884,
and the account of the opening ceremony is very inter
esting. It was apparently a real Uist day, the rain falling
in sheets, yet no less than sixteen miles of road and water
had to be traversed by the greater part of the company.
Little wonder that they had to encounter some difficulties.
The following is the account in the Directory of 1885 : —

"About 100 miles N.W. of Oban (the port for
mails and for passengers to the Outer Isles) lies the
Island of Benbecula, separated from the Islands of
North and South Uist, by tidal fords of 3 and 1J miles
in breadth, respectively. These together with Barra,
form what is locally known as the ' Long Island.' They
have always contained a large Catholic population, who
have carried down their Faith through all persecutions
to the present time.

" In Benbecula alone there are over 700 Catholics.
Two years ago the priest in charge found it necessary to
ask for subscriptions for a new chapel, the old one of
rude stone being in a ruinous condition. On 4th August
last a large steam yacht, chartered by Mr Campbell,
of Lochnell, left Lochnell Bay, with the Bishop and

48 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

a numerous party ; they landed at Lochskipport, and
from there drove to Benbecula, a distance of 14 miles.
The following morning a large party of visitors came to
Benbecula from South Uist amidst a downpour of rain.
After some difficulties, necessitated by a longer route
of 16 miles, the church was reached at 1 P.M. and
Pontifical Mass was sung. Many priests and a large
number of Islanders from all parts were present. The
Islanders were rejoiced beyond description at seeing
ceremonies which had been unknown in the island for
centuries, and in their enthusiasm they followed his
Lordship and the visitors for a long way on their return
journey."

Since Benbecula was formed into a separate mission
it has been served by Rev. Donald Mackintosh, now
Provost of the Chapter ; by Rev. Alexander Macdougall
(1891-1903), Rev. Hugh Cameron (1903-1908) and Rev.
John M'Millan (1908- ). During the same period
the parent mission of Ardkenneth was served by Rev.
Donald M'Coll (1877-1887), Rev. Angus Macrae (1887-
1903), Rev. Donald Walker (1903-1914), Rev, W. Gillies,
1915.

In the southern portion of the island Mr Ranald
Macdonald was priest from about 1788 to 1819, when he
was elected to succeed Bishop ^Erieas Chisholm as Vicar
Apostolic of the Highland District. During his stay in
South Uist he built the old chapel and priest's house at
Bornish ; the latter is still standing, and is situated about
half -a -mile from the present chapel. This was built by Mr
John Chisholm, who, like Mr MacGregor, conferred untold
benefits on the people of South Uist. As my informant
said : " Father Chisholm was Chief in Uist, where he had

SOUTH UIST 49

great authority and the people dearly loved him; he
was a pretty, pretty man, and a giant who could have
thrown the factor — with whom he often had a disagree
ment — over the wall." At the time that the Bornish
chapel was built there was a large congregation all
around it, but the people were evicted in 1851. Since
that date the chapel has stood alone, no house within a
mile of it, and the larger part of the congregation, which
still numbers about 500, four or five miles away. The
scenes at these evictions were similar to those at Barra,
Knoydart and elsewhere, and there is no need to repeat
the harrowing details here. Suffice it to say that they
have left memories of suffering and injustice which half
a century has done little to efface. But happier days are
dawning here also, for in 1913 the Board of Agriculture
for Scotland came to an arrangement with the proprietrix,
Lady Cathcart, whereby the three farms of Milton,
Ormaclate and Bornish were made into small land
holdings, and divided amongst the descendants of those
evicted in 1851, who have never ceased to clamour for
the land on which their forefathers had been settled for
generations. One cannot but hope that a few years will
see a thriving population in the district, clustering round
their church, for which the people of Uist have always
had such marked affection and veneration.

Amongst the benefits conferred by Mr Chisholm was the
branch road down to Lochboisdale, which he was the first
to propose. This was at the time of the famine, in 1846-
1848. Mr Chisholm felt that the people were being
supported by charity, and proposed making the road so
as to give them employment, and the means of earning
their food. At the meeting when this proposal was made,
D

50 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

the factor, Dr Alexander M'Leod, shook his fist in Mr
Chisholm's face, but he later sent an apology, when the
road had proved itself to be so great a boon. In reply
to the angry factor Mr Chisholm had merely whistled, a
favourite practice of his.

Mr Allan M'Lean was assistant to Mr Chishoim for a
short time, but went to America, where the following
incident occurred. He used to give of his fodder to a
poor neighbour, but the rogue was not content with what
he was given ; he started to steal from the barn. The
servant, finding that fodder was going, complained to
Mr M'Lean, who decided that he should lock him in the
barn and he would watch for the thief. In due course the
rogue came in, made up his bundle, tied it over his
shoulder and made off. The priest went a short way
after him, for the stormy night prevented him from being
heard ; he then lit the bundle from behind, and the storm
soon set it ablaze. The thief could with difficulty get rid
of the bundle, and not till he was badly burned. Next
day he went to the priest, who expressed surprise at seeing
him so badly burned. " Well, Father," said the thief,
" I thought I would do better for myself than what you
gave me ; but the devil himself set fire to the bundle as
I stole it away last evening, and it's glad I am that I
saved my life from his clutches.'5

Mr Chisholm was very fond of the old customs, numbers
of which still survive, thanks in large measure to his
encouragement. A few are given here, such especially
as concerned the feasts of the Church. At Christmas
three Masses were said, one immediately after the other,
at midnight. Most of the men would bring their shinty
clubs even to the midnight Mass, and at dawn would go

SOUTH UIST 51

— not home — but to the Machar for shinty. Even the
old men would put off their shoes for the game, and there
would be a small mountain of shoes at the goal. For the
Christmas dinner, each household invariably killed a
sheep, and had the best repast of the year.

On New Year's Eve boys and young men would go
from house to house and would have to say their piece of
poetry before the door would be opened. Then they
would go round the fire by the left — the fire, be it noted,
was always in the centre of the floor in those days— and
before they sat down would say : " God bless the house
and all its contents." To which Mr Chisholm or the
oldest person present would say : " God bless you !
God bless you ! " This custom is still kept up.

For Purification, candles were made of tallow and
ashes — peat ashes, needless to say— between folds of
linen, and these candles were coloured blue, red, etc.,
to make them look festive. I brought back from Uist one
of these candles and lit it at a meeting of the Society of
Antiquaries at Inverness, when everyone was surprised
to see how well it burned.

At Easter the children would go from house to house
gathering eggs, and would then play amongst themselves.
One would strike his egg against that of his opponent,
and the winner would have whichever cracked. People
would rise early on Easter morning to see the sun rise,
believing that it danced for joy.

St Michael's Day, or Michaelmas, was a great feast, and
was kept as a holiday of obligation. Sports were held
on the Machar, especially horse races, which took place
at Ardmichel, a tongue of land midway between Bornish
and Howbeg, and exactly half-way between the north

52 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

and south ends of the island. In the evening there was a
ball in every township. At Michaelmas also a special cake
was made, one for each member of the family, and others
would be sent as a remembrance to friends in Glasgow
and elsewhere.

St Andrew's Day was the beginning of the shinty season,
which afforded endless amusement during the winter
afternoons, whilst the evenings were enlivened with
song and story, the bagpipe and the fiddle, several of
which may still be seen in almost every cottage. Little
wonder that Catholic Uist should have been a happy home
where the ancient ballads survived better than elsewhere.

By contrast we can learn to appreciate the efforts of
our own clergy, whose conduct in this matter differed so
greatly from that of many of their Presbyterian con
temporaries. Mr Alexander Carmichael, who was far
from being a Catholic, but who, as the greatest authority
on matters Celtic in recent times, has every claim to our
respect, bitterly regrets how the Calvinist ministers did
their best by their stern disapproval to stamp out the old
Gaelic poetry and customs. He gives instances of how
the people of the Isles no longer dare to repeat the old
tales to each other, though their minds are still so strongly
tempered by them. One instance he quotes from a
lady who, as a child, was sent to the parish school of Islay,
to learn arithmetic from the schoolmaster. She used
to join in the children's Gaelic songs and games, but as
the schoolmaster, a narrow Presbyterian from the main
land, denounced Gaelic song and Gaelic speech, they
could only enjoy them out of school time. " One day,"
she says, " the schoolmaster heard us and called us back.
He punished us till the blood trickled from our fingers,

SOUTH UIST 53

although we were big girls with the dawn of womanhood
upon us. The thought of that scene thrills me with
indignation." Mr Carmichael himself was often tanta
lised by the story or song he had coaxed out of a High
lander being stopped midway by the appearance of the
minister or one of the disapproving elders of the district.
(Dublin Review, October, 1911, p. 338.)

The same spirit may be seen in the earlier Reports of
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, where
frequently such passages as this occur : " If the people
of this district are to be taught the true Gospel Teaching,
they must learn English. The want of English is one
of the chief causes why they remain in ignorance,"
where ignorance and Catholic teaching are often con
sidered to be one and the same thing. Certain it is that
the teachers sent from Edinburgh at the beginning of
the last century were keenly opposed to Gaelic. There
is the further fact that the Highland dress and Gaelic
language were thought to be marks of the Jacobite, and
Government wished to discourage everything that might
lead to a recurrence of the " forty-five."

The same ideas occur in the Report of Messrs Hyndman
and Dick, appointed by the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland to visit the Highlands and Islands,
1760. The Report is certainly very moderate in tone, while
the concluding sentences are not a little striking. " In
countries lying under such complicated disadvantages,
it is easy to see the difficulty of extirpating ancient
prejudices, and of introducing the Protestant Reformed
Religion. The Roman Catholic persuasion, which was
formerly established in this and every other part of Great
Britain hath kept possession of many parts of the

54 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Highlands ever since the Reformation. Notwithstanding
the discouragement given to it at different periods, the
zeal of the Church of Rome, together with the concurrence
of political causes, hath been hitherto able to preserve
and even on some occasions to strengthen that interest.
The priests of that Communion are numerous and active,
and although their salaries be small, yet the advantage
of a foreign education, which they receive from a publick
fund, and the influence which their political religion gives
over the minds of the people have contributed to check
the progress of the Reformation, and at some periods to
gain proselytes to their own Church."

On the death of Mr Chisholm, in 1867, his nephew,
Mr William Macdonell, returned to the Bornish mission,
where he had earlier spent several years as assistant
to his uncle. Mr Macdonell, who had previously built
the church at Knoydart, undertook a begging tour to
collect funds for rebuilding the church at Daliburgh,
seven miles south of Bornish. On his return he caught
a severe cold, died at Bornish, and is buried at Daliburgh.
The later priests of this mission were Rev. Alexander
Campbell (1871-1883), Rev. John Mackintosh (1883-
1900), Rev. Donald Morrison (1900-1903), Rev. William
M'Lellan (1903-1912), Rev. John Mackintosh (1912- ).

Previous to 1868, when the present chapel was built
at Daliburgh, there was a slated chapel on the same site.
Previous to that again Mass used to be said in a croffcer's
house still standing. A sign of the size of these chapels
is that when the present chapel was being built, the old
one was allowed to stand, the new walls were built round
it, and the roof placed over them, after which the old build
ing was removed from within the new. The successive

SOUTH UIST 55

priests who filled this mission were Rev. Donald M'Coll
(1867-1874), Rev. Alexander Forbes (1875-1881), and,
for shorter periods, Rev. Alexander Mackintosh, Rev.
Allan McDonald, Rev. George Rigg, Rev. Samuel
Macdonald, Rev. William Macdonald, Rev. Alexander
Macdougall, who, in 1907, greatly enlarged the church
and redecorated it.

The tale of self-sacrifice of Father George Rigg is very
beautiful ; he was in the thirty-sixth year of his age and
the seventh of his priesthood. Day after day for several
weeks he had been attending cases of fever and nursing
the patients from morning till night, since no other
person — not even the nearest relative — would venture
within gunshot of the infected houses. One case was
particularly noticeable — that of a poor old woman and her
only son. They both sickened of the fever and had no
one to attend them. Father Rigg was their only helper ;
he cooked their food, tidied the house, and mended the
fire. The son died first, and he laid him in his coffin and
attended him to the grave. After this he too caught
the fever, and at the end of a week, despite the constant
care of three doctors, he succumbed, having thus sacri
ficed his own life to save that of others, and to care for
them in death. His own coffin was borne part of the
way to the grave by the six neighbouring priests, and as
the story of his heroic death became known great was
the admiration which it excited, and loud the praise that
was lavished on the young priest in the far-distant isle
of Uist.

Father Allan McDonald, the apostle of Eriskay, as
his people loved to call him, is another charming character
to which it is difficult to do justice in the short space at

56 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

my disposal. During the years he was at Daliburgh
(1885-1894), he had come to know and to love the people
of the little island of Eriskay, about 400 in number.
There is indeed a great attraction about the island and
its people. It has no road at all, all traffic, such as
carrying peats, etc., being done by creels on the backs
of ponies. Fishing is the chief means of livelihood, and
this, in addition to the crofts, gives the people all they
require. They are indeed remarkably happy and con
tented. There is no licensed house upon the island, and
woe betide the fisherman who in Father Allan's time
brought spirits to his beloved island home.

In 1887 Bishop Angus Macdonald, who had the greatest
personal respect and affection for Father McDonald,
issued the following appeal : " Rev. Allan McDonald,
besides the Mission of Daliburgh, South Uist, numbering
over 1,500 souls, has charge of an outlying district, the
Island of Eriskay, separated from the main Island by a
stormy channel and having a population of about 400
souls. His time and strength are more than fully taxed
by the care of the principal mission ; whilst such occa
sional attendance as he is able to give to the Eriskay
station, though quite inadequate to the wants of the
poor people, involves a serious strain on his strength
and danger to his health. For the sake of both priest
and people therefore the erection of Eriskay into a
separate Mission is urgently called for. The present
church, a wretched hovel, has been so far improved in
ternally by his zeal, that it will suffice as a temporary
arrangement until funds for a more suitable church are
forthcoming. But a house for a resident priest is in
the first instance needed, and I have authorised and

SOUTH UIST 57

indeed urged Rev. Allan McDonald, to endeavour to
collect the necessary funds."

The house was built without much difficulty as to funds,
and the church followed soon after, being opened in 1903.
Then, just as he seemed to have secured all he could for
his Eriskay flock, Father Allan was cut off by death, at
the early age of forty-six. The story of his life and work
are best told in the words of his obituary notice, though
it cannot but be regretted that no biography has been
written of one whose life was a constant source of edifica
tion and pride to his bishop, his fellow-priests, and to
that wider circle of the literary world who, year by year,
came to know and to respect him. His relations to his
people also, whom he ruled no less sternly than he tended
kindly, can find few parallels in the lives of the holiest
priests. The obituary notice is given in full, as incident
ally it affords much information on the conditions existing
in the Western Islands :

" Rev. Allan McDonald was born in Lochaber in 1859
and was ordained in 1882. His first two years as priest
were spent at Oban, and in July 1884 he was sent to
Daliburgh in S. Uist. Here he had charge of a con
gregation of 2,200 souls, all with only two exceptions
Gaelic-speaking, and natives of the island. Father
Allan entered on his work with characteristic zeal and
self-sacrifice in the midst of many difficulties and priva
tions. The congregation was one of small crofters and
fishermen — toilers of the land and sea — earning a living,
precarious at best ; and unable, no matter how willing, to
do much for the support of the priest. The conditions of
life in the Hebrides at that time were little known and
understood by dwellers on the mainland, and few knew

58 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

to sympathise with the priests in their peculiar local diffi
culties and in the hampering poverty of themselves and
of their people. The present generation may know times
that are no worse than had been, they may meet with
more sympathy from without, and improved communica
tion doubtless keeps them more in touch with the outer
world, but the fact remains that even now, for priest and
people, life in the Hebrides is made up of hardships and
trials which dwellers on the mainland little know or
understand.

" Father Allan's labours and zeal in attending to the
Catholics of Daliburgh was unceasing. He also had the
charge of the 400 souls in Eriskay. Mass was said in
the island, in an old, thatched, dry-stone building by the
priest from Daliburgh. Under the most favourable
circumstances this meant getting over five miles of road
and two of sea to reach Eriskay, ' wind and weather
permitting.' It was often impossible to sail over to the
island and once there it was as often impossible to recross
and return home. The regular visits and the frequent
sick calls entailed much hardship, and often a stay of
days and nights in Eriskay, waiting for weather in which
the boat could live. There was then no house for the
priest in the island, and his people gave him willingly of
their best in food and shelter. Such was Father Allan's
life as a priest in Uist living for his people, and faithfully
doing his duty. In temporal matters he was at their
service as a leader and adviser. In an acute crisis re
garding the land question, he guided his people wisely
and well, in their successful struggle to obtain fixity and
more reasonable conditions of tenure.

" But no ordinary constitution could hold out against

SOUTH UIST 59

Father Allan's heroic labours, and after some years he
was forced to admit, that he was no longer physically
fit, for the duties of a Mission such as Daliburgh. He
had overtaxed his energy and his strength, and following
on a severe attack of influenza, weakness of the heart
made itself only too apparent. Through his exertions a
suitable Presbytery had been erected in Eriskay and the
island had been formed into a separate charge with
Rev. Donald Mackintosh as its first priest. Father Allan
was transferred to Eriskay in 1893. Here he was destined
to spend the remainder of his days, and here the record
of his life was the same ; duty faithfully discharged, a
life spent for and with his devoted flock. He loved his
bare, tree-less, windswept island, he was with his people
in their joys and sorrows, his people loved and were
proud of their pastor. He was everything to his people
and they were everything to him.

" He had set his heart on building a suitable church
to replace the old thatched building that had done duty
for so many years. His people helped in the good work,
young and old, men and women, gave what they could
in the building of God's house. Those who owned boats
and nets promised one night's catch of fish toward the
cost of the new church and many and fervent were the
prayers that it might be a record one — and so it was.
The total catch realised a considerable sum, and one boat's
crew handed their pastor £50 as the proceeds of a single
night's fishing.

" In response to an appeal, aid came from without —
speedily and beyond all expectation. Sympathy was evoked
by the plain unvarnished statement of Eriskay 's needs,
and this sympathy took practical form. Contributions

60 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

came in generously from rich and poor, priest and
layman, and also from kind friends not of the house
hold of the Faith. A commencement was made with
the building and it was completed in a far shorter time
than priest or people had dared to hope.

" But the completion of the church brought no rest to
Father Allan. He became, if that could easily be, more
anxious for their spiritual good, more attentive to his
own priestly duties. He was moreover always in active
sympathy with his people in all that concerned their
temporal welfare. The houses were improved, bridle
paths made — there are no roads nor ever have been — by
the Congested Districts Board. Once a year he solemnly
blessed the Eriskay fishing fleet and, by special permission
of the Pope, said Mass on one of the boats to bring God's
blessing on men and boats and fishing gear, ere starting
on the season's work.

" Notwithstanding his busy life and impaired health, he
was an indefatigable student of Gaelic and a recognised
authority on all that related to traditions, whether Celtic
or Norse, the folk-lore, fairy tales, antiquities and history,
the fauna and flora, the shells and algae of the Hebrides.
His publications were but few, yet he left MSS. amounting
to thousands of pages, and it is hoped that some of these
at least will be published and that Father Allan may
some day be given the place among Celtic scholars which
by every right is his. He gave — all too freely be it
said — of his gleanings to other workers in the Celtic
field. [I have heard it stated, but on what authority
I do not recollect, that he was offered the chair of
Celtic in the University of Edinburgh, if he would
eave his island home, but nothing would induce him

SOUTH UIST 61

to leave his beloved Eriskay and its good and simple
people.]

" Remarkable it is that with all his culture, only once
a year did Father Allan visit the mainland, which must
have offered so many attractions to him. On these
occasions after attending the meeting of the clergy he
would return to Eriskay with as little delay as possible.

" His illness was of short duration, and his funeral
was such as could be seen nowhere else. Immediately
after the coffin walked the clergy, followed by the women
and children, children on foot and children in arms,
mothers and their families weeping and praying for the
fond father who was making his last journey to his home
in their midst ; the aged too, men and women all took
part in that last act of veneration to one they loved so
well." And when men were ready, as usual, to fill in the
grave with spades, they were put aside by the Islanders,
who sobbing, laid soil and sods gently with their hands
over the coffin, and so the grave was filled and covered.
Surely Father Allan would have thought himself well re
paid for living and dying amongst his devoted Islanders,
to have received such a funeral, marked as it was by the
most touching affection and the deepest veneration.

KNOYDART

THE first mention that we have of Knoydart, as far as
Catholic life is concerned, is when Mr White, at the
request of the Catholics there, blessed the waters of Loch
Hourn, which divides Knoydart from Glenelg, and
thereby brought back the herring to the loch which had
formerly been noted for its fishing, but which, for some
years previously, had yielded no return. The statement
is interesting as proving, amongst other things, how great
must have been the activity of Mr White, since almost
every district bears witness to his zeal. This was about
the year 1660.

In the Report of his Visitation in 1678, Mr Leslie says
of Knoydart that the Catholics there were very numerous
and very fervent. We find, indeed, that they formed one
of the largest congregations of Highland Catholics until
the evictions of 1852. In 1700 Bishop Nicolson passed
from Glengarry into Knoydart, — probably following the
route which for several years was a favourite one with
the late King Edward, — along Loch Garry side, then
through the beautiful hills which form the forests of
Glengarry and Glen Quoich, ten miles along Loch Quoich,
and thence to the head of Loch Hourn, where the road
drops 500 feet to sea -level. At that time there was, of
course, no road worthy of the name, and hence the
Bishop's statement that although he had crossed and

62

KNOYDART 63

recrossed the Alps, he had never experienced anything
like the difficulties of this journey.

The Bishop spent one night at Loch Hournhead, and
the next day he and his party went seven miles down the
loch and were met by Lord Macdonell, " who conducted
them with great civility to the house of one of his vassals,1
where we had the ordinary prayers5' — evidently an
obscure manner of speaking of Mass. The Report goes
on to say that "on the 9th August, the Feast of St
Columba, Patron of the Highlands and Islands, we again
had ordinary prayers, with Confirmation afterwards, and
this we did wherever we went." Before leaving Knoy-
dart they paid a visit to the old laird, who was nearly
ninety-five years of age. He had greatly distinguished
himself in the wars of Montrose, and being cousin to Lord
Macdonell, had succeeded him in all his property.
The fine old soldier received the Bishop with the
greatest respect, and forced him to stay some days in
his house, where about forty persons were confirmed, the
rest being put off until the return of the Bishop from
the Isles.

The same road was followed by Bishop Gordon in
1707, whose journey is thus described : " June 16th, the
little party came to Glenquoich, and then their real
difficulties began. They had to scramble sometimes on
all fours, along rude mountain paths, beset with precipices
and with morasses. Their feet were never dry. But the
Bishop's cheerfulness kept up the spirits of the party.
At the head of the Loch, they were met by Glengarry's
brother, who conveyed them some miles in a boat to his

1 This was Barrisdale, generally supposed to be the " Glenna-
quoich " of Sir Walter Scott's " Waverley."

64 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

house, there being no road practicable on shore. Here
they remained a couple of days to rest ; and on the 20th
they arrived at the Laird of Knoydart's house, where the
Bishop thought it at length safe to enter on the proper
duties of his Visitation. The 22nd was a Sunday ; the
people were then called together, and Confirmation was
administered to as many as were found prepared."

A month later, after visiting the Hebrides, Bishop
Gordon returned, via Arisaig and Borrodale, to Knoydart,
the road being a very rough and fatiguing one. At Scot-
house, he ordained the young deacon, who had accom
panied him from Preshome, as a missionary for the High
lands. It was the first ordination that had taken place
in Scotland since the Reformation. On his way back to
Glen Quoich, the Bishop began to feel the effects of his
fatigues, and of insufficient food ; he was detained two
days on his journey by a slight attack of fever. On 1st
August he reached Strathglass.

It was in 1907 that the present writer covered the
same ground at the end of a walking tour. The previous
days had been pleasant enough, the bright sun and the
crisp air of the first week of May being very bracing.
My companion was very keen on leaving the road and
striking home across country ; and as he had complied
so far with all my suggestions I felt bound to consent to
this, though I knew well that the track across the hills
had a very bad name, and that if our host had been at
home he would never have allowed us to attempt it.
We left Glenelg Hotel — where the lessee, Mr Donald
Mackintosh, had during many years placed his large house
at the disposal of the neighbouring Catholics for Mass
as often as the priest could come over — and started

KNOYDART 65

on our sixteen -mile tramp across the Mils to Loch
Hourn.

Following the course of the Glenbeg river, we passed
Dun Troddan and Dun Telve, the Brochs or Pictish
Towers, which are the delight of the antiquarian. As
we began to mount the north side of Ben Sgriol (Screel)
the thick mist which had been hovering round the top
began to come down upon us, and in a few minutes we
could not see a hundred yards in front of us. Fortun
ately I had a compass — a thing one should never be
without when crossing hills in Scotland — and also an
ordnance map, so we managed to strike the right spur
of the hill and crossed at a height of about 2,000 feet.
By this time we were wet to the skin, and the small flask
and few biscuits, which were all we had brought, were
finished. The map showed two shepherds5 houses on the
track, which at one time was much frequented by drovers
taking their sheep and cattle to and from the Isle of
Skye ; and at these cottages we intended to get the usual
refreshment which all through the Highlands one finds
so readily offered. Our hearts beat high as we neared
the first one, the bright green of the grass around forming
a striking contrast to the perpetual brown and iron
colour of the peat moss we were crossing. We were
already at the door before we noticed that this had long
been off its hinges, the roof was just falling in, and all
the windows were broken. It had evidently been un
inhabited for several years. My companion and myself
prided ourselves on not being easily discouraged, but this
— at a distance of ten miles from any other human
habitation — fairly tried our pluck. It was useless to
think that the other shepherd's house would prove more

66 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

fortunate — the hill had evidently been turned over from
sheep to deer, and both houses would alike be tenantless —
so we sat a few minutes in what had once been a warm;
cosy kitchen, and then continued our cold, wet walk.
It was five o'clock before we reached Kinlochhourn, and
glad we were to get through the hills so soon. The head
keeper would not believe that we had come across ; he
himself, he said, would never have attempted it. How
ever, he soon had a bright fire burning in the hearth, gave
us dry shoes and stockings, a good warm meal, and
insisted on our spending the night with him. Even when
we had retired to bed my companion was so cold that I
could hear the bed shaking as he shivered. He died of
consumption a few years later, and I often wondered
whether the first seeds of the disease were sown on that
cold, wet tramp across the hills. It certainly was an
instance of what the priests of old had, week after week,
to undergo, as they passed from one holding to another
amongst the hills.

It was only in the last century (1800-1850) that roads
were made in the north-west Highlands, and even since
they were made, the Highland priest has often to visit a
shepherd's or a keeper's family far off the beaten track,
when his experiences may, as likely as not, be just such
as I have described. If Bishop Nicolson and Bishop
Gordon found their visitations of the Highland district
so trying, we may be sure that they were full of sympathy
for the priests, whose lives, they knew very well, were
largely composed of such incidents.

Regarding the priests who successively attended to the
Knoydart district, we find Mr Munro stated to be priest
of Knoydart in 1688. In 1689 Mr Cahassy is given as

KNOYDART 67

priest of Knoydart, Mr Munro probably confining himself
to the Glengarry district, which adjoins it. In 1701 Mr
Thomson's list gives Mr M'Lellan as priest of Knoydart,
but he does not seem to appear in any later year. Mr
Neil M'Phee was also there for some years, as also Mr
^Eneas M'Lachlan, who came to the mission in 1712.
He is definitely stated, in 1728, to be stationed in Knoy
dart, and as we have all the districts accounted for in
that year, he had probably been settled there for some
time. He is again definitely stated to be there in 1733
and in 1736, and although the place of his residence is
not given in the later lists in which his name appears,
there is every reason to suppose that he remained in Knoy
dart till the troubles of 1745-1746. He did not leave
the Highlands even during that period, and may, there
fore, still have ministered to the people of Knoydart, for
his name appears in the list of Highland clergy for 1755,
though the place of his residence is not mentioned. He
died in 1760, being then quite worn out by labour and
the fatigues of the mission. In 1763 Mr Harrison had
charge of Knoydart, and the two Morars, for Abbate
Grant, the agent in Rome, writes : " The next district
is that of Knoydart, which is a vast region of mountains,
and being round in shape has about 12 miles diameter^
Here there is not a single heretic, all the inhabitants being
Catholic, to the number of 800 or 900. This district
along with the two Morars have at present as Missioner,
Mr William Harrison, an alumnus of the Scots College,
Rome, who is now about sixty years of age."

In 1770 Bishop John Macdonald writes that he has just
settled Mr Alexander MacDonald (sic) as priest in Knoy
dart, whilst his Report for 1777 states : "In the districts

68 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

of Knoydart and North Morar, Mr Alexander MacDonald
is priest. He came from our Scots College, Rome, about
ten years ago, and is certainly young and strong ; but
considering the difficulties of his district, and its great
size, his work is too heavy. It has indeed been increased,
by his own zeal and diligence, by two new districts, both
at great distances from his chief residence, the one at
Loch Arkaig to the East, the other to the North in the
country called Kintail. Last year I administered Con
firmation to about sixty of the people of this district,
all converted during the last four years. I hope this
year to give him and another Alexander MacDonald, as
assistant, Mr James MacDonald, who came from our
College at Paris seven years ago, and is a strong active
young man."

Although Bishop John MacDonald had been in Knoy
dart in 1776, he visited it again in 1779. He then caught
an epidemic which was raging in the district, and after
only five days' illness he died, and was buried in Kilclioan
cemetery. There are here two graveyards distant only
fifty yards from each other. The one is nearly square,
and within this none but Catholics have ever been buried.
In the other, however, which is circular, there have been
burials of Catholics and Protestants alike. It is in this
latter that the very interesting Celtic cross is standing,
whilst in the former there are three recumbent stones,
all with early Celtic designs. After careful inquiry, I
was unable to ascertain in which cemetery Bishop John
was buried. There is a vague tradition that the Celtic
cross marks his grave, but this is undoubtedly of much
greater antiquity. A custom, however, is prevalent in
the district, of making fresh interments under these

KNOYDART 69

venerable stones, and sometimes of moving them and
placing them on recent graves. It is thus possible that
the Celtic cross was used in this way to mark the grave
of the good bishop. Another tradition makes the
cross mark the resting-place of St Choan. Since the date
of my visit, and in consequence of my representations, the
proprietor had the ground which had accumulated round
the foot of the cross cleared away. Unfortunately I did
not know when the work was being done ; it would have
been of great interest to discover the answer to these
different points.

It was during the incumbency of Mr Alexander
MacDonald that the first emigrations took place from
Knoydart. In 1773 a large body of Highlanders
emigrated from Glengarry and Knoydart at the invitation
of the celebrated Sir William Johnston, to the then British
province of New York, and settled in the bush of Sir
William on the borders of the Mohawk river. At the
outbreak of the revolutionary war the Americans tried
every means to detain them in the country. When they
found that entreaties, persuasions, threats and coaxing
were of no avail they arrested several of the influential
men and confined them in prison, but they contrived to
effect their escape and, under the guidance of Sir John
Johnston, son of Sir William, fought their way to the
banks of the St Lawrence. During this expedition they
suffered incredible hardships, both by hunger and fatigue,
living chiefly on the flesh of their horses and dogs, and
when that failed them, upon the roots of the forest. On
their arrival in Canada they were formed into a corps
under Sir John Johnston, and called the " Royalist
Emigrants," and their services in the field contributed

70 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

in a great degree to the preservation of Canada. At the
conclusion of the war, as a reward for their services and
in compensation for their losses, lands were granted them
in Upper Canada, and they located themselves, some on
the Niagara frontier, some on the Bay of Quinta, some
on the shores of the St Lawrence, in what is now called
the Johnston district, and others in the eastern district,
in those counties now known by the names of Glengarry
and Stormont.

Mr Alexander MacDonell, the priest of Knoydart,
figured rather prominently in the election of a successor
to Bishop John MacDonald. The whole matter is placed
before Propaganda by Bishop Hay, with his usual clear
ness and precision. He says : "I have always been of
opinion that of all the Missionaries of the Vicariate he
[Bishop Alexander MacDonald] was the most fit for that
position. Moreover I have been confirmed in this
opinion by the manner in which Mr Alexander MacDonell
and his nephew have acted. This Mr MacDonell is
certainly of one of the best families in the country, and
related to many of our most influential Protestant gentle
men, and there is only too great reason to believe that
in this matter he allowed himself to be persuaded that
having been proposed by some of his brethren, he ought
to be preferred before any one else to fill the place of the
late Mr Tiberiop. [Bishop John MacDonald].

" Seeing that the affair was going contrary to his wishes
he showed such displeasure as plainly proved that he
was too attached to the vacant dignity. But his nephew,
Mr Ranald MacDonell, of Scothouse, was not satisfied
to show mere displeasure. Even after the decision of
the Holy See he gave utterance to expressions so ignoble

KNOYDART 71

that I would be ashamed to speak of them to your
Eminence, if he had not himself told me, that he had
sent also to your Eminence his unjust complaints in two
letters and had moreover written me several very insult
ing letters full of calumny, and accusing me of having
falsified the votes of the Missionaries to the injury of his
uncle. He also threatened me with the displeasure of
his non- Catholic relations. Other similar calumnies he
spread against the two deputies, not among the Catholics,
who well knew their falseness, but among the Protestants,
and even among official personages in order to obtain
through them an order from the Government to prevent
the execution of the Brief of his Holiness, in favour of
Monsignor Polemon (Bishop Alexander MacDonald).
It is an infinite sorrow to me, to have to relate such
things to your Eminence, and to see in our midst an
example so contrary to the spirit of our holy religion.
Still I have the satisfaction of assuring you that the
author of these troubles stands alone, that his proceed
ings are condemned even by Protestants, that our people
are very angry with him, and that the Missionaries of
that Vicariate have sent me a declaration, signed by
all except two, who have written to me separately,
since the common declaration could not be sent to them
by reason of their great distance. In this declaration
they all profess their full satisfaction and their perfect
submission to the choice of the Holy See in the selection
of Monsignor Polemon, and their entire disagreement
with the said proceedings to the contrary. Thus the
affair being now ended, I hope that these two will return
to their duty peacefully." It is pleasing to note that
Mr Alexander MacDonell later made a complete apology

72 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

to Bishop Hay, whilst Bishop Alexander MacDonald during
his episcopate of twelve years proved himself to be only
too self-sacrificing and disinterested. He wore himself out
in his labours to assist his clergy and their people, and
died, universally regretted, at the early age of fifty-five.

Mention was made in a letter of Bishop John
MacDonald of the recent converts in Kintail. On
30th May 1777 he writes again from Duchanis : "I had
the pleasure of receiving yours a few days ago, on my
return from Kintail, where I was administering the
Holy Chrism to our new converts there. I think they
are about sixty beside children, and are an entirely new
acquisition except one family. This place is visited from
t ime to time by Mr Alexander, in Knoydart, who is nearest
to them. There is moreover great prospect of increase
if they could be attended to, as is the case mostly in
all countries bordering upon us. There is considerable
alarm taken at this newly sprung Congregation."

Further incidents in the Catholic history of Kintail
are given in another letter of Bishop John, dated 7th
April 1778, where he says that Archibald M'Rae of
Ardintoul had written to him stating that serious perse
cution was to be feared on account of his sister's marriage
with Conchra, and that Sea forth was much annoyed at
the incident. Also there was much ado about the
" mighty affair of the tents." " The affair of the tents "
was this : "A great number of vessels and boats from all
quarters convened to an arm of the sea in Kintail to fish
herrings, amongst whom was a considerable number
from our country. Those who have only open boats
make tents of their oars and sails on the shore to shelter
them. It happened that when Mr Alexander MacDonell

KNOYDART 73

was at Ardintoul, the shoal of herrings moved to the part
of the bay which is contiguous to that place. The fishers
followed it thither, and all who used tents pitched them
there, the ground being very suitable for that purpose,
all along the beach. The next day being Sunday the
Catholics convened to Divine Service, which was per
formed in a private house, and the Protestants flocked
also thither from curiosity as they commonly do."
Unfortunately the letter does not tell us what was the
end of the matter, but at least it gives us a pretty picture
of the Catholics of those days. I shall have more to say
of the Kintail district later.

Bishop Alexander MacDonald, in his Report for
1783, states : "The next mission North of Morar is
that of Knoydart, 24 miles long and 6 broad, but on
account of the mountainous nature of the ground it is
not thickly populated. Still all the people in it are
Catholics, to the number of 1,042, not counting about
forty others in the districts round about. This Mission
would really require two priests if we had them, but
with our short numbers, Mr Alexander MacDonaid has
the sole charge." Three years later (1786) he writes
again : " After Easter I visited the district of Knoydart,
for the 500 Catholics, who, as we said before, had gone
to America, were then about to sail. We cannot indeed
stop these emigrations, but we foresee that they will
injure our Missions a great deal, and have already done
so. For those who emigrate, are just the people who are
a little better off, and from whom the priest received
hospitality whilst on his journeys. Those who remain, on
the other hand, are mostly those who could not afford
the cost of emigration, and are also quite unable to help

74 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

the priest. Hence it happens that the condition of the
priests grows daily more difficult, and this is naturally
a great anxiety to me."

Mr Alexander MacDonald was succeeded by Mr Austin
Macdonald. This latter writes, in 1787, that in conse
quence of the emigration of the people of Knoydart,
" along with their priest," it fell to him to attend to those
who remained. " Altho' there went to America not
less than 600 Catholics, I administered the Sacraments
to some 500 persons who remained." In the following
year he writes again : "For seventeen years I laboured
in the district of Moydart, but for the past two years,
with the consent of my superiors, I have removed to that
of Knoydart. Here formerly Mr Alexander MacDonald
was stationed, a pupil of the Scots College, Rome, but he
has gone to America with G04 of his parishioners. I
find that there are still in this district about 500 com
municants, not counting children. They are Catholics
of good and simple lives and most steadfast in the Faith.
Six miles distant from them is the district of Kintail,
where only twenty years ago, there was but one Catholic
family. At present there are from 300 to 400 converts
also steadfast in the Faith, although they are as yet but
imperfectly instructed. It has fallen to me to take
charge of this Mission also, and I am only too pleased to
do so, since there cannot as yet be a resident priest."

Mr Austin Macdonald was still priest in Knoydart in
1794, but about the year 1800 he went with some High
land emigrants to America, and died there soon after.
He was succeeded by Mr Charles MacDonald, whose
incumbency in this mission extended over a period of
nearly forty years— that is, from 1797 to 1835. At the

KNOYDART 75

time he was appointed — so runs the account of 1850 —
there was not a more numerous nor a more respectable
congregation in the Highlands than that of Knoydart.
But its members, in consequence of successive emigra
tions, have now dwindled away to between 600 and 700
souls. Mr Charles MacDonald was succeeded in 1835
by Mr Neil MacDonald, who remained till 1847, when he
was succeeded by Mr William MacDonald. Mr Colin
Macpherson was appointed in 1850, and Mr Coll Macdonald
in 1851. It was during his incumbency that the greatest
troubles fell upon the Catholics of Knoydart, and Father
Coll was well qualified to face the distressing circum
stances. The following is taken from his obituary notice
in the Directory for 1 891. " Rev. Coll Macdonald was
born in Lochaber in 1812, and was known throughout
the Highlands as 'Father Coll. '" He entered Propaganda
in 1845 and was ordained in 1850 in Rome. He returned
to Scotland and was first stationed in Canna, where he
gave ample proofs of his missionary zeal. To quote
only one instance, may be mentioned the fact of his
crossing over on a Sunday morning from his island mission
to the mainland (a distance of nearly forty miles) in an
open boat — fasting, of course — and in weather more
than threatening, in order to give the poor people of
Knoydart an opportunity of attending Mass.

" In June, 1851, he was transferred to Knoydart, where
he spent the next four years of his ministry. They were
years of trial and sorrow to both pastor and people, for
it was shortly after his arrival at his new sphere of labour
that the then Proprietrix of the immense Glengarry
estates (of which Knoydart formed a part) commenced
the series of wholesale evictions which caused such

76 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

widespread suffering and distress throughout the country.
Nearly 1000 members of Father Coil's poor and scattered
flock were forcibly ejected from their holdings, their
dwelling houses being torn down and burnt, and the
barns and byres in which they took refuge being pulled
down about their ears. During these scenes of violence,
Father Coll never ceased to exert himself by every means
in his power on behalf of his unfortunate people ; and
when protest proved unavailing, he took active steps to
organise a relief fund in their aid. Many of the emigrants
he provided with food and clothing at his own expense ;
and for those who remained, now destitute and home
less, he procured tents as a temporary shelter, some seven
or eight families being thus lodged for some time in his
own small garden. In 1854 when the work of eviction
was over, the number of Catholics in the district was
reduced to little more than seventy. A resident priest
was thus thought to be no longer necessary, and Father Coll
was accordingly transferred in the following year to Fort
William. His name however was not forgotten amongst
those whom he had befriended ; and for many years
the newly arrived settlers in Canada, were accustomed
to baptize their sons by the familiar name of Coll, in
memory of the kind pastor whom they had left behind
them in the Highlands of Scotland."

It may be thought that the above is an exaggerated
picture of the Knoydart evictions, but if those interested in
the subject will turn to the pages of Mackenzie's " High
land Clearances" they will find full details of really
shocking cruelty. One or two instances must suffice here.

" Donald Maceachan, a cottar at Aror, married, with
a wife and five children. This poor man, his wife and

KNOYDART 77

children, were fully twenty-three nights without any
shelter but the broad and blue heavens. They kindled
a fire and prepared their food beside a rock, and then
slept in the open air. Just imagine the condition of this
poor mother, Donald's wife, nursing a delicate child,
and subjected to merciless storms of wind and rain during
a long October night. One of the melancholy nights
the blankets that covered them were frozen and white
with frost.

" Alexander Macdonald, aged 40 years, with a wife
and family of four children, had his house pulled down.
His wife was pregnant ; still the levellers thrust her
out, and then put the children out after her. The husband
argued, remonstrated and protested, but it was all in
vain ; for in a few minutes all he had for his (to him
comfortable) home was a lot of rubbish, blackened
rafters and heaps of stones. The levellers laughed at
him and at his protests, and when their work was over
moved away, leaving him to find refuge the best way
he could. Alexander had, like the rest of his evicted
brethren, to burrow among the rocks and caves until he
put up a temporary shelter amid the wreck of his old
habitation ; but from this also he was repeatedly driven
away. For three days Alexander Macdonald's wife lay
sick beside a bush, where, owing to terror and exposure
to cold, she had a miscarriage. She was then removed
to the shelter of the walls of her former house, and for
three days she lay so ill that her life was despaired of.
These are facts as to which I challenge contradiction. I
have not inserted them without the most satisfactory
evidence of their accuracy.

" John Mackinnon, a cottar, aged 44, with a wife and

78 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

six children, had his house pulled down and had no place
to put his head; consequently he and his family, for
the first night or two, had to burrow among the rocks
near the shore ! When he thought that the factor and
his party had left the district, he emerged from the rocks,
surveyed the ruins of his former dwelling, saw his furniture
and other effects exposed to the elements, and now
scarcely worth the lifting. The demolition was so com
plete that he considered it utterly impossible to make
any use of the ruins of the old house. The ruins of an
old chapel, however, were near at hand, and parts of the
walls were still standing ; thither Mackinnon proceeded
with his family, and having swept away some rubbish
and removed some grass and nettles, they placed a few
cabers up to one of the walls, spread some sails and
blankets across, brought in some meadow hay, and laid
it in a corner for a bed, stuck a piece of iron into the wall
in another corner, on which they placed a crook, then
kindled a fire, washed some potatoes, put a pot on
the fire and boiled them ; and when these and a few fish
roasted on the embers were ready, Mackinnon and his
family had ONE good diet, being the first regular meal
they tasted since the destruction of their house!
Mackinnon' s wife was pregnant when she was turned
out of her house among the rocks. In about four days
she had a premature birth ; this and her exposure to
the elements, together with the want of proper shelter
and nutritious diet, has brought on consumption from
which there is no chance whatever of her recovery.

" One would think that as Mackinnon took refuge amid
the ruins of this most singular place, he would be left
alone, and that he would not any longer be molested

KNOYDART 79

by man. But, alas, that was not to be I The manager
of Knoydart and his minions arrived, and invaded this
helpless family, even within the walls of the sanctuary.
They pulled down the sticks and sails he had set up within
its ruins — put his wife and children out on the cold
shore — threw his tables, stools, chairs, etc. over the walls
—burnt up the hay on which they slept — put out the fire
— and then left the district. Four times have these
officers broken in upon poor Mackinnon in this way,
destroyed his place of shelter, and sent him and his
family adrift on the cold coast of Knoydart. When I
looked in upon these creatures last week I found them
in utter consternation, having just learned that the
officers would appear next day, and would again destroy
the huts. The children looked at me as if I had been
a wolf ; they creeped behind their father, and stared
wildly, dreading I was a law officer. The sight was
most painful. The very idea that in Christian Scotland,
and in the nineteenth century, these tender infants should
be subjected to such gross treatment reflects strongly
upon our humanity and civilisation. Had they been
suffering from the ravages of famine, or pestilence, or war,
I could understand it and account for it, but suffering
to gratify the ambition of some unfeeling speculator
in brute beasts, I think it most unwarranted, and
deserving the condemnation of every Christian man.
Had Mackinnon been in arrears of rent, which he was
not, even this would not justify the harsh, cruel and in
human conduct pursued towards himself and his family.
No language of mine can describe the condition of this
poor family ; exaggeration is impossible."
The writer then goes on to give numerous similar

80 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

instances, and justly remarks that additional hardship is
added by the remembrance that all these poor evicted
people were the descendants of those who for many genera
tions had been the faithful adherents of their persecutor,
fighting his battles and defending his person, and in return
looking to him as their protector and their father. When
we think of the affection which for centuries the clansmen
had shown for their chiefs, it is most sad to find the un
feeling return which was made to them. Mr Mackenzie
also gives instances of the sufferings of those who, how
ever unwillingly, obeyed the orders to emigrate. There
was the journey of three or four weeks in a crowded
emigrant ship, remembered with horror by those who
have ever undergone it, the landing in a strange country,
where employment was often difficult to secure, and
years of poverty and servility for those who had been
accustomed to their own little plot of land and their
quiet, independent life. But of these we shall treat more
fully elsewhere. It should be noted, moreover, that this
treatment had in most cases nothing sectarian about it.
Evictions were carried out in almost every district of
the Highlands, though it sometimes happened that the
Catholic crofters, differing from the laird in religion, were
harder dealt with than their Protestant neighbours. The
foregoing instances are given by a Protestant writer, when
dealing with the Highland clearances in general ; but
whereas the whole population of Knoydart was at that
time Catholic, the persons evicted were almost certainly
of that Faith. It is also impossible to avoid the subject
— unpleasant though it be — as it alone was responsible
for the almost entire removal of the Catholic congregation
in this and other districts. We should remember, too,

KNOYDART 81

that only twenty-five years later the injustice of these
removals was acknowledged by the passing of the
Crofters Act, which grants fixity of tenure to the crofter
so long as he pays his rent and complies with other
moderate conditions. What would the Catholic popula
tion of Knoydart be to-day if the Crofters Act — now
universally acknowledged to be a most just measure-
had only existed to save its people.

The Directory of 1855 has this sad announcement :
" As the Catholics of this Mission have, with the excep
tion of a mere handful, been evicted from their holdings
and left to perish on the hill- side, or driven to seek in some
foreign land, a shelter which was denied them in the
land of their fathers, the Bishop has been compelled to
withdraw the priest, and to attach what still remains of
a venerable and flourishing Mission to North Morar.
It is only five years since several hundred pounds were
expended in building a commodious chapel and house
in this district, neither of which is now of any use."

Regarding the church buildings, previous to 1849
the services had been conducted in a long thatched house
at Samadlan, where the priest's house is still standing,
though the chapel has been almost entirely removed
for building dykes, etc. Until recently, however, the
walls were fairly high, and as one party expressed it,
" the bracken was growing through the doorway, just as
if people were coming out of church." There had also
been a chapel at Inverie itself, " for at that time Knoydart
was full of people from one side to the other."

In 1849 Mr William Macdonald built the church and
house at Sandaig, which was then in the centre of a
populous district. Its situation in the Bay of Sandaig

82 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

facing due south, and beautifully sheltered by the high
ground on three sides of it, is most picturesque. At the
time of my visit it was tenanted by two old maids, who
had managed to stay on there in spite of all threats to
turn them out. A charming picture was presented by
these two old ladies, born as they had been alongside
the chapel at Samadlan, and now living in their old age
in the deserted chapel-house at Sandaig. Daily the elder
of the two would walk two miles each way to their little
croft at Aror. Here they kept a couple of goats, the
milk of which, though barely half-a-pint, was the greatest
dainty in their simple fare. Though there was but one
house within two miles of them, the dear old people
still clung to the ground they knew so well, and nothing
would induce them to move to the village, four miles
distant.

Knoydart had been attached to Morar for some years,
when in 1884 it was again given a priest of its own in the
person of Rev. John MacElmail, who was sent, as he states,
" to keep alive the Faith among the 200 Catholics who still
remained scattered over a wide area." In the Directory
for 1887, after mentioning that Knoydart had at one time
contained a large Catholic population, but that it had for
some time been attached to Morar, the notice continues :
" The priest on whom they now depended was separated
from them by a stormy and dangerous arm of the sea ;
his energies were fully taxed by the care of his own Con
gregation, and he could only rarely and with difficulty
visit them, scattered as they were, over an exceptionally
wide district of country. Yet they clung to their religion
with devoted fidelity. Latterly, in response to their
repeated solicitations, and finding that their numbers

KNOYDART 83

had grown to nearly 200 souls, the Bishop formed the
district into a separate Mission, although there was no
prospect of its being self-supporting. Sandaig, the once
populous locality in which the church and chapel house
stood, had been changed by the cruel evictions into a
silent wilderness, and the new pastor quickly realised the
necessity of having a church in a more suitable position.
But means were absolutely wanting wherewith to carry
out the work, until Providence vouchsafed the oppor
tunity through the generosity of Mr Louis de Gonzague
Bailairge, Q.C. Quebec, who gave a donation for the
erection of a church in honour of St Agatha. An excellent
site was acquired at Inverie from Mr John Baird, the
then Proprietor of Knoydart, who has all along evinced
a friendly interest in the Catholics who form the bulk
of his tenantry. The building which was commenced
in 1885 was opened in September last. It stands on an
eminence looking out on the broad waters of Loch Nevis,
amidst scenery of the grandest description." Thus the
district of Knoydart seemed to take a fresh lease of life,
and the small remnant of her former Catholic popula
tion had all that their forefathers valued so highly, their
resident priest and their pretty little church, to which
they and all the Catholic Highlands have ever shown such
great veneration and affection. The priests in later
years have been Rev. George Rigg, Rev. William
Macdonald, Rev. Arch. MacDonell, Rev. Wilfred Gettins.
The daughter mission of Kintail continued to prosper.
In 1822 Bishop Ranald MacDonald states : "In Kintail
where we started a Mission not very long since there are
at least 200 Catholics, besides those who have emigrated.
They are under the charge of Mr Christopher MacRae,

84 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

a native of the place, now an old man, and a former
student of Valladolid." In 1831 Mr MacRae was still
priest here, and he continued in the mission till his death,
in 1842, at the age of seventy- eight. A couple of years
later Mr James Lamont was appointed to the mission,
which was then a very poor one, but Providence smiled
graciously on this district also, and sent a generous
benefactor in the person of the Duchess of Leeds, who,
at her sole expense, built a new church and priest's house,
along with a large building, where for many years the
Sisters of Mercy had a boarding-school, until the district
was found to be too remote for that purpose. The church
at the time of its opening in 1860 was the prettiest
church in the Highlands, and there is little wonder that
good Father Lamont was proud of it. In the account of
the opening ceremony he could not refrain from thinking
of the past, " when during seventeen years he had often
to travel as much as 40 miles on foot to a sick call
through piercing wind and snow. His chapel has hitherto
been a thatched barn like a hovel, neither wind nor
water tight, and his dwelling house scarcely better."
But these times have passed away, and although the
climate is no doubt severe in winter, still many a priest
from other parts has spent a pleasant holiday with the
priests of Kintail in their fine well-built house, with its
very pretty church alongside. The present writer must
confess to a great liking for Kintail, where he spent many
most enjoyable days, and that as late in the year as
October and November. One could always have a sail
on the loch, which comes up almost to the door of the
house, or a couple of hours' excellent sport, fishing in the
sea of an evening, or a walk along the sides of Loch

KNOYDART 85

Long to the beautiful Falls of Glomach. If one took the
Loch Duich road, one was always welcomed by the kindly
hostess at Glen Shiel, an excellent example of the old
type of Highland lady, who made you feel that you were
doing her an honour in coming to call. No Highland
priest will grudge a word of gratitude to good Miss
Mackintosh, who, along with her brother, Donald
Mackintosh of Glenelg, did so much to cheer the weary
winter months of successive priests of Kintail, and in
summer sought to welcome to their large and hospitable
houses any priests from other districts whose short holi
day brought them that way. Every priest who called
was welcome to stay as long as he liked ; he was cared
for with that affectionate reverence which gave such
virtue to the deed, and when he left no other payment
would on any account be accepted, but the promise of a
prayer and a blessing. It is a pleasure to be able to make
this small return and this heartfelt acknowledgment for
so much kindness on behalf of myself and of many,
many other priests in the Highlands.

The later priests in Kintail were Mr Macdonald, the
late Canon Bisset, Kev. Archibald Chisholm, Rev. J.
Angler, Eev. George Grant, Rev. J. M'Lellan. Of these,
Canon Bisset was here for over twenty years, and he ever
looked back on his Dornie days as the happiest of his
long priestly career. He was well acquainted with the
traditions of the past two or three generations, and these
pages were to have been submitted to him for revision, if
death had not taken him away before they were finished.
He died on 13th June 1915 in the seventy-sixth year of
his age, and the fifty-third of his priesthood.

MORAR

THE district of Morar was, already in 1700, the recog
nised meeting- place for the few Catholic priests who then
attended to the Catholics of the Highlands of Scotland.
Bishop Nicolson, in the Report of his visitation made in
that year, says : "On the 13th June we arrived at Eilean
Ban, on Loch Morar. This is a fresh- water loch, having
the district of Morar-mhic-Alisdair on the north and
that of Morar-mhic-Dughaill on the south. Here, after
consulting with Mr Cahassy, whose infirm state of health
obliged him to stay on this island, and with Mr Rattray
and some other priests, the Bishop sent all of them back to
their own districts except Mr Morgan and Mr Maclellan,
whom he decided to take with him to the Isles to serve
as interpreter and to help in the functions." The party
then sailed for the Outer Hebrides, and after six weeks
returned to the mainland. The Report continues :
" After our return from the Isles (on 29th July) we began
the Visitation of Arisaig, Moydart and Morar and in the
eight stations in this neighbourhood 700 persons were
confirmed. Next day we drew up rules for the Catholic
school that is in Arisaig, and then we went to Eilean Ban,
in Morar, where we met the neighbouring Missioners and
after consultation with them we drew up some disciplinary
measures and regulations."

The foregoing paragraph enables us to correct the list
of clergy in the Appendix to Gordon's " History of the

86

MORAR 87

Catholic Church in Scotland." Under 1701 we find Mr
Cahassy entered as " Moray," evidently intended for
Morar, as the whole context above shows. Mr Madden
(sic), who is given as being in Knoydart, we find to be
Mr Maclellan, as above ; Mr Munro (alias Kattray) and
Mr Morgan are given in the list correctly, but the name
Hackeen (sic) should be M'Eachen and Laggan should
be Logan, this name being correctly given in the list for
the previous year.

At the time of the Visitation of Bishop Nicolson, Mr
Cahassy had been twenty- one years on the Highland
mission, having come in 1681, and he seems to have been
all this time in the neighbourhood of Morar, for in 1689
he is described as priest of Knoydart. He died in 1704,
when his short obituary notice states : " He died in
September. He was an Irishman, and did a great deal
of good in the Highlands." He was succeeded by Mr
Peter Fraser, who had been ordained in Scotland in
1704. In 1728 he was priest in Morar, assisted by
Mr Dalgleish. Some further details are given by Bishop
Geddes. "Mr Peter Fraser had been a dragoon and a
Protestant ; he was wounded somewhere abroad and
during the time of his cure met with great humanity
from Catholics. This made him examine their religion;
which he embraced. I think I have heard that he
studied some time in Paris. He was ordained Subdeacon
by Bishop Nicolson, 2nd December, 1703 ; deacon, 31st
January, 1704, and Priest, llth March, 1704. He was at
Fochabers in 1715 ; in Glenlivet 1718 ; in the Highlands
1720, and particularly in Morar in 1728. He died in
March, 1731." I would suggest that it was due to the
troubles consequent on the Rising of 1715 that he re-

88 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

moved to the Fochabers district, or he may only have
been there to meet the Prefect of the mission, who often
resided at Fochabers at this period, under the protection
of the Dukes of Gordon, whose residence at Gordon
Castle is close to Fochabers.

We have more details of his companion, Mr George
Douglas or Dalgleish. According to Abbe Macpherson,
"he came from the Diocese of Ross, and went to the
Scots College, Rome, in 1698, aged 17 ; but at Bishop
Gordon's desire he left it, being only a deacon, in 1706.
The Bishop placed him for some time in a community at
Paris, called Notre Dame des Virtus, to learn the practical
duties of a missioner. In the latter end of the same
year he went to Scotland and knowing well the Gaelic
language, accompanied Bishop Gordon on his first visit
to the Highlands, and was by him ordained priest at the
House of Scothouse, on 25th July, 1707. He was an able
missioner and did much good in the Highlands, where he
laboured with great success for 24 years. He died in
April, 1731." To these details Bishop Geddes's account
adds the following : — " He was in the Highlands in 1715,
and particularly in Morar with Mr Peter Fraser in 1728.
For some years before his death (1731) he had not been
able to say Mass on account of the palsy ; but he heard
confessions, gave instructions, and was also employed in
going journeys on offices relating to the Mission, carrying
money and the like." There seems something pathetic
in the two invalid priests dying within a month of each
other, but beyond the date of their deaths, no further
details have come down to us.

Some years previous to this, Bishop Gordon had fixed
on Morar for the site of his seminary. The first mention

MORAR 89

of a seminary is in 1712, in the correspondence between
the Bishop on the one hand and Lewis Innes and Thomas
Innes on the other. In 1712 Mr George Innes came
home priest from Paris ; he arrived in Edinburgh in bad
health, and spent some time in his father's house, suffer
ing from asthma and ague. Bishop Gordon designed him
for the first Superior, and when he went on his tour through
the Highlands in the summer of 1714 he had the pleasure
of setting on foot his little Scalan in Loch Morar, though
it was late in the autumn when Mr Innes was able to take
charge of it. There were seven students in it, of whom
Bishop McDonald, son of the laird of Morar, was one.
This was West Scalan — a name often used afterwards
for Samalaman. The Rising of 1715 put an end to it,
and no attempt was made for some time to revive it.

Indeed, Bishop Gordon shortly afterwards opened the
seminary in Glenlivet, and having fully as much affection
for the Highland portion of his vicariate as for the
Lowland — and this all his letters amply prove — he would
have sent the Highland youths to the Glenlivet seminary.
But when the Highland district was separated from the
Lowland, and given a bishop of its own in the person of
Bishop Hugh McDonald, this latter at once recognised
the fitness of having a school or seminary of his own.
Another reason which led him to this conclusion was the
number of Catholic youths who were attracted to the
schools recently founded by the Society for the Propaga
tion of Christian Knowledge. " At this period," remarks
Mr Thomson, in his Notes, " the greater part of the
Missionaries in the Highland Vicariate were Scots or
Irish religious who were bound by no ties to the Mission,
and might at any time tire of its laborious life — as indeed

90 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

only too many did." Bishop McDonald again fixed on
the island in Loch Morar for the site of the school, chiefly
because it was in an entirely Catholic neighbourhood.
In June, 1732, he had several boarders, who did not
intend to embrace the ecclesiastical state, and also four
youths training up for the colleges abroad.

It will be interesting to note that the cost of each
pupil at this time was £6 a year at Scalan, according to
the statement of the bishops in the letter to Cardinal
Spinelli, Prefect of Propaganda. The whole question as
to the need of a seminary is fully discussed in the first
letter of the new Highland bishop to the Cardinal Prefect
of Propaganda. It is dated 18th March, 1732. He says :
" Relying on this kindness on the part of your Eminence
to me, as soon as I was consecrated — which event took
place in Edinburgh — I hastened to the Highlands, and
especially to those parts which seemed most to require
the care and solicitude of the Bishop. These districts,
to say the least, did not allow me to be idle, so great was
the distress of the faithful in consequence of the dearth
of Missionaries. When I had worked there for a few
months the sad state of affairs revealed itself. Wide
tracts of country which have of necessity been assigned
to single priests on account of the scarcity of these,
far exceed the capacity of the most diligent pastors.
Necessity obliged that in the place of some who had
died, other Missionaries should be brought from the south,
but these, even though they were of Highland origin,
were ignorant of the language, having forgotten it while
they studied abroad ; they were thus almost useless.
The faithful greatly bewail the scarcity of priests and
grieve that while those in other parts enjoy all spiritual

MORAR 91

comforts, they themselves suffer the greatest need, not
from any want of diligence on the part of the labourers,
but from the scarcity of these. . . . Whilst I ponder
over a remedy for so great an evil, this seems to me the
most efficacious — that a seminary be started in this
Highland District for the training of youths suitable for
the ecclesiastical state. It will thus happen that the
youths who will in future be sent to the colleges abroad
will be better prepared, whilst others, being ordained in
this country, will make up for the small number of those
who come back as priests from the colleges. How comes
it indeed that of the Highland youths who, after the
most careful selection, have been sent abroad, so large a
proportion give up the ecclesiastical state, and, returning
to the vanities of the world, belie the hopes which had
been placed in them ?

" If however only those are sent abroad who have been
tried in the seminary and who have made some progress
in study at college, it is to be hoped that more will com
plete their studies and attain to the priesthood. If to
these be added such as will be entirely educated in this
country, it is to be hoped that there will at length be
a supply of priests sufficient to satisfy the demands
of both Catholics and well-disposed heretics. On the
other hand it is plain to me that without such an in
stitution our holy faith will never make much progress,
whilst there is great danger that from the dearth of
priests — of which we shall always have to suffer, unless
the seminary be started — many of the weaker among the
faithful be led away by the arts and devices of the crowd
of heretical ministers, catechists and schoolmasters who
are daily being forced upon the people.

92 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" Our Catholic Highlanders however, are so poor that
there is no hope of our beginning this most useful and
most pious work unless your Eminence lend a helping
hand. I cannot but commend the whole matter to the
zeal and charity of your Eminence, for if it fail, not only
will all our labours be in danger of proving fruitless, but
we clearly foresee the loss of countless souls. I am on
the point of visiting the Hebrides and other distant places,
and shall omit nothing which may help towards starting
the seminary as soon as possible, trusting to the
generosity of your Eminence, which has already been so
great towards me, and which I hope will never fail our
pious labours and endeavours."

In the following year Bishop McDonald again begs
the help of Propaganda for his seminary in the west.
He also thanks the agent, Mr William Stuart, for his
promise of 300 livres a year in support of it. Evidently
the good agent had been touched by the Bishop's moving
appeal. The letter continues : "I hope since Exchange
promised to give something for that purpose, you'll insist
more and more for obtaining it, for I have begun the good
work, having made up a large house in a place called the
Isle of Loch Morar, which seems to be the most proper place
for the purpose in all this nation, considering my present
circumstances, it being situated in the heart of our best and
surest friends, where by boat all necessaries can be brought
and all unnecessary distractions can be kept off. I have
already got three or four boys together, which is perhaps
more than I am able to maintain without some help. ..."

When one compares the situation of the Morar
Seminary with that in Glenlivet, which had fully as great
disadvantages, one cannot but regret that the original

MORAR 93

site was not retained in the case of the former as it was
in the case of the latter, which for nearly a hundred
years proved most useful to the mission in Scotland.
As Bishop McDonald remarks, Morar was the most
suitable site which he could find within his district.
The island is half-a-mile from the shore and of sufficient
size to provide a good garden and other ground for the
boys' exercise, while the distance from the shore is such
that they would be able to cross almost any day. The
island is, moreover, most picturesquely situated, and in
this has a great advantage over Scalan. No doubt it
was inconvenient to take all the stores over to the island,
but one cannot help thinking that if the chequered
history of the college in the future had been foreseen,
these inconveniences would have been borne with and
in time largely overcome. How long the boys actually
remained in "the large house" will be seen from
the subsequent pages to be doubtful ; it was finally
abandoned after the Rising of 1745. Later Bishop
John MacDonald reopened the seminary at Buorblach,
a mile distant, but it did not prosper here either, and
at his death, in 1779, his successor transferred it to
Samalaman. Despite all the care and enthusiasm
bestowed on this foundation by Bishop Alexander
MacDonald, it was but little more successful, and Bishop
John Chisholm at once, upon his appointment as bishop,
sought a more desirable situation. In 1803 he removed
the seminary to Lismore, where it did fairly good work
until it was united with the Lowland seminary, and both
were transferred to Blairs College.

No doubt the difficulty regarding a site was largely
due to the unwillingness of the landlords to grant a lease

94 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

for the purpose ; but everything seems to prove that if
the college had been retained in the island on Loch
Morar, this difficulty would never have arisen, while the
island was large enough to be suitable for the eight or
ten boys, which is all the college ever boasted until its
removal to Blairs.

The plan of the college buildings can be traced on
the island, whilst the walls of the garden are still
standing, and enclose a fair amount of ground, of which
the soil appears excellent. But to return to the early
days of the foundation, Bishop McDonald writes to
Mr Peter Grant, the new agent at Rome, in 1738 : " I
need not recommend to you to keep friends at Hambourg
in mind of the promise they once made in the time of
Mr Logan (Mr Stuart) of helping Mr Sandison's shop,
which is now fixed in Arisaig. The number of prentices
is eight, which is more than Mr Sandison would wish,
but some of their parents were promising to help them,
yet once they gott them off their hands, they never
mind them. ..." I could not reconcile the statement
" which is now fixed in Arisaig " with the previous
letters and with all the local traditions that the school
was on Loch Morar. Certainly the Bishop's brother, the
laird of Morar, lived at Bunacaimb, in Arisaig, and the
Bishop might have used the term loosely. Since first
writing the above, I have reread No. IV. of the papers
following, from whence it appears that Bishop McDonald
really did board his pupils with his brother at Aiisaig.
If the previous agreement had also been for five years,
that would make it begin in 1737, and would account
for the Bishop's expression in his letter of 1738, " is now
fixed in Arisaig." The agreement of 1742 would still be

MORAR 95

in force in 1745, and accounts for there being no mention
of a school on the island, when Bishop McDonald and his
companions were almost apprehended there. From the
papers found it was evidently the residence of the Bishop,
but the whole account is best told in the words of the
contemporary account published in the Scots Magazine.

EXTRACT from a letter to the DUKE OF NEWCASTLE,
published in May, 1747.

" What has given rise to the present address is the
perusal of certain papers seized in the Macdonald's
country, in the North-west Highlands, by the Argyle-
shire militia. The following circumstances I had from
the mouth of a gentleman who was a principal actor in
what he related ; to whom I am likewise indebted for
being allowed to take copies of the original papers seized.

" On the 8th June, 1746, Major- General Campbell
sailing with the bulk of his forces from Tobermory, in the
Isle of Mull, up Loch Sunart, the country of the Camerons
and other rebels, he detached Capt. Duff, of the Terror,
and Capt. Fergusson, of the Furnace, with several tenders,
to range and clear the coast of the more Westerly
Continent and Isles, and to look for the Pretender's
son, and other rebel chiefs ; as also to receive from the
common people their arms and ammunition. For the
more effectual execution of these important services, the
General re-inforced them with a strong detachment of
Guise's and a few of Johnson's regiments of foot, com
manded by Capt. James Miller ; together with two
Argyleshire companies, commanded by Capt. Dougall
Campbell, of Achachrosan, and Capt. Dougall Campbell,
of Cruachan. They accordingly proceeded to Moydart and

96 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Arisaig, where they found a great quantity of arms, and
forty barrels of powder, hid amongst the rocks and woods.
" Having apprehended several of the rebels in those
parts, they learned from them, that Lord Lovat, with
his servants, and a guard of well-armed and resolute
men, had retired into an island in Loch Morar, a fresh
water lake twelve miles in length, and somewhat more
than a mile distant from the West sea- coast. In this
pleasant little island, his Lordship lived with Macdonald
of Morar, the proprietor of it, his brother Bishop Hugh
Macdonald, the Pope's Apostolical Vicar of Scotland,
one Dr Macdonald, and several others of that rebellious
family. Here they deemed themselves perfectly secure,
having for that end brought all the boats on the lake
to their island ; never once suspecting the possibility of
His Majesty's forces, being able to bring any boats from
the sea, over land into this lake, to disturb their secure
retreat. But they soon found themselves woefully mis
taken ; for 300 men were quickly landed from the King's
ships on that coast, under the command of Capt. Fer-
gusson, and the two Captains Campbell before named,
with the regular subalterns. These performed a most
difficult and dangerous march of nine miles, from Arisaig
to Loch Morar, over inconceivably rugged rocks, where
oft-times but one man a- breast could clamber. Upon
their arrival at the lake, they immediately spread them
selves opposite to the isle, and in view of the rebels
thereon ; who, concluding themselves quite free from
danger, fired on our people, at the same time calling them
by insulting and opprobrious names, being near enough
to be heard. This exultation, however, was quickly at
an end ; for the King's ships having sailed round to that

MORAR 97

part of the coast where their boats had little more than
a mile to be carried overland to the lake (the brook that
runs from the lake into the sea, near that place being
too small for navigation) the rebels immediately lost all
courage, upon observing the men-of-war's boats moving
overland towards the lake and suddenly taking to their
own boats, they rowed up the lake with the utmost
precipitation ; insomuch, that though the Argyleshire
men swiftly pursued on both sides of the lake, and that
our own boats followed as soon as they could be got
into the lake, yet all the rebel gentry, Macdonalds,
escaped into the mountains, excepting the before-named
Dr Macdonald, whom our people apprehended, and
brought back to the island, together with the boats of
those rebels. Here they found the before-named Popish
Bishop's house and chapel ; which the sailors quickly
gutted and demolished, merrily adorning themselves
with the spoils of the chapel. In the scramble, a great
many books and papers were tossed about and destroyed.
One of the Argyleshire gentlemen, however, happened to
get into his hands the few papers which have occasioned
this address.

" Upon examining the prisoners, it was concluded, that
Lord Lovat's lameness must have rendered it utterly
impracticable for him to travel in so rugged a country,
and that therefore he must probably lie concealed in one
or other of the numberless caves at the upper end of this
lake, where the boats had landed him. It was therefore
determined to make diligent search every where there
about. This service was performed by Capt. Fergusson,
and other officers and men, with unwearied diligence, for
three days and nights ; when at length, Capt. Campbell

98 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

of Achachrosan found that unhappy Lord lying on two
feather beds, not far from the side of the lake ; to whom
he surrendered and delivered up his arms and strong
box. Hereupon his Lordship was put into one of our
boats and rowed down the lake, at the lower end of which
our sailors MADE A KUN WITH HIM (as they termed it)
over land to the sea- side, the pipers all the while playing
the tune called Lord Lo vat's march, with which his Lord
ship pretended to be pleased ; and finally they carried
him on board Capt. Fergusson's ship."

Regarding the foregoing account, it evidently has
not suffered in vividness in the telling, the object, of
course, being to make the arrest appear as a gallant
achievement ; though the capture of an old man of
eighty needs " a rich brush " to give it any appear
ance of the kind. Bishop McDonald, it will be seen,
managed to escape, and, after hiding in the neighbour
hood as best he could, in autumn crossed over to
France in one of the ships which had been sent to
search for Prince Charlie. The Bishop went to Paris,
and stayed some time at the Scots College, returning to
Scotland in August, 1749.

The writer in the Scots Magazine then dwells on the
dangerous nature of the papers — though indeed nothing
more harmless could have been found, being, as they
are, purely ecclesiastical orders and instructions. He
also inveighs against " the country of the Camerons,
Macdonalds, etc. It is amongst the worst of the people,
many of whom are most cruel and barbarous thieves and
murderers, as well as traitors, that the Pretender has his
chief supporters." Unfortunately for the writer of the
above, the whole campaign of Prince Charles Edward

MORAR 99

proved the chivalry and generosity of the little Highland
army, whilst the robberies and murders which were
perpetrated by its conquerors after Culloden pass all
belief at the present date.

In the following paper the " Sovereign " is, of course,
King James, whose letter requesting the appointment
of Bishop McDonald will be found in the life of the
latter (Amer. Cath. Quart., October, 1915).

" No. 1 of papers found in the BISHOP'S house at Morar.
BISHOP GORDON'S mandate to the Popish clergy
and laity in the Highlands, dated the 29th October,
1731.

" TO ALL CHURCHMEN AND HONOURABLE CATHOLIC
GENTLEMEN IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

" The Universal Pastor of the Catholick Church, con
sidering maturely that my advanced years cannot allow
me to serve you henceforth, as I have done for many
years ; and that it will prove much for your advantage,
and that of all the Highland countries in Scotland, to
have a Bishop constantly to reside amongst you ; has,
in his great wisdom, and tender love for you all, with
the consent, and at the desire of our Sovereign, ordered
the most worthy bearer, the most Reverend Hugh
Macdonald, to be consecrated Bishop, to serve amongst
you, as your chief Pastor and Bishop. And his Holiness
sending him as Bishop, amongst you, appoints him also
Vicar Apostolical with singular powers, to enable him to
discharge this office with the greater honour and authority.
Injoining you all to be ever obedient and submissive to

100 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

this your Most Rev. Bishop, who also specially represents
the Pope's person ; and to execute all his orders and
commands, assuring you that he will with his supreme
authority support this your Most Rev. Bishop's authority
and commands. Threatening, at the same time, the most
severe censures against any such as were so wicked as to
be disobedient or refractory. It belongs to me of duty,
to intimate to you these most pious intentions of his
Holiness, which he has made known to me ; that, by
honouring and obeying faithfully this your Most Rev.
Bishop, you may show the more dutifully your reverence
and respect to the supreme Pastor.

" Your exemplary obedience and submission to this
your most honourable Pastor, will be a most assured
means to draw down upon you all continually the special
and most plentiful blessings of heaven ; and will ever
prove a most singular comfort to me, who have served
you so long, and still retain such a tender love to you all
in Christ.

JACOBUS
Ep. Nicop. Vic. Apost. in planis Scotice.

The second paper incidentally throws light on the
position of the Catholic Church in the Highlands at this
time. It is noticeable that the meeting had been held
again at Morar. Bishop Hugh McDonald was not able
to go to Rome, being probably unwilling to absent him
self from his diocese for so long a period as the journey
then required. Accordingly Mr Tyrie and Mr Colin
Campbell obtained permission to go by themselves.
The journey was the beginning of much trouble, for the

MORAR 101

" Pilgrims," as they came to be called, actually accused
the Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District, of Jansenism,
and it took years for the bad impression to be put
right.

" No. II. Instructions for Mr JOHN TYRIE, who, with the
consent and approbation of his fellow Missionaries,
in a meeting held at the Isle of Morar, in montanis,
on the 14th and following days of April, 1735, was
chosen by our most Rev. Bishop HUGH MACDONALD,
Vicar Apostolic in montanis Scotiae, to accom
pany him to the Old Town, in prosecution of
the affairs spiritual and temporal of our Highland
Mission.

[The writer in the Scots Magazine prefaces the following
remarks : — " These instructions consist of twenty- one
articles, many of which related purely to Tyrie's taking
care of his bishop, both coming and returning : and con
cerning their own particular and separate interest as
Highland Missionaries, as contra- distinguished from the
Lowland Mission, who had a distinct bishop and Vicar
Apostolic ; which last Mission the Highland Missionaries
thought to be more favoured at Rome, in point of
temporal concerns than they were. I shall therefore
only exhibit such of the articles of these instructions as
do more immediately relate to their propagation of
Popery and disaffection in that country.]

" Art. V. The said Mr John Tyrie shall suggest to our
Most Rev. Vicar while there [at Rome] the following
motives for obtaining redress of our difficulties, both
spiritual and temporal.

102 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" That seeing we had no subjects from Paris College,
for above twenty years past ; nor did the Superior
thereof call for youths from our Highlands, for upwards
of fifteen years past ; therefore all possible means shall
be used with our great friend [King James III.] to concur
with our Most Kev. Vicar, in procuring such a reforma
tion of that house, as to render it more useful in time to
come to the Highland Mission. For effectuating of this
that it be represented to our said great friend, how all
his best friends here are interested in the good of this
Mission ; and that the increase of Catholicks here will
much advance his own interest ; that nothing will be
more agreeable to them, than that the same house educate
their children, as it does those of the Low country [of
Scotland].

' ' Art. VII. For obtaining what we desire, in this point,
from our great friend, it is ordered, that the letters
formerly sent by both Vicars Apostolical and some of
their clergy then present, be presented to him, if they
can be had, otherwise the copies of the said letters which
are here.

" Art. VIII. That the said Mr John Tyrie carry along
with him a copy of the catechism reprinted with addi
tions ; and mind our Most Rev. Vicar to lay it before the
persons concerned there, to have their judgment upon
the same.

" Art. IX. For obtaining assistance from Propaganda
in our wants, that it be represented, that if we had
necessary charges, we could, under God, make consider
able conversions in the country about us.

" Art. X. That the Propaganda be informed of the
methods that the enemies of the truth fall on for extir-

MORAR 103

pating it ; such as, the charity schools founded on
purpose to entice and imbibe youth with bad principles ;
the yearly pensions bestowed for maintaining itinerant
preachers among our people ; the erecting of new Parish
Ministers in such places where our folks mostly prevail
in number. And all these three foundations are princi
pally designed against our Highland countries. Nor
must it be forgot to represent, that the £1,000 Sterling
allowed by King George to itinerant Ministers in the
Highlands, is in a great part employed in perverting
Catholics. That our parts, generally speaking, have an
inclination to the faith, all our chief heads of families no
ways hindering their followers. That all this be laid
before our great friend, as a motive to gain him over
to our interest.

" Art. XI. That our present number of Missionaries
being but eleven, and our Catholicks so situated in their
contiguous isles and small villages, that one Missionary
can serve but very few totally well, we absolutely
have need of double the number we have at present,
with subsistence for them. The Propaganda then
must be supplicated to afford both the one and the
other.

"Art. XII. That though both Colleges [the Scots
Colleges of Kome and Paris] were rendered as useful for
our purpose as they are capable of, yet still we should
want many of the necessary number of missionaries ;
and even if we got two thirds of both colleges, yet they
would not be a proportion to the number of Catholicks
in the Highlands.

" Art. XV. That our Most Rev. Vicar, out of his zeal
for religion, and for the good of the souls under his care,

104 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

has, out of his small funds, begun a seminary in our
Highlands. Therefore the Propaganda is to be suppli
cated to grant to our Most Rev. Vicar such charitable
assistance as shall render him capable to prosecute his
most pious design : without which he must necessarily
drop it.

" I John Tyrie do solemnly swear and vow, that I
shall faithfully and diligently concur, by the grace of
God, with my worthy Most Rev. Vicar Apostolical in all
his affairs ; and with the like fidelity and diligence, shall
discharge the trust committed to me, by my fellow
Missionaries, according to the tenor of their above signed
instructions given me. So help me God and this his
holy Gospel.

" JOANNES TYRIUS,
" Presb. in Movd. Scotice.

" We under subscribers attest this to be a true copy
of the original.

NILE M'FiE
JAM. GRANT, Writer
M'LACHLAN

JOHN M'DONALD
COLIN CAMPBELL
JOHN TYRIE."

The next paper gives the list of the Catholic clergy
in Scotland at this time. Regarding the Highland
priests, the lives of most of those mentioned can
now be pieced together, though the last - named
seems to have been a Franciscan, and only appears
in the list for -this year. Henderson is an alias for
Harrison.

MORAR 105

"III. A list of the Popish missionaries in the Lowlands
and Highlands of Scotland, as they stood anno
1740.

Alex. Dmmmond ulkieas M'Lachlan

Alex. Paterson John McDonald

Hackett Colin Campbell

Robert Gordon Nile M'Fie

William Shand James Leslie

John Tyrie James Grant

John Godsman Francis M'Donald

George Gordon W. Henderson
Alexander Gordon - O'Kelly

John Gordon - O'Colgan"

George Duncan
William Duthie
Charles Crookshank
William Reid

The fourth paper is, unfortunately, not given in its
original form. I can only give the remarks of the
Scots Magazine writer regarding it :

" IV. is a further proof of their great industry for the
promoting of their cause. It contains articles of agree
ment, dated the 1st May 1742, betwixt the before-named
Bishop Macdonald, and his brother John Macdonald,
for the latter to board and maintain five boys and a
master to teach them. This Popish seminary was to
continue for five years certain ; and probably may be
still in being, and farther prolonged, unless speedy and
effectual means be used for clearing the country of such
poisonous weeds."

The last of the papers in the Scots Magazine

106 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

as being found at Morar is the cypher commonly
used by the bishops and clergy of that period. I
insert it by itself, omitting the comments of the Scots
Magazine :

"The Cypher The Key

Hambourg Rome

West Highlands

Amsterdam Paris

Grisly's shop Scots College, Paris

Hambourg shop Scots College, Rome

Mr Cant The Pope

The Change The College of Propaganda

Mr Arthur The King (James)

Merchant Cardinal

Physician Bishop

Labourers Clergy

Birly Jesuit

Mr James Grant Bishop Gordon

Grigson Mr Cowreyer

Melvill Mr Thomas

Mr Debree Mr Innes"

Of the youths educated at Morar it is difficult to form
even a rough list, though the names of a few occur in
the letters of the Bishops. Mr Allan Macdonald taught
there for some years after his ordination in 1736, and from
his not being included in List No. IV. I infer that he
was then teaching, and not on the active mission. He
accompanied Prince Charlie, was apprehended, and
kept for eight months on a hulk in the Thames, and
six months longer in Newgate. He died in 1781, and left
such money as he had saved to the Highland Seminary.

MORAR 107

But by this time the little establishment had moved to
Buorblach.

Bishop John MacDonald was appointed coadjutor to
his uncle in 1761. He at once recommenced the project
of a Highland school, which had been in abeyance since
1746. He had it in working order in 1767, according to
the following letter of Bishop Hugh : — " . . . the keeping
of boys at Fochabers has been very chargeable to me and
they are not so well taught as I would like ; I have now
begun a new shop in the West under the direction of Mr
Tiberiop. ; and Mr Allen (jun.) one of the travellers lately
come, is to be constantly with the apprentices to teach
them. By this I expect to have subjects better pre
pared than formerly, at least in a short time. It's true
I may meet with difficulties and the want of funds is
a great one ; however I shall do my best and depend on
Providence."

But the situation at Buorblach was not entirely to
the liking of Bishop Hugh. He had been all his life in
such straitened circumstances as did not admit of
hospitality ; hence he writes to Bishop Hay, 10th October
1769 : "In short the shop in the West does not answer
my expectations, for I could keep boys at Fochabers
much cheaper than there. The reason is that Mr John's
house is full of comers and goers every night, and what
should be spent on boys is spent on stragglers. This
gives me great uneasiness, and I am by time to bring the
boys back to Fochabers."

We learn something of these youths from a letter of
Bishop John to Bishop Hay, written from North Morar,
20th August 1770 : "I cannot give the same assurance
of the number you ask of prentices, for one of them is

108 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

doubtful, who is indeed the least hopeful of the six we
had. But the rest shall be ready at a call, viz. Austin
MacDonald from South Uist, Son to Alex. MacDonald
and Margaret MacEachan of Morar's family ; Donald
MacDonell, son to John MacDonell brother to Mr
Alexander junr. and Margaret MacDonald niece to Mr
Dian (Bishop Hugh M'Donald). Angus MacDonald
from Braelochaber, son to James MacDonald of Keppoch's
family and his mother of the Stewarts of Appin, a very
good convert. Duncan MacDonald also from Braeloch
aber, whose parents are not yet Catholics, but his father,
of Keppoch's family, is soon expected to become one. His
mother is Grant from Strathspey ; and finally Donald
MacDonald son to Kanald MacDonald uncle to Kinloch-
moydart and Margery MacDonald sister to the late Mr
^Eneas MacDonald who died at Barry. The readiest
means of providing the sixth is to call from Glenlivet the
son of one Lachlan MacDonald there recommended last
year." Of the above Austin MacDonald and Angus
certainly persevered and became useful missionaries in
the Highlands.

Bishop John MacDonald put his whole heart and soul
into the new foundation, as appears from a letter of Bishop
Hugh to his brother bishop in Edinburgh : "Mr
Tiberiop. is continually making up houses on his new
farm. The charges are great for I have given him no
less than £74 which indeed I would not be able to give,
had I not been pretty well provided beforehand, and I
hope he will not make any demand in haste ; if he does,
I know not what to say or do. I fear he is much for
projects, and what gives me great trouble is that the
boys are not kept to their lessons."

MORAR 109

The younger bishop had now taken over most of the
work of the vicariate from his uncle, and to his worries
regarding the school was added the difficulty of supplying
priests to the various districts. Bishop Hugh writes in
August, 1772 : "Mr Tiberiop. has been with me for eight
days not long since. He is greatly harassed for want of
Missionaries." The same subject is referred to in the
Annual Letter of the Bishops for 1774 : " Tiberiop. is in
such difficulties that he cannot take up his residence in
any one district. He is often at a loss to know which
district to attend to first, so urgent and so frequent are
the calls that are made upon him. Even if he could
comply with all the requests he could not afford them
much permanent help. It was with much regret and
with great injury to religion that he was forced to close
the little seminary which he had started a few years
previously. He could however not possibly spare any
one to attend to it."

Although the good Bishop writes from Buorblach in
January, 1775, he had apparently no pupils with him at
that time. After stating that he was very uncertain
where to settle, but preferred Buorblach, he continues :
" I cannot help regretting that Scalans cannot be joined.
... If I set up a shop next year, I'll need a cargo of
books for it." There was also the question of securing
a lease, as to which he writes to Bishop Hay : " I got
indeed an abatement of rent, but no lease, which made
me soon repent of not quitting it." And again : " In case
I go there I shall expect to return by Braemar, by this
country and Strathglass, which will employ me all
summer, and in autumn I would need to visit the Isles,
after which I shall endeavour to settle myself for the

110 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

winter season in some place, perhaps at Buorblach, which
if I can get a lease of,1 I would make my residence.
I find myself considerably impaired by the many in
conveniences of wandering without a fixed home, and
cannot longer continue."

By the beginning of 1777, Bishop John had started
the school afresh, for in February of that year he writes
for his " cargo of books," and names the following : —

Rudiman's Rudiments ... 3 copies

Cornelius, without translation . 7 copies

Csesar ..... 4 copies

Mair's Introduction to Making Latin 3 copies

Ovid de Fastis .... 2 copies

Rudiman's Grammar ... 3 copies

Cicero's Select Epistles ... 5 copies

Cicero (Offices) .... 4 copies

Virgil ..... 2 copies

The new beginning seemed to prosper little better than
the previous one. Certainly a more distressing letter
than the following could scarcely have been written.
After stating that he is greatly concerned at the proposal
to sell Buorblach over his head, he most earnestly begs
that the Mission funds be used to purchase the whole for
£2,000. " For a sinking Fund to relieve me of this
burden I shall assign my Scalan funds and every penny
I can spare from my own subsistence. Even if it should
be necessary to dismiss my Scalan entirely for 7 or 8
years, and take boys to be sent to the shops, the best way
I could find them, I would rather do it than lose this

1 1 was told locally that it was Maodonald, of Girinish, in Uist,
who made difficulties about granting a lease, and that he was the
cause of the college being later moved to another district.

MORAR 111

opportunity. However my economy may have been,
which had no other fault, but too easily burdening myself
to relieve others, you may assure yourself, I shall readily
— for securing the point — reduce myself to mere
necessaries of life. For of all temporal things, it lies
nearest to my heart ; and failing in this attempt will be
the greatest mortification of my life."

Bishop John MacDonald seems to have been one of
those men who could refuse no call upon his charity.
He is often stated, by the other bishops, as trying to
fill the place of two and even three of his priests. He
had also burdened himself with debt to relieve the
distress of his people. In October, 1777, he writes from
Buorblach to the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda :

" The reason why I was not at the meeting of Bishops
this year was that circumstances obliged me in the month
of June to go to the Western Islands to administer
Confirmation which had already been too long delayed.
The journey, which is one of 60 miles across dangerous
seas, can never be made with any comfort except in
summer, nor is one sure of getting back if one goes at
other times. When I had finished my work and was
ready to return, I was detained by contrary winds, and
did not reach the mainland until the beginning of
September. By that time my Colleagues had dispersed,
whilst even if they had still been at the Meeting I could
not have gone there, so stormy and wet was the weather.
At once on my arrival here I wrote to Bishop Hay, to
learn what they had settled and I soon after received
his reply. I then started to write to your Eminence,
but I was taken seriously ill and was thereafter so weak
that any reading or writing was almost impossible to me.

112 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

I only mention this here, to account for my delay in
writing to your Eminence."

In the same letter the Bishop goes on to say : "Mr
James MacDonald, who seven years ago came from the
Scots College, Paris, is to help the priest in Knoydart.
He is of strong constitution and will be a great help to
his two neighbours. For two years he had charge of the
seminary when we began it in this district. He is suc
ceeded by Mr Austin MacDonald, who returned in poor
health from Valladolid, when only in deacon's orders,
and who will now prepare himself for the priesthood and
preside over the boys in the seminary." This Austin
MacDonald I take to be the same who passed through
Buorblach and was stated to be ready to go to the
Colleges abroad in 1770.

Bishop John MacDonald attended the meeting of Bishops
at Scalan in 1778, and their Annual Letter breathes a
spirit of hope and of progress which must have been a
great encouragement to the good bishop in his personal
difficulties. They say : " Regarding the present state of
affairs, we were never more hopeful, never more pros
perous, and we trust that all our hopes will shortly be
realised. The road is much easier for converts, and
many difficulties which heretofore hindered them are
about to be removed. The liberality of the King and
of the Ministry gives us great hopes for the future, and
we already enjoy far greater liberty than ever our fore
fathers had."

This was destined to be the last Annual Letter of Bishop
John MacDonald. In the following spring, whilst staying
in Knoydart, he caught an epidemic then raging there,
and in five days he passed to a better world. We have

MORAR 113

seen that he was in bad health two years previously —
indeed his health had been undermined by the fatigues
and labours of his missionary life and he fell an easy
prey to the infection, caught at the death-bed of a
parishioner. He was buried in Kilchoan Cemetery,
Knoydart.

The life work of this excellent man is best judged from
the letters of the time, which almost invariably refer to
him as " good Bishop John," and Bishop Hay greatly
regretted his loss as a colleague. He heartily sym
pathised with his priests in their life of labour and
fatigue, and during the eighteen years of his episcopate
was unremitting in his endeavours to relieve them. In
this manner he was himself worn out at the early age
of fifty- two. His successor, Bishop Alexander MacDonald,
at once began to look for a more suitable site for the
seminary, and in 1783 it was again removed from the
Morar district to Samalaman, in Moydart.

Regarding the succession of priests in this district,
Mr James Hugh MacDonald was here in 1779, for, in the
election of a successor to Bishop John, he signs as Priest
of Morar. From that date onward the succession is given
in the parish Register as follows : —

" The Rev. Reginald M'Donell came to the Mission of
North Morar in 1782, and laboured for 50 years in the
same Mission. In 1832 he was succeeded by Rev. Coll
M'Coll, who laboured in the same Mission for 10 years.
The Rev. Donald M'Kay took charge of the Mission of
N. Morar in 1842 and spent 28 anxious years at Bracara.
The Rev. Donald M'Innes succeeded in the year 1870,
and held the charge till 17th Dec. 1873. The Rev.
Donald Walker had charge of the North Morar Mission

114 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

till Dec. 1888. He wasjsucceeded by Rev. Donald
M'Lellan, until|tlie death of the latter in 1903. Rev.
James Chisholm had charge for six months, and Rev.
Angus Macrae from 1904 onward."

At Morar chapel-house is preserved a set of j green
vestments, with red and white intermingled, bearing the
date 1745. It still has its original lining ; there is also
an altar frontal to match it. These were probably
brought over from France by the adherents of Prince
Charlie, and must have been part of the furnishings of
the chapel on the island, though it is not known how they
were saved when the building was ransacked and burnt
in 1746. The same remarks apply to the old chalice,
which bears the inscription : "Ad usum Pr Fr Vincentii
Mariani, Missrii Scot. Ord. Praedic. Anno 1658." This
chalice, which is of silver, is very small indeed ; it has
its paten to match. Unfortunately we have no further
information regarding this early missioner. In the list of
priests for 1668 it is stated that there were three Domini
cans on the mission. Father Vincent was apparently
one of these ; the others being Father George Farming-
long in the Isle of Barra — and Father Primrose, who
died in prison in 1671.

Of the priests above mentioned Mr Reginald M'Donell
had, according to Bishop Alexander MacDonald's Re
port for the year 1783, 250 Catholics in South Morar
and 460 in North Morar, besides 46 in the Loch Arkaig
district. " In 1822 he had been 40 years in this Mission,"
writes Bishop Ranald MacDonald, " and was then sixty-
six years of age."

Mr Ronald (Reginald) M'Donell had no house of his
own, but, according to the custom of the time, stayed one

MORAR 115

week in one house, a second week in another, and so on,
from the end of Loch Nevis to Mallaig. His mother was
not a Catholic, and was unkind to the boy, especially
after her second marriage ; but he had the happiness of
receiving her into the Church on her death-bed. It is
still remembered how at one time there were three
ministers in the sick-room, but one after the other they
went away, and so left the priest alone with his mother,
for whose reception into the Church he had long and
earnestly prayed.

When Mr Ronald was already advanced in years,
Mr Coll M'Coll was sent to assist him. Mr M'Coll was
from Tyree, and was thirty years of age before he was
converted. " He was a great boy for the fiddle and was
oh so greatly loved ; but in consequence of an accusa
tion against him he had to go to Australia — the woman
who made the accusation lost her arm — it went bad and
her cries could be heard five miles away."

The older chapel was at Bracora, and this was
succeeded by the one at present standing, which was
built in 1836 : towards its erection T. A. Fraser, Esq.
— grandfather of the present Lord Lovat — contributed
£100, so runs the Directory of that date. In 1889
it was superseded by the present very pretty chapel
at Beoraid, erected entirely at the cost of the Lovat
family, in memory of Simon, Lord Lovat, who had a
special affection for the Morar portion of his property,
and who often stayed for long periods together at Morar
Lodge, the great beauty of its surroundings having a
special attraction for him. Mass is still sometimes said
at Bracora, and the school continues to be conducted
there, whilst there are few churches in the Highlands

116 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

which are better filled than the church of St Cumin at
Morar. On the Sundays when the present writer was
there, it was a most picturesque sight to see the keepers
and gillies coming down Loch Morar in their boats,
while the road, eastwards from Bracora and westwards
from Mallaig, was crowded with people. One can but
hope that his ancient mission may long flourish, and
that its people will remember how two hundred years
ago, Morar was the centre of Catholic life in the High
lands of Scotland, and how so entirely Catholic was it
that they still boast : " There was never a minister's
sermon in this country until the railway came " — as
recently as 1890.

ARISAIG

MR ALEXANDER LESLIE, whose Report I have already
had occasion to quote, mentions that at the time of his
Visitation in 1678 the people of Arisaig had just lost their
priest, Mr George Fanning, an Irish Dominican. " For
this reason when the people saw Mr Munro, they thought
that they were the objects of the special grace of Heaven,
thinking that he had come to labour amongst them.
But when they heard that we were to go in three days
to the Outer Isles their joy was turned to bitter dis
appointment, and they loudly complained that they were
neglected and abandoned by the priests." How long
Father George Fanning had been with them, we do not
know, but in 1671 he was in Barra, and had been there
some years at that date. I presume that he is buried at
Kilmorui in Arisaig, in the cemetery which is so full of
memories, both pre-Reformation and of later date.

This complaint of the people of Arisaig that they were
abandoned by the priests is constantly repeated through
out the Highland districts at this period. In 1664 Mr
Francis White had written to St Vincent of Paul : "I
send you this to let you know that the great burden
which I bear has made me break down and has placed
me ' hors de combat.' You indeed know how much
work I had when four other priests helped me, now that
I am alone in this Mission, pray tell me how I can possibly
keep up, especially as I have converted as many more of
117

118 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

these poor people, who show themselves daily better
disposed for instruction and the Sacraments. Such a
work cannot be carried on by one poor workman, weak
and infirm as I am. Indeed you know it has almost cost
me my life. I have 4,000 souls to assist,1 and these
too dispersed in different districts in the Isles, and other
remote places. If only I had help I would hope to
convert many more, but against my will I am forced to
leave off making new converts, not being able to serve
more than once in two years, those I have already con
verted, whilst there are remote islands, which I have not
visited for three years."

Again, in 1665, Mr Francis White wrote : " If I could
have three or four Irish priests, I would sooner have them
than twenty others, but they must be good men, other
wise I would sooner have no assistance at all. ... If
your Keverence [St Vincent of Paul] has not any Irish
priests at hand, you might write to the Superior of
the Scots College, Paris, who could find many in that
University ; and even if all are not fit for this most
laborious Mission, assuredly from amongst so many, a
selection could be made, and the best be sent. I say this
for the discharge of my conscience. ..."

So urgent an appeal could not fail to impress Propa
ganda, which at once ordered that all the recommenda
tions of Father White be carried into effect. The Nuncio
at Paris was instructed to order John White, brother of
Father Francis, to go to the assistance of this latter. The
Archbishop of Armagh was asked to find priests in Ireland
who knew the Celtic language and were willing to labour
in the Highlands ; the General of the Jesuits was asked

1 Certainly a very low estimate. — F. O. B.

ARISAIG 119

to find suitable youths to go to the National Colleges, of
which visitations were to be made by the different
Nuncios, who were asked to send in full reports to
Propaganda.

This same subject of the scarcity of priests was later
a constant source of anxiety to the Vicars Apostolic.
Bishop Gordon writes, in 1711, to the agent in Rome :
' ' I have extreme difficulty in getting these countries
served with labourers, though I leave no stone unturned
to get some. Mr M'Gregor stayed with us but a few
months, and is returned to Germany again. ... I have
great difficulty in keeping the labourer I brought home
with me, who is one of the usefullest, though he does
not please me so well as at first. I strive to make the
few labourers we have the most useful I can to these
countries. . . ': Again, a few years later, he wrote :
" We cannot without deep regret travel through whole
districts and see so many souls perishing who would
readily embrace the Faith, if only we had priests who
could reside amongst them, to teach and instruct them."

Later still, in 1732, Bishop Hugh McDonald, after his
first journey through the Highlands as their Vicar
Apostolic, writes : " Wide tracts of country which have
of necessity been assigned to single priests on account of
the scarcity of these, far exceed the capacity of the most
diligent worker. . . . The faithful greatly lament the
scarcity of priests and grieve that while those in other
parts enjoy all spiritual comforts, they themselves suffer
the greatest need, not from any want of zeal on the part
of the labourers, but from their scarcity."

One more quotation on this subject, and that the most
striking, from the pen of good Bishop Hugh McDonald

120 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

again, I cannot refrain from adding : " The few labourers
we have are so tired with troubles, that some of them are
threatening to forsaick the Western trade, but if any
more follow the example of those who have already left
us, you may expect to hear that Mr Sandison [Bishop
Hugh himself— son of Sandy M'Donald] has doon the
same, for it's impossible for him to stand out alone."

But to return to an earlier date, Mr Morgan was priest
in Arisaig in 1700, at the time of Bishop Nicolson' s
Visitation. Mr Morgan had then been thirteen years in
the Highland mission, but in June of the following year
he was apprehended in Arisaig, was imprisoned, and
banished from the country. From the fact that Bishop
Nicolson took him as his interpreter on his journey
through the Isles, we can surmise that he was a man of
solid piety and learning. Bishop Nicolson had arrived
at Keppoch in Arisaig, on 15th June 1700. Here he
found a Catholic school. Arisaig is described as " less
hilly and more pleasant than Knoydart, Morar or Moy-
dart, which are all much the same in regard to rock and
mountains — whilst Arisaig is much more level and
abounds in corn. The Chief of Clanranald, being by
chance on the mainland, came to receive the Bishop with
great kindness and courtesy, and placed at his disposal
one of his boats with most experienced sailors to take
him wherever he wished in the Islands."

The Report of the Visitation has some interesting
archaeological notes, which are here given verbatim.
" Kilmarui, i.e. the Cell or Church of St Malrubber, is
close to Keppoch in Arisaig. In this chapel there
are several tombs of a hard bluish stone, on which there
are some ancient figures very well carved, but without

ARISAIG 121

inscription for the most part. One would not have thought
that the people of these countries had as much skill in
sculpture as these tombs show them to have had. There
are some on which a priest, wearing the ancient form of
chasuble, is engraved ; others have only figures of arms,
such as large swords, or else figures of birds and other
animals. There are similar tombs on Eilean Finnan
(where the lairds of Moydart are buried), in Eigg, in Uist,
Barra, and in several other islands off the North of
Scotland. In this respect Icolmkill, anciently called Hy,
is very noteworthy. Here was the celebrated Abbey, of
which Bede speaks in several places, founded by St
Columba, Abbot and Doctor, and Apostle of part of
Scotland. This Abbey was held in the greatest venera
tion until the so-called Keformation, when it was pillaged
and destroyed. The tombs of the ancient kings of Scot
land, and of all the chief families in the Highlands were
here, and the Highlanders think with considerable prob
ability that after the decadence of religion, when the Abbey
had been profaned and ruined, the chiefs each brought
back to the churches on their own lands some of the
tombs of their fore-fathers. I also saw two stone crosses,
well carved with strange figures ; one in the cemetery of
St Columba, in the Isle of Canna, and the other at
Kilchoan (i.e. Church of St Colgan), in Knoydart, where
is the burial place of the lairds of that country."

There is much of interest in this Report of Bishop
Nicolson; for example, after stating that many most
ancient customs survive amongst the Highlanders, he
continues ; " They are divided into clans each under its
own Chief. They have a great care of their genealogies,
and the Lairds have genealogists from father to son,

122 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

who write what concerns the clan. They are much given
to following the military profession ; their character, the
roughness of their land, and their manner of life render
them well suited to it. There is not the humblest peasant
but has his sword, his musket, his targe and a large dirk,
which is always to be seen hanging at his side. Besides
these arms the gentry use helmets and breastplates. By
nature they are of very lively spirits and they are wonder
fully successful when they have a little education. Even
the common people seem to be far more open and con
fiding than those of the Lowlands. Indeed, what makes
them seem to be less so, when they first come amongst
strangers, is their want of experience, and their ignorance
of a language and of customs different from their
own.

"It is not my place," continues the writer of the
B/eport, " to describe here all those customs of theirs
which differ from ours, consisting as they do in their
manner of life, of dress, etc. Suffice it to say that
they feed very coarsely, never eat more than twice at
most in the day, use over their short dress a plaid which
also serves them as a covering at night, whilst their
bedding is very hard. This, however, does not apply
to persons of rank, who in their food and clothing often
enough follow the customs of civilised countries. Nor
does it apply to the Islesmen, who dress in the manner of
the Lowlanders when they are at home, but when they
go out on any expedition they wear Highland dress.
The costume of the women seems to us even more extra
ordinary, for they wear the plaid girded like the men
except that the plaid reaches to the ground and is fastened
in front of the breast with a brooch of copper."

ARISAIG 123

The Report then repeats the statement regarding the
attachment of the Highlanders to their ancient customs
and their dislike of novelties. The arable land is stated
to be of small extent, but to give a good return, and that
with little labour. Snow lies but a short time in the sea
board districts and in the Isles. The horses and the
flocks, which are very numerous, are outside all the
winter, exposed to the weather night and day. Stables
and byres they have none, except the gentry, who have
stables for their saddle horses. It continues : " All
these districts are very difficult to reach except by sea,
on account of the mountains and cliffs which surround
them. It is only strangers, however, and those un
accustomed to the hills who have any great difficulty in
travelling through them, for the inhabitants themselves
have little difficulty. It is an extraordinary thing that
they prefer to go forty miles, for example, always
climbing up and down, and are less tired thus, than if
they had to go the same distance on a level road, where
there was neither hill nor dale."

I have had occasion to quote this Report, when dealing
with other districts, but here insert other portions of it,
both previous to the arrival of the Bishop of Arisaig and
after his departure thence for the Isles. No doubt the
incident mentioned in the Report that Clanranald placed
his best boat at the disposal of the Bishop accounts for
the fact that it was from Arisaig that he sailed for the
Hebrides, and returned there again after the Visitation.
Clanranald would then be staying at Glen House, near
Loch nan Eala. The house is now a quarter of a mile
from the loch, but in those days it was at the water's
edge, for the story goes that at least one chief used to

124 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

fish from the window of his house in the waters of Loch
nan Eala.

" We started from the Enzie, in Banffshire, on 24th
May, 1700, going by boat, in order to attract less notice,
and in order to avoid passing through Moray and Inver
ness. There was a strong wind in our favour, so that we
soon covered the sixty miles ; but as the tide, which is
very strong here, was against us, we were terribly tossed
about between the force of the wind, and of the tide,
and were in great danger. At midnight we arrived at a
friendly house, the Castle of Lovat (Note IV.), six miles
from Inverness. The next day the Bishop, who had been
very seasick, took a rest, and I went into the town to
call upon an excellent lady, the widow of the late Lord
Macdonald. This nobleman had contributed more than
any one else to bring back the Highlands and Islands to
the Faith, being, as he was, one of the most important
men in the Highlands and full of zeal. Close to Lovat
Castle and on the banks of the river is Beauly Abbey,
of which the Abbot's house is almost entire, along with
the ruins of the cloister and a rather fine church."

On 27th May the Bishop and his party arrived in
Strathglass, which is described as twelve miles from Lovat.
He greatly admired the valley of the Glass river, one of
the most beautiful in all Scotland, with its fine arable
land along the river- side and the wooded hills rising on
either bank. Timber was then in such abundance that
all the houses were built of it. " They are called Creil
houses, because the larger timbers are interlaced with
wickerwork in the same way that baskets are made.
They are covered outside with sods, or divots. All the
houses on the mainland, wherever we went, are built

ARISAIG 125

after this fashion, except those of the lairds and principal
gentry. Strathglass is partly inhabited by Frasers, whose
chief is Lord Lovat, and partly by Chisholms under the
Laird of Strathglass. These latter are all Catholics."

The Bishop and his party next visited Glengarry, the
distance of which from Strathglass they calculated at
twenty-three miles, but each of these they thought as
bad as a league and more. They had horses to carry
the baggage, but the Bishop was obliged to go on foot
most of the time, especially amongst the rocks and
boulders, where it was often necessary to creep on hands
and feet, and in the swamps, which were almost con
tinuous. The account goes on : " Our ordinary lodgings
on the journey were the shielings, or little cabins of earth
four or five feet broad and six feet long, into which one
enters by crouching on the ground, nor can one stand
upright when arrived inside. These shielings the High
landers use as shelters in the hills and forests, where they
pasture their flocks, as also to store their dairy produce.
In the Braes of Glengarry we were met by some gentle
men of the district, a few of whom were confirmed as
secretly as possible, because the garrison, which occupied
the castle of the Chief, was not far off."

The Bishop stayed only one day in Glengarry, leaving
word with the priest to have the people ready for Con
firmation against his return. This he was obliged to do
in the other districts also that he traversed, for he was
in a great hurry to reach the Isles as soon as possible.
He had been informed that the seas which he had to cross
were very dangerous, and indeed even to-day, with a
good steamboat service, the journey is not lightly to be
undertaken. The description of the seas is quite accurate :

126 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" We knew that they were very dangerous, not only
because they form part of the vast ocean, but more
especially because of the different currents, several of
which one sometimes encounters at the same time, each
contrary to the other, and these beat up against each
other with tremendous force. It is thus only during
three months of the year that one can cross to these
distant islands in safety in the open boats, which are the
only ones in that country."

After visiting the Islands of Eigg, Canna, Uist, Barra
and Rum, the Bishop and his party got back to Arisaig
on the mainland, on 29th July. " After our return from
the Isles," the Report continues, " we began the Visita
tion of Arisaig, Moydart and Morar, and in the eight
stations in this neighbourhood 700 persons were con
firmed. Next day we drew up rules for the Catholic
school which is in Arisaig, and then we went to Eilean
Ban, in Morar, where we met the neighbouring missioners,
and after consultation with them we drew up some
disciplinary regulations. . . .

" On 29th September we returned to our starting point
after a journey of over 400 miles. During the whole
three months that the Visitation lasted the Bishop
worked so hard that there were only three days, accord
ing to a careful diary that he kept, when he was not
engaged from morning till night, either travelling from
place to place, or preaching, confirming and catechising
the people. Although he gave Confirmation almost every
day, still it was his invariable custom never to do so with
out preaching himself as a preparation. His words
were at once interpreted to the people by one of his
suite. He scarcely gave himself a moment's repose,

ARISAIG 127

notwithstanding the very great fatigue of so difficult
a journey."

Of the priests who successively served the mission of
Arisaig, Mr Alexander MacDonald, " a man who loved
fatigue," had charge of both Arisaig and Moydart in
1763. He was still there in 1779, for in the election of
Bishop Alexander MacDonald he signs as " Alexander
MacDonald, Provicarius, Miss, in Arisaig." In 1782
he writes from Arisaig to Propaganda, stating that he
had then been thirty-five years on the Highland Mission,
having left the Scots College, Rome, in 1747. He died
in Arisaig, 13th March 1797, aged seventy -eight, having
at that time just completed fifty years of missionary life,
of which the greater part had been spent in this district.

In 1777 Mr James MacDonald had been appointed to
assist the foregoing and another Alexander MacDonald,
then priest of Knoydart, but how long he remained I
have not ascertained. Between the years 1798 and 1801
Mr Evan Maceachan and Mr Charles MacDonald were
stationed in Arisaig for short periods. The latter re
turned to Borrodale in his old age, and he there breathed
his last, after an illness of only a few days, on 6th October
1848. He is interred at Kilmorrie, in Arisaig.

Mr John Macdonald was the next priest, and he
remained in Arisaig till his death, in 1834, having thus
completed at least thirty years in this mission. In
1822 Bishop Ranald MacDonald reports to Propaganda :
" Separated from Moydart by high mountains and by
an arm of the sea, is the district of Arisaig, partly high
ground and partly cultivated. It is almost entirely
Catholic, and until recently contained more than 1,000
people, but a few years ago about 300 emigrated. Here

128 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Mr John Macdonald is priest, a man full of fervour, a
student, and later Professor at Valladolid. He is now
67 years of age." His obituary notice gives some
further details : "At Rinaleoid, in Arisaig, died Kev.
John Macdonald, aged 82. Having at an early age
been sent to the Seminary of Buorblach, which was then
conducted by Kev. John Macdonald — afterwards
Bishop — he was there converted to the Catholic Faith,
and went about 1778 to the Scots College, Valladolid.
He there remained several years, partly as student and
later as professor. He came to Scotland in 1782 and
was sent to Moydart, where he remained but a short
period. From Moydart he was transferred to Barra,
and having continued there for a few years, he was
appointed to the charge of Arisaig, as successor to Rev.
Alexander Macdonald, of the Kinlochmoydart family.
In this Mission he died, 8th July, 1834, and is buried at
Kilmorui.

" The next priest also was stationed at Arisaig for
nearly forty years. Mr William Mackintosh was born
in Glenmuick in 1794. In his youth he was renowned
for his great physical powers and intrepidity, no less
than for his straightforward manly disposition. He
entered Lismore in 1821, when grown to man's estate.
From 1826 to 1830 he was at St Sulpice, where he was
ordained in 1831. He was in Barra from 1835 to 1837,
and went from there to Arisaig, where he was destined
to labour for the long period of forty years, loved and
venerated by his flock, and respected by all with whom
he came in contact. The Congregation at that time
numbered 1,400. There was urgent need of a new
church, as the one used by the Catholics was both

I

•*> 3

% s

ARISAIG 129

unfinished and unsuitable in other respects. Mr Mackintosh
applied himself vigorously to supply the want. He
travelled through part of Great Britain and Ireland in
1845, and with the funds he collected he was enabled to
build a large and handsome church, which was solemnly
opened by Bishop Murdoch in 1849. Later on he added
a school-house and teacher's residence, and in 1874 built
a small chapel in the Braes of Arisaig, where Mass is
still said once a month. He was a man of apostolic
simplicity of habits, living upon the plainest fare, and
whilst he was hospitable in the extreme, he spent very
little upon his own comforts. Such was the reliance
placed in his judgment and prudence that he was fre
quently consulted by the various bishops who successively
ruled the Western District of Scotland, on matters ap
pertaining to the Highlands, and for some time he held
the position of Vicar- General of the Western Highlands "
(Oath. Direct. 1878). *

Of the great work accomplished by Mr Mackintosh
little more need be said here. The Catholic church of
Arisaig will ever be his monument. Its situation, facing
the sea, and well above the town, is very striking. Less
well known is the little church in the Braes of Arisaig,
yet I well remember the Sunday when I visited it.
It was a beautiful October morning, and the scenery
down Loch Ailort on the one side, and towards Arisaig
on the other, was very striking. The congregation
soon filled the little church, and of all the Highland
churches I have visited — and I have had the pleasure

1 "The Old Vicar," as the late Bishop Angus Macdonald used
to call him, lived all his time in Keppoch Farm House, which
is still standing. He was tenant of the farm.

130 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

of saying Mass in most of them — the little church
in the Braes of Arisaig has for me the pleasantest
recollections.

Another most worthy son of Catholic Arisaig, though
indeed he did not labour long within the district of his
birth, was Mr Evan Maceachan, " who descended full of
years and merits to the grave" in 1849, and had been
born in Arisaig in 1769. When eleven years of age he
left the Highlands, along with his parents, and was sent
to school near Huntly. In 1788 he repaired to the Scots
College, Valladolid, where he became remarkable for
earnest application to study. He was ordained priest at
Valladolid in 1798. He did not at once, however, return
to the Scotch Mission, but assisted Bishop Cameron
during two years in the discharge of the episcopal duties
of that diocese, at the request of the Bishop of Valladolid
who was then aged and infirm.

On his return to his native country, the first charge to
which he was appointed was the "Braes" or " ::ough
Bounds" of Arisaig, where he remained but one year.
He was removed in 1801 to Badenoch, where he remained
till 1806. During this part of his missionary life he had
no fixed place of abode, but went about amongst the
Catholic families within his jurisdiction, attended by his
boy or ghillie, who served at Mass and carried the vest
ments, etc., in a wallet on his back. From Badenoch he
was sent in quality of professor to the seminary of
Lismore, where Bishop John Chisholm then presided.
In 1814 he succeeded Mr Philip Macrae, in the mission of
Aigas, Strathglass, from which charge he was transferred
to Braemar. In 1838, his increasing infirmities having
rendered him unfit for active exertion, he was relieved

ARISAIG 131

from all missionary duty, and retired first to Ballogie,
where he lived until 1847, when he went to live at
Tombae, where he died on 9th September 1849.

Besides his labours as a clergyman, in which he
distinguished himself by a zealous discharge of all
his pastoral duties, Mr Maceachan has conferred great
benefits, especially on the Highland portion of Scottish
Catholics, by the numerous works which he published.
Being an excellent Gaelic scholar, of which language
he was an enthusiastic admirer, and being during
his life particularly fond of study, he employed all
the time he could spare from his other avocations,
while on the mission, in translating into Gaelic
several works of piety and of religious instruction.
These translations are :

1. "The Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," which
was printed while he was a missionary in Aigas.

2. " The Spiritual Combat," published in 1835.

3. " The Following of Christ," published in 1836.

4. A Prayer Book, which was prepared by him, but
published by another priest.

5. " The Declaration of the British Catholic
Bishops."

6. A small Gaelic Dictionary, printed in 1842. His
more important Gaelic translations, still in MSS. at the
time of his death, are the New Testament, and Challoner's
" Meditations."

Such were the labours of this truly excellent man,- of
which the district of Arisaig, where he was born, has every
reason to be proud.

The later priests of this district were : Rev. Angus
Macdonald, 1877 to 1880 ; Rev. Donald Mackay, 1880-

132 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

1882 ; Kev. Donald M'Pherson, 1882-1894 ; Rev. Angus
Macdonald, 1894-1902; Very Rev. James Canon
Chisholm, 1902-

To refer once again to the new church, the site was
indeed most happily chosen. It adjoins the old pre-
Reformation church of St Malrubber, which with its
cemetery seems to form part of the new church grounds.
The ancient church and cemetery being both of them
full of antiquarian interest and of remains of Catholic
ritual and observance, there is a peculiar propriety in
the new and handsome church being placed alongside
the old one. The two form an example of continuity
which is very striking. Justly have the priests in more
recent times loved to be buried at Arisaig ; there is
probably no church in Great Britain which has such
Catholic associations. It has ever been surrounded by
an almost entirely Catholic population, which justly
revered, in the time of Bishop Nicolson, as well as in the
days previous to that, and in later times, the ruined
church with its ancient tombs and cemetery. In 1700
they had been closed to Catholic ritual and services
little more than one hundred years, whilst within the
walls of the chapel certainly no other service than the
Catholic had ever been held.

The church of Arisaig was entirely renovated in 1900,
by Rev. Angus Macdonald, who inserted a most artistic
stained-glass window in the East gable of the church, over
the high altar, representing the Crucifixion, with Our
Lady and St John on each side. The cost of this was
borne by the Dowager Marchioness of Bute, who herself
figures in it, kneeling on a prie-Dieu in an attitude of
prayer.

ARISAIG 183

It will not be out of place here to record the many
benefits conferred on this mission by the Macdonald
family, now of Glenaladale, but formerly residing at
Borrodale, Arisaig, where they lived for several genera
tions. Of this family were the brothers Archbishop
Angus Macdonald and Bishop Hugh Macdonald, of whom
further mention is made in the following chapter. It was
whilst priest of Arisaig, where he built the present fine
presbytery, that the former was called to be Bishop of
Argyll, and he ever retained the greatest affection for the
district. It is most dear also to the heart of every High
lander, being so closely associated with the history of the
forty-five. It was at Borrodale, in the house of Bishop
Macdonald's ancestors, that Prince Charlie held the first
Council of War with the local chiefs, immediately before
the Rising ; it was at Arisaig, at the head of Loch nan
Uamh, that he landed from Skye ; it was from that same
loch that he departed for France ; and at Borrodale is the
actual cave where he hid previous to his departure for
France under the shelter of old Borrodale.

MOYDART

THE district of Moydart has been fully dealt with by
Father Charles Macdonald, who for over forty years
was priest in the district, and who was, most justly,
respected and esteemed. The following letters of some
of the earlier priests are, however, very interesting, and
are given in full, as showing the close ties which existed
between the priests educated at Propaganda, and the
Cardinals who in turn presided over the College.

It will, however, be as well first to give a brief sketch
of the history of the Catholic Faith in these districts,
along with the succession of priests — which is now almost
complete. The old chapel of St Finnan, which is the pre-
Reformation Church of Moydart, still stands, a much-
respected ruin in the beautiful island of Loch Shiel.
Although the tradition is that the chapel has not been
used for the past one hundred and fifty years — probably
never since the Reformation — nevertheless the cemetery
around it is still the chief place of burial for Catholics and
Protestants alike, whilst within the ruined chapel are the
old altar and the ancient bell, objects of veneration to all
the inhabitants, irrespective of creed. Indeed the whole
island, with its deep religious associations, forms a link
through Reformation and pre-Reformation days to
those of Saint Finnan himself, the patron and apostle of
Moydart, and one of the first disciples of St Columba.

The first priests after the Reformation were those who
did what they could, working indiscriminately all through

134

MOYDAKT 135

the Highlands— viz. Mr White, Mr Munro (or Rattray),
Messrs Colgan, Conon and Kelly — all three from Ireland.1
Mr Colin Campbell was priest in Moydart in 1728 ; Mr
Neil MacPhee was there between 1731 and 1736, and Mr
William Harrison visited the district in the years 1746
to 1750. In 1763 the Abbate Grant, in his Report to
Propaganda, states that " the Catholics in these two
districts [Arisaig and Moydart] number over 2,000. The
priest who is there at present is Mr Alexander Macdonald,
a man well learned and full of energy, who was educated
at the Scots College, Rome." From this date onwards
we have a regular succession of the priests who served
this mission. Their names are inserted here, though
fuller details are given in the following pages. Mr
Austin Macdonald came in 1769 and remained till 1787.
He was succeeded by Mr John Macdonald, who remained
but four years and was succeeded by Mr Norman
Macdonald, who for over forty years was priest of
Moydart (1792-1834) and died there in 1834. During
the last five years he was assisted by Mr Alexander
Macdonald, who remained in charge till 1838, when
he was succeeded by Mr Ranald Rankine (1838-1855).
Mr Charles Macdonald had oare of Moydart till 1892,
and was succeeded by V. R. Provost Mackintosh, who
at the time of writing is still in charge of this mission.
Of the above, Mr Austin Macdonald writes to the
Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda in 1771 :

" EMINENT AND MOST REVEREND SIR, — Having last
autumn written for the first time to your Eminence in

xMr Devoyer was certainly in Moydart in 1689, and as he
spent eighteen years in the Highlands he may have been all that
time in this district.

136 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

fulfilment of my duty, I hope that my letter has long
since arrived. I now feel it my duty to write again in
fulfilment of the same obligation.

" As no change has taken place in my residence or in
my work it will be sufficient to repeat briefly what I said
in my last letter. As regards my health, so far, thanks
be to God, my native air suits me very well, and I have
not yet experienced the inconveniences which the change
of climate usually brings to our novices, at their first
coming back to this country from abroad. The place of
my residence is the centre of the country of Moydart, on
the West coast of Scotland, where according to my poor
abilities I act in quality of parish priest. It is, as I said
in my last letter a very mountainous district, twenty
miles long and four broad. Thank God, all the inhabi
tants are Catholics. There are 500 communicants,
without counting the children. We have Mass only on
Sundays and feasts, when we assemble in the most con
venient places. There, after an explanation of the
Gospel, Mass is said. The people go to Confession twice
in the year, at Easter and at Christmas. Within the
district a Minister resides usually, but there is no
danger from him, as regards my people, who hate him
from the bottom of their hearts. The greatest difficulty
of those beginning their priestly life here [as he was
doing] is the ignorance of the language, which, even
though it is our mother tongue, is not easily spoken by us
for some time, having left home as early as we did.

" As regards our Protestant neighbours, they are not
very bigoted ; many are indeed well disposed towards
our Faith, and of these some are from time to time con
verted. Two things however are a great hindrance to

MOYDART 137

their conversion ; the first, the fear of their relations and
of the Ministers, who appear, many of them, to be none
too popular ; the other is the scarcity of the Missioners,
for at the extreme East of this parish, all agree that if
there was a resident priest, such as I cannot be, in a
short time all the neighbouring district would return to
the Catholic Faith, so that we may say with the Prophet,
' the harvest indeed is great, but the workmen are few,
behold the country is now ready for the harvest.' This
is all, your Eminence, that I need write at present. That
the Lord God may preserve your Eminence is the con
stant prayer of your Eminence's devoted and humble
servant,

AUSTIN MACDONALD.
" MOYDART, 10 Sep. 1771."

The obligation, referred to in the above letter, is
that incumbent on all those educated at Propaganda,
of writing once a year to the Superior of the College, to
give an account of their work. It is due to this rule
that we have several letters from those educated at the
Urban College, as Propaganda was and still is called.
Moreover these letters were always answered by the
Cardinal Prefect, and thus a chain of correspondence
grew up which is very striking. There is a tone of
affectionate interest in many of the letters which makes
them charming reading. Indeed the Catholics of Scot
land, and of the whole British Empire, have little idea
how much they owe to the College and Congregation of
Propaganda. For two hundred and fifty years almost
every matter of ecclesiastical interest concerning them was
there decided, or at least confirmed . Thence came for years

138 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

the only salary of their bishops and of their priests, and
thence came the funds to support the little seminaries
at Scalan, at Morar or Lismore, and to assist the Scots
College in Rome. It was at Propaganda that many
of the priests were educated, that the Bishops were
nominated, and that their decisions were confirmed.
The handsome square block of the Propaganda build
ings, simple and unadorned as it is, may well be taken
as a symbol of the solid lasting work which the Institu
tion has achieved, not only in Scotland but in three-
quarters of the Christian world. Over all the windows
the crest of the founder, Pope Urban VIII. — the honey
bee — may still be seen, a fitting device again to adorn an
institution where so much quiet, unassuming work has
been ceaselessly carried on. The present writer has
frequently been delighted in reading the grateful thanks
expressed to Propaganda by the bishops and priests of
old, whilst he himself records with pleasure the care which
has been taken in preserving the records of the past.
In the archives of Propaganda may be seen to-day
Reports and letters from the men who laboured so hard
and under such great difficulties to save what little re
mained of Catholicism in Scotland, until there should
come those happier days, which we have been spared to
see. As one reads these Reports at the present time, and
certainly there is a great charm in them, one cannot but
feel the wish to make the labours and self-sacrifice of our
predecessors in the mission of Scotland better known,
and at the same time to awaken that gratitude towards
Propaganda which they themselves were the first to
acknowledge. The foregoing lines, which I jotted
down at the time of my visit to the College, may

MOYDART 139

fitly be inserted here when we are dealing with
the letters of the first students educated within the
College itself, and those of the Scots College, Rome.

The next letter of Austin Macdonald is dated Moydart,
10th August 1783.

"YouR EMINENCE,—

"Having been educated at the Scots College,
Rome, for about twelve years, it is now fourteen years
since I returned to my native land of Moydart, where
to the best of my abilities, I have laboured in the vine
yard of the Lord. As far as I remember, I returned in
the summer of the year 1769. This district, situated on
the West Coast of the Highlands of Scotland, and of the
Vicariate which takes its name from the Highlands, is
bounded along its entire length by enemies of the Faith,
having Catholics only on its Northern side. It extends
about 24 miles from East to West and is some six miles
broad. These miles being only approximate I cannot
say more than that one of them suffices for a good hour's
walk, it is very mountainous with a few valleys inter
spersed, royal roads there are as yet none. The only
royal road is Loch Shiel, a fresh-water loch, 24 miles
long, where when the weather is good, one can travel
over a large part of the district. Thank God, we are
all Catholics, except three or four strangers, and we
number according to the list compiled this year, 1,450
souls, all most fervent in the Faith, of whom the greater
number have been Catholics, and their parents before
them, from time immemorial. They lead very innocent
lives, and it is a great consolation to me to find them
so ready to follow any advice I may give them.

140 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" The language spoken here is the Highland or ancient
Celtic, which, it is said, was formerly used on the borders
of Italy. The upper classes generally speak English which
is taught in the schools, and not the other, whence the
people learn the elements of the faith with difficulty,
and only viva voce. In vain have the Ministers several
times tried to overcome this stronghold of the Faith by
error, and for this end they established here an heretical
Missionary with a good salary. On the other hand if
they did not import strangers, he would have to shout
to the rocks ! Of the aforementioned number 250 of my
people are interspersed among the heretics for a distance
of at least thirty miles.

" On my arrival here I found this station without
house, or church, without vestments, books or any of
those things which help to forward the service of God.
Indeed on account of the people being unaccustomed to
subscribe, and on account of their poverty, it has cost me
much labour and the greatest economy to rebuild this
almost ruined church. Nevertheless by the help of God,
and by patience and perseverance, I have been able to
build three houses for the Congregation, one at each end
and one in the centre, where the people assemble in turn.
I have also built something of a house for myself, where
however I cannot stay long at a time on account of the
pressing calls from all sides; and on account of the devices
employed by the heretics, especially when our people
are dying. The Ministers do not take this in good part,
and they have often tried to hinder me from entering their
limits by threatening letters, but as the Mercy of God
has preserved me so far, I have paid no heed to them in
the past nor shall I do so in the future. The altar fittings

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^ «2

r^ ^
02

MOYDART 141

which I have managed to get are less nice than I would
wish, but necessity like a good theologian, solves every
difficulty. During the past winter I secured the services
of an old gentleman, as catechist ; he has done a great
deal of good amongst the people. When I was able to
administer the Sacraments twice a year, I did so, and
when unable, I did so at least once. On two occasions I
was forced through lack of priests to attend to neigh
bouring districts, but this year, thank God, I have myself
been granted an assistant*

" Moreover to my great consolation the Vicar
Apostolic of the Highland District has this year placed
in my parish the Seminary, where he himself lives. This
has already done great good and given an impulse to this
corner of the Lord's vineyard, to the honour of God, and
of His Church on earth, and will by His help give a still
greater increase in the future.

" This is all of importance which I think I should now
write to your Eminence, so begging God long to preserve

"I Remain your Eminence's humble servant,

"AUSTIN MACDONALD.
" MOYDART, 10 August, 1783."

An interesting letter of Bishop John MacDonald is
extant regarding the chapel and priest's house at Moydart.
It gives us a fair idea of the size of the buildings, if chapel
and priest's house could be built for £60, even granted
that the labour was free. The letter is as follows : —

" YOUR EMINENCE,

" I received from Daulensis [Bishop Hay] the
very kind letter of Your Eminence in which you enquire

142 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

by whose assistance Austin Macdonald built the chapel in
his parish, as well as a house for himself. To this I have
the pleasure of replying, that I am informed both by him
self and by others, that his parishioners greatly assisted
him in the work. They gave their services free in
carrying the materials for the building, and subscribed
about eight guineas amongst themselves. Otherwise he
received nothing from any other source.

" From the time he came to the Mission he always
desired to have a house of his own, and frequently told
me so, in order to be more free to devote himself to his
priestly duties, and to his own sanctification, which he
has always had much at heart. To this end he stinted
himself as much as possible and eventually saved up
£30 sterling. This has all been spent on the building and
I fear there may be some debt besides, which would
easily happen in the case of a man, almost too anxious
about religious matters, and at the same time little versed
in business.

" He has already completed the chapel, but his own
house is not yet finished ; and I am told it will require
another £30 to make it fit for habitation. Under these
circumstances unless he obtains help from outside he
will have to live in the greatest poverty. If your
Eminence and the Sacred Congregation see fit to send
him some pecuniary assistance, I can assure you that he
greatly deserves it, and is really in sore need ; so that I
feel he is well worthy of your generosity.

" JOHN, Bishop of Tiberiop. Vicar. Apost.

"SCALAN, 22 July, 1778."

The remark that he could not stay long at home on

MOYDART 143

account of the many calls from all sides seems to indicate
that the people were rather loath to give up the earlier
practice of having the priest to stay with them in their
houses. We can well imagine that many a household
which had for generations been accustomed to the visit
of the priest for several days at a time would be slow to
give up what they had probably come to consider their
privilege. Hence even after he had a house of his own
he would be invited to stay with his old friends, and prob
ably found it necessary to lessen the frequency of these
visits by degrees, rather than suddenly abandon them
altogether.

The remark regarding there being no " royal road " in
Moydart refers to the fact that at this period Government
were making roads in many districts of the Highlands.
It is scarcely realised at the present time that the first
real road in the Highlands was that between Fort
Augustus and Fort William, begun in 1725. Previous
to that all intercourse was carried on by means of ponies;
or by very rough tracks, so dangerous as to be little used.

The following extracts from letters of General Wade
will illustrate this more clearly. Writing in 1726, he
says: "I have inspected the new road between this
place [Fort Augustus] and Fort William, and ordered it
to be enlarged and carried on for four-wheel-carriages
over the mountains on the South side of Loch Ness as
far as the town of Inverness, so that before midsummer
next, there will be a good coach road from that place,
which before was not passable on horseback in many
places."

A year later he writes : " The great road of communi
cation is so far advanced, that I travelled to Fort William

144 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

in my coach and six to the great wonder of the country
people, who had never seen such a machine in these parts
before. They ran from their houses close to the coach,
and looking up, bowed with their bonnets to the coach
man, little regarding us that were within. It is not un
likely that they looked upon him as a sort of Prime
Minister that guided so important a machine." The
whole system of making roads was of the greatest benefit
to the Highland district. As Sir Kenneth Mackenzie
has justly remarked : "He [Wade] was the originator of
a system which received immense development after his
death, and with which his name remained connected in
the public memory^ long after he had ceased to share in
directing its operations. The benefits he conferred
on this part of the country in opening it up by means of
roads, and thus bringing it into line with the rest of the
kingdom, can hardly be overestimated. No other action
ever taken by the Government has done so much for the
material welfare of the Highlands." True as this un
doubtedly is, we should not overlook the fact that it
was the absence of roads and the consequent inacces
sibility of the various districts, that helped more than any
other cause to keep these districts free from persecution,
and to secure to the Catholics in them the almost un
disturbed exercise of their religion.

The next letter of Mr Austin Macdonald is dated
April, 1787.

" YOUR EMINENCE,

" Having at last a little breathing time between
my many duties, it is full time that I remembered my
obligation of giving an account to you of what I am doing.

MOYDART 145

I am very late in doing so, it is true, but this is due rather
to the number of calls upon my time, than to any want
of will on my part.

' ' On account of the emigration last summer of the
people of Knoydart to Canada, along with their priest,
it fell to me in the autumn to attend to those who were
left behind, and during the winter to the people of Moy-
dart as well. Although not less than 600 Catholics went
to America, still I administered the Sacraments to over
500 souls who remained. The overpopulation of these
districts, together with the oppression of the landlords
are the principal causes of the departure of so many,
not only among the Catholics, but also among the Pro
testants. I have some idea that it will be best for me
to change my residence this Whitsuntide, and to betake
myself to Knoydart, although I have now resided in
Moydart just eighteen years. If I should actually go, I
shall inform your Eminence in due course. Praying God
meantime for your welfare, I remain your Eminence's
most humble and devoted servant,

" AUSTIN MACDONALD.

" MOYDART, 6th April, 1787."
A year later he wrote again :

" YOUR EMINENCE,

" The reply which you deigned to send to my
last letter, and the approval therein contained of my work,
such as it is, brought me no little consolation, and added
a fresh incentive to my former ones, always to work to
the best of my power for the increase of God's glory and
the advancement of Holy Church. Moreover it will

146 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

make the duty of reporting my work all the easier. For
17 years I shall have laboured in the district of Moydart,
but for the past two years, with the consent of my
Superiors, I have removed to that of Knoydart. Here
formerly Mr Alexander Macdonald was stationed, a
pupil of the Scots College, Rome, but he has gone to
America with 604 of his parishioners.

" I find that there are still in that district about 500
communicants, not counting children. They are Catholics
of good and simple lives and most steadfast in the Faith.
Six miles distant from them is the mission of Kintail,
where only twenty years ago there was but one Catholic.
At present there are from 300 to 400 converts, steadfast
also in the Faith, although they are as yet but imperfectly
instructed. It has fallen to me to take care of this
Mission also, and that to my great satisfaction, since
there cannot as yet be a resident priest. In these two
places I shall continue to work, and if anything should
happen, I shall mention it on a future occasion. Your
Eminence's humble servant,

" AUSTIN MACDONALD."

It is strange that of the letters of priests still extant
in Propaganda the greater number should be of two
Moydart men. The second successor of Mr Austin
Macdonald was Mr Norman Macdonald, of whom the
following three letters speak of his life and work among
the Catholics of Moydart :

" MOST EMINENT AND MOST REVEREND SlR,

" Some months ago I received the letter with
which your Eminence deigned to favour me. bearing

MOYDART 147

date 8th Dec. 1804. From this I understand that your
Eminence does not consider the poverty of a Missioner
as a valid reason to excuse him from writing to Rome
every year, according to the obligation which he has
contracted, and to this decision I acquiesce as to the will
of God. In giving some account of my state I have little
more to say than what I wrote in my last letter to the late
Cardinal Borgia, whose death at Lyons I read of in the
paper to my great regret. The mission at present
entrusted to my care lies along the coast of the Atlantic
and is about 30 miles round. The number of Catholics
dispersed here and there in this ^mission is about 800,
amongst whom there are some converts. Recently I
visited a large island where all are Protestants, with
the exception of about 30 Catholics, amongst whom
I had the great pleasure of receiving to the Sacraments
a lady recently converted to the Faith, who had
married a Catholic. What surprises the Protestants
is that the lady is the daughter of one of their
Ministers, who was not able to stop her conversion.
Yet the father greatly loved her, and she is not
without hopes of seeing her father also converted one
day.

" I greatly hope that the example of this lady will
induce others to follow her in the way of Truth. The
distances are so great, and the country I have to traverse
so rough, whilst there is not a single road, that I am
nearly worn out, and my health has become very un
certain. Only the remembrance of the reward ' exceed
ing great ' which I look for, is able to sustain me amid
such labours. If the Congregation has any alms to
distribute, I trust they will remember the first Scotsman

148 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

who had the honour of being educated at the venerable
college of Propaganda.
" Your Eminence's humble servant

" NORMAN MACDONALD."

The obligation of writing to Rome applied seemingly
not only to the Alumni of Propaganda itself but also
to those educated at the Scots College in that city, as
is seen from the letter of Austin Macdonald which pre
cedes this one, and from other letters also, especially one,
of Alexander Macdonald, priest in Arisaig.

Mr Norman Macdonald' s next letter is dated 28th Nov.
1817. After the usual compliments, he says : " At all
events I can assure you that from the time of the so-
called Reformation in this kingdom, our holy religion has
never enjoyed so great peace and liberty as it has enjoyed
for some time past. Indeed, as the Protestants abandon
the idea of the first reformers, they become broader -
minded and more liberal towards all sorts of religions,
inasmuch as in the capital, where in 1779 all was fire
and sword against the Catholics, these have just erected
with the approval of the Protestants themselves and
with the help of some of them, nice large churches with
organs, where occasionally Protestants come to hear the
preaching, the reading of Scripture and of holy doctrine.
We cannot indeed sufficiently thank the Lord for having
done us so great a favour. As regards my present
occupation, I have charge of the same parish, which I
have now had for over 25 years. It is very extensive,
but the number of Catholics who are dispersed, here and
there, is not proportionate to its size, being, according
to the reckoning which I made last year, only 950, of

MOYDART 149

whom 34 are converts. Of these latter, I hope for an
increase shortly.

•'' We preach here in the Celtic language, which is very
expressive, and is our native tongue, as it was of our
famous poet, Ossian. I find indeed that much of the
Latin language is derived from it, both having many
roots in common.

" Your Eminence's humble servant,

" NORMAN MAODONALD."

I have transcribed the Reverend Gentleman's remarks
on the connection between Gaelic and Latin as he set
them down. His reference to Ossian is interesting, as the
controversy regarding his works was at its height during
this period.

The next letter, the last which I found of this faithful
" first Scots Alumnus of Propaganda," as he so regularly
styles himself, was written four years after the preceding.
There is something very charming in the care of Pro
paganda for the old priest, as the subsidy to which he
refers was evidently a special grant to himself, the usual
yearly allowance being always sent through the Vicars
Apostolic, and distributed by them. On another occa
sion we find Propaganda contributing to the building
of a church for one of its own Alumni, whilst as each
Vicar Apostolic was appointed a grant was made to
provide him with pontificals. Certainly this was done
in the case of Bishop Hugh McDonald, whose letter
thanking Propaganda for the gift is still preserved.

" YOUR EMINENCE,

" With the greatest pleasure I received the much
esteemed letter of your Eminence, dated 20th May last,

150 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

for which I am especially grateful in view of the satisfac
tion which you deigned to express as to my poor en
deavours in this mission. Shortly afterwards I received
proof of your sincere kindness and sympathy in the very
opportune subsidy which you graciously accorded me.
May Our Good God fully reward your Eminence in Heaven
for having sent such subsidy ; I shall indeed ever be grate
ful for it and also for so many other undeserved benefits.
" As regards the state of my health, I was fairly well
during the summer and autumn, but since the beginning
of winter I have been much troubled with rheumatism,
and toothache, caused by the successive rain, frost and
snow, which continue almost uninterruptedly in these
parts except during the summer. I would have written
much sooner to the Sacred Congregation but I was
waiting time after time, that the Bishop, according to
his promise, would come in the autumn to administer
Confirmation, and I might be able to give the number of
those confirmed. I have thus been forced to wait till
now, since the Bishop did not come until Advent ; im
mediately after that I had to go and give Holy Communion
during Christmastide in various places of this extensive
parish. These hindrances together with the poor state
of my health made me put off writing until now. As
regards the number of those confirmed, there were 67
men and 77 women, their ages ranging from 8 to 70,
amongst them being some Converts the sight of whom
made the Protestants 'grind their teeth.' There are
still some others to be confirmed, but they are dis
persed, here and there, at such distances that they could
not come and return in a short winter's day. The
number of souls committed to my care is about 960 ;

MOYDART 151

I say about, because I hope shortly to add other Converts
to fill up the number. « The harvest is indeed great, but
the labourers are few ' and I am extremely sorry that
Propaganda is not in a position to receive at least one
youth from this Vicariate.

" I have nothing further to add except that I fear
the weight of years and my weak health, which causes
a great trembling in my hands, will prevent me from
writing to the Sacred Congregation in future. But
whatever happens please be assured that I am resigned
to the Will of God.

" Your Eminence's humble servant

" NORMAN MACDONALD.
"First Scots Alumnus of Propag.

" MOYDART, 5th Jan. 1821."

This letter is endorsed : " Answered 7th April, 1821."

But to return to our regular succession of priests, Mr
Austin Macdonald emigrated to America shortly after
the date of the last of his letters given above— he was
succeeded by Mr John Macdonald, who, according to his
obituary notice in 1835, had spent five years in Moydart
Mr Norman Macdonald was there no less a period than
thirty-eight years (1792-1829). Being disabled by age
and infirmities— he had previously served for five years
in Uist and Arisaig— he resigned in 1829, and died in 1834,
being buried in the chapel of Dorlin, near Castle Tirrim.

Mr Alexander Macdonald was priest in Moydart from
1829 to 1838. He was a native of Lochaber, and after
studying a few years at Lismore, he went, in November,
1816, to the Scots College, Valladolid, where he remained
till 1822. In 1824 he was ordained by Bishop Ranald

152 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Macdonald. He spent a few years teaching at Lismore,
and as Assistant in Arisaig, and came to Moydart, as
stated above, in 1829. In 1838 he was succeeded by'Mr
Ranald Rankine, who in his turn emigrated to Australia,
in 1855. Father Charles Macdonald was priest in
Moydart from 1860 to 1892, when he was succeeded by
the present priest, the venerable and justly respected
Provost Mackintosh, who at the date of writing has the
wonderful record of fifty -four years spent in the most
laborious districts of the Highlands.

Of the colleges at Samalaman and Lismore a short
account may fittingly be inserted here.

Bishop Alexander Macdonald settled at Samalaman
in 1783. In 1786 he writes to Mr Thomson, the agent
in Rome, that he had then five or six boys, which were
as many as his " narrow income " allowed him to keep.
In 1789 he began to enlarge the house, and wrote in
the July of that year : " Since ever I was made Bishop,
I always lamented the distress of the Highland District
for want of anything of a decent house wherein some of
the clergy and I could convene from time to time in
order to deliberate about matters regarding the good of
religion in these parts ; but the low state of my finances
prevented my attempting anything of this kind till the
beginning of June last, when I began to build on this
small farm. By this time the wall is near finished and
in a month hence I believe it will be slated. It is allowed
to be very handsome of its size; its dimensions are
length about 35 feet j breadth 16 feet ; height of the
side walls 18 feet. I shall endeavour, God willing, to
finish the shell of it without loss of time."

The furnishings for the new house were bought in

MOYDART 153

Glasgow in October, 1790 — the Bishop tells his colleague
Bishop Geddes in a letter of that date — and were sent to
Greenock and put on board a sloop belonging to Mr Andrew
Macdonald to be brought by sea to Samalaman. But
the good Bishop was not to have the pleasure of even
settling in his new house, for I am assured locally that
he had not moved from the old house into the new, when
death overtook him in 1791.

Bishop John Chisholm after his consecration took up
his residence at Samalaman, but in 1794 he complains
of the miserable state of the seminary, due, no doubt, to
the death of Bishop Macdonald, while it was still in
complete. In 1798 Bishop Chisholm was already looking
for another site. At this period Mr Angus Macdonald,
who had been in charge of the seminary since it was
reopened at Samalaman, was taken ill, and the Bishop
writes that he has been obliged to " allow him to roam
about a little." Several letters of Angus Macdonald
exist, describing his life at Samalaman, which I hope to
publish at a later date.

After the college had been transferred, in 1803, to
Lismore, Samalaman was let by Clanranald to a Mr
Chisholm, and he was succeeded by Mr M' Quarry, of Mull.
Mr Stewart then bought the property, and went to live
there. In his time the building was struck by lightning
and great damage done. The rooms on either side of
Mr Stewart's bedroom were wrecked, but his own room
was absolutely untouched. He believed that a special
blessing was on that room, as it was the one occupied by
the bishops in the college days. He was unmarried, and
left the estate to his nephew, Mr M'Lean, from whose
family it was purchased by Lord M'Laren.

154 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Amongst those who studied at Samalaman, we find
the names of the Rev. John Lamont, who died in
Glengarry in 1820 ; Rev. Anthony Macdonald, for over
thirty years priest of Eigg and Canna ; Rev. Angus
MacEachan or Macdonald, who afterwards became a
bishop in Canada; Rev. Charles Macdonald, a native
of the district, who spent most of his life in Knoydart.
Rev. John MacEachan or Macdonald was educated first
at Buorblach, and afterwards at the Scots College,
Valladolid. He was for seven years Professor of Moral
Philosophy there, and on his return was appointed to the
same position in Samalaman. In the " Liber Defunc-
torum " it is recorded that the Rev. Donald Macdonald
died at Samalaman on 22nd January 1785. The Rev.
Allan Macdonald died there on 22nd March 1788 ;
Right Rev. Alexander Macdonald, Bishop of Polemo
and Vicar Apostolic of the Highland District, departed
this life there on 12th September 1791.

In addition to the College Chapel there was also a
small thatched building which served as a church for the
congregation. In the illustration the original buildings
are those on the left ; the two portions with higher roofs
were added, the one on the left by Mr M'Lean, the other
by the late Lord M'Laren.

Regarding the transfer of the seminary from Samala
man to Lismore, this took place in 1803. The island of
Lismore is situated nearly opposite the town of Oban,
whence the passenger steamers sail for the Outer Hebrides.
It certainly had that advantage. The site included a
substantial house, built a few years before by the pro
prietor, Campbell of Dunstaffnage, an excellent garden,
and, according to Angus Macdonald, " a few acres of good

MOYDART 155

ground." He also states that the island had been the
residence of the pre-Keformation Bishops of Argyll, and
that its name, Lismore, meant " a large garden." It
is certainly a most picturesque situation. His letter is
written: " Lismorea, ex Collegio Killechiarensi." The
price paid for the house and ground was £5,000, which
was considered very reasonable.

Lismore continued to be the residence of the Highland
Vicar Apostolic and his seminary until the transfer to
Blairs in 1829. The house is still standing, and is used as
a farmhouse. The old chapel is the present dining-room ;
close by the two Bishops Chisholm are buried.1 As a
college, Lismore sent some of the best priests to the
Highland Mission, as the following list will show :—

JOHN CHISHOLM, who for fifty years was priest in South
Uist, entered Lismore in 1805, and was there ordained by
Bishop John Chisholm in 1814. He continued there as
master until 1817.

DONALD FORBES, for over fifty years priest of
Lochaber, was educated at Lismore, where he entered
in 1806 and was ordained in 1816.

JAMES M'GREGOR, who had the charge of the northern
portion of South Uist for forty years, entered Lismore in
1808, and was there ordained by Bishop tineas Chisholm
in 1816. He continued as master there till 1819.

NEIL MACDONALD, who died in 1863, entered Lismore
in 1812 and remained there till 1816, when he went to
Valladolid.

1 The burial ground containing the remains of the two bishops
and others is a small, walled-in plot immediately behind the
house. It measures twenty-four feet square. The walls were
repaired and the whole neatly gravelled at the cost of the present
Bishop of Argyle and the Isles, R.R. George Smith.

156 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

DONALD MACKAY, born at Frobost, in South Uist, 1804.
Entered Lismore, 1823, and proceeded to Propaganda,
where he had a most distinguished course.

JOHN FORBES was ordained at Lismore in 1815.

RANALD RANKINE studied at Lismore, and was later
sent to Valladolid.

DONALD MACDONALD entered Lismore in 1816, and
later completed his studies in Rome.

WILLIAM MACKINTOSH, for forty years priest of Arisaig,
spent the years 1821 to 1826 as a student at Lismore.

ALEXANDER GILLIES, priest of Eigg from 1842 to 1881,
entered Lismore in 1825, and went from there to Rome.

ANGUS MACKENZIE and ARCHIBALD CHISHOLM began
their student life at Lismore, and were thence transferred
to Blairs. The former had entered in 1826.

BISHOP WILLIAM FRASER had charge of the studies at
Lismore for several years previous to 1820, when he
emigrated to Cape Breton.

In 1855 there were two chapels in Moydart, the Castle
Chapel, near the ruins of Castle Tirrim, and the Langal
Chapel, which still exists and is now used as an alms-
house. There was at this period a station at Glenuig,
close to the former seminary of Samalaman. Here, in
1862, a new chapel was built, of which the neighbouring
scenery undoubtedly formed the greatest beauty. " It
commands a magnificent view over Glenuig Bay," so
runs the account of its opening in 1862, " which separates
Arisaig from Moydart, whilst the waters of the Loch
reach to within a few feet of the chapel."

The year following, the present very pretty church was
opened in the parent mission. " The district of Moydart,"
so runs the Directory account, " in the extreme S.W.

•2.

s

i M

MOYDART 157

portion of Invernessshire, is full of interest, not only
from its romantic scenery, and from its having been the
country of the adventures of the unfortunate Charles
Stuart, during his flight after the Battle of Culloden,
but still more to the Catholics, as one of the few places
where the people have throughout all the dark times
of poverty and persecution, clung to the Old Faith.

" This fact is the more remarkable because part of
the district, where the new church is built, and which
is wholly Catholic, is only separated from the entirely
Protestant districts of the south, by the narrow loch
and river Shiel.

" The Catholics of Moydart, who have been compelled
to assemble for Mass since they have been able to do so
at all, in small and inconvenient buildings, hardly de
serving the name of chapels, thrown up at random here
and there in different districts, have now a handsome
parish church. It is well suited to all their wants, and
forms with the presbytery and schools attached, a com
plete parochial establishment, such as certainly does not
exist elsewhere in the Western Highlands amongst
Catholics, Episcopalians or Presbyterians. The church
and priest's house, as well as the school buildings,
have been built at the sole expense of the present
proprietor of the estate of Loch Shiel, J. R. Hope
Scott, Esq.

" The wish expressed by Mr Austin Macdonald in 1771,
that a church should be built at the extreme east of his
district, was eventually carried out in 1874, when the
present beautiful church was opened at Glenfinnan. It
was built at the sole expense of Rev. D. Macdonald,
brother of the laird of Glenaladale, and is a really striking

158 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

building, whilst the site is all that could be desired for
picturesque beauty. The church is situated on an
elevated platform, overhanging the upper end of Loch
Shiel, in the midst of some of the most charming and
romantic scenery in Scotland."

With pardonable pride, the Directory of 1874 con
tinues : " The pipes used on the morning of the opening
of the Church were the identical pipes played at the first
gathering of the Clans on this same spot in 1745. They
were played again on the fatal field of Culloden, and were
ever afterwards carefully preserved as a most precious
heirloom in the family of Glenaladale. By a singular
and unpremeditated coincidence, the gathering for the
opening of the Church took place on the anniversary of
the eventful gathering of the Clans in the Stuart
Cause."

Another incident of note at this opening was the
presence of the two nephews of the founder, Angus and
Hugh Macdonald, both of them later bishops, and men of
endless energy in the cause of religion. The Eight Rev.
Angus Macdonald as Bishop of Argyle and the Isles had
within his See all the districts with which we are now
dealing, and in almost every one of them he left the
impress of his character. New churches arose under his
influence, new missions were opened, and a spirit of
fervour was enkindled in priests and people alike, which
was very remarkable. Endless were the journeyings by
sea and by land which the Bishop performed in the
visitation of his flock. From mainland to island, from
town to hamlet he went, serving his people, preaching
to them and confirming them, in winter as in summer, in
fair weather as in foul. A man of greater physical

MOYDART 159

strength might easily have felt in fewer years the strain
of such manifold activities.

His transference to the archdiocese of St Andrews and
Edinburgh was little less than a calamity for the former
Highland district, whilst his death in Edinburgh only
eight years later, at the early age of fifty-six, was a
grievous loss to the Catholics of Scotland. His brother,
Bishop Hugh Macdonald, of Aberdeen,fwas fully his equal
in apostolic zeal and fervent piety, and his death in 1898
was most deeply regretted. I have noted elsewhere
(" Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland ") what a
wonderful record for religious vocations this family
possesses. From the time when the young laird, Angus,
became a priest about 1675 (see p. 174) there has seldom
been a generation which did not give a priest to the
Church in Scotland ; whilst of the children and grand
children of John, Laird of Glenaladale, who died in 1830,
three were nuns, and six were priests, of whom three
became bishops. One can but hope that Providence will
raise up from amongst the Catholic Highlands many a
priest and many a bishop to follow in the lines of these
fine characters ; men of whom the Catholics of Scotland
have just reason to be proud.

GLENGARRY

GLENGARRY, like all the other Catholic districts of the
Highlands of Scotland, owed a great deal to Father
Francis White, of whom it is fitting that a fuller record
be inserted here. The epitome of his life is thus given
in Gordon's " Catholic Church in Scotland," under date
1654. " Mr White, an Irish Lazarian, was brought from
Spain, together with Mr Dermit Gray, by the Lord
M'Donald this year ; he converted many to the Faith
and confirmed others in it. He disappeared in 1657,
appeared again in 1662, disappeared again in 1664,
appeared again in 1668, and continued in the Highland
Mission till he died, on January 28th, 1679. He was
held in great veneration in the Highlands, and his picture
was kept in a room of the Castle of Glengarry, called
' Mr White's Room,' until that castle was burned in
1745."

These words I had often read, and had as often
wondered if more would ever be known of this individual
whose biographical notice seemed so mysterious. It
was accordingly with great pleasure that I found among
the archives of Propaganda many papers relating to him
and his companion, who would seem frequently to have
passed by the name of Grey, though his real name was
Dugan. Lately I have learned that letters of these
two fathers occur in the French life of St Vincent of Paul,
by Abelly, and that these have been presented to the

160

GLENGARRY 161

English-speaking public by Rev. Patrick Boyle, C.M., in
his work, " St Vincent and the Vincentians." It would
thus appear that there exists material sufficient for a far
more complete life of one who rendered signal service to
the Catholics in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

In 1650 St Vincent of Paul wrote to the Congregation
of Propaganda that in compliance with their request
for missionaries, he had selected two religious, Father
Francis White and Father Dermit Dugan, and he begged
that the necessary faculties be granted to them. In
1652 Father Dugan wrote to St Vincent : " I have already
in my former letters informed your Reverence of the
happy issue of our journey from Paris here ; but since
I fear that these may not have reached you, and especi
ally the last one, I shall tell you again in a few words how
after having remained a long time in Holland, awaiting
an opportunity of embarking, at last we were enabled to
set out and we arrived here happily. This was due to
the favour of the Chieftain recently converted, called the
Chief of Glengarry, who took us under his protection, and
who showed us such great kindness that words fail to
express it. ...

" God has already deigned to employ us for the con
version of the father of the Laird of Glengarry. He
was an old man of 90, brought up from childhood in
heresy, but very charitable to the poor. We instructed
him and reconciled him to the Church. His weakness,
which was already very great, soon after carried him to
the grave, after he had been fortified by all the Sacra
ments of the Church and had given great proofs of his
sorrow for having lived so long in heresy, and of the great
joy which he felt at dying a Catholic. . . .

162 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

" Shortly after this I was overtaken by an illness,
which quickly reduced me to the last extremity, without
my being able to see a doctor, because there are none
in these Highland districts for 90 miles round, nor are
there any in the Hebrides. But if a few were found in
Paris who were willing to come here, besides the great
utility of their labours for the body, they would also be
able to assist in the conversion of souls.

" Having by God's help somewhat recovered, I left my
companion Mr Francis White in the Highlands of Scot
land, whilst I went, conformably to my orders, to the
Hebrides. . . ."

This and other letters describe the great work accom
plished by Father White, who, however, in 1655 — at the
beginning of Lent — was seized at Gordon Castle, and led
prisoner to Aberdeen, and thence to Edinburgh. How
long he remained in prison is not known, but the letters
of the time point to the fact of his being set at liberty
soon after. But if, as there is reason to suppose, he had
gone to Gordon Castle to meet a priest and make his own
Easter Confession, the circumstance of his arrest must
have appeared additionally hard. We find him later
complaining, as one of his greatest hardships, that it was
with difficulty that he could see a priest once a year for
the good of his own soul. His arrest on this occasion
must have impressed him with the fact that, whatever
sufferings his field of labour might entail, and they were
many, he was in the Outer Isles, at least fairly safe from
arrest.

At a somewhat later date (1665), we have numerous
letters of Father White and of his schoolmaster in Glen
garry. The former writes : "I give infinite thanks to

GLENGARRY 163

your Reverence not only for having procured me an
allowance, but also for having established the school
master, whom I have placed in that situation where I
think to make my own residence for the most part. In
truth you would rejoice greatly to see these poor children ;
how they advance in piety and learning, how quick they
are at answering with texts from Scripture and of the
Fathers all questions about our Holy Faith, and that by
the help of a catechism which I have written for them,
and which they commit to memory. . . .

" I beg your Reverence to excuse Ewen M'Alaister,
the schoolmaster, for not having written before now the
names of his scholars, and of their parents, but he fears
to commit these matters to paper, lest the letters be inter
cepted. . . . Your Reverence should strive to have some
youths educated in the houses recently established in
Paris, especially in St Lazarre. It would indeed be
a well-founded reason to appeal to the authority of the
Holy See, to make them come out and work here, to
succour these good people in their extreme spiritual
necessity, well disposed as they are to the Holy Faith.
If I had fifteen I could employ them with profit, and to
the advancement of religion, and all would have more
to do than they could manage. Indeed I protest, for
the discharge of my conscience, that if I had help I could
in a short time with the grace of God, bring back to the
bosom of Holy Church, the people of all these Highlands
and Islands. I see myself daily called to places to which
I have to refuse to go, as indeed I could not visit them
once in two years, and satisfy those who are there
converted."

Father White had, as stated above, decided to make

164 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

his headquarters at Glengarry. Now to anyone who
knows this part of the West Highlands it would seem
incredible that any priest should attempt to serve the
immense district which had fallen to the care of the
worthy Vincentian from a point in itself so inaccessible,
and no doubt it was only sheer necessity that made Father
White think of doing so. At Invergarry, however, he
was under the powerful protection of the laird of Glen
garry, recently created Lord Macdonell and Aros, a noble
man of undoubtedly great power and of still greater pre
tensions, to whom the role of Protector of the Catholics
in the Highlands would have been quite congenial. In
any case Father White settled there with his school
master, and a pleasant picture is presented of these two
working together in the interests of the Catholic Church
at a time when such co-operation was so sorely needed
and yet so scarce. Where else, indeed, in Great Britain,
could there be found, at this period, a Catholic school,
with a Catholic schoolmaster, presided over by a Catholic
priest ?

Two letters of the worthy schoolmaster are extant.
In one, dated 14th June 1 665, he says : " I have received
your Reverence's letter, and from my heart I thank you
not only for the care and trouble which you have taken
to procure me a salary and to keep me in this place, but
also for the good and fatherly advice you give me in your
most kind letter. . . . The place where I am teaching is
the house of the Lord Macdonell, called Invergarry, in
the district of Glengarry in the County of Inverness,
thirty miles distant from the city of that name. The
number of my scholars is small at present, being only
twenty-four, but I hope that the number will be greater

GLENGARRY 165

when his lordship returns from the Court in England.
The scholars are of the names of Macdonald, Cameron,
Macmartin, Fraser, Scott, Stuart, and Maciver. . . .
Having no other books with which to teach the children
to read, I have been obliged to teach two boys from an
heretical catechism, a book much in use in the islands, as
also from a Psalter in rhyme, and the book of Proverbs
translated by the heretics into English, but with the pre
caution that I do not allow them to learn anything from
these books by heart.

" Mr White is writing some very good questions in the
manner of a catechism, for the instruction of the boys on
Sundays and Feast days. Some of the boys are learning
Grammar and the rudiments of Latin, with suitable
authors ; others only learn to read and write. As their
mother tongue is Gaelic, it is most difficult to teach them,
with that as a foundation, the Scotch and English
languages. But once they have learned these they are
very easy to teach and very tractable. Above all they
take great pleasure in learning the Catholic Faith and
doctrine. Thus they learn with ardour and great en
thusiasm the above-mentioned Catechism of Controversy."

Many thoughts are suggested by this first Report of
a Catholic schoolmaster in the Highlands. Catholic
Catechisms were long difficult to obtain in Scotland.
More than one hundred years were to elapse before the
question of printing one was raised. The difficulty of
teaching Gaelic- speaking children in English still con
tinues, and is all the more accentuated when, as not
unfrequently happens, the teacher does not know any
Gaelic "as a foundation." Bishop Hugh Macdonald,
of Morar, who had himself gone through the process,

166 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

frequently wrote in the following century, begging the
authorities in Rome to be considerate to the boys whom
he sent out to be priests ; for, inasmuch as they only
knew Gaelic, with some smattering of English, they were
at a great disadvantage.

How long M'Alaister continued his school it is not easy
to say, for these were troublous times in the Highlands,
especially in Glengarry, where English soldiers were
almost continually quartered on account of the laird's
well-known Jacobite sympathies. Father White con
tinued at his post till his excessive labours brought him,
prematurely, it would seem, to the grave. The Prefect
of the Mission writes of him, in 1676 : " Then there is
Francis White, who for over twenty years has gathered,
and still gathers, a most abundant harvest of souls in the
West Highlands ; a truly Apostolic man, although broken
down by hard work, his strength reduced by age and
ill-health, greatly esteemed by all, even by the heretics,
and much revered by them." Three years later the same
writer announced the death of the worthy priest in the
following terms : " The good Mr Francis White died
towards the end of last January. After the event I went
in fearful weather to visit the localities which he used to
frequent in order to console as best I could the poor
people he served for so many years. God's peace be with
him. If any of his countrymen could be sent to take his
place, it would be a great help to us. Others, as you are
aware, are of no use to us, as they do not know the
language."

The next account which we have of the Mission of
Glengarry, and also the most detailed, is contained in the
very interesting Report on the Highland Mission made

GLENGARRY 167

by Mr Alexander Leslie in 1677. He had come to the
Mission about 1670, and was thus a very young man to
be entrusted with so important a duty. Yet his Report
shows great determination and a charming gaiety of
disposition, which enabled him to overcome all difficulties.
He later went to Rome, whence he returned in August,
1681. In 1689 he was thrown into prison, and was not
liberated till 1691. In the register of priests he is
entered as Alex. Leslie, " Hardboots." He served in
succession the Missions of Enzie, Strathbogie, Banff,
and, dying in 1702, on 14th April, he was buried in
Enzie. He had been forty years on the Scotch Mission.

After stating his surprise at being appointed visitor,
and giving details of certain preparatory arrangements,
he continues : "I stayed in Banff shire until the middle
of Lent 1678 and then started for Inverness, through
the country of Moray. From Inverness I wrote to Mr
Robert Munro, a Highland Missionary, asking him to
meet me at the Bog of Gight in the Enzie, some time in
April. This he did, and I must confess that I could not
have visited the Highlands without him.

"Whilst I was in Inverness, I ministered to many
Catholics, who had not seen a priest for a long time.
This was especially the case with one gentleman and his
wife who had come a distance of 40 Scotch miles — about
80 Italian miles — to see if perchance they might find a
priest in Inverness, not having seen one for over two
years. They came across me quite accidentally, and
were so filled with joy that they could not restrain their
tears. It was indeed with difficulty that I could restrain
my own emotion, all the more when I thought of the rest
of these poor Catholics, so neglected that one might say

168 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

they were entirely abandoned. This consideration
forced me to remain in Inverness longer than I had
intended. My stay was however a great consolation to
those most excellent and devout Catholics, who nocked
in from all the surrounding country, making their Con
fessions, receiving Holy Communion, hearing Mass and
giving themselves up entirely to devotions and prayers.
Such was their fervour — indeed such was the fervour of
all the Catholics in the Highlands — that it was difficult
to say Mass without distraction. Their sighs and their
ejaculations interrupted the Celebrant to such an extent,
that it was often necessary to speak sharply to them,
and to check them, if one would finish the Holy Sacrifice.

" Leaving Inverness, I betook myself to the Bog of
Gight, the property of the Marquis of Huntly. This
castle is on the banks of the River Spey, which is here
the boundary of the county of Moray. On my arrival
I found Mr Munro, the Highland Missionary, and for the
space of eight days we rested discussing the work before
us. We then started direct through Moray to Inverness,
where we had to lay hid for some days, whilst we made
provision for our journey into the Highlands. In
particular we had to provide ourselves with clothes after
the fashion of these people. They dress quite differently
from the Lowlanders, and more in the style of the ancient
Romans, as far as one can judge from the statues of the
latter. We all had to dress in this style, even our
servants and guides.

" When our preparations were completed, we set out
along the bank of the River Ness until we came to the
shores of the lake from which that river flows, and here
we fell in with Mr Francis White, with whom he had a

GLENGARRY 169

long consultation, and arranged some further details
regarding our journey through the Highlands and
Islands.

" From here we sent on our horses by a longer road,
whilst, in order to shorten the journey, we ascended a
mountain so steep that often we had to climb on hands
and knees. We now entered the district called the Aird,
fourteen long and weary miles from Inverness. We were
received at the house of Sir Alexander Fraser, of Kinnaries,
and treated with great kindness. Sir Alexander had
once visited Rome and had there made the acquaintance
of my brother, and on this account was highly pleased
to meet me.

[Note. — Mr William Mackay writes as follows : " Colonel
Fraser of Kinnaries — or Kinerras, as the name now
appears on the Valuation Roll — was proprietor of that
estate in 1678. Kinerras is in the parish of Kiltarlity,
and has for generations formed part of the Lovat estates.
Fraser also owned Kinmylies, near Inverness, which he
sold to David Poison in 1688. He was also proprietor of
Abriachan, which he sold to the Laird of Grant. He
was alive in 1699. I did not know that he was entitled
to be called SIE Alexander Fraser. He does not appear
as such in the Valuation Roll of the County of Inverness
of the year 1691, or in any other references which I have
come across."]

" Two days afterwards we passed through mountainous
tracks into the district of Strathglass. The Chief here
is a most zealous Catholic, and so are practically all his
vassals, having been reconciled to the Church by the
missionary, Munro. I stayed here eight or ten days to
obtain full information, and what I learned was most

170 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

satisfactory. At this stage of our journey we had to
leave our horses behind, as our road for the future was
over precipitous mountains, and almost impenetrable
forests. Further we here put off our Lowland dress and
donned the Highland costume.

"From Strathglass we continued our journey in the
direction of Invergarry. The weather was very adverse,
the wind blowing a hurricane and the snow falling in
blinding showers — this too when we were well on in May.
We found that we could not reach Invergarry in one
day, so we stopped at Pitmains, some miles short of our
destination. Next day we arrived at Invergarry, and
there I intended to stay five days in order to receive
many reports from the Chief, a most zealous Catholic,
of tried prudence, faith and constancy. I fell ill however
and remained very feeble with a continuous fever for
fourteen days. Though I then began to feel better, yet
I was so weak that I could scarcely stand on my feet,
much less travel in a country, where it is all ascending
or descending precipitous mountains.

" Lady Macdonel, a most pious Catholic, tried to per
suade me to go back, saying that I should be a dead man
before I reached the Islands. Indeed many of the Catholics
had prophesied the same before I reached Inverness.
But Lord Macdonel encouraged me, and persuaded me
not to give in, saying that in six days I should regain not
only my health, but my strength as well. He then
reprimanded those who were persuading me to the con
trary, and especially her Ladyship, telling them that it
was far better for me and for them, if I did die on the
way, rather than turn back. If I went back, Rome
would conclude that the country was the inaccessible

GLENGARRY 171

haunt of rude savages, and would send no priests to them
at all. He had no difficulty in persuading me to follow
his advice, as I had already made up my mind rather to
risk a hundred lives than fail in my duty to the Holy See.
Over and above the motive of obedience there was the
compassion I felt for these poor people. Every day
something new came to my knowledge, their great need
of priests, and how well they had deserved that Eome
should send them some, their great piety and their
insatiable thirst for the Holy Sacraments and for religious
instruction. All this redoubled my courage, and filled
me with constancy in the prosecution of my mission.
My weakness however was so great that for the first
week, our day's journey was but short ; indeed the first
stage from Invergarry was only five miles. By the
grace of God my health improved as Lord Macdonel had
foretold, and as it improved our stages also lengthened."

So much for the Report of Mr Alexander Leslie, which
I have had occasion to quote regarding other districts
visited by him. With reference to the school in Glen
garry some very interesting letters exist, proving the
strange fact that as. early as 1650 — only one hundred
years after the Reformation, and when its influence had
scarcely begun to be felt in these outlying districts— no
vocations to the priesthood were forthcoming, even in
so Catholic a district as Glengarry. One cannot but
wonder, if this was due to the martial spirit which
pervaded the Clans : how did they obtain vocations
previous to the Reformation, when that spirit was
surely equally strong?

In 1668 the Prefect of the Mission, Mr Alexander
Winster, writes to the agent in Rome : " I sent five youths

172 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

this year to our College in Paris, of whom three have
already received the tonsure, and are studying Philosophy.
But in the Highlands matters are quite different, for
during all these years, of those educated in our school in
Glengarry, we could not persuade one single youth to go
abroad to study. This is due to the opposition of the
parents, for I have tried my best. Of the necessity of
procuring some youths, I was fully persuaded myself,
and I was further urged thereto by the Superior of the
said College at Paris, and by Mr William Leslie, our
Procurator in Rome. The parents however consider
their children sufficiently educated, when they have
learned the first elements of grammar. They then take
them away from school, and have resisted all the attempts
of Mr Francis White and myself. Still I have great hopes
of better success in the future, when they will have
become a little more refined (aliqwliter mitiores) by
education and religion."

Elsewhere in the same Report it is stated : "In some
parts of the Highlands schools with Catholic teachers
are tolerated, under the protection of the pious and
influential Lord Macdonald. Still it will not be easy to
find teachers in future, for, with the exception of Ewen
M'Alaister — who has an allowance from Lord Macdonald
— who would be willing to stay in a district so wild and
so uncultivated ? He could expect nothing from his
pupils, and would therefore need some attraction in the
shape of a handsome salary. Certainly thirty scudi
per annum would not be sufficient."

In 1677 the Prefect of the Mission reports : " There
are two schools in the Highlands, the masters of which
receive the same stipend as the Missionaries ; but so far

GLENGARRY 173

are they from receiving anything from the parents, that
these are hardly able to support their children when
absent from their own homes. This arises from the fact
that all their substance consists in flocks which afford
them meat and dairy produce for food, and wool for
clothing. One master, Ewen M'Alaister, who is married,
has been teaching for many years. Another has just
left because he could not stand the hard life. The two
schools are under Mr Francis White."

In 1678, according to Mr Thomson, who for many years
was agent in Rome, and left Notes for a History of the
Church in Scotland, the school was transferred from
Glengarry to Barra. No doubt the increased vigilance
of the military made the former district unsafe, for about
this period Government soldiers were actually quartered
in Invergarry Castle.

Closely connected with the subject of vocations from
amongst the Highland youths is that of the Irish priests,
who at the urgent request of the Superiors of the Mission,
and also of such lairds as Lord Macdonell, Clanranald, and
M'Neill, of Barra, came over to give their services to the
Catholics of the Highlands and Western Islands. Fathers
White and Dugan have already been mentioned. Mr
Hugh Ryan came to Scotland in 1680 ; in 1688 he was
in Strathglass ; in 1 696 he was taken prisoner, and died
in the November of that year.

Father Francis Macdonell, Franciscan, came to the
Mission in 1668 ; in 1671 he sent his report on the
Highland Mission to the Archbishop of Armagh, who
transmitted it to Rome. In 1677 Father Macdonell
was still in the Highlands. Father Peter Mulligan,
an Augustinian, was brought from Rome by Bishop

174 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Gordon, and they arrived together in Aberdeen in
July, 1706. In 1722 Bishop Gordon writes to Rome :
" Mr Mulligan has left us after sixteen years in the
Highlands. He wished to serve his own countrymen,
and during the many years he has been on the Mission
he has reaped most abundant fruit of his labours,
having reconciled over 700 persons to the Church."

Father Peter Gordon, Recollect, also served sixteen
years on the Highland Mission, and left it in 1722 " at
the command of his Superiors, who advanced him to a
post of dignity in the Order." Many other Franciscans
accepted the invitation of the Superiors of the Mission,
but as they were largely under their own Superiors they
do not appear on the annual lists of clergy. For Father
Anthony Kelly, Bishop Hugh Macdonald had a special re
gard. He had been recalled by his Superiors, but Bishop
Hugh made every endeavour to get him back. " If poor
Anthony Kelly should come I would willingly dispense
with all the rest." And in his letter to Propaganda he
calls him " a most worthy and truly Apostolic man, who
was on this Mission for many years, and did an immense
amount of good." l

To return to the series of priests who attended the
Glengarry district, Mr Robert Munro, mentioned in the
foregoing Report as the indispensable companion of the
visitor, was another of those wonderful men whom no
adversity could conquer. He was three times imprisoned,

JMr Thomson in his Notes states : "1681. Mr James Devoyer
and John Cahassy, two Irish priests, were persuaded to go to the
Soots Mission for 3 years : they found only two priests in the
Highlands. In 1687 Mr Haggarty, Irishman, and Mr Macdonald,
a native, joined them. He was the first native Missioner, and
unfortunately died after only six months."

GLENGARRY 175

and sentenced to death if he again returned from his
banishment ; but on each occasion he at once came back
to his field of labour. In 1704, whilst lying prostrate
with fever in a miserable hut in Glengarry, he was dis
covered by some English soldiers, who carried him off
to the Castle, where he was thrown into the dungeon,
and where, after receiving the vilest treatment, he was
allowed to perish. He had been thirty-four years on
the Highland Mission, and during the greater part of
that time his principal residence was Glengarry and its
neighbourhood.

Father M'Gregor, a Benedictine, was priest in Glen
garry in 1728. He had come to Scotland in 1724, but
only remained till 1730. Father William Grant, also a
Benedictine, was in Glengarry in 1734, whilst in 1735
Mr Peter Grant had this Mission, but he too was here
only two years, when he was sent as agent to Rome.
Mr James Leslie followed, and he was still here in 1741.
After him came Mr ^Eneas M'Gillis, who accompanied
the expedition of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, as
chaplain to the Glengarry men. These numbered over
600, under the command of Lochgarry. The chaplains
with the Stuart army all wore the Highland dress,
with sword and pistols, and went under the name of
Captain.

It is a strange coincidence that Prince Charlie slept at
Invergarry on 26th August 1745, one of the first days of
his campaign, and returned there two nights after the
fatal battle of Culloden. On the devastation wrought in
the district after that most unfortunate undertaking there
is no need to dwell. Situated as it was, midway between
the hostile garrisons of Fort Augustus, Fort William and

176 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Bernera, it suffered even greater barbarities than any
other district.

Mr jEneas M'Gillis returned again to Glengarry, and
was priest there from 1759 to 1767, when he reckoned that
he had 1,500 Catholics under his care. He also at this
period had the ministration of Lochaber with its 3,000
Catholics ; at first on account of the great age of Mr John
Macdonald, and later on the death of this most holy
priest, until a new appointment was made. In 1763
Abbate Grant, the agent in Rome, described Mr M'Gillis,
in his Report, as a "learned, prudent and devout man
who had studied at the Scots College, Rome, and is now
about 40 years of age." Mr George Duncan " passed the
remainder of his days at Glengarry, where he died on
13th March 1773, and is buried in St Finnans " (Gordon).

In 1775 the Bishops reported to Rome that Alexander
Macdonald and Roderick Macdonald had just arrived on
the Mission. One had been placed in Uist, and the other
(Mr Roderick) in Glengarry, in place of Mr ^Eneas M'Gillis,
who was entirely invalided by gravel. In the previous
year the Bishops had greatly praised Mr M'Gillis : " He
had often served several missions at one time, and these
most difficult ones by reason of their size and the number
of their Catholics. He suffers so much from gravel that
it is only with great pain that he can do any work. If he
is called to attend the dying, as not rarely happens, he
never refuses, but he is prostrate for several days after
wards." Mr M'Gillis died in 1777, when the Annual
Report states : " For thirty-five years he had laboured
with great zeal, and had given great satisfaction."

About this period Bishop Hugh Macdonald resided
at Abercalder on the Eastern boundary of Glengarry.

GLENGARRY 177

He gave such assistance as he could, having chosen this
district on purpose to be able still to do something in
his old age. He died at Abercalder, 12th March 1773,
and was buried at Kilfinnan, in Glengarry. Bishop
Macdonald seems at one time to have intended making
Glengarry his principal residence throughout his episco
pate, even as it had been that of Mr White and Mr Munro.
His first letter to Rome is certainly dated from " Lagani
in Glengaria 13 Kal. Aprilis 1732."

The hope expressed by the prefect of the Mission in
1668, that vocations to the priesthood would soon come
from the Highlands, was at this time amply fulfilled.
Although the number of priests in the Highland district
never came up to the needs of the people, as the letters
of the Bishops clearly show, still the supply was fairly
adequate. Of these the clan Macdonald supplied a
remarkable majority, often to the great confusion of the
authorities in Rome, since in 1777 there were no less than
four Alexander Macdonalds out of the twelve priests.
The lists for 1786 and 1794 are interesting in this con
nection, and go to prove that Austin Macdonald was not
far wrong in writing to Propaganda : " The priests in
the Highland District will soon be all Macdonalds."

Priests in the Highland District in 1786 :

Samalaman . . j^P, A1f an?
[Allan Macdonald

Lochaber . . Angus M'Gillis
Glengarry . . Ranald Macdonald
Moydart . . Austin M'Donald
* • -CT [Alexander Macdonald

| Norman Macdonald
M

178 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Knoydart . . Alexander Macdonald
Morar . . Ranald Macdonald

Priests in the Highland District in 1794 :

Samalaman . . Bishop John Chisholm

Lochaber . . Angus M'Gillis

Glengarry . . Ranald Macdonald

Kintail . . Christopher M'Rae

Arisaig . . John Macdonald

Moydart . . Norman Macdonald

Morar . . Ranald Macdonald

Knoydart . . Austin Macdonald

Lesser Isles . . Anthony Macdonald

Barra . . . Allan Macdonald

T [Alexander Macdonald
[Ranald Maceachan

One other list may be inserted here. It shows how
at this period the Scots College, Rome, was almost the
sole source of priests for the Highland District.

Nomen Ordinatus

Hugo MacDonald, Scalan . . .1726

^neas MacLauchlin, Parisiis . . 1712

Joannes Macdonald, Roma . . 1720

Alanus Macdonald, Roma . . . 1723

Nilus MacFie, Roma . . . . 1727

^Eneas MacGillis, Roma . . .1741

Alexander Macdonald, Roma . . 1746

^Eneas Macdonald, Roma . . . 1752

Jacobus Leslie, Roma . . . 1729

Alexander Forester, Roma . . . 1732

GLENGARRY 179

Jacobus Grant, Roma . . . . 1735

Petrus Grant, Roma .... 1735

Gulielmus Harrison (Henderson), Roma 1737

Joannes Macdonald, Roma . . . 1753

Alexander Macdonald, Roma . . 1753

Mr Roderick Macdonald remained in Glengarry until
1783, when lie went to Canada. He had taken the
Mission oath with the express stipulation that he should
be free to go to America, whither all his relations had
already preceded him.

It will not be out of place to give here some account
of the new Glengarry in Canada, where many of
the families of distinction found a home, and where
Greenfield, Scotus, Abercalder, Leek and other names
familiar in the history of Glengarry are perpetuated in
that of the daughter colony. The first settlement was in
Prince Edward Island, then called St John's Island, but
this not proving very successful, many of the emigrants
moved to the mainland of Nova Scotia, where the present
county of Antigonish has many inhabitants whose fore
fathers came from Glengarry. By far the largest emigra
tion, however, was that which followed Father Alexander
MacDonell, after the disbandment of the Glengarry
Fencible Regiment, about which a word must be said.

Father Alexander MacDonell, who proved so great a
benefactor to his fellow- clansmen, was born in Glen
Urquhart, Inverness- shire, about the year 1760. He
probably spent some years at the school of Buorblach,
near Loch Morar, then under the care of Bishop John
Macdonald. The greater part of his student life was
passed at the Scots College, Valladolid, which he entered

180 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

in 1778, and where he was ordained in 1787. His first
parish was that of Badenoch, and here he remained till
1792. He then went to Glasgow in charge of the High
landers, who had been evicted from their holdings and
had accepted the offer of the leading Glasgow merchants
to settle in that city. To them Father MacDonell was
everything — their priest, father, lawyer and protector.

But the trade of Glasgow declined rapidly at the
outbreak of war between France and England, conse
quent on the French Revolution, and the Highlanders
lost their employment and their means of livelihood.
Father MacDonell then conceived the idea of utilising
them by forming a Catholic regiment. In 1794 a meeting
for this purpose was held at Fort Augustus, at which Mr
Maxwell, of Terregles, presided. It was attended by
Bishop John Chisholm, the Chief of Glengarry, Mr
Fletcher of Dunans, Father MacDonell, and many others.
The meeting unanimously resolved that a Catholic
regiment be formed, with a Catholic commander and
Catholic chaplain. The uniform was a close-fitting
scarlet jacket, kilt and plaid of MacDonell tartan — dark
green, blue and red. The officers had each the broad-
bladed, basket-hilted claymore, and a dirk (skean-dhu),
in addition to the long Highland pistols.

The regiment numbered over 800 men, half of whom
came from the neighbourhood of Glengarry, and they
were described at their first parade as " a most handsome
body of men." That undoubtedly they were. The
following is the list of officers :—

Colonel — Alexander Macdonell of Glengarry.

Lieut. -Colonel — Charles MacLean.

Major — Alexander Macdonald.

GLENGARRY 181

Captains —

Archibald M'Lachlan James MacDonald
Donald MacDonald Archibald Macdonell

Ronald Macdonell Roderick MacDonald

Hugh Beaton

Capt. -Lieut. — Alexander Macdonell.
Lieutenants —

John MacDonald James M'Nab

Ronald MacDonald D. M'Intyre
Archibald M'Lellan Donald Chisholm
James Macdonell Allan M'Nab

Ensigns —

Alexander Macdonell Donald MacLean
John MacDonald Archibald Macdonell

Charles MacDonald Alexander Macdonell
Donald Macdonell Andrew Macdonell

Francis Livingstone
Adjutant — Donald Macdonell.
Quarter-Master — Alexander Macdonell.
Surgeon — Alexander Macdonell.
Chaplain — Rev, Alexander Macdonell.
The regiment at once gained the good will of the War
Office by volunteering for service anywhere in Great
Britain or the Channel Islands. They were accordingly
sent to Guernsey in 1795, where they remained till 1798.
They were then removed to Ireland, and here they saw
the rest of their period of service, being disbanded after
the Peace of Amiens in 1802, along with most of the other
Fencible regiments. Father MacDonell had followed the
regiment to Guernsey and to Ireland, and was now sorely
perplexed what to do with the good fellows. After many
difficulties he, in 1803, literally extracted from the

182 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Government " a grant of land under the sign manual of
the King " for every officer and soldier of the late Glen-
ga,rry regiment, whom he might induce to settle in
Upper Canada. Thus was formed the county of Glen
garry, Ontario, which in 1848 numbered 15,000 in
habitants, and in 1900 over 50,000.

Father MacDonell remained still with the emigrants,
who on more than otie occasion showed their loyalty
to the British Government. In 1812 the Glengarry
Light Infantry Kegiment was raised mainly through his
exertions. They took part in no fewer than fourteen
engagements, and on all occasions where fighting had to
be done " Maighster Alastair " was at hand to see that
it was well done. In 1819 he became Vicar Apostolic of
the newly created district of Upper Canada, and, in 1826,
Bishop of Kingston. He died in 1840, at Dumfries,
whilst on a visit to Britain in connection with his
emigration projects.

At the time of the raising of the Glengarry Fencibles,
in 1794, Bishop Hay wrote : " I am much edified with
Glengarry. He is an amiable young gentleman, and I
hope will one day be an honour and support to his country
and to religion." He certainly maintained the character
of the " last of the Chiefs," appearing at Holyrood Palace
with his " tail " of retainers, which surprised George IV.
by its extravagance. He was intimate with Sir Walter
Scott, whose Fergus Maclvor, in " Waverley," is none
other than the Chief of Glengarry. He was drowned in
the sinking of the Stirling Castle, in 1828, when his son,
a youth of twenty, succeeded. But the extravagances
of the late Chief and of his predecessors had so en
cumbered the estates that they had to be sold, and for

GLENGARRY 183

many years now the chiefs of Glengarry have owned no
portion of the glen of their fathers.

To return again to the series of priests. Mr Lament
was in Glengarry about 1815, and died there in 1820.
Mr Donald Forbes, the veteran of Lochaber, spent the
first years of his life as a priest in Glengarry (1819-
1826). Bishop Ranald Macdonald, in his Report for 1822,
says that the Catholics of Glengarry then numbered
800, under Mr Donald Forbes, a young priest of great
piety, but delicate health, an Alumnus of Samalaman.
He also had charge of 200 Catholics in Glenmoriston, and
of 80 in Stratherrick. In view of the fact that Mr Forbes
was priest in Lochaber for the almost unprecedented
period of fifty-two years, the remark about his delicate
health is certainly interesting.

The chapel at this time was at Newton, Abercalder,
midway between Glengarry and Fort Augustus, where
the foundations may still be seen. There would often
be 500 people in church here. The altar was against the
south wall, in the centre of it, and there was one entrance
for the Kilchumin or Fort Augustus people at the east
end of the building, and another for the Glengarry folk
at the west end. Half-a-mile distant, just below the
bridge over the Abercalder Burn, is the site of the house
where Bishop Macdonald died.

The Ettrick Shepherd, James Hogg, visited Glengarry
in 1803, and recorded his impressions. " On reaching
Glengarry, the first place we came to was Greenfield,
possessed by Mrs Macdonald. The house was really a
curiosity. It was built of earth, and the walls were all
covered with a fine verdure, but on calling we were con
ducted into a cleanly and neat-looking room, having a

184 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

chimney, and the walls being plastered. The ladies,
Mrs Macdonald and her sister, were handsome and
genteelly dressed although unapprised of our arrival,
unless by second sight. They were very easy and agree
able in their manners and very unlike the outside of their
habitation. The family are Roman Catholics, and kept a
young priest among them, but he had lately been obliged
to abscond for some misdemeanour in marrying a couple
secretly. He was much lamented by the whole family."

The Macdonalds of Greenfield had been amongst the
largest tacksmen in Glengarry, but at the time the above
letter was written they were holding prominent positions
in Canada. The first large emigration, of which mention
has already been made, was in 1773, for in the following
year the Bishops reported that " the prosperous settle
ment of emigrants from South Uist under Glenaladale
encouraged a large emigration from Glengarry, consist
ing chiefly of Catholics to the number of 300, including
most of the leading country gentlemen. They sailed
for New York in the autumn of 1773, attended by Mr
M'Kenna, Missionary priest in Braelochaber."

Ten years later, in his Report to Propaganda of
September, 1783, Bishop Alexander Macdonald states :
" From the coast, if we proceed South, we come to the
district of Glengarry, about 30 miles distant from the
preceding. The intervening country is so wild, that it
is only fit for grazing sheep in summer time. Glengarry
is 18 miles long and six broad ; a valley runs through
the centre, enclosed by high hills. There is a military
Fort here, with a village adjoining, in which are many
non-Catholics, but the whole of the rest of the district is
Catholic ; the number of whom is 1,640, though some of

GLENGARRY 185

these are dispersed amongst the neighbouring districts.
To attend the whole number, at least two Missionaries
would be necessary, but they only have one, Mr Roderick
Macdonell, a good priest, educated at Douai."

Writing again in 1786, to the agent in Rome; Bishop
Alexander says : " Our Highland Catholics leave us in
great colonies : the hardships they suffer under their
squeezing and unfeeling masters, oblige them to look for an
asylum in distant regions. Last year upwards of 300 souls
left Glengarry and its neighbourhood, almost all Roman
Catholics, and settled in Canada above Mont Real where
were already settled about 800 Highlanders, who had
emigrated to America before the commencement of last
war, and are doing exceedingly well. To serve those
people, and because many of his own relations were
of the number, Mr Roderick MacDonald, an excellent
Missioner, went to America likewise."

Thirty years later Dr Macdonald, of Taunton, received
an interesting account of the Glengarry emigrants from
his friend, Mr D. MTherson. I give it almost in full,
as it occurs in " Memoir of Macdonald, of Keppoch."

"CHAMBLY, CANADA, N.A., 26th Dec. 1814.

" MY DEAR SIR, — Having just returned from a visit
of a month to the new county of Glengarry, I cannot help
endeavouring to give you some account of it, as well as
of the present condition of many of our countrymen who
were driven from their native land, and who directed
their course to America in search of better fortune.

" The county is a square of 24 miles, all of which and
the greater part of the next county (Stormont) are
occupied by Highlanders, containing at this moment from

186 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

1,100 to 1,200 families, two thirds of them Macdonalds.
More able fellows of that name could be mustered there
in twenty-four hours, than Keppoch and Glengarry
could have done at any time in the Mother country.

" You might travel over the whole of the county and
by far the greater part of Stormont, without hearing a
word spoken but the good Gaelic. Every family, even of
the lowest order, has a landed property of 200 acres ;
the average value of which, in its present state of cultiva
tion, with the cattle, etc., upon it may be estimated at
from £800 to £1,000. However poor the family (but
indeed there are none can be called so) they kill a bullock
for the winter consumption ; the farm or estate supplies
them with abundance of butter, cheese, etc., etc. Their
houses are small but comfortable, having a ground floor
and garret, with a regular chimney and glass windows.

" The appearance of the people is at all times respect
able, but I was delighted at seeing them at church on a
Sunday : the men clothed in good English cloth, and
many of the women wore the Highland plaid. . . .

" The chief object of my visit to Glengarry was to see
an old acquaintance, Mr Alexander Macdonald, a priest,
who has been resident in this country ten years. I
believe you know him, or at least you know who he is.
A more worthy man is not in Canada ; he is the main
stay of the Highlanders here ; they apply to him for
redress in all their grievances, and an able and willing
advocate they find him. He is well known from the
poorest man to the Governor, and highly respected by
all. Were he ambitious of enriching himself, he might ere
now be possessed of immense property ; but this appears
not to be his object ; his whole attention is devoted to

GLENGARRY 187

the good of the settlement ; and the great and numerous
services which he has done, cannot well be calculated.

" Colonel John Macdonald, of Aberhalder, died some
years ago, and left one son and three daughters. . . .
The Colonel's sister, Mrs Wilkinson, died a few months
since, and left a son and three daughters — Mr Macdonald
of Greenfield, who was married to the other sister, has a
very considerable property here ; he is Lieut. -Colonel of
the Second Regiment of Glengarry Militia. One of his
sons, Donald, is also Lieut. -Colonel ; his second son is a
Captain in the same corps. ... Mr Macdonald of Lundi
died in this Settlement some time since, but his brother,
Allan, now upwards of ninety, is still alive and well. . . .
George Macdonald, son of Captain John Macdonald of
Lulu, who died Captain of Invalids, at Berwick, recruited
the Glengarry Regiment of Light Infantry, and is now
Lieut. -Colonel commanding in this district, and Inspecting
Field Officer of Militia. The good conduct of the Glen
garry Light Infantry, as well as the Militia Regiments of
the county, has been so frequently noticed and thanked
in public orders, that it is unnecessary for me to say
anything in their praise. They have on every occasion,
when placed before the enemy, supported the character
of Highlanders."

The emigrations of 1773, and of subsequent years, left
but few of the older families in Glengarry ; and at the
present time there is only too much truth in the lines of
W. Allan (Celtic, Mag., Oct., 1885);

" The Glen of my fathers no longer is ours,

The Castle is silent and roofless its towers,
The hamlets have vanished and grass growing green
Now covers the hillocks where once they had been ;

188 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

The song of the stream rises sadly in vain,
No children are here to rejoice in the strain.

No voices are heard by Looh Oich's lone shore,
Glengarry is here ; but Glengarry no more."

Moreover it happened in Glengarry, as is so often stated
with regret by the Bishops in their Annual Letters, that
the families of substance emigrated, and left behind few
but those, whose circumstances did not permit of their
following. Time after time the Bishops complain of the
poverty of the priests at this period, so that we cannot be
surprised to find Mr Donald Macdonald, who was priest
in Glengarry from 1826 to 1835, inserting the following
appeal in the Directory for the latter year ; — " The
Catholics of Glengarry are in great distress for want of
a suitable chapel. Some exertion must be made in order
to provide a decent place of worship for this large though
poor Congregation. Applications are now being made
for a site on which to build. As soon as one can be
procured, the incumbent will be under the necessity of
soliciting aid from the charitable on behalf of his flock,
which for all their covering, may be said at present to
worship their God on Sundays, and to assist at the Holy
Mysteries, in the open air."

In 1832 he wrote : "At present the place of worship
is a most miserable hovel, incapable of defending the
people, when assembled, from the inclemency of the
weather. It is in so ruinous a state that it can scarcely
be used with safety. To this may be added, that the
clergyman has no house of his own, and is under the
necessity of living with such families as are willing and
able to receive him."

Mr Macdonald was succeeded by Mr Donald Walker,
who remained till 1841, when he was in turn succeeded

GLENGARRY 189

by Mr Alexander Gillis. Mr Gillis built the church and
presbytery, which were in use till 1883, and are now in
corporated in the convent of Benedictine nuns. Though
the chapel was thus moved three miles further from
Glengarry, the good people still continued to attend it
with striking regularity ; whilst those living in the distant
portions of Glenquoich were known to come the thirty
miles to Fort Augustus, starting at four o'clock in the
morning. Indeed it is noticeable that in the early
directories Glenquoich is mentioned as served occasion
ally from Fort Augustus, but no mention is made of
Glengarry, as though the seven miles were no objection
to its being considered as part of the one parish. In
1888, however, the Benedictine Fathers at Fort Augustus
began to say Mass in Glengarry itself, and in 1891 a
small chapel was built at Mandally, where Mass is said
every second Sunday. On the greater festivals, however,
and especially at Christmas, the people of Glengarry
still attend the church at Fort Augustus.

Mr Alexander Gillis was succeeded by Mr Valentine
Chisholm (1842-1852), Mr Donald Mackenzie (1854-
1860), Mr John Macdonald (1860-1871), Father Coll
Macdonald (1871-1883), when the venerable Mission of
Glengarry and Fort Augustus was taken over by the
Benedictine Fathers.

The late Prior Vaughan was a man of great enthusiasms,
and also of great ideals, and the circular which he issued
at the time of the building of the Monastery of Fort
Augustus forms interesting reading now, after a period
of nearly forty years. " The Benedictine Order," he
wrote, " is about to return to Scotland after an exile
of some three hundred years, and the Monks of the

190 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Benedictine Congregation have accepted the large
quadrangular buildings of Fort Augustus, Inverness-
shire, offered them by Lord Lovat.

" The Fort was built to accommodate a garrison of
between two and three hundred soldiers, and has fallen
into disuse as a military station since the Crimean War.
Dr Johnson, who visited the Fort in 1773, says of it that
' the situation was well chosen for pleasure, if not for
strength.' It is indeed eminently beautiful, commanding
towards the East the long picturesque stretch of Loch
Ness, and to the West, the grand rugged range of the
Glengarry mountains. The Fort was erected in 1729 to
overawe and subdue the Highlanders ; and the Duke of
Cumberland, who established his headquarters there
after the Battle of Culloden, used to send forth parties
to disarm and desolate the country, who did their work
so ruthlessly as soon to cause the place to be held in
general execration. . . . The Fort was purchased from
the Government by the late Lord Lovat as recently as
1867, with a devout hope of his being able some day to
find a religious order who would venture to establish
themselves therein.

" The pious desire of the late Lord Lovat will now be
fulfilled. Not only will this spot — once the scourge and
terror of the Highlanders — become the source of many
spiritual, and even temporal blessings to the surround
ing neighbourhood, but here also the old English
Monastery of Lamspring, and the Scotch College of
Benedictines, which formerly existed at Katisbon, will
be restored, and the old Scottish line of Monks perpetu
ated. Of these there is still one venerable father sur
viving, destined to be the connecting link between the

GLENGARRY 191

Monks of the past and those of the future, and whose
life appears to have been preserved thus far, that he
may at length see the day he has desired and prayed for
so long. Dunfermline and Melrose, Coldingham and
Arbroath, Paisley and Dundrennan, Kelso and lona,
with some twenty other Abbeys observing the rule of
St Benedict, will live again, and the old chants which
have been silent for so many years, will be heard once
more in the land. How great and wide an influence the
new monastery is destined to exercise over the people of
Scotland we cannot venture to predict."

Whether the Abbey of Fort Augustus has realised all
these hopes it is not for me to say. I cannot but feel,
however, that if the good bishops and priests of old, who
had such an uphill struggle in their day, were to be asked
for their opinion, they would look with as great pleasure
and pride on the work being accomplished to-day, as we
look with admiration on the work which they accom
plished. To the men of their day and to themselves,
they seemed to be doing little ; to us, who look at it from
a distance, their achievements were great and lasting.
May it be so likewise with the work of the present
generation, and of the Abbey of which so much was
hoped by its founders.

THE LESSER ISLES ^ND OTHER
DISTRICTS

THE LESSER ISLES

IN 1652 Father Dugan reported that he had visited the
isles of Eigg and Canna, and had reconciled over 900
persons to the Church. A little later Father Francis
MacDonell, in 1671, states : " There are other islands be
longing to Clanranald, namely Canna, Rum, Eigg, and
Muck, in which there are not less than 1,000 souls, all
Catholics."

Bishop Nicolson and his companions sailed from Arisaig
to Eigg on 18th June 1700. The wind was not in their
favour, but by using their oars they reached the Isle of
Eigg towards the middle of the day, having started at
two o'clock in the morning. " This is a small island," his
Report states, " which yields a fair quantity of grain and
has excellent pasturage, though it is only three miles long.
Of the inhabitants, all of whom are Catholics, 140 were
confirmed. The houses of this, and indeed of all the other
islands, are not constructed of wood, like those of the
mainland (for in the Isles there is no wood except what is
imported), but the walls are extremely thick. The two
faces of the wall are of stone and the space between is
filled in with earth in the manner of an embankment or
rampart against the cold winds which blow from the
ocean in winter. By order of the Chief of Clanranald we

192

THE LESSER ISLES 193

were treated with great civility by his factor or deputy,
a very intelligent man."

This Report next describes the atrocities committed
by the captain of a man-of-war named Porringer, who
had been sent to the Isles to harry the coast, and draw
the men from following the royal army. This recalls
to mind the terrible fate that befell the inhabitants of
the island some years before, when they were almost
all suffocated in the cave, at the narrow mouth of which
their enemies, the Macleods, had kindled large fires. The
floor of the cave is still strewn with the bones of the
murdered inhabitants.

From Eigg Bishop Nicolson and his party passed on to
Canna. This is described as a small island five miles in
circumference, very fertile for its size and with abundance
of pasturage , whilst the harbour on the south-east afforded
safe anchorage. " At the entrance to this harbour there
is a very high rock, in which it is thought there must be
a mine of iron or adamant, since as the ships pass under it
the compass turns towards the rock." One hundred and
fifty years later this same rock is thus described : "In
the vicinity of the harbour is an eminence called Compass
Hill, which is said to disarrange the compass so much as
to cause it to whirl round, so that when placed near it no
faith can be put in its magnetic value."

The inhabitants of Canna were found to be all
Catholics, and 100 were confirmed, partly on the out
ward journey and partly on the return from Uist. The
priest at that time was Mr Hara, whilst Mr Morgan, as
Dean, visited this and the neighbouring islands occasion
ally. The party left Canna at eleven o'clock in the
evening, for the wind being favourable, and being near

N

194 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

midsummer, it was light all through the night. They
had not gone far when a great calm came over the sea,
so that they were surprised to find the water as smooth
as glass, instead of the dangerous crossing they had
feared.

In 1707 Bishop Gordon sailed from Arisaig for Uist,
but the wind being again contrary, as it had been at the
time of Bishop Nicolson's journey, he was carried to
Eigg, where he spent two days. On the return journey
from Uist the Bishop visited Canna, where he gave
Confirmation, but sailed again the same evening for Eigg.

The Eeport for 1763 states that the isles of Eigg and
Canna used to have a priest to themselves, with about
400 Catholics, but they were at that time left destitute
of any spiritual assistance except what the Bishop or his
coadjutor could occasionally afford them. In 1767 the
Abbate Grant reports that they still had no priest of
their own, but the Keport of 1777 states that the Lesser
Isles were then under the charge of Mr Alan Macdonald,
who had just returned from Spain, where he had taught
for five years. In 1779 he voted in the election of
Bishop Alexander MacDonald as " Alanus Macdonald,
senior Missionarius in Insulis Minoribus."

In 1768 Mr Alexander Kennedy had been sent to Eigg,
but he can only have been there a short time, for he died
at Arisaig, in 1773. Abbe Macpherson says of him:
" He came back to Scotland from Rome in 1767 and was
ordained by Bishop John MacDonald. He gave great
satisfaction as a Missionary in the Highlands, but lived
only a few years thereafter, having died in 1773." One
incident is noted in his missionary career. In 1770,
when he landed on the small island of Muck, he was

THE LESSER ISLES 195

arrested by orders of Mrs Maclean, wife of the proprietor,
who was then absent from home. He was taken to her
house and kept in confinement for two days, until a boat
could be procured to convey him back again to the main
land. None of his people were permitted to see him,
and when he asked what offence he had committed, and
offered every satisfaction, this lady's only reply was to
cite the example of Boisdale, and announce her deter
mination never to allow a priest again to set foot on her
husband's estate. In the chapter on Uist it is shown
how Boisdale later saw the folly of his persecution of the
Catholics on his estate, and befriended both clergy and
people. There is no record of Mrs Maclean following his
example in this.

In 1783 the number of Catholics in Canna is given as
322, and in Eigg, 450, their priest at that time being
Mr James M'Donald. In 1822 Bishop Ranald Mac-
Donald writes : " Midway between the Outer Hebrides
and the Mainland of Scotland are the Isles of Eigg, Rum
and Canna, called the Lesser Isles, where there are 500
Catholics, of whom many emigrated this summer to
America. The care of these is entrusted to Mr Anthony
MacDonald who is often in great danger to health and
life, especially in winter storms, which make the crossing
from one island to another always a dangerous matter
and often impossible. Mr Anthony is an Alumnus of
Douai, is 53 years of age, and of delicate health. What I
have said of the danger in sailing from one island to
another applies to the priests who have care of all these
islands." Mr Anthony MacDonald died in Eigg, 6th
January 1843, in the forty-ninth year of his ministry
and the seventy-third of his age. This latter detail we

196 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

know from the letter of Bishop Ranald quoted above,
although his age is omitted in the list of deceased clergy
in the Directory of Scotland.

From 1834 till 1842 Mr Donald Mackay was priest in
the Lesser Isles. This was his first parish, but he was
to continue to labour for over fifty years in the High
lands. He had been born at Frobost, in South Uist, in
1804. In 1823 he entered the seminary of Lismore, and
the following year was sent to Propaganda, where he had
a most distinguished course, gaining numerous medals.
He was ordained in 1833, and had charge of the Lesser
Isles from 1834 to 1842. Thence he was sent to North
Morar, where he remained twenty-nine years, during
seventeen of which he had charge of Knoydart also. In
1871 he went to Drimnin, where he remained till his
death in 1886. In the December of that year the illness
from which he suffered took so serious a turn that the
last rites of the Church were administered to him. His
patience, resignation and childlike piety were all along
truly edifying. He lingered for some days, comforted
by the presence of his Bishop, who stayed with him for a
week, and gave him Holy Communion daily. On the
morning of 4th January he peacefully expired. His
body, which was sent, at his own request, to his native
place for burial, was conveyed by steamer to Loch Bois-
dale, where it was received by the priests of Daliburg
and Bornish, and interred in the Hallan Cemetery, Dali
burg. Mr Mackay was a man of sterling piety and
exceptionally lively faith. In disposition he was kindly,
affable and cheerful. He was reputed a good Hebrew
scholar, spoke Latin with grace and fluency, and to the
end wrote Italian remarkably well. He was a thorough

THE LESSER ISLES 197

master of Gaelic and a powerful preacher in the language
(Directory, 1888). The varied accomplishments of this
most worthy priest remind one of the saying of Bishop
Nicolson that the Catholic Highlanders " were of very
lively spirits and were wonderfully successful when they
had a little education." The same has indeed been
remarked time after time when students from the High
lands came in competition with others in the colleges
abroad.

Another of the good old priests who had charge of the
Mission of Eigg was Mr Alexander Gillis, who was there
from 1842 till his death in 1889. He was born at Sunart,
in Argyllshire, in 1806, and entered the college of Lis-
more in 1825. From there he went to Rome, where he
was ordained in 1840. He was appointed to Fort
Augustus, including Glengarry, where he laboured for
three years with great zeal and success. He had just
completed the building of a new church and presbytery
when he was removed, in 1842, to the ancient and inter
esting mission — to use the words of the obituary notice
—of the Lesser Isles. This embraces the islands of
Eigg, Rum, Canna and Muck. The Catholic population
at present is probably 250 souls, but at that time it
was considerably more. The emigration of some of
the best of his flock had a very depressing effect upon
their pastor. From that date things, from a pecuniary
point of view, went from bad to worse with him, till at
last his house — especially the roof — became quite
dilapidated. His robust constitution, instead of being
injured by this dreadful exposure, seemed to rejoice in
it. Most probably any three ordinary priests under the
same circumstances would have broken down during

198 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

the period of thirty-seven years, during which he man
fully stood his ground. In winter his isolation was
almost complete. Let us give an idea of this. Some
twenty years ago, Arisaig was the post town for Eigg.
One winter twelve consecutive Tablets (a weekly paper,
of course) lay at the Arisaig post office for him, because
a boat could not venture to cross the Sound all that
time. Things are now changed : steam communication
is frequent, and the chapel and house have been put in
a thorough state of repair.

Eigg itself is a lovely spot, a truly picturesque island,
and amazingly rich from a geological point of view.
Mr Gillis was greatly attached to it. Bishop M'Kinnon,
of Arechat, North America, offered him a good parish if
he would go there, but he declined the generous ofi'er.
On another occasion Bishop Gray desired him to accept
the mission of lochar, South Uist, but he still clung to
his island home. He evidently wished to die in harness,
and his desire was granted. He died in the most edifying
manner, fortified by all the rites of the Church, and after
having given throughout his life an example of extra
ordinary patience, under the most trying circumstances.

The priests of this Mission in more recent times have
been Rev. Donald M'Lellan, 1883-1888; Rev. Donald
Walker, 1889-1903; Rev. John Macneil, 1904-1906;
Rev. John Macmillan, 1906-1909 ; Rev. Fred.
M'Clymont, 1910-1914. The latter had the pleasure, in
1910, of opening a new church and presbytery, for which
he had collected the necessary funds in various parts of
Great Britain. For almost seventy years the Catholics
of Eigg had used as a chapel the lower floor of an old
farm-house, the rest of the building being used as a

THE LESSER ISLES 199

presbytery. Before that they were even worse off, while
tradition has it that at one time Mass used to be said in
a large cave, still known as the Cave of Devotion. With
the erection of a new church and presbytery a happier
condition of things has been started, and we may hope
that the Catholics of Eigg and Canna will steadily in
crease, and will soon exceed in numbers those whom
Bishop Nicolson and the early missionaries found there.
Kegarding the different chapels, previous to 1810 the
church and priest's house were at the south-east side of
the island. The house was originally a small, two-
storied building, though later the upper story was taken
down. At present it is little more than a ruin, whilst
the croft has been incorporated in Kildonan farm. The
circumstances of the change from this older chapel to
the one recently in use are thus described by Mr Donald
Mackay : " My grandfather was fiddler to the Laird of
Muck, and he had so great a reputation as a musician
that Clanranald determined to have him on his own
property. Said Clanranald to my grandfather : < If you
will settle in the Island of Eigg, I will give you a fine
house and a good croft.' Well my grandfather went
over and had a look at the house, but he was not pleased
at all, at all! However it happened that the priest
was wanting the big house, and my grandfather thought
that the priest's house and croft would suit him well, so
they exchanged, and that is how Mr Anthony came over
to the West side of the island." This tale is interesting
as showing the size of the chapels of that date, for though
it may have been large as crofters' houses went, it could
scarcely have had much accommodation for the 150
to 200 people who at that time came to their Sunday

200 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

Mass. The floor was merely the hard earth, on which
clean sand was sprinkled previous to the Sunday service,
and then those "who had a mind" would take with
them a peat to kneel on. The lower floor of the house
was the chapel, the rest of the building being used as a
presbytery. Mr Gillis is still remembered for his skill at
shinty. It has been the custom from time immemorial,
among Catholics and Protestants alike, to play shinty
every Christmas and New Year on the fine sandy beach
of Laig Bay. The older generation still remember how
Mr Gillis would join in the game, barefooted like the
rest. They say that till the latter days of his life he was
the nimblest of players.

In confirmation of what has been said of the difficulty
in serving the Catholics in different islands, the tale is
told how Mr Gillis had started for Canna one day, but,
on account of the bad weather, his boat had to put back.
On landing he met the Minister, Mr Sinclair, with whom
he was on very good terms. Next day he started off
again, and again he had to put back. As he landed there
was the Minister again at the landing-place, ready to
condole with him, but really to chaff him on his bad luck.
It actually happened, that on the third attempt Mr Gillis
only got as far as Rum, when he had to return without
being able to get to Canna. This time he took every
precaution to avoid the Minister, and thought he had
succeeded in doing so. But no ; just as he reached his
house, Mr Sinclair passed from the opposite direction, and
both of them laughed heartily at the incident.

Canna, like its sister isle, is very interesting, historic
ally and geologically. There are the remains of old
Columban cells at the foot of a steep cliff, called Scur na

THE LESSER ISLES 201

Ban naomh. The island before the Reformation always
had a close connection with lona, and for a long time it
was the property of the monks, being most probably the
Eilean naomh, or Holy Island, of Adamnan.

The present Catholic Church stands on an eminence
overlooking the entrance to the harbour. The little
church is really very handsome, having a tower and a
pretty porch all in correct Norman style. The church
and tower are a good guide to sailors making for the
harbour. It was built by the Dowager Marchioness of
Bate, in memory of her father, Lord Howard of Glossop.
Previously the Catholics had an unpretentious little
building on the Canna side, which is now the post office.
In spite of the difficulties in the way of the priest coming
from Eigg to visit them, there seems to be a special
Providence over the Canna people, for they never die
without his aid at the end. This confidence of the people
of Canna seems always to have distinguished them, for
Mr Alexander Leslie bears witness to it as early as the
year 1678. He says : " From Rum we visited another
very beautiful island, Canna, where all the inhabitants
are Catholics. They were filled with joy on seeing us,
not having seen a priest for more than a year. Their
spiritual necessities and their fervent zeal forced us to
stay amongst them for a few days, all the more so that
they had many children to be baptized. Some heretical
preachers had indeed passed that way recently, and had
offered to baptize the children, but the parents would not
allow it. The preachers assured them that the priest
would consider the baptism valid, but they would not
have their children baptized by heretics, saying : ' God
will send us a priest in His own good time.' '

202 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

GLENMORISTON

SITUATED as they were, midway between the two
Catholic districts of Glengarry and Strathglass, the
people in the upper end of Glenmoriston ever retained
their ancient faith. In 1763 there were 200 Catholics
in the glen ; in 1783 Bishop Alexander MacDonald states
that there were 160 Catholics under Mr ^Eneas M'Donald,
who also had charge of the 200 recent converts in Kintail.
In 1822 Bishop Ranald MacDonald mentions that the
Catholics of Glenmoriston were then under Mr Donald
Forbes, priest of Glengarry. The Directory of 1842 is
the first which mentions Glenmoriston as a separate
mission, the pretty little chapel and priest's house
having been completed in the previous year. Mr
Alexander Macdonald was then the priest there, but
already, in 1846, Mr Angus Gillis had succeeded him.
Mr Gillis also had charge of the Catholics in Stratherrick.
The following year the mission was vacant, and was
attended by the priest from Strathglass. In 1849 Mr
James Lamont was residing here ; whilst in 1857 the
services were given by the priest from Fort Augustus,
the congregation being then stated to number about
eighty souls. Thus the small numbers of the congrega
tion have made it always uncertain whether there would
be a resident priest there or not, whilst at the present
time the numbers have still further decreased. The
chapel, however, and the little priest's house — the latter
so small that one wonders how the men of last century
lived therein — are beautifully situated on the banks of
the river Moriston, just below one of the most picturesque

GLENCOE 203

bridges in the whole of Scotland. It was built by Telford
at the beginning of last century, when the road which
here stretches right across Scotland was constructed.

If the beauties of Nature were sufficient to attract a
population back to the land, then certainly Glenmoriston
would soon be thickly populated. I have visited it
hundreds of times, and have taken many visitors across
the hill from Fort Augustus into Glenmoriston, always
to hear the same delighted enthusiasm for the beautiful
valley, which seems even more attractive now that the
ruined cottages and deserted homesteads add a touch of
sadness to the charming view. It is, moreover, full of
memories of Prince Charlie and the Forty-five. Over 200
Grants of Glenmoriston met the prince at Abercalder,
four miles west of Fort Augustus, on his victorious journey
south ; whilst after the defeat of Culloden, nowhere was
the prince more safe than amongst his devoted followers
of Glenmoriston.

GLENCOE

THERE is little doubt but that the massacre which has
rendered Glencoe so famous was very largely due to
religious bigotry. It is so represented in the letters of
the time to Propaganda. The Macdonalds of Glencoe
were all Catholics ; they formed, indeed, the southern
most portion of the Catholic belt, which extended from
Glencoe almost uninterruptedly to Knoydart. They
were thus the " buffer state " between the Catholic
districts to the North and the non-Catholic to the South.
They were also the southernmost portion of the Mac-

204 CATHOLIC HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND

donalds, the inveterate enemies of the Campbells, to
whom the massacre was entrusted.

The story has been too often told to need repetition
here. Suffice it to say that forty unarmed men, women
and children were massacred by troops, to whom they
had extended most friendly hospitality, under the assur
ance that they should sustain not the least injury. There
were 200 persons living in the Glen at the time, and all
under seventy years of age were ordered to fre destroyed.
The stormy weather, however, delayed part of the
soldiers who were to have taken part in the massacre,
and thus 160 persons were known to have made their
escape, though their sufferings amid the hills in that
month of February were terrible to narrate.

The Catholics of Glencoe were in early days under the
charge of the priests of Lochaber, but in 1836 a chapel
was built in the Glen by Mr Charles Mackenzie, then priest
at Fort William. The congregation numbered about
100, according to the Directory of that date. For many
years now Glencoe has had a resident priest, whilst in
1909 another chapel was opened at Kinlochleven to
accommodate the Catholics who were employed at the
works there. At the present date, therefore, this old
established Mission is more numerous than at any
previous time in its history.

STRATHERRICK

THE earliest mention which I have found of Stratherrick
among the papers at Propaganda is that of 1822, when
Bishop Ranald Macdonald stated in his Report that there

STRATHERRICK 205

were eighty Catholics there, attended to by the priest of
Glengarry. Later this congregation was served from
Glenmoriston, until, in 1859, the present chapel and
priest's house were built on land granted by Lord Lovat,
whose properties extend for several miles on the south
side of Loch Ness.

The number of Catholics in this mission was recently
increased by the opening of large aluminium works at
Foyers, five miles distant. With the establishment of
these power stations — that at Kinlochleven belongs to
the same company — with the settlement of crofters under
the Small Holdings Act, and with the expected action of
Government in planting large areas for afforestation, we
may hope that the Highland districts will once again be
thickly populated. May the Highland Catholics of the
future often think of those mentioned in the foregoing
pages, who strove so hard to keep the Light of the Old
Faith burning, and who made such great sacrifices in its
behalf.

NOTES

NOTE I

It will be remembered that Father Dugan had been
educated at St Lazarre, Paris, where everything would
doubtless be scrupulously neat and clean, and as well
provided as the religious profession of the house would
permit. On arriving in the Highlands, however, he was
a proscribed person, and as such accepted shelter from
any who offered it ; often, doubtless, his lot was amongst
the very poorest, and it is to these that the remarks
in his letter seem to apply. His statements are corro
borated by Bishop Nicolson (see p. 122), who seems to
infer that not only the clothing, but also the food, of the
upper classes was much superior. It will be noted that
Bishop Nicolson also had often to take shelter in the
shielings, avoiding, probably, the main routes in order to
travel the more unobserved.

NOTE II

The term " black house " is one frequently used in the
Highlands even at the present time. The older cottages
were roofed with heather or straw, and as this grew
old it assumed a very dark colour, nearly black. The
interior of the cottage was generally open right up to the

206

NOTES 207

roof, the timbers of which became coloured by the peat
smoke, so as almost to appear to have been covered with
black varnish. This was especially the case when the
peat fire was in the centre of the room, as was the almost
invariable custom one hundred years ago.

NOTE III

The ruins of Lov at Castle may be traced on the banks
of the Beauly river, close to the present farmhouse of
Wester Lovat, and about three miles from Beaufort
Castle, the more recent residence of the family. Part of
the walls of the castle are now incorporated in the farm
buildings, while the terraces cut in the bank of the river
can distinctly be seen. At a short distance is an old pear-
tree, which at one time formed part of the garden.

INDEX

ABERCALDER, 183
Angler, Rev. J., 85
Antigonish, 179
Antrim, Marquis of, 11, 14
Ardkenneth, 43, 45, 46
Arisaig, 45, 86, 94, 117-133
Arkaig, Loch, 68, 114
Armagh, 118

BADENOCH, 130, 180

Bailairge, Mr Louis, 83

Bain, St, or Bainan, 44

Baird, Mr John, 83

Ballogie, 131

Barr, St, 21

Barra, 1-25, 128

Barrisdale, 63

Beauly Abbey, 124

Benbecula, 45-48

Benedictines at Fort Augustus,

189

Bisset, Canon Alex., 85
Blairs College, 155
Boisdale, laird of, 31-42
Bornish, 48-54
Borrodale, 127-133
Borve Castle, 42
Braoora, 113-115
Braemar, 130
Buorblach, 107-112, 128, 179,

154
Bute, Dowager Marchioness of,

132, 201

CAHASSY, Rev. John, 66, 86, 174
Cameron, Rev. Hugh, 24, 48
Campbell, of Dunstaffnage, 154

, , Colin, 100, 104, 105,

135

, Rev. Alex., 54

, of Lochnell, 47

Canna, 2, 14, 45, 75, 121, 192-

201

Carmichael, Mr Alex., 52
Carolan, Rev., 18
Castle Tirrim, 42
Castlebay, 23
Challoner, Bishop, 39
Charles Edward, Prince, 98, 133,

175, 203
Choan, St, 69

Chisholm, Bishop ^Eneas, 48
Rev. Arch., 85, 156
Rev. James (Canon), 22,

L>4

114, 132

Rev. John, 48, 155

Bishop John, 20, 21, 93,
130, 153, 155, 178, 180

Rev. Valentine, 189

Mr, farmer, 153
Clanranald, Chief of, 2, 11. 28,

40, 44, 120, 123, 192, 199
Colgan, Rev., 105, 135
Columba, St, 121, 134
Conon, Rev., 135
Craigston, Barra, 22
Crofters' Commission, 41
Crookshank, Rev. Chas., 105
Culloden, battle of, 99, 158, 190
Cumin, St, 116

DALGLEISH, Rev. George, 88

Daliburgh, 54, 57

Devoyer (Devoir), Rev. James,

135, 174
Diana = Bishop Hugh M'Donald,

19

Douglas, Rev. George, 88
Drimnin, 196

Drummond, Rev. Alex., 105
Dugan, Rev. Dermit, 1, 6, 7, 26,

161, 192

208

INDEX

209

Duncan, Rev. George, 105, 176
Duthie, Rev. Will., 105

EIGG, 2, 45, 192-201
Eilean Ban, Morar, 126

Finnan, 121

Emigrations, 21, 39, 45, 49, 09,

73-75, 127, 145, 179, 184-187,

195

Eriskay, 55-61
Evictions. See also Emigrations,

75

FANNING, Rev. G., 8, 10, 17, 117,

174

Fochabers, 87, 107
Forbes, Rev. Alex., 55

, Rev. Donald, 183, 202

, Rev. John, 155, 156

Forester, Rev. Alex., 29, 30
Fort Augustus, 189-191

William, 46, 76

Fraser, Rev. Peter, 87

, Bishop Will., 156

, Sir Alex., 169

GARBIHELLIE, 41
Gerinish, 41
Gettins, Rev. Will., 83
Gillis, Rev. Will., 48

, Rev. Angus, 202

, Rev. Alex., 156, 189, 197-

200

Glasgow Highlanders, 180
Glenaladale, 36, 38, 133
Glencoe, 203
Glenfinnan, 157-159
Glengarry, 69, 70, 125

7 Chief of, 161, 164, 180, 182

, Canada, 182

Fencibles, 181

Glenlivet, 87
Glenmoriston, 202, 203
Glennaquoich, 63
Glonuig, 156

Godsman, Rev. John, 105
Gordon Castle, 88, 162

, Rev. Alex., 105

, Rev. George, 105

Gordon, Bishop James, 63, 64

88, 99, 106, 119, 194

, Rev. John, 105

, Rev. Peter, 174

, Rev. Robert, 105

Grant, Rev. Peter (Abbate), 19,

67, 94, 135, 175, 176, 194

, Rev. George, 85

1 Bishop James, 19, 105

, Rev. Will., 175

, Mr James, 104

Grey, Rev. Dermit. See Dugan,

26

HACKETT, Rev. Mr, 105
Haggarty, Rev. Mr, 174
Kara, Rev. Mr, 193
Harrison, Rev. W. (Henderson),

67, 135

Hay, Bishop, 32-39
Henderson, Rev. W. (Harrison),

105

Hogg, James, 183
Hourn, Loch, 62, 63
Howbeg, 51
Hyndman and Dick, 53

INNES, Rev. George, 89

, Rev. Lewis, 89

, Rev. Thomas, 89

Invergarry.
164, etc.
Inverie, 81, 83
loohar, 43
lona, 121
Ireland, Primate of,

See Glengarry,

11, 13

JOHNSTON, Sir Will, and Sir
John, 69

KELLY, Rev. A., 19, 105, 135,

174

Kennedy, Rev. Alex., 194
Keppooh, Arisaig, 120
Kilbar, 18, 24
Kilbride, 40

Kiloheran, Lismore, 155
Kilfinnan, 176, 177

210

INDEX

Kilmorui, Kilmorrie, 117, 120,

127

Kilvanan, 43
" King James III.," 99
Kinlochleven, 204
Kin tail, 68, 72, 83, 146
Knoydart, 62-85, 121, 145, 146

LAMONT, Rev. James, 84, 202

, Rev. John, 154, 183

Langal Chapel, 156

Leeds, Duchess of, 84

Leslie, Rev. Alex., 117, 167, 201

, Rev. James, 105, 175

, Rev. Will., 14, 17, 62

Lismore, 45, 93, 128, 130, 151,

154-156, 196, 197
Lochaber, 57, 151, 183
Logan, Rev., 86

, Rev. Will. (Stuart), 94

Lovat, Lords, 96-98, 190
Castle, 124, 207

M'ALAISTEB, Ewen, 163, 166,

172, 173

M'Clymont, Rev. F., 198
M'Coll, Rev. Coll., 113, 115

, Rev. Donald, 46, 48, 55

Macdoriald, M'Donald, Mac-
donell, etc.

, Alex., Bishop Polemon,

19, 40, 70, 73, 93, 113, 154,
184, 185, 194

, Alex., Bishop of Kingston,

179, 180, 181, 186

, Rev. Alex. (I.), 42, 176

, (II.), 68, 127, 135,

177, 178

, (III.), 67, 72, 146

, (IV.), 135, 151, 202

, Rev. Allan (I.), 20, 154,

194

, (II.), 106

, (III.), 177, 178

, (IV.), 24, 55-61

, Rev. Angus (I.), 174

, Rev. ^Eneas (II.), 19

, (III.), 20, 202

, (IV.), 153

Macdonald, etc. — cont.

, Archbishop Angus (V.),

23, 56, 131, 133, 158, 159

, Rev. Angus (VI.), 24, 132

or Maceachan, 154

, Rev. Anthony, 154, 178,

195, 199

, Rev. Archibald, 83

, Rev. Austin (I.), 74, 75,

135-146, 151, 177, 178

, (II.), 112

, Rev. Charles (I.), 74, 127,

154

, (II.), 134, 135

, Rev. Coll., 75, 189

, Rev. Donald, 21, 154, 156,

157, 188

, Rev. Francis (I.), 105

, (II.), 8, 9, 17, 28, 173

, Bishop Hugh I., 90, 96,

99, 101, 119, 165, 174, 176

, Bishop Hugh, of Aberdeen,

133, 158, 159

, Rev. James Allen, 20

f Rev. James Hugh, 113

, Rev. James (I.), 39

, (II.), 68, 112, 127,

195

, Rev. John (I.), 104, 105,

176
, (II.), 127, 128, 135,

178, 151

, (Hi.), 22, 154

, (IV.), 189

, Bishop John, 30, 32. 36,

68, 93, 107-113, 141, 179

, Mr John, 105

, Rev. Neil, 21, 75, 155

, Rev. Norman, 135, 146,

177, 178
, Bishop Ranald (I.), 48, 83,

127, 177, 183, 195

, Rev. Reginald, 113, 178

, Rev. Roderick (I.), 176,

179, 185

, Rev. Ranald (Scothouse)

(IL), 70

, Rev. Roderick (IL), 43, 44

, Rev. Samuel, 55

INDEX

211

Macdonald, etc. — emit.

-, Rev. William (I.), 21, 54,

75,81

, (II. ), 55, 83

(see Glenaladale), 38, 133

, of Greenfield, 183, 187

, of Girinish, 110

, Dr, 96, 97

, Lord, 63, 164, 170, 171

Macdougall, Rev. Alex., 48, 55
Maceachan, Rev. Mr, 87

, Rev. Evan, 127, 130

,Rev. Ranald, 20, 42, 44, 178

, Donald, 76

MacFie (Phee), Rev. Neil, 28, 67,

104, 105, 135

M'Gillis, Rev. Angus, 175-178
M'Gregor, Rev. James, 43, 155

, Rev. Mr, 119, 175

M'Innes, Rev. Donald, 113
Mackay, Rev. Donald, 113, 131,

155, 196, 197
M'Kenna, Rev. Mr, 184
Mackenzie, Rev. Chas., 204

, Rev. Angus, 156

, Rev. Donald, 189

, Rev. William, 24

Mackenzie's "Highland Clear
ances," 76
Mackintosh, Rev. Alex., 55

, Rev. John, 54

, Rev. Donald, 46, 48, 59,

135

— , Rev. William, 21, 128, 156
, Donald, 64, 85

— , Miss, 64, 85
M'Lachlan, Rev. ^Eneas, 67, 104,

105

M'Laren, Lord, 153
M'Lean, Rev. Allan, 50

, of Muck, 195

, of Samalaman, 153

M'Lellan, Rev. Mr, 67, 86

, Rev. Donald, 114, 198

, Rev. J., 85

, Rev. Will., 54

M'Leod, Dr Alex., 50
Macmaster, Rev. Will., 24
Maomillan, Rev. John, 48

Maoneill, Rev. John, 198

, of Barra, 2, 8, 11, 16, 20

M'Pherson, Rev. Donald, 132

, Rev. Colin, 21, 46, 75

M'Phee (see M'Fie), 67

M 'Quarry, Mr, 153

Macrae, Rev. Angus, 48, 114

, Rev. Chris., 83, 178

, Rev. Philip, 130

, of Ardmtoul, 72

Malrubber, St., 120
Martin, Rev. Donald, 24
Milton, farm of, 49
Mingulay, 23
Morar, 86-116

Seminary, 88-107

Morgan, Rev. Mr, 86, 120, 193
Morrison, Rev. Donald, 54
Moydart, 45, 128, 134-159
Mulligan, Rev. P., 174
Munro, Rev. Rob., 15-17, 28, 66,

117, 167-169, 174, 177
Muck, 193, 194

NICOLSON, Bishop, 17, 18, 28, 62,

86, 120-126, 192, 193, 197
North Bay, Barra, 24

ORMACLATE, 42, 49

PABBA, 1, 26

Paris, Scots College, 89, 98, 112

Paterson, Rev. Alex., 29, 105

" Pilgrims, The," 100

Polemon = Bishop Alex. Mao-

donald, 71

Primrose, Rev. Father, 114
Prince Edward (St John's)

Island, 179
Propaganda, 5, 9, 18, 29, 75, 92,

102, 111, 127, 134, 137, 148

RANKINE, Rev. Ranald, 135, 156
Ratisbon, Scots Monastery, 190
Rattray alias Munro, Rev. Mr, 86
Rigg, Rev. George, 55, 83
Rome, Scots College, 30, 67, 68,
88, 127, 135, 139, 148, 176, 197

212

INDEX

"Royalist Emigrants," 69
Ryan, Rev. Hugh, 173

ST BARR, 24

St Colgan, 121

St Finnan, 134

St John's (Prince Edward)

Island, 35, 39, 40, 179
St Malrubber, 132
St Sulpice, 128
St Vincent of Paul, 1, 27, 114,

117, 161

Samalaman, 81, 113, 152-154
Sandaig, 81, 83
Sandison. = Bishop Hugh

M'Donald, 94
Sandray, 26
Scalan, 89
Schools, 7, 12, 18, 28, 86, 89, 107

120, 126, 171, 173
Soothouse, 64, 88
Soots Colleges. See Paris, Rome,

Valladolid

Scott, J. Hope, Esq., 157
Shiel, Rev. Father, 28

Society for Promoting Christian

Knowledge, 53, 89
Stormont, 70
Stuart, Rev. Will., 92
Stratherrick, 204
Strathglass, 124, 130

TIBERIOP. = Bishop John Mao-
Donald, 19
Tombae, 131
Tyrie, Rev. John, 101, 104, 105

UIST, South, 2, 3, 26-61, 45

VALLADOLID, Scots College, 84,

112, 128, 130, 151, 152, 179
Vaughan, Prior, 189

WADE, General, 143

Walker, Rev. Donald, 48, 113,

188, 198
White, Rev. Francis, 1, 5, 7, 17,

27, 62, 117, 161-177
Winster, Rev. Alex., 7, 12, 172
Wynn, Rev. Mr, 31

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
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BX 1499 .856 1909 v.2 SMC

Blundell, Frederick Odo ,

1868-
The Catholic Highlands

of Scotland /
AKE-2446 (sk)