part-3 clans of shiskine 1936

8/14/2019 Part-3 Clans of Shiskine 1936

1/5

****** ****** ******

Part 3 of CLANS OF SHISKINE

PAST AND PRESENT

Compiled and read by

Mr. Charles Robertson, Burncliff, Shiskine, to theNatives of Arran in Glasgow, March, 1936.

Printed byTHE BUTEMAN, LTD., 10 and 12 Castle Street,

ROTHESAY

- --------------------------------------------------------------------

Islands as a rule have a smaller share of the arable landsuitable for cultivation in proportion to its size than inland areas.Therefore, the population has never been great in proportion to itsarea. Normally, in an island community the harvest of the sea

supplements the produce of the land. Most of the men were excellenthandlers of small craft. Numbers of them went to the fishing in theseason. Their system of agriculture according to our modern ways wascrude in the extreme. As I have already told you, the district wasdivided into townships, each township presided over by a taxman or"Fear a Bhaile", as he was called. The farms were let on leases of 19years duration. The system of farming was run-rig, taken from theGaelic "roinn," a share. Instead of the farm being divided into equalparts, each field was divided into strips. The benefit they thoughtwould accrue from this system was that each tenant got an equal shareof the good and bad ground on the farm. The system has survived to ourown day. You may still see it on the Banlikan shore. Much scorn hasbeen poured on this system, and it is difficult for anyone with any

farming knowledge to uphold it. The soil never got a chance. Thetownships were put up for auction at the end of every lease, so eachof the tenants took out of the soil as much as they could. There wasno compensation for improvements, the results are apparent.

In the year 1776 the Duke was a minor, his trustees, with thedouble object of improving the Island, but principally to insure thatthey got their rentals, appointed a John Burrell, as factor of theFirth of Forth, to bring this about. They gave him a free hand. Hewas a very able man, very masterful, and somewhat impatient andpercipitate in his actions. He was shocked at the system of farming,and stormed against the run-rig system. He made up his mind as each

lease expired he would have every man on his own, and each man himselfresponsible for the rent. In this he did not succeed, heroic thoughhis efforts were. The people frustrated his efforts as much aspossible. Burrell carried out his commission with the zeal of acrusader, irrespective of tradition, sentiment, or any of those thingsthat meant so much to a Highlander. He was a stranger, and there is noone like a stranger if you want the old landmarks removed. Though wegrant his ideas were sound, we must remember it was impossible for himto view things from the native point of view. He stated quite bluntlythat there were too many people on the Island, although his employerswere his patrons. He grudged giving money to the Church. For long I


2/5

could not understand their bitter resentment to the change-over, buton making comparisons of the rentals before and after the townshipswere made into separate lots, I discovered the cause. I will give afew examples:-Kilpatrick 77, after 200; S. Feorline 46, after 168; North Feorline 90, after 172; Torbeg 70, after 168; Tormore 100, after 190. I could give you no end of cases, each giving the sameincrease in rent. Burrel was a man of exceptional ability in manyways, but his hand was undoubtedly against the natives of the Island.

He started several industries, a slate quarry at the Cock of Arran; atile factory at the Southend, and a lime quarry at Shiskine. Thoseenterprises came to an untimely end soon after they were started, fromone cause or another. The proper test to apply to this gentleman'ssojourn on the Island is this, did it or did it not conduce to thecomfort, the uplifting, and well-being of the people? Whatever elsewas accomplished it certainly failed in that. One historian tells usin 1810 that the condition of the people, save a few taxmen, wasmiserable in the extreme. Their houses were the meanest hovels. Thepeople were clad in the worst garments of home manufacture. Theconditions seemed to be worse than they were 50 years previously.

Now I come to the most pathetic chapter of the history of theclans of Arran. Burrell's policy was the letting of the Island inlarge farms, and the restrictions of hill grazings. (He had gone tohis account by this time.) The seed he had sown was now bearing fruit.Wholesale evictions were now the order of the day. This state ofthings was not confined to the Island. The Highland Counties mostlyall suffered from this policy of extermination. The menace of Napoleonwas shattered, the need for men for the fighting forces had abated.Dr. Donald M'Leod a few years after exclaimed, "Is not man better thana sheep? They who would have shed their blood for the protection oftheir country are in other lands. If you want men to-day, pipe youever so loudly, No lads come away with cheeks glowing proudly, You maycall on the deer, the grouse and grey wedder, But not on the lads with

the bonnet and the feather." Some time ago you heard a very ableaddress from the Rev. Angus Logan, on the Megantic settlers. TheSannox clansmen are perhaps the most notable of this mistaken policy.They were by no means the first. It is stated that over threescore menwent to the herring fishing from the township alone. The largest ofthe clearances, apart from Sannox, was Glenree, which took place in1826, when five townships were turned out to make one sheep farm. Thenames of the townships were Glenree, Gargardale, Birican, Corriehim,and Margarioch; dozens of families deprived of a home. You can picturethe scene in that solemn glen-the sobbing of women and young children.People are not removed from their ancestral associations withoutgroans. Against those removals the people had an instinctiverevulsion. The factor Paterson, in his diary says, "The people opposed

those changes in every sort of physical resistance. It was just aswell that those injustices were not done to the more fiery Celtsacross the Irish Sea, or there would have been a different tale totell. The Shiskine clearances came later. News of those happeningswere carried all over the country. In Blackwoods Magazine of 1829 theEttrick Shepherd, whose centenary has only now been celebrated,writes:--"Well if the gentry lose the land, it will only be the Lord'sjudgement on them for having dispossessed the people. Ah, wae's me, Ihear the Duke of Hamilton's crofetrs (sic) are gaun awa' frae theIsland o' Arran. Pity on us!" The Government is now trying to undothose grave injustices of the past by settling men on the very farms


3/5

that were cleared. By a strange irony of fate Bennicarigan, one of thefirst to be cleared, was one of the first to be broken up into smallholdings. You may think I am digressing, but I can assure you therewas nothing burned into the soul of our fathers more than the events Ihave just narrated.

Now I come to the very important sideline in which many of thepeople of Arran indulged, that is smuggling. I am old enough to

remember as a boy the old men sitting round the peat fire in our hometelling their experiences in this illicit traffic. Their vigils on themountain streams and the ruses employed in evading the exciseman. Iused to think them the greatest heroes imaginable. There was no one inthe community hated more than an informer. Those who informed theexciseman where the still was to be found working, and the peopleinvolved, no Jew ever hated a tax-gatherer more than an Arran personhated an informer. I remember my grandmother bemoaning a male relative

choosing a wife from a family of informers. It is commonly supposedthat the illicit distilling of spirits was the only form of smugglingengaged in. The Government imposed a tax on many articles on those

days for revenue purposes. Arran, being in the track of shipping, manycommodities passed ashore that never passed the Customs at Greenock.The form of exchange was barter. In those days of sailing ships whenbeating up the Firth in a head wind, or becalmed, it was quite easyslipping alongside to do business. The sailors, many of whom werenatives of the Island, were only too pleased (after being for long onsalt junk) to barter many kinds of excisable goods for fresh eggs,fowls, or fresh fish, even bread and biscuits were much sought after.Salt was one of the commodities on which a big tax was levied. Irelandwas the chief source of supply. This became a profitable sideline forthe smuggler. Many a dark stormy night those hardy boys would crossthe Irish Sea, all the while keeping a lookout for the Revenue Cutter.On one occasion, owing to a rough sea, there was only one bag of salt

intact that had not melted. Whatever diversity of opinion there may beabout this traffic, it will be conceded that it was much better forall concerned when the people settled down to more staid occupations.The illicit distilling of liquor was carried on in Arran till the'sixties of the last century.

Now I come to another industry which no historian ever mentionedand gave employment to a number of Shiskine people. About 100 yearsago when the railways started in Scotland, they bolted the rails tothe blocks of stones to keep them in position. My maternal grandfathercame from Stirling to start a quarry at Kilpatrick. Unfortunately thisventure came to an untimely end. The railway people discovered thatthere was not enough give in the stone blocks as the trains passed

over them, and when the train gathered speed it was apt to jump therails, the upshot being that all the granite blocks had to be takenout, and wooden sleepers put in instead. This involved considerableloss to the promoters of this industry. I have two letters sent to mea few months ago written by my grandfather 100 years ago, whichcontained many interesting items of that time, one was that lettersleft Arran twice weekly.

In regard to recreations and amusements, we haven't much to goon except the old game of shinty, the great match of the year being onNew Year's Day. There was a Cricket Club in Shiskine 80 years ago.


4/5

Pennant, the historian, says little or no time can be spared foramusement of any sort, the whole time being given to procuring themeans to pay the rent, and a scanty pittance of food and clothing. Thesame writer in the same year notices the contrast in the people ofSkye. They sing when cutting down the corn, 40 or 50 in chorus, as theGrecian lassies did of yore. The great event in the lives of thosekindly folk was a wedding. People in other parts of the Island whenseeking to express the super-excellence of anything said of it, "It

was as good as a Shiskine wedding." When a girl got engaged she didnot send for a book of the latest Parisian creations, or go to thecity to purchase her outfit. Instead, all the girls in the districtgathered in her home, helped her to tease the wool, then it was sentto the carding mill to be made into "rowans," when that operation wasfinished the girls gathered again, each with her own spinning wheel,and spun it into thread, then it was sent to the local weaver to bemade into blankets. The next stage was the booking when friends ofthe contracting parties made arrangements for the marriage. Then a dayor two before the event was the "caillachan," when all the older womenmet at the bride's house loaded with gifts, mostly eatables. I canassure you there was a big shrinkage in the number of poultry afterthe wedding. Everybody looked on a marriage as a charge on the

community. A wife, in those days, was looked upon as a possession.

In the realm of education, there being no compulsory system ofoperation, many of the young people, mainly through poverty of theirparents, only got the bare minimum. In 1793 there were only twoparochial schools on the west side of the Island. The attendanceaveraged about 50 in each, which shows that only a small percentageattended those schools. There were in addition, many petty schoolsserving the outlying districts. In the latter case the schoolmastergot board and lodgings in the homes of his pupils. In the parochialschools the masters were passing rich on 40 a year. This wasaugmented by fees, the scholars each paying 1/- for reading, 1/6 forwriting, 2/6 for arithmetic, 20/-per quarter for navigation and book-

keeping, which were luxuries. The schoolmaster generally acted asSessions Clerk, pay being 6 per annum, with 1/- for every marriage,and 6d for every baptism. The children carried their own fuel, a peatunder each arm, not a very nice job on a frosty morning. The buildingsused as schools seem to have been in a wretched condition. One of thesaddest accidents in the history of Shiskine happened in one of theseschools in 1845, not 100 yards from my home. A thaw set in after asharp frost, the walls suddenly collapsed. The children made a madrush for the door, when five little girls were crushed and burned todeath. The roof was thatch. Among the victims was a Bannatyne,Blackwaterfoot; M'Alister, Millfield; and Henderson, Torbeg. DominieCurrie was settled in Shiskine at the beginning of the last century.He was a well educated person. His grandson is Professor Currie, of

the Board of Health. Another grandson was well-known to football fansof an older generation-Donald Sillars, of Queens Park andInternational fame. After the Disruption the Free Church placed thewell-known Dominie Craig at Balmichael. Both those Dominies producedsome fine scholars. The young men of those days attended school inwinter and worked at various occupations during the summer. TheGovernment seriously tackled education by their 1875 Act, some yearslater free education became the order of the day, when a goodschooling was the birthright of every child, no matter how poor.

As regards doctors and surgeons, they were few and far between.


5/5

In 1713 John Davies was the only one in the Island. The old folks hadtheir own simple remedies. The medicine chest was dried herbs. Thepractice of bleeding was universal, and was preformed with the utmostregularity in spring and autumn. It was thought to be a preventativeagainst pleurisy. All the dwellers in each township had it done thesame day by the same surgeon, each in turn holding out the arm. Thiswas done in the open air. The tenants paid a surgeon's fee along withtheir rents, amounting to about one penny in the . When I was a boy

the nearest doctor was Brodick. In urgent cases much valuable time waslost in crossing the String on horseback, often in the middle of thenight. In not a few instances the first question to the messenger was,"Who is to pay me?"

End of part 3

part-3 clans of shiskine 1936

Documents