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The year 1851 is known in
British annuls as the year of the Great Exhibition, which was supposed
to inaugurate a new and peaceful era. Prince Albert waa its most active
promoter, and the glass and iron palace, designed by Mr Paxton and
erected in the southern part of Hyde Park, was regarded as one of the
wonders of the world. It was opened by the Queen on the 1st of May. “A
grander spectacle,” says Sir William Moles-worth, “or more striking
pageant than that which took place within wras perhaps never exhibited,
when, amidst all the pomp and splendour that the Court of England could
display, amidst the sound of many trumpets, the solemn and jubilant
strains of loud-pealing organs, amidst a crowd of eminent Englishmen and
illustrious foreigners, the Queen, then in the prime of her youth and
beauty, opened this unrivalled collection of the triumphs of human
genius, in the most striking building that any age has produced, am]
that human skill and perseverance have ever erected.” This reads
nowadays as extravagant, but it reflects the feelings that existed not
only at the moment but for many years afterwards, until, indeed,
international exhibitions became no unusual events.
The political history of the year was troubled. Lord John Russell passed
his Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, to repress what was considered Papal
aggression, but its provisions have proved abortive. The nation, indeed,
soon became ashamed of its spasm of apprehension. Mr Locke King began a
movement for assimilating the county franchise with that of burghs, and
on the motion to introduce a bill defeated the Government by a majority
of 100 to 52. This shook Lord John Russell’s Ministry, and, as the
Budget was unsatisfactory, he sent in his resignation. Lord Stanley
(soon to be Earl of Derby) failed, however, to form an administration,
and the Whigs returned to office. Lord John promised to bring forward a.
measure of reform in the following session. In spite of the opposition
of Government a motion in favour of the ballot was carried by a majority
of 37. Alderman Salomons, a Jew, was elected member for Greenwich, and
endeavoured to take his seat, but the attempt was declared to be
illegal.
In December came the coup d’etat in France, which led to the second
Empire. The same event brought about the dismissal of Lord Palmerston
from the Foreign Office, on the ground that he had expressed approval of
Prince Louis Napoleon’s action without consulting the Prime Minister or
the Sovereign.
The West Highlands and Islands continued to be in a poverty-stricken
state, which produced much controversy and agitation.
From the “Inverness Courier."
1851.
January 2.—The Finance Committee of the county of Inverness had under
consideration the offer of the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting
the new Ness Bridge, and approved of his proposals.—A vigorous effort
was going on to make the Inverness Mechanics’ Institute popular and
useful. A public soiree was held in the Northern Meeting Rooms, and at
the ordinary meeting the President, Mr George Anderson, lectured on
Geology.—A public meeting had been held in Skye, at which very gloomy
accounts were given of the condition and prospects of the people. The
meeting proposed to ask the assistance of the Government for a grant of
money on favourable terms for carrying out land improvement,
facilitating emigration, and other purposes. They also suggested the
formation of a railway to Oban.
January 9 and 16.—The state of the West Highlands and Islands again
occupies considerable space. The Highland Destitution Board had brought
their relief operations to a close, and the Glasgow section had
submitted a report. During the past year this section had spent £21,402,
and had a balance in hand of £2000. They, had relieved distress, and had
assisted in making roads and piers, but acknowledged that they had not
succeeded in effecting any improvement in the condition of the people.
In fact, it is stated that many of them were in a worse position than
when the destitution, dating from 1846, began. The attempts of the Board
to improve the fishing in Mull, Barra, and Loch-Tarbert, in Harris, had
resulted in heavy financial failure. A letter appears from Dr Alexander
Macleod, of Portree, formerly factor for Barra and South Uist, giving
his views on the causes of distress in these districts. He attributes
their destitution to the condensing of the population into small areas,
and in Barra to the increase of rents imposed by Colonel MacNiel, when
he found himself in difficulties brought about by a mistaken attempt to
establish works for refining kelp. He believed Colonel Gordon had bought
the estate without knowing the fictitious character of the rental, and
gives him credit for reducing rents and spending large sums for the
benefit of the people. A subsequent paragraph gives figures from an
abstract of receipts and expenditure on Colonel Gordon’s Long Island
estates, from August 1846 to August 1850. In these years the excess of
expenditure over income amounted to no less than £5609. At a meeting
held in Inverness in connection with the Royal Patriotic Society, its
secretary, Mr Bond, stated that there were 50,000 persons in the West
Highlands and Islands then very nearly destitute, if not entirely so.
Other estimates limited the number of the destitute to 20,000.
January 23.—The Right Rev. Dr Low having now resigned the Bishopric of
Moray and Ross, the clergy of the diocese met at Elgin to elect a
successor. The Rev. James Mackay, Inverness, protested that he had
previously been elected coadjutor bishop by a majority of legal votes,
and the Rev. Dean Moffat concurred. The meeting, however, proceeded to
an election, and the Rev. Robert Eden, M.A., Rector of Leigh, in Essex,
was chosen by five votes, as against two given for Mr Ala okay.
Ibid.—A meeting of the county of Inverness confirmed the resolution of
the Finance Committee approving of the offer of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for the erection of a new bridge over the Ness. The
Chancellor’s offer was to advance the whole sum necessary for
construction, half by way of grant, and half by way of loan. The loan
was to be paid out of the sum annually allotted to the four counties of
Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness for the repair of Highland
roads and bridges, spread over twenty-two years, at the rate of 6^ per
cent. The contribution of each county was to be in proportion to the sum
allotted to it. From the two plans proposed, the meeting selected the
Suspension Bridge.
January 30.—At a meeting in Fort-William figures were submitted showing
that 3784 persons were destitute in the district, comprising the
parishes of Kilmallie, Kilmonivaig, Ardnamurchan, and Glenelg.
February 13.—It is announced that the line of Highland steamers had now
passed from the hands of Messrs G. and J. Bums into those of Messrs
David Hutcheson and Co. Mr Hutcheson had long held the management of
this and other lines of steamers, of which Messrs Burns were the
proprietors.
Ibid.—A poverty-stricken party from Barra, men. women, and children
numbering sixty-one souls, arrived by steamer one Saturday night in
Inverness, and took up their position opposite the Inverness Town House,
“to see what the authorities were to do with them." Their condition
excited great compassion. The authorities admitted forty-five into the
Poor-house, and found lodgings for the rest in the Merkinch. A few days
afterwards they moved away eastwards, hoping to find employment with the
fishermen on the Buchan coast. Their story was that in former days they
enjoyed a fair amount of comfort, but about ten years ago their crofts
had been taken from them and thrown into large farms, and they
themselves crowded on patches of ground, hardly at all reclaimable, for
which they paid increased rates of rent. Failure of the kelp trade and
the potato crop, and a falling off in the fishing, had reduced them to
complete destitution.—A letter from Islay in the same issue describes
the increasing pauperism and destitution in that island.
Ibid.—Lord John Russell introduced his bill dealing with the Papal
aggression implied in the assumption of ecclesiastical titles. The
measure proposed to prohibit any Roman Catholic prelates from assuming
titles taken from any territory or place in the United Kingdom, declared
that gifts to such persons should be null and void, and that property
bequeathed for such purposes should pass to the Crown. A luke-warm
reception was given to the bill. “No enthusiasm,” says the editor, “will
be excited in its favour. It is neither good enough nor bad enough in
its present shape.”
February 20 and 27.—The political situation became complicated. The
introduction of the Papal Aggression Bill was carried by 395 votes to
63. During the same week Mr Disraeli proposed a motion calling on the
Government to bring forward measures for relieving agricultural
distress, and this motion was only defeated by a majority of 14. The
following week Mr Locke King, in opposition to the Government, carried
by 100 votes to 52 a motion to equalise the elective franchise in
counties and burghs. At the same time the Budget was unpopular. In
consequence, Lord John Russell tendered the resignation of the Cabinet,
and Lord Stanley was sent for by the Queen. He failed, however, to form
an administration.
February 27.—The Longman Road was reported to have been satisfactorily
completed.
March 6.—The issue records the recall of the Russell administration. In
the local news it is stated that a movement was on foot among young men
in the town to have the Islands, as before, connected by bridges with
the banks of the river and with each other. The Town Council exposed
feus on their farm of Muirfield, but there was no offer. Some lots were
feued at Island Bank by the Gas and Water Company, and by Mr James
Falconer, teacher, the latter for the house occupied by him, and the
offices and garden connected with it.
March 13.—The Rev. Robert Eden was consecrated Bishop of Moray and Ross
in St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh.
Ibid.—There is a notice of local contributions to the great Exhibition.
Mr Macdougall, of the Tartan Warehouse, sent a large collection of
goods, which included tartans, tweeds, shawls, Shetland wool, and native
dyes; also fine specimens of Cairngorms lent by the Countess of Seafield,
and a deer’s head, eagle, and heron from gentlemen in the county and in
Ross-shire. Mr Mackillican, Piperhill, Nairn, despatched specimens of
wheat and rye-grass seed. A model apparatus for measuring the girth of
growing timber at any distance from the ground, invented by Mr Alexander
Davidson, Whitemire, Darnaway, was forwarded by Dr Grigor, Nairn. An
improved design in forceps used in dental surgery, and a new vehicle
called the Victoria car, were contributed from Elgin, the one by Air
Stewart, dentist, the other by Mr Andlepson, coachbuiilder. Three models
were sent by Air Bremner, Wick, one showing the method by which he had
floated the steamer Great Britain in Dun-drum Bay, another his plan for
the construction of Lossiemouth Harbour, and the third his design for
building harbours by caissons, showing how several hundred feet of
harbour could be built in the caisson, then towed by steamers and placed
on the intended site. “Our nearest local committee is that of Elgin, and
to its accomplished secretary, Patrick Duff, Esq., the local
contributors are much indebted.”
Ibid.—The principal tenants in Glen-Urquhart had formed themselves into
a committee for the purpose of trying experiments in the growth of
flax.—Sir John Macneill, of the Board of Supervision, had been entrusted
by the Government with an inquiry into the condition of the Highlands.
There was some revival of smuggling in the Highlands, and cases are
reported in this and other issues.
March 20.—Some of the men from Barra who had come north found employment
with Mr Mackintosh, Auchnacloich, near Nairn, and with Air Bain,
builder, Inverness. There are notices of land reclamation at Drumin and
Milton, near the cross roads, and at Culblair in the same
neighbourhood.—Mr Dunbar, innkeeper at Lochinver, was sending to the
Exhibition a large case of the game of Sutherland.— Mr Robert Anderson,
Cooperhill, Darnaway, better known in later years as Mr Anderson of
Lochdhu, was entertained at a public dinner at Nairn, and presented with
handsome gifts. It is stated that the people of Nairn were chiefly
indebted to him for the establishment of their corn market.
March 27.—The final report of the Edinburgh Highland Destitution Board
was published, hut the accounts were delayed for professional
examination. Only £1900 was now in the hands of the Committee, and they
recommended tha^, £500 should he set apart for Shetland, and the
remaining £1400 distributed over destitute districts for the relief of
extreme cases of distress. In Sutherland, nineteen miles of the
Loch-Laxford Road were formed, and a sum had been set apart to secure
the completion of fifteen miles still to he made. In Waster Ross all the
great lines of road undertaken by the proprietors in conjunction with
the Board, extending to ninety miles, had been completed. Fourteen piers
had been built in Wester Ross and ten in Skye. The advances made by boat
crews in Skye had not proved remunerative. The committee, however,
believed that they had succeeded in establishing a permanent hosiery
trade in the island.
Ibid.—The solicitors of the Inverness bar asked Mr Fraser-Tytler,
sheriff of the county, to sit for his bust. In complying, he said he had
presided in the Court for forty-one years, and survived two generations
of practitioners.
April 3.—The birth of an heir to Mr and Mrs Arthur Forbes of Culloden
was celebrated by the tenantry on the estates. The child grew up to
manhood, hut died in 1874, and the present Culloden (1909) is a
grand-nephew of the proprietor of that date. He lives in Australia, and
the property is managed by trustees.
April 10.—Sir John Macneill wrote a strong letter to the inspectors of
poor in Skye insisting on the duty of providing relief for destitute
persons, and intimating that if any person who had been refused relief
should perish from want of food, the official would be liable to a
charge of culpable homicide. The editor interpreted this as meaning that
the destitute population of the Highlands and Islands was now committed
to the unassisted care of the Parochial Boards. “The results we
contemplate with alarm. Bad as the past condition of the Highlands has
been, it must become rapidly worse under the pressure of such a weight.
The effect of one year’s destitution falling upon the comparatively few
solvent ratepayers in these districts will embarrass them deeply, and
spread a depressing influence over all for years to come.
Ibid.—The small estate of Glenmoidart in the parish of Ardnamurchan, the
property of Mr L. Chisholm, was put up for sale at £4500, and disposed
of for £5050. The new proprietor’s name was not mentioned.
Ibid.—Sir John Macleod, C.B., K.C.H., died on the 2nd inst. He entered
the army in 1793 as an ensign in the 78th Regiment, and served in
Holland under the Duke of York. He commanded the 2nd Battalion of the
78th in the campaign in Flanders in 1814, and was in command of the
brigade which carried the village of Mexem on 14th January of that year,
on which occasion he was severely wounded. Sir John belonged to the
Bernera family, and Mr Alexander Mackenzie states in his history of the
Macleods that he was born 1766.
April 17 and 24.—Petitions against Papal aggression were extensively
signed throughout the Highlands as well as in other parts of the
country.—The Free Church congregation of Knockbain, in the Black Isle,
had been eighteen months without a minister, and was now divided asi to
the election of a successor. One half of the congregation had signed a
call, but a large number, amounting nearly to another half, petitioned
against it. The Synod of Ross resolved to remit the case to the
Presbytery, with instructions to begin proceedings afresh, but appeal
was taken to the General Assembly.
May 1 and 8.—The opening of the Great Exhibition is referred to in the
first issue, and described at length in the second. The marriage of Lord
Ward, then proprietor of Glengarry, to Miss Selins Constance de Burgh:
of West Drayton, was celebrated by rejoicings on the estate.—In
Inverness a number of young men had established a town missionary scheme
supported by voluntary contributions. The first missionary was Mr
Alacbeth, who long discharged the duties, and ultimately became a Free
Church clergyman in the Island of Lews.—Dr John Tulloch, Professor of
Mathematics in King’s College, Aberdeen, died on the 4th inst. He was a
native of Caithness, and taught Latin in the Inverness Royal Academy
before his appointment to King’s College in 1811.
May 15 and 22.—The long accounts of the Exhibition, written by a special
correspondent, show what an impression the undertaking produced on the
public mind. In the sculpture rooms the writer remarks a group of
Francesca and Paolo, contributed by Mr A. Munro, Inverness. In the
agricultural department he devotes special attention to the samples of
wheat and perennial ryegrass seed grown by Mr Mackillican, Piperhill,
Cawdor. “The wheat is of the white description of crop 1850. It was
raised from newly improved land, previously not worth a shilling an
acre. It was a first crop, the manure, 3 cwts. of Peruvian guano to the
acre, and the produce was about five quarters per imperial acre,
weighing 65 lbs. 1 oz. to the bushel. The ryegrass seed was the produce
of the third year s crop, and its weight is enormously large, namely, 37
lbs. 3 oz. per bushel, ft carried the silver medal at last Inverness
Show, besides a premium of £2 2s. What the foreign departments may
produce in this branch of competition is not yet apparent, but among the
few samples of ryegrass seed in this gallery there is none to compare
with Mr Mackillican’s by 6 lbs. weight per bushel. Nor under the
circumstances is his wheat beaten. The weight of the Windsor Home Farm
wheat, shown by the Prince Consort, is not more than 66½ lbs.”
Ibid.—The Highland stall, bearing the name of D. Macdougall, Inverness,
is described as occupying the finest site in the whole Exhibition,
shaded by an old elm, whose green leaves sheltered and embraced the
eagles that adorned the stall. Surmounted by a splendid deer’s head,
with the two eagles on the side pillars, the stall with its tartans,
brooches, Cairngorms, and tweeds made a brave show. The stall, says the
writer, “attracts much notice among the many prominent points of the
Exhibition, and I never went up to it without finding parties of the
nobility examining, and apparently with interest, the multifarious
contributions from many Highland homes which it presents.” Another
Inverness contributor, Mr Masson, jeweller, sent a uniquely-mounted
ram’s horn, a silver brooch, etc. Sir James Matheson sent from the Lews
two pair of very fine hand-screens made from the feathers of Hebridean
wild birds by Miss Cameron, Stornoway. Mr Dunbar’s wild animals and
birds from Sutherland had an appropriate place.
Ibid.—The estate of Kinlochluichart was purchased by Mr Andrew Jardine,
partner of Mr Alexander Matheson of Ardross, but the price is not
mentioned. The estate of Letterfinlay, Loch-Lochy, was sold for £20,000.
It is subsequently stated that the purchaser was Mr Henry J. Baillie,
M.P. for the county.—A paragraph on antiquities mentions a curious horn,
which had come into the possession of Captain Douglas, Scatwell. It was
of large size, richly carved with acorns, flowers, and scrolls, and bore
the date 1597. The relic appears to have been used as a sounding horn or
trumpet, but it occasionally did duty as a drinking cup, a stopper being
inserted at one end.—A specimen of the Iceland falcon, rare in this
country, had been shot at Inverbroom.
May 29 and June 5.—The copious articles on the Exhibition are brought to
a close on the latter date, having occupied many columns, which may yet
be read with interest.—The Ness Islands were still without bridges, and
efforts were suggested for raising money to erect them.
June 12.—The returns of the census taken on 31st March were now being
published. The population of the burgh of Inverness was 12,667, being an
increase of 1110 since 1841. The landward part of the parish gave a
total of 3758, being a decrease of 103. The population of the county of
Inverness was returned at 96,280, showing a decrease of 1212. This
decrease occurred chiefly in the western parishes and islands.—The new
market buildings at Elgin were opened for the transaction of business on
the previous Friday.
June 19.—Daniel Grant, Manchester, a member of the firm drawn by Charles
Dickens under the name of the brothers Cheeryble, died on the previous
Thursday at his residence, Ramsbottom, near Bury. His elder brother,
William, died about four years earlier. When boys they left Strathspey
with their father for the manufacturing districts of England, and in
process of time they became very prosperous. “Their benevolence was
known throughout the manufacturing districts as well as their gre^t
wealth, and it was an oft-quoted remark of the elder brother, ‘that the
more money they gave away the more they made.'”—Dr Joseph Wolff,
missionary and traveller, was at this time in the North preaching and
delivering lectures. His adventurous journey to Bokhara in 1843 had
created great interest.
June 26.—A party of emigrants had left Scrabster for Quebec. The
Sutherland contingent wrote a letter to the Duke thanking him for paying
their passage and providing comforts for themselves and their families
during the voyage.—A movement in favour of protection was active all
over the country. In this issue there is a correspondence on the subject
between Mr W. H. Murray of Geanies and Sir James Matheson, member for
Ross-shire.
July 3.—The foundation stone of what is now the Inverness United Free
High Church was laid on the 1st inst. It was then called the new English
Free Church. Before the ceremony service was conducted by the Rev.
Charles Brown, New North Free Church, Edinburgh, in the church which was
erected in Bank Street immediately after the Disruption. The foundation
stone of the new church was laid by Mr Forbes of Culloden (Mr Arthur
Forbes), after an address by the pastor of the congregation, Rev. Joseph
Thorburn. “The weather was fine, and from the picturesque grouping of
the people, with the river flowing closely past, the scene must have
appeared to the passer beautiful and impressive.”
Ibid.—A Stornoway correspondent writes: — “Emigration has now for this
season ceased, the last ship with her living cargo having left Loch-Roag
on Saturday evening. In all upwards of 1000 persons, old and young, have
shipped from here to America, and under circumstances which reflect the
highest credit and honour on Sir James Matheson.” Sir James had foregone
all arrears, taken the effects of the people at valuation, and
transferred them free of expense across the Atlantic. He had also
engaged to have them conveyed to any spot in Upper or Lower Canada which
they might select. It is stated that most of the emigrants had friends
and relations before them in com fortable circumstances.
Ibid.—There is an interesting paragraph about a brace of eagles and an
eaglet captured by Mr Ross, gamekeeper at Gair-loch. On the third day of
their captivity the parent birds showed remarkable tameness, the female
feeding the young bird “with as much ease and freedom as if still at
liberty in her native mountains.” The male bird weighed fully 9 lbs.,
and the female close on 11 lbs.—A meeting of shareholders in the
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway was held at Inverness to promote an
agreement with the London and North-Western Companies. The meeting was
convened by a gentleman then well known in Inverness, Major-General
Machines, who was accompanied by a few friends from London. Ultimately
the shareholders preferred the Great Western alliance.
July 10.—A poor man in the parish of Snizort in Skye, a pauper, was
reported by the medical officers to have died of starvation.
July 17.—At the Wool Market this year there was a rise of price for
sheep of Is to Is 6d, and in some cases 2s above the previous year.
Lambs showed ten per cent, of an advance. In wool there was a fall of
from Is 6d to 2s per stone. A well-known salesman, Mr John Pagan, from
Liverpool, died at Inverness a few days after the market, aged about
sixty. "He was a native of Moffat, in Dumfriesshire, and an extensive
farmer before he removed to Liverpool. For twenty-five years or more he
never missed attending the Inverness market, purchasing each year stock
to the amount of from £10,000 to £15,000. “No man ever had to complain
of unfairness or of a shade of meanness on the part of John Pagan. He
was a genuine Dandie Dinmont in sterling honesty and kindness of heart,
as well as in his broad athletic frame and speech.”
Ibid.—The same issue records the death of the poet Wordsworth’s
son-in-law, Edward Quiljinan, of Loughrigg Holme, near Ambleside, who
had been a frequent contributor to the literary columns of the
“Courier.” The deceased was the son of an English merchant in Oporto,
and when the English residents were driven out of Oporto by the French
in the Napoleonic War, he entered the British Army as a cornet of
dragoons, and was actively engaged down to the termination of the war.
“He quitted the service in 1821, and settled in the Lake country, near
Rydal, the residence of his friend Wordsworth. He was twice married, and
may be said in both instances to have been singularly felicitous and
singularly unfortunate in his domestic life. His first wife, a daughter
of Sir Egerton Brydges, was burned to death, ‘by flames caught at her
own fireside,’ at the age of twenty-eight, leaving two daughters, the
chosen favourites of Wordsworth in his walks and in his poetry. His
second wife, Dora Wordsworth, the beloved daughter of the poet, died in
1847, a few years after their union, having shortly before published a
Journal of a Few Months’ Residence in Portugal, whither she had gone in
pursuit of health.”
July 24.—The ex-Queen of the French, Marie Amelia, the Duchess d’Orleans,
the Prince de Joinville, and other members of their families and suite,
visited the Highlands. The ex-Queen stayed at Oban, but the Duchess and
her friends came through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness, and thence
drove to Aviemore on their way to Blair Atholl.
Ibid.—The London correspondent says: — “There are many northern readers
who will be glad to hear that Mr A. Munro, the sculptor, has been
commissioned by Mr Gladstone, M.P., to execute for him in marble the
group of Franoesca and Paolo Rimini, which is exhibited in the sculpture
room of the Crystal Palace. I may add that Mr Munro’s work has excited
great attention, and has been generally and favourably noticed. The
‘Spectator’ considered it by far the most promising work of the younger
sculptors exhibited."
July 31.—Sir John Macneill’s report on the state of the Highlands had
been presented to Parliament. It formed a blue-book of two hundred
pages, and its contents led then and afterwards to much discussion. It
was, however, satisfactory to be told that though much general suffering
had been endured, no case of actual want of food could be discovered.
The care of the people was now left to the parochial boards. Sir John
concluded as follows:—“There is good reason to hope that this season
will pass away, not certainly without painful suffering, but without the
loss of life in consequence of the cessation of eleemosynary aid. But if
henceforth the population is to depend for subsistence on the local
resources, some fearful calamity will probably occur before many years
unless a portion of the inhabitants of those parishes remove to where
they can find the means of subsistence in greater abundance and with
greater certainty than they can find them where they now are.” Sir John
recommended extensive family emigration as a first step, leaving to
those interested the subsequent measures for the permanent improvement
of the people who remained, pointing to the granting of leases as likely
to fostei industrious habits where the disposition existed, and the
importance of improved education to remove false impressions and ideas
from the minds of the Highland population. A measure to facilitate
emigration was at once introduced by the Lord Advocate into Parliament,
authorising the advance of money for the purpose to landlords on the
principle of the Drainage Act, at the rate of 6j per cent.
Ibid.—The foundation stone of a new Free Church at Portree had been
recently laid by the Rev. Mr Macleod, Snizort. The church was to be
built at the expense of Miss Louisa Macdonald of Brighton, a lady
connected with the Macdonald family. It was to accommodate 500 people,
and to cost £800.—Mr Gabriel Reid, Gordon-bush, Sutherland, took ill on
his way home from the Wool Market, and died at the house of his
son-in-law in Tain. He was greatly respected, and much regretted.
Ibid.—Mr Gladstone’s letter to Lord Aberdeen on the cruelty of the King
of Naples had been published, and was creating a profound impression.
Ibid.—The following paragraph in the London letter is of some length,
but deserves to be quoted in full: —“There is a common pedestrian of
London streets well known to all who are acquainted with their
notabilities. He is a short, stout, sturdy, energetic man. He has a big
round face, and large, staring and very bright hazel eyes. His hair is
cut short, and his hat flung back on the crown of his head. His gait is
firm and decided, with a little touch of pomposity. He is ever provided
with an umbrella, which he swings and flourishes and batters on the
pavement with mighty thumps. He seems generally absorbed in exciting and
impulsive thought, the traces of which he takes no pains to conceal. His
face works, his lips move and mutter, his eyes gleam and flash. Squat as
is the figure, and not particularly fine the features, there is an
unmistakeable air of mental power and energy, approaching to grandeur,
about the man. He is evidently under the influence of the strong
excitement of fiery thought. People gaze curiously at him, and stop to
stare when he has passed. But he heeds no one—seems indeed to have
utterly forgotten that he is not alone in his privacy, and pushes
energetically on, unwitting of the many who stare and smile, or of the
few who step respectfully aside, and look with curiosity' and regard
upon Thomas Babington Macaulay. Occasionally, however, the historian and
poet gives still freer vent to the mental impulses which appear to be
continually working within him. A friend of mine lately recognised him
dining in the coffee-room of the Trafalgar Hotel, at Greenwich—a
fashionable whitebait house, which it appears he frequently patronises.
He was alone, as he generally is, and the attention of more than one of
the company was attracted by his peculiar muttering and fidgetiness, and
by the mute gestures with which he ever and anon illustrated his mental
dreamings. All at once—it must have been towards the climax of the prose
or verse which he was working at in his mind—Mr Macaulay seized a
massive decanter, held it a moment suspended in the air, and then dashed
it down upon the table with such hearty good-will that the solid crystal
flew about in fragments, while the numerous parties dining round
instinctively started up and stared at the curious iconoclast. Not a
whit put out, however, Mr Macaulay, who was well known to the waiters,
called loudly for his bill to be made out at the bar, and then, pulling
with a couple of jerks his hat and his umbrella from the stand, clapped
the one carelessly on his head, and strode out flourishing the other.”
August 7.—The ex-Queen of France and party travelled from Oban to
Inverness by steamer. They stayed a night at Banavie, and on their way
through Loch-Ness visited the Falls of Foyers. The party remained for
two days at the Caledonian Hotel, Inverness, and had excursions to the
Falls of Kilmorack and Culloden Moor. The Queen returned by steamer to
Oban, while the Duke of Nemours and the Prince de Joinville went north
to visit Caithness and the Orkneys.
Ibid.—The Inverness Bridge Bill had passed its third reading in the
House of Lords.— The Town Council had agreed to purchase from the Prison
Board the old jail in Bridge Street at a valuation of £420, and intended
to convert the lower flat- into shops.—The editor gives his annual
paragraph on steamers and coaches. He mentions that a very fast and
finely equipped new steamer, the Duke of Sutherland, “one of the
quickest and most comfortable vessels afloat,” was plying to London. The
Exhibition had reduced the ordinary number of English and Scottish
tourists, but large contingents of foreigners, chiefly French and
German, were visiting the Highlands, Street musicians were so numerous
that it seemed as if “all the boys, the young men, and the old in Italy,
not to speak of Italianised English and Irish,” had speculated in a
musical excursion to Scotland.
Ibid.—Extensive emigration was going on from Barra and South Uist, the
property of Colonel Gordon. Four ships were embarking the people, a
thousand from South Uist, and five hundred from Barra. The vessels were
apparently provided by the proprietor, but the Parochial Boards were
furnishing the outfit.
August 14.—The list of shootings let, as published this year, numbers
about 150. Besides sportsmen there was now an increase in the number of
English tourists.—The new settlement of the Sollas crofters, undertaken
by the Perth Committee, was not proving a success. The Committee said
the people were indolent, but critics said that a fundamental error had
been committed in placing the settlement too far from the shore. The
season had also proved unfavourable.
August 21.—The search for Cairngorm stones was renewed in the mountains
this season. It was believed that a good many stones had been found the
previous year, but that few had enriched strangers. “To find a stray
needle in a haystack is as easy a task as to search out a good crystal
on Cairngorm.”
August 28.—The Rev. John Kennedy, of Hampstead, London, who had visited
Skye, issued a report on the subject. He found that there was no risk of
suffering for months to come, but he regarded the future as very dark.
The Parochial Boards would not again carry out the exceptional measures
they had recently taken, as their legality was doubtful; and he believed
the Government scheme of emigration would prove a dead letter so far as
Skye was concerned. The insuperable difficulty lay in this, that nearly
the whole island was under trust, and it was not likely that the
trustees would further burden the properties for emigration purposes.
Meanwhile, however, a committee was (formed under the chairmanship of
the local sheriff, Mr Fraser, to form a voluntary Emigration
Association.—Mr Robert Brown, Hamilton, formerly a factor in Argyll and
in Ross-shire, strongly recommended the cultivation of flax in the
Highlands and Islands.
Ibid.—Alexander Macdonell of Milnfield died at Edinburgh on the 11th
inst. He was Sheriff-Substitute of Wigtownshire for seventeen years, and
his remains were interred in the churchyard of Wigtown.
September 4.—The London correspondent warmly defends the Highland
crofters and cottars against charges brought by southern writers. He
says—“When nearly all the valuable and productive grounds were taken
away from the poor cottars, and given on lease in huge allotments to
stock farmers with large capital, the former were left almost without a
motive to exertion or industry of any kind. All their efforts could not
extract food for their families from the miserable and barren pendicles
allotted to them for their subsistence. Hence were generated the habits
of idleness and apathy. It was of no use to work when work could not
produce any beneficial result. No people can work better, or fight
better, when there is occasion for it, than the Highland and Island
Celts; they are kinder in their disposition, naturally much more
graceful in their manners; with, bodies less bulky, it is true, but more
active, and capable of enduring more fatigue and hardship than their
burly neighbours in the Lowlands.” The writer’s proposals for
amelioration were, first, emigration on a large scale ; second, the
prosecution of fisheries on a better basis, helped by the colonisation
of east coast fishermen; third, conversion of peat moss into charcoal
and manure; and fourth, the cultivation of flax.
Ibid.—The Home Secretary, Sir George Grey, and Lady Grey, were cruising
in northern waters, and paid a visit to the gorge of the Black Rock, at
Novar, and to Fortrose Cathedral.—Mr Robert Harper, a Cambridge scholar,
was elected rector of Inverness Royal Academy.
Ibid.—The United Presbyterian congregation at Nairn had adopted plans
for a new church. The old building had been sold for 400 guineas, and
Colonel Ketchen had contributed £200 to the building fund.
September 11.—The Mackintosh Trustees accepted an offer of £890 for the
construction of an embankment and roadway from Kessock towards the
Canal. “The proposed embankment is to begin at the roadway at Kessock
Pier, and proceed towards the Canal, to the bank of which the road will
be joined, should Mr Duff of Muir-town proceed with the embankment of
that portion of the ground which belongs to his estate.”—The issue
contains a notice of a pamphlet by Dr Mackenzie of Eilean-ach, replying
to statements made by Sir John Macneill in his report on the Highlands.
Ibid.—An extensive series of thefts of sheep had been going on in
Badenoch. At length a lot of twenty sheep was sold to a flesher in
Campbelltown, and as they bore the marks of a Badenoch sheep farm, the
seller was apprehended. He had gone about his business -with great
deliberation, having apparently gathered a large drove.
September 18.—Reaping machines were much talked of about this time. It
is stated in this issue that in course of a few days there would be a
dozen new reaping machines in operation in Easter Ross.
September 25.—There are long and interesting extracts from an article on
the Highlands and the Exhibition which had appeared, with pictorial
embellishments, in the “Illustrated London News.” The writer, evidently
Mr A. B. Reach, had taken his text from the Highland stall.
Ibid.—The Northern Meeting of the previous week presented the usual
features. “A number of the chiefs and other gentlemen wore the dress of
the clans. Air Roualeyn Cumming was particularly distinguished by the
singularity of the costume he wore, and his popularity amongst the
townspeople was abundantly evidenced during the Meeting by the admiring
crowds who followed whenever and wherever he appeared.”
Ibid.—“We understand that arrangements have been completed for the
purchase of the property known as Castle Tolmie, the removal of which is
rendered necessary by the nature of the proposed new bridge and
approaches.”
Ibid.—The “Courier” had an excellent correspondent in Skye, who sent
many interesting notes during the year. In this issue he gives an
account of a visit to the settlement of Sollas crofters in North Uist,
which was called New Perth, as it was carried out at the expense of a
Perth Committee. The results are again reported as altogether
unsatisfactory. Tile correspondent thinks that the people had laboured
well, but they had an exceedingly poor subject to work upon. “Either the
place is quite unsuited for the purpose, or the nature of the soil has
been entirely misunderstood by the person in charge of the affair; for
such a display of failure in the first instance, I should think, has
never been witnessed anywhere.” The writer thinks that the money laid
out, at least £1000. would have been much better employed in sending the
people to some of the colonies, or in paying the arrears of their rent
at Sollas, and helping them to improve their stock and crofts.
October 2.—Mr Joseph Hume, M.P., who has been described as “one of the
most practical reformers in a reforming age,” was on a visit to
Redcastle, and was presented by the Inverness Town Council with the
freedom of the burgh. The ceremony took ‘place in the Northern Meeting
Rooms, and Mr Hume delivered a long speech.—The Industrial Society in
Sutherland held a show of home manufactures in Sutherland. Plaids,
flannels, druggets, and socks formed the staple of the exhibition. A
show of cattle and home-mades was also held at Lochinver.
October 9.—There is a column of “closing notes” on the great Exhibition.
The writer regrets that but for Mr Macdougall’s stall, which was
universally allowed to be most creditable to him, the Highlands were
practically unrepresented. “With the exception of a few pavement slabs
from Caithness, of an indifferent collection of granites from
Argyllshire, and of the metallic ores in Lord Breadalbane’s mines, and
of the lead mines at Strontian, belonging to Sir James M. Riddell, there
is nothing in the great Exhibition to indicate that the North of
Scotland contains anything curious or suited for the use of man.'’ The
writer contrasts with this the vases, cisterns, and polished slabs sent
from Sweden, Wales, and Cornwall.
October 9 and 16.—Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Fraser of Braelangwelf
died there on the 6th inst. Sir Hugh was a son of Commissary Fraser, of
Inverness, and went early to India, where he achieved distinction. “Some
years after his return home, he became proprietor of Braelangwell, iii
Cromartyshire, which he made the place of his residence, and which, by a
judicious expenditure of money, he greatly improved and enhanced in
value.” He is described as a single-hearted, honourable man.
October 23.—Notwithstanding the recent complaint about the Highlands and
the Exhibition, the editor notes that the North did not come off without
honour. Mr D. Macdougall had received a prize medal for his display of
native industries, and Mi Mackillican, Piperhill, Cawdor, one for his
sample of wheat. The jury also considered his ryegrass seed an
extraordinary sample, but no exhibitor could receive more than one prize
medal. Messrs Bremner and Sons. Wick, had received honourable mention
for tbeir plan of keeping out the sea while harbour works were going on;
and J. Gordon the same for an anatomical model in ivory. The latter was
a native of Nairn though long resident elsewhere. Notice was also taken
of J. Sinclair, Thurso, for Forss pavement. Mr Masson, jeweller,
Inverness, had sent contributions, which appeared under the name of
Lister and Son, Newcastle, and that firm had received a medal.
October 23 and 30.—The “Quarterly Review” had an article on the
religious class in the Highlands known as “The Men,” founded on two
recent publications, one on the Church in the Far North, by
Investigator, and the other “Notes on the Construction of Sheep Folds,”
by John Ruskin. The London correspondent gives a series of extracts from
the review in the issue of the 23rd. On the 30th there ij, a vigorous
reply to the strictures of the reviewer, written by a Highland minister.
October 30.—Mr Patrick Sellar of Ardtornish, whose name is associated
with the clearances in the early part of the nineteenth century in the
county of Sutherland, died at Elgin on the 28tli inst., in the
seventy-third year of his age. He was an extensive sheep farmer,
proprietor of the estates of Ardtornish and Acharn. in Argyllshire, and
also of the small estate of Westfield, near Elgin, which he had
inherited from his father. Mr Sellar was one of the original founders of
the Inverness Wool Fair, and a man of great energy and perseverance. It
is stated that no one could meet him even accidentally without being
struck with the vigour and originality of his mind. “It is a curious
fact in the life of a gentleman so conspicuous for his knowledge and
success in the rearing of stock that he was bred to the law, and became
a sheep farmer by a sort of accident. His father was one of eight
Morayshire proprietors who bought Burghead, and built a harbour there.
They established a packet vessel to sail between Burghead and
Sutherland, and in the first trip of the vessel in May 1809, Mr Sellar
embarked to see the terra incognita of Sutherland. One of the parties in
this scheme was the late Mr William Young, who was also commissioner or
manager for the then Marquis of Stafford. Mr Sellar was related to Mr
Young, and being delighted with the appearance of the country, he gladly
obtained a sheep farm, and relinquished the pursuit of the law." In
private life Mr Sellar was an agreeable companion, ever lively and
acute, and well-informed on the literature and public questions of the
day.
Ibid.—A monumental fountain, erected at Golspie to the memory of the
late Duchess-Countess of Sutherland, had just been completed. The
memorial was mainly of blue granite, with vase and upper basin of red
granite. Contributions to the amount of £700 had been given by all
classes in the county.
Ibid.—Mr Lewis, “a gentleman of colour," had been giving expositions of
electro-biology or mesmerism in Inverness and other northern towns His
experiments created great astonishment.
Ibid.—Kossuth, the Hungarian orator and patriot, had been liberated by
the Porte, and came with his family to England. On coming ashore at
Southampton he shook hands with the Mayor, and other friends, and
exclaimed—“Ah, now, I feel I am free. I am free when I touch your soil.”
November 6.—A Greenock paper announces the death of Mr Mackenzie, a
member of the firm of Messrs Stevenson, Mackenzie, and Brassey, the
eminent contractors, who died at Liverpool, in his 57th year. Mr
Mackenzie was a native of Ross-shire, and spent part of the previous
season at Strathpeffer Spa.
Ibid.—At a meeting of the Inverness Farmer Society a report was read in
favour of the cultivation of flax. Some of the members, however, who had
either tried experiments or knew of them, suggested caution. Mr Gentle
Dell, said that flax was a deteriorating crop, and far from
remunerative.
November 6 and 13.—Information was lodged with the police that a forged
cheque for £150, purporting to be signed by the Duke of Buccleuch, had
been passed by a lady visitor in the Isle of Man, and that a vessel on
which she was travelling was expected to pass through the Caledonian
Canal. The vessel came to Inverness, and the lady, who was accompanied
by relatives, was apprehended, and remitted, in charge of an officer, to
the Isle of Man.
November 20.—A monument was erected in the churchyard of Dingwall to
Captain Donald Maclennan, a citizen who died in 1848. He had a
remarkable career in the Indian and South Seas before he settled down in
his native town, and an account of the adventures of himself and his
brothers is given in this issue. Captain Maclennan purchased the site of
the ancient Castle of the Earls of Ross, and erected on it the present
house, which is known as Dingwall Castle.
November 27.—Five fishermen were drowned at Nairn by the upsetting of a
boat, when they were making for the mouth of the river. They had
attempted to enter in a north wind, without shortening 6ail, with the
result that the boat was caught broadside, and capsized.—A communicated
article on “The Laigh of Gruinard” is another contribution to discussion
on the condition of the Highlands.
December 4.—The Great North of Scotland Railway Company was now moving
for the construction of a line between Aberdeen and Inverness, and had
entered into provisional contracts for the purpose. They did not expect,
however, to make the line at the time beyond Keith.—Contractors had
already commenced operations on the line from Elgin to Lossiemouth.
Ibid.—Record is made of the death of Mr Colin Alexander Mackenzie at his
house in Hyde Park, London, in the 73rd year of his age. He was a native
of London, but his grandfather had been a bailie of Dingwall. In 1810 he
was sent by the British Government to Morlaix to negotiate an exchange
of prisoners with Napoleon, and was afterwards employed in other
missions. Mr Mackenzie left a sum of money to establish a museum and
library in Dingwall.
Ibid.—Mr Thomas Morrison, headmaster of the Free Church Institution in
Inverness, had just been appointed rector of the Free Church Normal
School, Glasgow. He had been successful in his work in Inverness, and
for many years thereafter discharged his duties in Glasgow with
distinction.
December 11.—There had been a municipal crisis in Dingwall, resulting in
the resignation of Provost Ross and five councillors. The remaining
councillors, in filling up the vacancies, promoted Sir James Matheson,
who had been an honorary burgess, to the status of a full burgess, and
then proceeded to elect him as Provost of the burgh.
Ibid.—The cowp d’etat of Napoleon in France is the exciting topic of
public interest. For months the state of affairs had been such that some
strong step on the part of the President was expected. It may be .noted
that Marshal Soult, the first Napoleon’s famous officer, died only a few
days before the third Napoleon struck his revolutionary blow
December 18.—Mr Thomas Fraser of Eskadale, Paris correspondent of the
“Morning Chronicle,” had been ordered to leave France on account of his
letters commenting on the proceedings of Napoleon and his associates. A
remonstrance, however, was signed by the British residents, and Mr
Fraser was allowed to remain.
Ibid.—Throughout the year there had been frequent references to the
movement for the adoption by women of the costume known as “Bloomerism,”
which originated in America, and crossed the ocean. At length a lady
appeared in the costume in Lowe’s Hall, Inverness, and delivered a
lecture in advocacy of the so-called reform. Her appearance, however, in
a short skirt, or kilt, and wide Turkish trousers, did not commend the
innovation.
December 18 and 25.—A whale made itself at home for a week in the
narrows of Kessock Ferry and neighbourhood without being captured. Boats
did not venture to approach it close enough to drive it ashore. At
length it grounded on a bank between Redcastle and Charlestown, and a
Clachnaharry crew were the first to approach, and succeeded in killing
it. |
