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The year 1847 is a
melancholy year in the annals of the United Kingdom, and left very
painful memories, as well as distressing problems, in the Highlands of
Scotland. The disaster of the potato famine first fell on Ireland,
beginning in 1845; but the failure of 1846 was almost equally complete
in the Highlands, and the full weight of the misfortune was experienced
in 1847. Our columns in the early months of that year furnish reading of
the most painful type. In the Western Highlands and Islands the distress
was universal; on the east side not so universal, but in many cases bad
enough. Riots to prevent the export of grain were common, and in several
cases the military had to be called out.
We must refer readers for details to the extracts given below. In this
place we may give the following passage from Mr Spencer Walpole’s
History:—“Nothing even in Ireland was more pitiful than the distress
which was desolating the West Highlands; and to add to the misery of the
Highlanders their own misfortunes were for some time overlooked because
the Irish were more numerous and more noisy. Yet the lairds of Western
Scotland showed the Irish landlords an example which the latter might
have followed with advantage. In too many cases the absentee Irish
landlords remained either in London or abroad, and allowed their agents
to take advantage of the crisis to clear their holdings and eject their
tenantry. They clamoured for Government aid, and they protested against
the injury to their own estates by the application of a poor law to
Ireland. The Scotch laird, on the contrary, submitted to his own ruin in
a vain attempt to save his people, and when he applied to the Government
sought no relief for himself, but only demanded help for his tenantry.”
The calamity in Ireland was unparalleled. In March it was stated that
734,0000 persons were employed on relief works, and that 240,000 had
died. The Government found that the machinery of relief works could not
be kept up with advantage, and relief committees were organised
throughout Ireland. “At one moment no less than 3,000,000 persons
received daily rations under the scheme, and a population was in this
way kept alive till the harvest, and the operations which the harvest
occasioned enabled society to resume its ordinary aspect. At the same
time bills were carried suspending the duty which Peel had still left on
foreign corn, and relaxing the regulations of the Navigation Laws, which
prevented its importation in vessels which were not British and which
were not manned by British seamen.”
In course of the summer Parliament was dissolved. The state of parties
in the new House of Commons is given as follows: — Liberals, 333;
Peelites, 120; Protectionists. 202. This gave the Government a majority
of only 11 over the other two parties combined, but the Peelites on
important questions supported the Government. Mr Gladstone was returned
for Oxford after a severe contest. Macaulay lost his seat for Edinburgh,
chiefly on account of his Maynooth vote and speeches. In the autumn
session a bill was passed for the repression of crime in Ireland, which
had assumed startling proportions. A new Poor Law bill was also passed
for Ireland.
On the 8th of February, Daniel O'Connell addressed the House of Commons
for the last time, but “the voice which formerly shook the hall was now
sunk to a whisper.” O'Connell went abroad, and died at Genoa on 15th
May. According to his instructions, his heart was embalmed and taken to
Borne; his body was brought home and interred in Glasnevin Cemetery,
followed by a procession of 50,000 persons. The discovery of the planet
Neptune was a scientific incident of the year.
In the latter part of the year there was a great commercial crisis,
arising from overspeculation in railways and extraordinary fluctuations
in the corn trade. The Bank Act had to be suspended.
From the “Inverness Courier-’’ 1847.
January 6 and 13.—On the first date a public meeting is reported! in
opposition to the Police and Harbour Bills promoted by the Inverness
Town Council. Another public meeting resolved to raise subscriptions to
meet local destitution. On the second date we have reports of county
meetings held at Inverness and Dingwall to deal with destitution. The
contributions to the Free Church Committee in Edinburgh for general
relief purposes amounted at this time to over £11,000. The Inverness
Town Council appointed a Sanitary Committee to consider the state of the
town.—On the 13th another public meeting was held with reference to the
Inverness Police and Harbour Bills, and a committee was appointed to
examine the bills.
January 20.—Sir Edward Coffin issued an address stating that the
Government had resolved to establish depots of food at Oban and Portree,
and announcing the conditions for application. A meeting at Glasgow
resolved to raise subscriptions. One speaker read a letter from a
visitor to South Uist which stated that “starvation, hunger, and famine
are in this place. They could not give me a morsel of bread in many
places if I would have given them five shillings for one cake.” The
editor stated that at least 3000 persons in the Uists and Barra were in
a state of deplorable want. Colonel Gordon of Cluny had expended £1121
within the last few weeks in the purchase of meal and other necessaries.
January 27.—There were riots or “meal mobs” at Aberdeen, Peterhead, and
other places. The people were anxious to prevent the export of corn or
meal. One of these riots took place at Grantown-on-Spey, where special
constables had to be sworn in to protect the meal-dealers. The arrival
of carters from Lochaber to take away meal had aroused the anger of the
inhabitants. The dealers had refused to sell in small quantities to the
villagers. Prices were high in consequence of the demand.
Ibid.—At a meeting in Inverness approval was given of the Police and
Harbour Bills by a majority of 93 to 34.
Ibid.—The death is announced of Lieut.-Colonel James Mitchell, C.B., of
the 92nd Highlanders, who passed away at Spean-Bridge at the age of 77.
He obtained an ensign’s commission when the regiment was raised in 1794;
he was with Sir John Moore at Corunna, and served throughout the
Peninsular war, closing his military service with the battles of Quatre
Bras and Waterloo. “When the lamented1 and gallant Colonel Cameron of
Fassfern received his mortal wound at Quatre Bras, the command of the
92nd devolved on Colonel Mitchell, and the fighting qualities of the
Cordon Highlanders were well sustained in his hands.”
February 3.—The London correspondent writes —“One topic absorbs all
others at present. Relief and destitution are the only public watchwords
of the day. Party spirit is laid asleep.” The Government had brought
forward new measures for Ireland, where almost half-a-million persons
were lately employed on public works. Notes on the destitution in the
Highlands and the means adopted to meet it appear in this as in other
issues. Disturbances had taken place in many towns in the North. The
editor says—“Speculation in the South has increased the price of grain
to a very grievous extent, and that increase, with the fact of daily
shipments being made, has very generally alarmed the least informed
classes on the shores of the whole Northern Counties. In Banff, Moray,
and Ross, there have been riotous demonstrations to induce dealers to
keep the corn at home. While we regret that such a spirit should be
manifested, we are afraid that the blame does not always rest with the
crowd.” In Inverness carts were turned back at the harbour and the
Waterloo Bridge, and attempts were made to raid meal stores. In the
neighbourhood of Evanton, in Ross-shire, a large crowd) prevented the
shipment of grain. There is a long list of disturbances, or threatened
disturbances, and of action taken by the authorities.
February 10.—It is stated that over the North generally quietness had
been restored. “This has been accomplished, in the majority of
instances, by assurances being given to the people that meal will be
placed, in ample quantities, within their reach at fair prices.” The
quiet, however, was only temporary. Subsequent issues gives particulars
of meal mobs at many places, including Beauly, Rosemarkie, and
Balintraid.
February 17.—Long reports are given of the destitution in the western
districts of the counties of Inverness and Roes, and of the villages
such as Evanton, &c. A report by Sheriff Fraser, of Fort-William,
revealed! a deplorable state of affairs in Moidart, Arisaig, Morar, and
neighbouring districts. For instance, it is stated that of the total
population of Arisaig, 868 in number, there were 671 requiring relief;
and among the whole of this population there were found only about 10^
bolls of meal, affording sustenance for two and a-half days. This is
typical of other districts. A memorial signed by 69 of the poorer
inhabitants of Evanton, in Ross-shire, declared that many of them were
subsisting solely on turnips. County Committees were busy organising
relief. In Ross-shire the heritors agreed to give a guarantee for £4000
to the banks at Dingwall and £2000 to the banks at Tain to form a fund
for the purchase of food to be soldi in terms of instructions. Both
counties looked for assistance to the Edinburgh Committee.
February 24.—The main subject is still the sad state of the people and
the disposition among them to oppose the export of grain. It would be
monotonous at this stage to make long extracts. Mention, however, may be
made of a meeting in Skye at which most of the proprietors, including
Lord Macdonald and Macleod of Macleod, were present'. It was stated that
a large amount of work had been afforded, and that although a
considerable amount of privation had occurred, not a single death from
starvation had taken place. An ample supply of meal had been so far
imported. Looking to the future, however, it was calculated that about
30,000 bolls of meal would be required to support the population till
the end of October, and besides that provision had to be made for seed
for another crop. Lord Macdonald calculated that the cost altogether
would be £68,000, and deducting £13,000 which had been applied for under
the Drainage Act, and £5000 which would probably be sent home by Skye
workmen employed in the south, there would still be a difference of
£50,000. The meeting accordingly resolved to apply for assistance to the
General Committee in Edinburgh. They also proposed to apply to the
Government to assist emigration, as no dependence could be placed on the
produce of the potato. A paragraph gives particulars of applications
under the Drainage Act for the eight Northern Counties. Altogether, it
is stated, nearly half-a-million sterling had been scoured for these
counties, the employment from which, it was hoped, would he productive
of the greatest temporary good and permanent benefit. A food riot is
reported from the village of Avoch, in the Black Isle, in apprehension
of which a detachment of soldiers had been obtained from Fort-George.
The exporter, however, came forward and announced that to prevent
blooshed he had resolved to abandon the intended shipment, and to retain
the grain in the country. A correspondent says that he had seen nowhere
anything like the destitution in the village of Avoch.
March 3.—There was a serious food riot at Wick, which had to be quelled
hy the action of two companies of soldiers. After the soldiers had been
assaulted with volleys of stones, they were obligod to use the bayonet
and to fire, but they acted with consideration, and only a few persons
were wounded, and these, it was believed, not seriously. This had the
effect of restoring order. In a riot at Thurso the mate of a vessel
which had come to load grain was seriously injured. Soldiers were
summoned from Wick.
Ibid.—Commissioners from the Admiralty held sittings at Inverness to
examine witnesses for and against the Harkour Bill.
March 10.—There is nearly a column about food riots in Ross-shire,
chiefly at Invergordon and in the neighbourhood. About a month previous
to this time additional troops had been ordered to Fort-George, hut
their transport had been so long delayed that the people seem to have
concluded that they would not come at all; and so “disregarding or
overpowering any civil force that could the drought against them, they
prevented at every port the shipment of grain, interrupted the course of
trade, and thus inflicted material injury upon farmers and dealers in
corn.” Early the previous week, however, a detachment of the 27th
Regiment reached the Fort, and a party of 105 men was promptly
despatched to Invergordon. This small force had an exciting time. They
had to guard strings of carts coming from the district with grain and
meal for shipment, and in some cases the mobs got at the carts before
the soldiers, and attempted to seize or scatter the meal. Under military
guard, however, shipments were effected and a number of arrests made.
The soldiers afterwards went to Dingwall, where their presence prevented
disorder. It is mentioned that country people had recently begun to
break into granaries and mix the different kinds so as to make them
unmarketable, and even unfit for seed. “The injury done in this way has
been very great.”
Ibid.—Mr Forbes of Culloden had made an additional application for
£15,000 under the Drainage Act, and had begun the erection of tile and
brick works.
March 17.—The death is announced of Mr George Sutherland Taylor, of
Golspie, in the 51st year of his age. He was iocai agent for the Duke of
Sutherland, and apart from his duties in that capacity applied himself
to literary pursuits, particularly to the history, antiquities, and
traditions of the North. “When we last saw him he was anxiously
meditating a histoiy of the Rebellion of 1715, for the illustration of
which the depositories of the Duke of Sutherland had copious and
valuable resources, hitherto unexplored. In the last number of the
‘Quarterly Review’ various extracts are given from Mr Taylor’s
collections relative to the great Montrose. He contributed largely to Mr
Scrope for his work on Deer-Stalking, wrote the articles ‘Sutherland’
and ‘Zetland’ for Mr Charles Knight’s Cyclopaedia, and was one of the
most valuable assistants in the New Statistical Account of Scotland. No
man was more generous in assisting others in all researches relative to
Scottish antiquities and natural history. His information was both exact
and extensive.” Mr Taylor wrote for the first Duke and Duchess Countess
the traditions of the county, and was engaged when he died in a
historical account of the family.
Ibid.—The Highland dwarfs from Kishorn, who had appeared before the
Queen at Buckingham Palace, and in many towns in England and Scotland,
were now appearing in the northern towns. They were in charge of a man
named William Mackenzie. “Their trip to the south has greatly improved
them, not only in personal appearance but in smartness and intelligence.
They have also acquired the English language, of which they were
formerly ignorant.” Their performance was considered superior to that of
Tom Thumb, exhibited by Barnum. The term of their engagement was almost
expired, and they were returning to Kishorn. In our issue of July 10
there is a paragraph with reference to these dwarfs, one of whom is
still alive (1908).
Ibid.—There is a long article containing extracts from letters and
reports cn the management of Colonel Gordon’s estates in Barra and South
Uist. There was a strong complaint that the proprietor had stopped his
works at the time when employment was most needed. Colonel Gordon
defended himself, but the opinion of the editor was adverse, and he
expressed the hope that since the correspondence had ceased Colonel
Gordon had resumed his improvements. Unless labour be provided,” he
said, ‘‘the people must starve.” The Government had sent supplies to
relieve the destitution.
March 24—An old woman named Isabella Gunn, living alone in the parish of
Latheron, in Caithness, had been found dead under circumstances which
pointed to murder. She was of penurious habits, andi was supposed to be
worth a little money.
March 31.—Mr Hugh Rose, proprietor of Kilravock, and Collector of Banda,
in the Presidency of Bengal, died near Calcutta on 30th January. “During
a visit to this country a few years since Mr Rose was warmly welcomed by
his tenantry and the gentlemen of the North, who looked forward to his
final return among them at no distant date as a valuable accession to
the society of the district. His premature death has destroyed this
hope, and will occasion a deep and general regret.”
April 7.—“A colony of the red or common squirrel appears to exist in the
woods between Inverness and the Aird. Three specimens sent to us, within
as* many months, from the same district, go far to establish it as a
habitation of the squirrel.” Before this time, it is stated, there was
no mention made of these animals north of the Grampians, or the valleys
surrounding them.
April 13.—Owing to an acceleration of seven hours in the arrival of the
mail from the south, the paper was now published on Tuesday evening. It
was also enlarged, though still consisting of four pages, price 4jd. The
issue gives an account of a violent storm of wind and rain which
occurred on the previous Thursday. One of the casualties was the partial
destruction of the ancient sculptured stone at Shandwick, Rigg, which
was thrown down and broken.
Ibid.—Three men from Beauly were charged in the Sheriff Court at
Inverness with mobbing and rioting in connection with the shipment of
grain. They were found guilty, and sentenced to sixty days’
imprisonment.
April 20.—At the Circuit several persons were tried for the more serious
rioting that had taken place at Castletown and Wick. Two men from
Castletown were sentenced to fifteen months’ imprisonment; one from
Wick, on account of his youth, got off with eight months. The sentence
on another Wick man, whose case was considered more aggravated, was
certified to the High Court of Justiciary, the judge stating that his
sentence might be affected “by the degree of order which prevails in the
county in the meantime.” Several cases from Dingwall were remitted for
trial to Edinburgh, as the Court had sat for three days, and the Lord
Justice-Clerk did not feel warranted in detaining the jury longer. The
concluding sitting was on Friday, and the parties from Dingwall had been
cited for Saturday.
April 27.—There are long extracts from a Parliamentary Blue-book dealing
with the subject of a proposed scheme of emigration for the Highlands.
The book contains letters from the Marquis of Lorne (late Duke of
Argyll). The Government were slow to move, and no definite plan had been
adopted.
May 4 and 11.—Mr Grant of Bught was appointed convener of the county of
Inverness, on the retirement of the joint-conveners, Sir John
Macpherson-Grant and Mr Ogilvy. Mr James Augustus Grant of Viewfield was
appointed convener of the county of Nairn.
May 11.—The works on the Caledonian Canal had been completed, and the
Canal was now open from sea to sea. “We are sorry to hear that the
undertaking has been by no means a pro-
Stable one to Messrs Jackson & Bain (the contractors). This has arisen
chiefly from the great increase in the price of labour and materials
during the last four years, over which the contract extended.”—Imports
of foreign barley, potatoes', and white peas are recorded.
May 18.—Prominence is given to two remarkable announcements. The first
is the following order issued by the Lord-Steward of the Queen’s
Household:—“Her Majesty, taking into consideration the present and
increasing price of provisions, and especially of all kinds of bread and
flour, has been graciously pleased to command that, from the date of
this order, no description of flour except seconds, shall be used for
any purpose in her Majesty’s household, and that the daily allowance of
bread shall be restricted to one lb. per head for every person dieted in
the palace.” The second is an advertisement signed by seventeen
distinguished persons, including the Dukes of Bedford, Norfolk, Rutland,
and Grafton, and! ten other peers, who pledge themselves on account of
the prevailing distress “to reduce in our families as far as practicable
the consumption of bread and flour,” and invite the co-operation of all
others who concurred with them in their estimate of the present
emergency. Lord John Russell had delivered a similar homily at the Lord
Mayor’s feast, which the editor considered the boldest 6tep of all. The
London correspondent says that the alarm among the middle and lower
classes about the increased and increasing price of bread was very
great.
Ibid.—A party of three seamen and a woman, who came to Inverness by the
Beauly road from Wick, had an extraordinary story to tell. A barque
called the “Swan," of Baltimore, bound from Valparaiso to Leith with
tallow and hides, and having on board eighteen persons, including three
passengers, caught fire off the western islands through the steward
letting fall a lighted candle while he was drawing rum. The flames
spread so rapidly that the ship was speedily destroyed, and eleven lives
were lost. Six seamen and the stewardess, though much injured, succeeded
in getting into a boat with only a few biscuits for food, and drifted
about for two days and nights until they were picked up by a vessel off
the Butt of Lewis, and landed destitute in Wick. Three of them were left
there unfit to travel; the other four (three men and the woman) received
some aid from the authorities, and started southward. At Inverness it
was found that two of the men were in a deplorable state from burns,
while the other had his arm broken. They were conveyed to the Northern
Infirmary. The whole crew was American, but the parents of three had
emigrated from The Highlands.
Ibid.—The issue contains an anecdote which has become classical in the
Highlands. A sheep farmer remarkable for the amount of his stock and
rates was talking of his doings at Falkirk Tryst, when a companion
interrupted him with the remark—‘‘Why, you are making yourself as great
a man as the Duke of Wellington.” The other promptly replied —“It was
easy for the Duke of Wellington to put down his men at Waterloo—some men
here and some men there, up and down the fields; but let him try to put
down ten thousand sheep, forbye black cattle, at Falkirk Tryst, and it’s
my opinion he’ll make a very confused business of it.”
Ibid.—It is stated that Mr Williamson, factor for Sir Charles Ross of
Balnagown, had ordered the Shandwick sculptured stone, which had been
blown down and broken by the recent gale, to be bound up with iron, and
re-erected on its ancient site.
Ibid.—The Rev. E. J. Findlater, Free Church, Lochearnhead, describes a
tour which he had made in Sutherland. The Duke had provided employment
for the people in the western districts, where the potatoes had failed,
and had also provided ample stores of bread-stuffs and seed potatoes
from Norway. He had ordered several hundred head of red deer to be
slaughtered to make soup for dstribution. His Grace was also promoting
emigration to Canada by sending as many families as wished to go there
free of expense.
May 25.—The Ten Hours Factory Bill, which had passed through the House
of Commons after a good deal of discussion, was read a second time in
the House of Lords by a large majority, and its adoption secured.—Food
riots had occurred in Cornwall, Exeter, Jersey. In Ireland outrages
continued to be perpetrated amidst the ravages of fever and mortality.
In the West End of London bakers were charging Is 2d and Is 3d for the
four-pound loaf, and second class bakers charged l½d and 12½d.
Ibid.—At a recent meeting of the Edinburgh section of the Relief
Committee, it was stated that £10,000 would be sent from India for the
Highlands alone. The 78th Regiment of Highlanders, who were in India,
had subscribed £140 for the relief of Highland and Irish distress.
Ibid.—On the farm of Kirkton, near Gran-town, the plough struck a
flagstone on a light sandy hillock, and the removal of the stone
revealed a human skeleton of large proportions. There were two urns
described as of rude workmanship but elaborately carved.
June 1.—This issue records the death of Daniel O’Connell, and has an
article on his career.— The arrival of wheat from Dantzic had brought a
sudden and great fall in price. From Monday to Saturday the decline of
price in London was from 15s to 18s, and in some cases 20s per quarter.
The supply from Russia was expected to be limited only by the means of
conveyance.—Another paragraph mentions the erection of a monument, by
permission of the Queen, in the Savoy Chapel, Strand, to the memory of
Dr Archibald Cameron, who was executed seven years after the rebellion
of 1745. The date of the monument is 1846, and it was erected by Dr
Cameron’s great-grandson.
June 8.—The death of Dr Chalmers is the chief topic in this issue, and a
cordial tribute is paid to the greatness of his genius and character.
“His plans, his mode of operation, his conceptions, his style and
language, were all original, not derived. He stamped his mind upon the
age, and exercised a potent and! widespread influence.”—The publication
of Mr Thomas Tod Stoddart’s “Angler’s Companion” is made the subject of
a long and interesting article.
Ibid.—A new mail coach is advertised to run three times a week “between
Inverness and Dunvegan, in the Isle of Skye.”
June 15 and 22.—Rural notes in these issues state that the crops were
promising, and that potatoes “never looked better at this season of the
year.” Echoes of the riots occur in summary trials and sentences.
June 29.—The announcement appears that Queen Victoria had taken Laggan,
in Badenoch, from the Marquis of Abercorn for a visit in the autumn. It
was also believed that her Majesty would visit Dunrobin, passing through
Inverness. The first announcement was correct, but the visit to
Sutherland was put off, and delayed for many years, in fact until 1872.
An article on Dunrobin describes the additions which were being made to
the Castle, transforming it into a princely residence. A large staff of
masons and other labourers were busy at work. The building had been in
progress for nearly three years, and it was calculated that other two
years would pass before everything was finished. It was noted that the
old Castle would still form an important part of the structure. The
editor observes that the Marquis of Abercorn’s shooting lodge at
Ardverikie, on the margin of Loch-Laggan, was on the property of Cluny
Macpherson (since then sold to Sir John Ramsden). “The extent of his
lordship’s Highland shootings may be gathered from the fact that his
rental is very nearly £2000 per annum—the deer forest alone being let
for £1360.” The era of high shooting rents had begun.
Ibid.—A general election was now in prospect, and preparations were
going forward. Mr James Morrison announced that he was retiring from the
representation of the Inverness Burghs, and Mr Matheson of Ardross
offered himself as a candidate. “There is a strong impression in his
favour,’’ we are told, “from his connection with the North by birth,
education, property, and other ties. His long residence in China has not
deadened his Scottish feelings or weakened his interest in the
prosperity of the Highlands, while it has conferred upon him commercial
importance, wealth, and distinction.”
Ibid.—The representative of an old Highland family. Mrs Grant, late of
Corriemony, passed away in Inverness, where she had resided1 for some
years, enjoying the respect of the community. Her remains were conveyed
in a hearse, drawn by four horses, to the family burying-ground in
Clach-Hurridan Churchyard.
July 6.—“The Inverness Municipal and Harbour Bills have been read a
third time in the House of Commons and passed. They have also passed the
Standing Orders Committee of the House of Lords—so that within a few
days, it is probable, our local bills will have received the sanction of
the Legislature.” The final stage was duly notified. A Road Act for Ross
and Cromarty was also passed.
Ibid.—Sir Colin Campbell, Governor of Ceylon, whose death was recently
notified, spent his early days at Fort-George, where his father, John
Campbell of Melfort, was Lieutenant-Governor. Sir Colin was one of a
family of seventeen, including nine sons, who all served their country.
They received their early education in the schools of Campbell-town and
Fortrose. Three of the brothers were killed in India, two in the same
action; and the only one surviving at this date was Colonel Frederick
Campbell, who commanded the Artillery in Canada.
July 13.—At the Wool Market the price of stock was high. As compared
with the previous year there was an advance of from 6d to Is 6d on
wedders; from Is to 2s 6d on ewes; and from Is to' 2s 6d on lambs. In
wool, however, prices were backward, showing a fall of about Is 6d per
stone. This was due to depression in the manufacturing districts.
Ibid.—The foundation-stone of the Free Church Institution in Inverness
was laid on the previous Thursday. At a later date, it came to be known
as the High School, and was the predecessor of the present High School.
The original buildings now form the Institute for the Blind.
Ibid.—A serious accident took place at the bridge at the Pass of
Inverfarigaig. As a carriage conveying a family party was approaching
the bridge the horses ran off, and the conveyance, striking the parapet,
was thrown with the horses into the rocky stream below. One of the
party, a young lady, was killed and the others injured.
Ibid.—A golden eagle was caught in a trap near Knockie, in Stratherrick.
The eagle, however, succeeded in drawing out the stake that held the
trap, and with a weight of lbs. attached to its leg crossed and
re-crossed Loch-Ness several times. About a month later the royal bird
was found dead on the heights of Glenmoriston, about 16 miles from the
place where it was trapped.
July 20 and 27.—A new candidate had appeared for the representation of
the Inverness Burghs, namely, Mr Hartley Kennedy, a gentleman long
resident in India, and1 in 1847 Chairman of the India and London Life
Assurance Company. He was recommended by Mr Joseph Hume, M.P. Meetings
at which Mr Matheson and Mr Kennedy appeared are reported in the issue
of the 27th. Mr Kennedy announced himself as a “free and independent”
candidate. Mr Mackenzie of Applecross had finally resolved to retire
from the representation of Ross--shire, without undergoing a contest,
and Mr James Matheson of the Lews, who stood in the Liberal interest,
was the only candidate. Parliament was dissolved on the 24th inst.
July 27.—It is stated that Mr Matheson of the Lews had purchased
Ullapool from the British Fishery Society for the price of £5250.
August 2.—The nomination of the candidates for the Inverness Burghs is
reported. Mr Nicol proposed Mr Alexander Matheson, and was seconded by
Colonel Mackintosh of Farr. Ex-Provost Sutherland proposed Mr Kennedy,
and wais seconded by Provost Wilson, of Nairn. There was a great
assemblage in front of the hustings, which were erected on the Exchange.
The contest had excited keen local feeling.
August 10.—Mr Matheson was elected member for the Inverness Burghs by a
majority of 81 over his opponent. There was a majority for Mi Matheson
in all the burghs. Mr Henry J. Baillie was reelected member for the
county of Inverness without opposition, and Major Cumming Bruce was also
reelected for the counties of Elgin, and Nairn. In the Elgin Burghs
there were three candidates—Mr Skene Duff, Sir A. Leith Hay (the former
member), and Mr Bannerman. Mr Skene Duff was elected, the figures being
for Mr Duff 242, for Sir Andrew Hay 147, and for Mr Bannerman 192.
August 17.—The election of Mi James Matheson of the Lews for the
representation of Ross and Cromarty was a great day in Dingwall and
district. As Mr Mackenzie of Applecross had withdrawn from the contest,
there was no opposition, but the election was celebrated by a
procession, arches, flags, and a dinner. Sir David Dundas was re-elected
for Sutherland, Mr Loch for the Northern Burghs, and Mr Traill for
Caithness.
Ibid.—Colonel Sir John Macra, who died at Bruiach on the 9th inst., had
been at the siege of Copenhagen, at Corunna, in the Walcheren
Expedition, in the Peninsula, and in the Mahratta and Pindaree war of
1818. He was also military secretary to the Marquis of Hastings in India
and in Malta. In later years he suffered from ill-health, partly the
effects of fever caught in the swamps of Holland.
Ibid.—A curious reminiscence of cattle lifting in the year 1689 comes
from a Badenoch source. A party of Lochaber men in that year had
captured about 120 black cattle in Aberdeenshire, and had driven them as
far as Dalunchart, in Badenoch, where they were overtaken by a party of
fifty well-armed horsemen. Refusing to give up the cattle in return for
“a bag of meal and a pair of shoes” to each man, they were attacked and!
the cattle recaptured.
August 31. — The issue of the 24th inst., presumably containing an
account of Queen Victoria’s arrival at Ardverikie, Loch-Laggan, is
missing from the file, but the present issue contains details of the
visit. Her Majesty was accompanied by Prince Albeit and their elder
children. Among the incidents was a series of Highland games, given on
Prince Albert’s birthday. The Queen had a fine new barge placed upon the
lake, and six seamen arrived from the Royal yacht to row. “All the
outfits of the barge have now come to hand—the brass rods for the
support of the canopy, the canopy itself of green silk, with tassels,
the oars, and the other necessary appendages. The barge is one of the
finest, in its equip-meats and ornaments, that ever floated on Highland
loch, and is worthy to bear the royal lady of the lake.”
Ibid.—There is an account of the “encounter in Glen-Tilt,” when the Duke
of Atholl attempted to shut up the right of way, and stopped Professor
Balfour and a party of naturalists. The Duke of Leeds had previously
aroused indignation by attempting to shat up mountain passes. There are
frequent references to the dispute in subsequent issues.
Ibid.—The crisis in the corn trade was leading to the stoppage of large
firms. The London correspondent says—“House after house, of the highest
standing, and highest repute for wealth, have come tumbling down to the
ground, leaving only wrecks of dividends behind.” The collapse was due
to the great rise in corn, followed by the sudden collapse of prices, as
previously reported.
September 7.—The Queen and Royal Family were still at Loch-Laggan.—Mr
Matheson of Ardross had bought an estate in Kintail.— News had arrived
of the safe arrival of emigrants from the West Coast of Sutherland at
Montreal.—An important show of Cheviot sheep was held at Lairg.
Ibid.—The bodies of two gentlemen, with knapsacks on their backs, were
found at the side of the old military road about nine miles south of
Fort-William. One was a man about forty years of age, the other about
twenty-five. The unfortunate travellers proved to be William Henry
Whitburn, brewer at Esher, in Essex, and William Stericker, Fen-church
Street, London. They had started on a pedestrian tour from Ballachulish,
and the weather becoming very wet and stormy, they had perished of cold
and exhaustion.
September 14.—The work of the Highland Relief Committee was drawing to a
close, as it was hoped that the harvest would prove satisfactory.
Apprehensions of another failure of the potato crop existed, but the
editor says that most of the signs were favourable. “The benevolence and
zeal of the public supplied a magnificent fund for relief, and it
appears to have been applied with care and discrimination.” The
Edinburgh Committee reported that the subscription amounted to £113,749
3s 10d, and the disbursements to £38,202 5s 10d, leaving a balance of
£75,546 18s. The balance at the credit of the Glasgow Committee was
£39,254 Is lid, and it appeared subsequently that the total
subscriptions at that centre amounted to £71,199 14s 6d. Committees were
appointed to consider as to the disposal of the funds.
Ibid.—A quotation from a London paper treats of the disaster in the com
market. “Taking the highest rates and those current now, the fall in
wheat is no less than 62s per quarter, and on flour 26s per barrel.
English new wheat is about 44s to 53s per quarter; and according to a
report before us, Indian corn, being at the reduced prices of 22s to
30s, is taken chiefly by pig-feeders, as the cheapest article they can
obtain. Indian corn-meal has been £5 to £5 10s per ton. We can scarcely
feel surprise after this at the wholesale ruin of firms engaged in the
corn trade.’’
September 21.—After a stay of nearly a month at Ardverikie, the Queen
left on the 17th, and embarked at Fort-William under escort of a Royal
squadron. The weather had been of a very mixed character during her
stay, and a drizzling rain fell on the day of departure. There was,
however, an animated and enthusiastic gathering at Fort-William with
arches and flags. Prince Albert did not join the Queen until the evening
of the 17th, as he had gone to Inverness. The squadron sailed on the
morning of Saturday, the 18th. They returned by way of the Crinan Canal.
Her Majesty was accompanied by the young Princess Royal, the Prince of
Wales, the Marchioness of Douro, Lord Palmerston, &c.
Ibid.—Prince Albert came to Inverness on Thursday, the 16th, to visit
the town and attend the Northern Meeting. He travelled from Gairlochy by
the canal route, and was entertained during his short stay by Mr Baillie
at Dochfour House. On landing, however, being a little late, the Prince
drove forward at once to Inverness, where a great reception awaited him.
There was a vast gathering of people, and a procession of Councillors,
trades, and Freemasons. An address from the Cori>oration was presented
in the Town Hall—Provost William Simpson presiding. Later, at Dochfour,
the Earl of Seafield, Lord-Lieutenant, presented the county address. One
of the features of the proceedings was a gathering of the Clan
Mackintosh, a body of 200 men under their chief, who was accompanied by
his brother, AEneas Mackintosh. With bagpipes and ensigns they met the
Prince at Tomnahurich Bridge, and formed a lane through which his
carriage passed. The men were marshalled in three divisions, at the head
of each being a Waterloo man wearing his medals. There was, of course, a
large attendance at the Northern Meeting balls, especially on Thursday
evening. when the Prince w;is present. The numbers are given as about
300. “Prince Albert entered the ball-room shortly after ten o’clock. He
was dressed in a blue coat, with white vest and black pantaloons, and
wore the green ribbon of the Thistle and the collar of the Order of the
Garter. His Royal Highness remained about two hours, but did not dance.
The reel dancing appeared to be the chief object of the Prince’s
attention, but he was gratified with the whole proceedings, and
repeatedly expressed his admiration of the music, the arrangements) and
the general aspect of the ball.” The Prince left Dochfour on Friday and
rejoined the Queen in Loch-Eil.
September 21 and 28.—On the first date the London correspondent
writes—‘‘All is dismay in the city. Failure has followed failure in
rapid succession, involving hundreds of thousands in pecuniary losses
and difficulties.” Two cases are mentioned, one a firm of stockbrokers,
with liabilities between them of about 2£ millions. Next week the crisis
was less acute, but hopes were premature.
September 28.—It is noted that while Prince Albert was absent on his
visit to Inverness the Queen planted two trees at Ardverikie, a larch
and a Scotch fir, one for her Majesty and the other for the Prince, in
commemoration of their happy sojourn by the side of Loch-Laggan. When
her Majesty visited Cluny Castle, shortly before her departure, the
chief made his little son, Gordon Mac-pherson, present the Prince of
Wales with a ring, containing a miniature of Prince Charles Edward. Some
days afterwards the Duchess of Norfolk received the Queen’s commands to
send from the Prince of Wales for the boy a splendid breastpin,
consisting of a carbuncle set in diamonds.—The same issue gives an
account of a Strathspey gathering held at Castle Grant. For many year's
these gatherings proved of great interest in the district.
October 5 and 12.—These issues contain reports relating to the Highland
Destitution Funds raised in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The total
disbursements now come to £82,800, and a surplus remained in hand of
£114,000. Uncertainty was felt as to the prospects of the coming year,
and various questions were discussed. Ultimately the Central Board
adopted a resolution declaring that the funds were raised for the relief
of destitution in the Highlands and Islands, produced by the failure of
the potato crop of 1846, and they were not entitled to divert the
balance of the fund to any other purpose. Meantime, however, they
suspended the general machinery of relief, but authorised assistance in
cases of necessity; and! further authorised the respective sections to
take all proper steps with the view of facilitating the migration of
labourers from any localities in the Highlands, where there was no
demand for labour, to places in the south, where there was such demand.
October 12.—Mr Matheson of Ardross gave £100 for the improvement of the
Ness Islands, and other handsome gifts to local institutions. The
proprietors of the Caledonian Hotel claimed £300 for damage incurred
during the potato riots. They consented to reduce the sum to £280, of
which one-half, £140, was paid by the county. The town subsequently paid
the other half.—The congregation of Free St George’s, Edinburgh, had
given a call to Rev. Alexander Stewart, Cromarty, signed by 530
communicants and adherents. —A report by Mr Grant of Kincorth on his
plantations on the outskirts of the Culbin Sands is quoted from the
“Journal of Agriculture.”
October 19.—Financial calamities were multiplying in England.
“Commercial people are stunned and stupefied by disasters following at
the heels of each other in rapid succession. House after house tumbles
down faster and faster, and people rub their eyes and look about to
ascertain what commercial fabric is left standing.” Heavy failures
occurred in the East Indian trade.
Ibid.—At the Inverness Town Council Dr Nicol submitted a report on the
Ness Islands. The scheme proposed to cut down some of the trees and to
erect two porter’s lodges. The cost was estimated at £800. The issue
contains long extracts from a hook on “Highland Sports and Highland
Quarters,” by Herbert Byng Hall. It gives an account of Glenmoriston and
of a fine breed of deerhounds kept by the proprietor. One of these
animals had subdued no fewer than 18 stags, which he had either brought
to bay or killed.
October 26.—The financial panic was extending, and involving railways
and English banks. The cry for relief was again loud in Ireland, “mixed
up with cases of agrarian outrage.” Continental politics were rapidly
preparing the way for revolutionary movements. These began in
Switzerland.
Ibid.—The Parochial Boardi of Inverness had a long meeting to consider
the question of poor-house accommodation. Dunbar’s Hospital was in use
for the purpose, and a place which is called Muirtown Hospital.
Ibid.—A letter from Calcutta announces the death of the Rev. John
Macdonald, Free Church missionary. He was a son of the Rev. Dr Macdonald
of Ferintosh. “His worth and piety had endeared him to a numerous circle
of friends, by whom his premature death will be greatly regretted.”
Further notices appear in subsequent issues.
November 2.—In consequence of the commercial crisis, the Government had
suspended the Bank Charter Act.
Ibid.—At the Ross-shire County Meeting a proposal came up for the
opening up and improvement of roads in the western districts, from
Auclinasheen to Poolewe, Ullapool, and Gairloch. The cost was estimated
at a little under £6000. The local proprietors proposed to contribute
one-third, the Highland Destitution Committee was willing to contribute
another third, and the county was asked to contribute £1600, the western
districts providing the balance. The meeting, however, rejected the
proposal by a majority of eighteen to fourteen. A long and acrimonious
correspondence followed. Several contributors to the Highland
Destitution Fund had authorised the balance of their subscriptions to be
sent to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
November 9.—The Rev. Alexander Stewart, of Cromarty, died on the 5th
inst. A correspondent writes that although he always belonged to the
Evangelical party, he was slow to acquiesce in the necessity for the
Disruption ; and after he had left the Established Church he abstained
from all acrimonious feelings and expressions. “The estimation in which
he was justly held by those who knew best his qualifications as a
minister of the gospel is proved by the fact of his having been chosen
to succeed Dr Candlish in Edinburgh. High, however, as was this
distinction, it must have had the effect of disturbing his peace of
mind. His attachment to Cromarty, and his affection for his flock, were
strong, and these coming into conflict with his desire, from a sense of
duty, to accept the call to preside over one of the mast intellectual
congregations of the capital of his country, created intense mental
anxiety inconsistent with the enjoyment of good bodily health, and he
died, prematurely, after a short illness.” Mr Stewart was in his
fifty-fourth year. He is the minister of whom Hugh Miller speaks so
highly in his “Schools and Schoolmasters.”
Ibid.—An entertainment was given by Dr Nicol in the Holm Mills, in
honour of the return of Mr Mackintosh of Drummond and Holm from a
Continental tour, to take possession of his estates on attaining his
majority. Dr Nicol stated that the mills had been originally begun by a
powerful co-partnery with a small capital. “They were unsuccessful, and
the wreck of their concern came accidentally into his hands when lie was
a very young man, and totally ignorant of its nature.” He added that he
had carried it on now for nearly thirty years, and had at length brought
it to the state in which they beheld it, producing the fabrics with
which the apartments were then adorned. Certain restrictions had been
removed by the young proprietor, which would, he believed, add to its
usefulness
November 16.—A change is foreshadowed in the management of the
Sutherland estates. Under the existing system extensive tracts of land,
capable of grazing from ten to fifteen and twenty thousand sheep, were
held by large tacksmen. The second Duke, who had nothing to do with the
original arrangement, proposed as the leases fell in to divide the farms
into smaller areas, capable of carrying from two to five thousand sheep,
and to let them to tenants who would be bound to reside on them. He also
proposed to create arable farms of from £50 to £100 rent. These plans
were hailed with satisfaction. It is stated that the Duke’s expenditure
during the past year in feeding the poor and providing employment for
them almost exceeded belief; and he had also laid out large sums in
trenching uncultivated land on his estate. The late Mr Evander Maciver,
factor at Scourie, states in his Reminiscences that nearly a thousand
people emigrated from the North-west of Sutherland in three years,
beginning in 1847. They went, at the expense of the Duke, to Upper
Canada and Cape Breton, and Mr Maciver says he received for many years
letters thanking him for the assistance given. “ Five large ships from
Liverpool were engaged ; they came to Loch-Laxford, where the emigrants
embarked. The cost of this emigration amounted to £7000, and it was well
expended money.”
Ibid.—A number of Highland labourers were now returning home owing to
the stoppage of railway works.—A householder in Dingwall was fined for
refusing to billet soldiers.
November 23.—Prevalence of fever and anticipation of cholera had
occasioned an active sanitary movement all over the country. Under the
new Municipal Act the Inverness authorities had power to reform the
state of the town, and it seems to have stood in much need of
improvement in the poorer quarters. An article on the subject says that
in the early part of the year it was not uncommon to see four and five
funerals a day leaving certain quarters, “the greater part of this
mortality arising without doubt from local cause?.’’ The Police
Commissioners and the Parochial Board' were taking active measures.—A
pamphlet by Dr Alison, of Edinburgh, on the state of the Highlands is
noticed at some length.
November 30.—Parliament was now in session. It was concerned with the
state of Ireland, the commercial crisis, and the necessity for extending
the time for the construction of railways.
Ibid.—The editor acknowledges receipt of £237 15s 2d, subscribed in Van
Diemen’s Lund, for the relief of Highland! distress.—A new police force
was established in the burgh, consisting of 16 men.—A letter gives
anecdotes of certain Macraes, who were distinguished in 1715 and 1745
for their strength and valour.
December 7.—“It has been stated in Parliament that throwing out of view
commercial failures where the liabilities of each were under £20,000
sterling, there have been since the month of July last no less than
seventy-nine failures, the aggregate liabilities of which exceed
£15,000,000 sterling.”
Ibid. — The Postmaster - General issued an order to the railway
companies to regulate their clocks by Greenwich time, so that one
uniform mode of computation might prevail.
December 14.—What is called an illegal combination of journeymen boot
and shoemakers occurred in Inverness at this time. The workmen had
formed a friendly society, and then turned it into a union which fixed
the rate of wages, and insisted on all the workmen in the trade joining
them. If any refused they insisted on the employers dismissing them.
“They forced the masters to succumb,” but “at last a complaint was
lodged with the authorities, who, after due consideration apprehended
four of the leaders of the society for contravention of the Statute 6,
George IV., cap. 129.” Such was the experience of what seems to have
been the first trade union in Inverness.
Ibid.—The grouse season had a poor record. Disease had thinned the
coveys, and the frosts of spring had reduced their food, so that “the
birds resorted in great flocks to corn-fields.” Towards the end of the
season, however, disease had almost disappeared. Roe-deer had been
plentiful. Red-deer, though as numerous as usual, did not carry such
size of antlers as in farmer years.
Ibid.—A violent gale and high tide had occurred, doing much damage and
causing loss of life. Eleven lives were lost on the ‘Caithness and
Shetland coasts. “From Cromarty we learn that part of the Fishertown had
a narrow escape of being swept away by the sea, which inundated the row
of houses fronting the beach. Several of the boats drawn up on the beach
were destroyed, the surf having been carried from thirty to forty yards
above high-water mark. Upwards of twenty vessels ran into the bay for
shelter."
December 21 and 28.—Lord
Ward continued to refuse a site for a Free Church in Glengarry. His
conduct was condemned, but he remained obstinate. At the same time he
intimated a contribution of £20 a year to the educational scheme of the
Church of Scotland. |
