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Ever since the Revolution
Settlement in 1689, but more especially after the Mar Rebellion of 1715,
strenuous steps were taken by the Scottish Church to evangelise and to
educate the Highlanders in order to win them to Presbyterianism and
consequent loyalty to the House of Hanover. One phase of this movement was
the formation of two kindred organisations, viz., the Society for
Propagating Christian Knowledge, afterwards known as the S.P.C.K.,
pronouncedly Presbyterian, and the Society for the Reformation of the
Highlands, pronouncedly Hanoverian. While the S.P.C.K. interested itself in
mission work generally, and particularly among the Red Indians of North
America, its principal mission field lay in the Highlands of Scotland, where
the people were sunk in deep ignorance. Both these societies sought to reach
the Highlanders by means of accredited catechists, schoolmasters, and
itinerant preachers, for whose salaries they became responsible, but
expected some local support wherever possible. They experienced much
difficulty, however, in getting at some parts of the Highlands where
Jacobite predilections were strong.
The Church also sought to encourage the erection of new Presbyteries and the
endowment of new charges where gospel ordinances were in some cases sadly
lacking. As George, third Lord Reay, was deeply religious and strongly anti-Jacobite,
he took up this work with fervour, got the country of Strathnaver disjoined
for better management from the Presbytery of Caithness and erected into the
Presbytery of Tongue in 1725, and planted two new charges in that region
fully equipped. He at the same time took full advantage of the agents
offered by the above-mentioned societies, encouraged the leading men in the
various districts to help on the work, and saw a wonderful change come over
the people ere he died in 1748. The author of “The Highlands of Scotland in
1750” reports, and what he says is fully borne out by the Presbytery Record
:—
“The common people of the M'Kays are the most religious of all the tribes
that dwell among the mountains, south or north, and are short of none in
their zeal and affection to his Majesty. Of old, they were reckon’d the most
barbarous and wicked of all the clans; but they were effectually civiliz’d
in the time of the late Lord Reae.”
The fire which the third Lord Reay kindled and nourished all his lifetime
became bigger and brighter after his death, under the fostering care of his
children, especially Donald, fourth Lord Reay, and General the Hon.
Alexander
Mackay. A prominent feature of this great movement in Strathnaver during the
second half of the eighteenth century was the avidity with which the people
called for the schoolmaster. During the years 1730-90 the following
twenty-one schools were started, and continued in the country of Strathnaver,
as an examination of the S.P.C.K. reports shows, viz., Knockbreck, and
Asheylemore, 1730; Farr, 1740; Hunleam, 1748; Revigill, 1754; Philine, 1755
; Torrisdale, and Kirkton, 1758; Skerra, 1776; Langdale, Cambus-andun, and
Bighouse, 1777 ; Strathmore, and Lettermore, 1780 ; Achiness, Bunna-havin,
and Edderachilis, 1783 ; Havachery, Melness, Oldshore, and Bhiloisk, 1790.
Dr Kemp, Edinburgh, Secretary of the S.P.C.K., reporting in 1796 on the work
in Strathnaver, says :—
“Their thirst after knowledge is great. . . . Among such people it is not to
be doubted that the Society’s teachers are received with avidity and
gratitude, and their schools well attended. ... Nor did he find in any part
of the Highlands young people who discovered a quicker genius for learning.”
It was in these circumstances that John Macdonald paid his first visit to
Skerray in 1776 as the accredited teacher of the S.P.C.K. But not long after
this Britain became engaged in one of the most tremendous conflicts she ever
waged, and needed men to fight her battles. The States of America revolted
and drew the sword, France and Spain, taking advantage of our entangled
position, joined them, to be followed soon after by the Dutch States; while
Denmark, Sweden, and Russia formed a hostile combination against us without
coming to blows. Thus we were called upon at one and the same time to fight
four nations, and to keep a sharp eye on three others who might jump upon us
at any moment. At the tumultuous call to arms, which sent its echoes pealing
to far Cape Wrath, Dominie Macdonald threw down the tawse, and shouldering
his bagpipes set out to do and dare, like many another in that countryside.
After serving for a short time in the North Fencibles at Fort George, under
Captain Mackay of Bighouse, Macdonald joined the 2nd battalion of Lord
Macleod’s Highlanders, as he tells us. “Lord Macleod,” who was a Mackenzie
by surname, son and heir of the Earl of Cromartie, was attainted along with
his father for rising in the ’45, fled abroad to serve as a soldier of
fortune, but in the hour of his country’s need returned to offer the service
of his sword and influence (“Book of Cromartie ”). The sequel was the
raising of two fine battalions of Highlanders. And, while the 1st battalion
was hotly fighting in India, the 2nd was sharpening the sword at Plymouth
when the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the offing of the
Ram-head, sending a thrill of anxious concern quivering through the land.
This was a huge armada, but, like most combinations of the kind, it lacked
cohesion and did little harm, thanks to the alertness of our British sailors
(Mahan’s “Sea Power”).
To wrest Gibraltar from our grip was Spain’s prime reason in making war upon
us; it was part of her own natural soil and an eyesore in the hands of the
British. So on the 21st June 1779 she besieged the historic Rock which grim
General Elliot held with a garrison of 5,382 men all told. Gibraltar stands
at the extremity of an isthmus running north and south. Its north or
landward end consists of a high rock rising from a comparatively level neck
of sand; on the east side the rock springs sheer from the sea, but on the
west it slopes up more gently from the water. The Spanish plan of operations
was to throw up a strong line of fortifications right across the isthmus
whence they could pelt the garrison with heavy artillery, and to cut off
supplies with a coalition fleet at sea. Though Gibraltar is naturally very
strong, if the allies could hold the sea the capitulation of the garrison
was only a matter of time; but that if they had to tackle, and the sequel
shows that the it was too much for them.
By the end of the year, and after a siege of six months, the supplies at
Gibraltar were running so low that General Elliot experimented upon himself
as to how little rice sufficed to sustain a grown-up person, and actually
lived for eight days upon four ounces a day. Admiral Rodney, however, whose
hands were full enough elsewhere up to that time, slipped away with a fleet
from Plymouth on the 27th December, convoying supplies and carrying the 73rd
or Lord Macleod’s Highlanders. He h^d the good fortune to come athwart a
richly laden fleet of Spanish merchantmen in the Bay of Biscay which he
easily captured, and on the 16th January 1780 bore down to the south-east of
Cape St Vincent upon a strong Spanish war fleet under Don Juan de Langara,
which he practically annihilated, capturing the admiral (Mahan’s “Sea
Power”).
Shortly afterwards Rodney sailed triumphantly into Gibraltar Bay laden with
spoil, replenished the garrison stores and disembarked the Highlanders. When
the Highlanders left Plymouth they were intended to reinforce the garrison
of Minorca, but after a council of war and at the earnest entreaty of
General Elliot they were left at Gibraltar to strengthen his depleted force.
Captain Drinkwater, in his “History of the Siege of Gibraltar,” says:—“Their
strength at this time was 30 officers, 6 staff* officers, 50 serjeants, 22
drummers, and 944 rank and file ; an excellent reinforcement in our
situation since the scurvy had already begun to appear among us.”
Rodney, having effected his immediate purpose, sailed away to police the
home waters, and left the garrison to keep the Spaniards at bay.
Although the Spanish had collected a considerable fleet to blockade the
Rock, enterprising British and foreign ships laden with corn, fruit, sheep,
&c., managed to run in from time to time during the night, and found shelter
at the New Mole under the guns of the fort, where a few small British ships
of war lay. It was to destroy these that the enemy sent nine fire-ships into
the bay on the morning of the 7th June 1780; but their efforts were vain,
for the British tars with great gallantry towed them to a place of safety,
and from these same fire-ships most acceptable fuel for the garrison was
afterwards obtained.
Since Rodney brought supplies to Gibraltar in January 1780, until it was
relieved again by Admiral Darby on 12th April 1781, the garrison suffered
much from the fire of the enemy’s batteries, from the lack of food, and from
consequent scurvy. In some instances the food brought by foreign ships
running the blockade was secretly purchased by Jewish merchants on the Rock
who sold it to the garrison at ransom prices. And when the great bombardment
took place on the arrival of Darby it was found that these merchants had
larger stores hidden away than was expected. It was the exasperation
provoked at the discovery of these hidden stores (“Siege of Gibraltar”) that
led the famishing soldiers to commit the excesses of which Macdonald
complains. As they came upon casks of brandy, which the fugitive merchants
left behind them in their haste, the ardent spirits naturally did not
improve their temper, but this was the only case of excess during the long
siege.
The relief brought by Darby only increased the vigour of the enemy; they
brought up more troops, poured in a hotter fire, and made redoubled efforts
to advance their lines nearer the Rock. Elliot, however, bided his time, and
when he was ready struck hard. In the sortie of the 26th November 1781,
which Macdonald so graphically describes, he gave his foes a staggering blow
which kept them silent for a considerable time. The wounded Spanish officer
who was captured, and who afterwards died, was Baron Von Helmstadt of the
Walloon Guards, and the other was Don Vincente Freeze. From the plan of the
sortie, given by Drinkwater, we notice that the grenadier and light
companies of Lord Macleod’s Highlanders stormed the central and strongest
fort in the enemy’s lines that night.
On the night of 23rd March 1782, two frigates, a storeship, and four
transports with the 97th regiment on board got through the Spanish fleet to
Gibraltar, and on the 12th April following Rodney decisively defeated a
strong French fleet under De Grasse in the West Indies. But the allies were
determined to reduce Gibraltar and to this end collected a large fleet at
Algeziras, built specially prepared floating batteries, greatly increased
their land forces, and were so sure of success that two Bourbon princes came
into the camp to grace the expected victory. When the attack came off,
however, on the 13th September 1782, the victory was to the British, for
General Elliot with his red-hot balls made a bonfire of the enemy’s floating
batteries after a tremendous mutual pounding. And on the 10th October
following, Lord Howe with a British fleet convoyed supplies to the garrison
in the teeth of a very much-stronger allied fleet, who failed to contest the
passage.
The failure of the grand attack on the 13th September followed so closely by
Lord Howe’s success in provisioning the garrison demonstrated to the allies
what a hard nut they had to crack in Gibraltar. Peace came on the 20th
January 1783, and brought to a close the memorable siege, after running its
course of three years and a half. During all this time the French and
Spanish fought gallantly on shore, but the garrison on the Rock fought with
at least equal gallantry, and, backed by the sea power of Britain, more than
held their own in a never-to-be-forgotten tug of war.
Macdonald’s subsequent service with Lord Heathfield, his trip to India, and
his voyage to China are so fully described in his own journal that we do not
feel called upon to make any comment. When in 1793 war broke out again
between France and Britain, the Government, apprehensive of a rising in
Ireland, embodied fencible regiments to garrison that island. Among those
raised in the north were the Caithness Legion, the Sutherland Fencibles, and
the Reay Fencibles. The latter regiment, in which Macdonald served for a
short time, distinguished itself at Tara Hill in 1798, and was not disbanded
till 1802. Although its numbers were reduced in 1796, before 1798 it was
increased again to at least seven full companies, and in the latter year its
lieutenant-colonel, Mackay of Bighouse, died. To his memory the regiment
raised a monument in the Bighouse Aisle, Reay.
The volunteers to whom Macdonald refers in connection with the burial of
Captain Mackay of Skerray, were a local force embodied in 1798, and drawing
pay at home like the fencibles. All the men who could be spared out of the
country were serving in Ireland with the Reay Fencibles, and those who were
absolutely required at home banded themselves together into this volunteer
militia. In Strathnaver alone there were five companies of this force, but
then every ablebodied man served in the ranks (“Book of Mackay,” p. 227).
After Macdonald’s re-settlement in the parish of Tongue he makes frequent
reference to the periodic epidemics which scourged these northern parts,
during one of which Captain Mackay of Skerray was taken away. These painful
visitations were due to the utter lack of sanitary knowledge prevalent not
only in the north but in the large towns of the south. Within the memory of
people still living the strands of Edinburgh were such vile smelling sewers
that during hot weather passers-by had to cover the nose with their pocket
handkerchiefs; and at the same time to keep a sharp look-out for the
contents of slop pails from upper windows, when the warning cry gardez vous
rang out. Since this was the case in Edinburgh not so long ago, the state of
matters in the north may be more easily imagined than described. What with
rotting manure heaps at the doors, filtering into their wells, the wonder is
that people survived at all. And when fell disease struck, the only remedy
almost was bleeding!
One is also struck with the kindly references Macdonald makes to the
tacksmen of these northern parts, and especially to the Mackays of Skerray.
That there were many among them of conspicuous humanity and piety is
undoubted, but the land system under which they flourished was barbarous to
a degree. The smaller tenants as a rule held their land off the tacksman,
who held his land off the proprietor. The tacksman not only drew rent from
his sub-tenants but feudal service as well, and had it in his power to evict
at pleasure. A selfish, hardhearted tacksman could be a terrible tyrant, for
his sub-tenants were to a large extent serfs. To explode such a system
France had her revolution and Russia is having hers, but we mercifully
escaped such a calamity by making just and timeous concessions to the
people. May not our peaceful evolution be ascribed to the growing power of
God’s Word over peer and peasant? We think so indeed.
When peace came in 1815 after Waterloo, it was followed by a great
depression of trade and poverty all over the country, and the north was no
exception to the general rule. The country was impoverished by a long and
exhausting war, the labour market was glutted by discharged soldiers who
could find no employment, the harvest of 1816 was a poor one, and the winter
following was so stormy that much stock died. Lord Reay, writing in 1826,
says :—
“The estate was let in 1815 when produce was perhaps at the highest, and if
prices had continued the returns [rent of estate] would be about £13,000.
The year 1816 was the most severe that has occurred since, and with tacksmen
so circumstanced in means, and holding such extensive farms, it was both
reasonable and politic that indulgence and every accommodation on my part
should be shown them. I consequently did take bills ” (“Reay Papers”).
A large dealer, writing in 1821, proceeds: —“The best cheviot sheep in this
neighbourhood will not average more than from 10s. to 11s. I bought famous
ones to-day at 10s. 6d. clad, and cheviot wedders will not average more than
17s. or 18s.” (“Reay Papers”).
The fact is, many of the tacksmen became bankrupt, as the “Reay Papers”
show. In these circumstances small wonder though Macdonald found himself in
straitened circumstances when his stepson Macpherson returned from the war
on a wooden leg. |
