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"Large are the treasures of
oblivion; much more is buried in silence than recorded; and the largest
volumes are but epitomes of what has been." Sir THOMAS BROWN.
THE Mainland portion of the
parish of Kilbrandon, consisting of a quadrangular area of land stretching
from Clachan Sound to Loch Melfort, comprises the lands of Degnish,
Kilchoan, Barnayarrie, and Ardmaddie; but there is evidence to show that
at one time it included the lands of Barnacarrie, Duachy, and others lying
south of the outlet of Loch Feochan, which now form part of the parish of
Kilninver. Thus, on a hill overlooking Clachan Sound, known as Suidhe
Bhreanain (the seat of St Brendan), there are the remains of a churchyard
called Claodh Bhreanain (the burial-ground of Brendan). In the Aberdeen
Breviary it is related that "Saint Brandon having sailed to the west coast
of Scotland, fixed his residence on the top of a hill, whose base
stretched into the sea, on the spot known as Sedes Brandani, where only
one ship could enter." This description may well apply to Suidhe Bhreanain,
and the narrow channel which at this place separates the parishes of
Kilbrandon and Kilninver.
St Brendan of Clonfert in
Galway, so called to distinguish him from the equally famous St Brendan of
Birr, was one of those Twelve Apostles of Ireland who carried out the
great work of re-Christianising that country. The influence of St
Patrick's teaching had begun to wane, and the faith inculcated by him to
decay, when St Finnian, an Irish Pict, trained in the Welsh school of St
David, Gildas and Cadoc, returned to his native land and introduced that
monastic rule, with its spirit of religious enthusiasm, which made Ireland
in the sixth and seventh centuries the chief centre of Christian thought
and missionary enterprise in Europe. St Finnian founded the great seminary
of Clonard, and here Brendan of Clonfert, Columba, and the remainder of
the Twelve, amongst many others, were trained and sent forth in succession
to plant their faith, not only in the uttermost parts Of Ireland, but in
Scotland, England, and the continent of Europe. The story of the
wanderings of Brendan, as told in the poem of the Pilgrimage of' St
Brendan, is often called the Christian Odyssey. For seven years he
sailed over strange seas and visited the savage lands of Western Alban in
quest of "the land of promise of the Saints," and during his dreary
pilgrimage he repeatedly visited the Land of Lorn, where his memory is
still green in the hearts and lore of the people.
If Columba, was the Apostle
of Caledonia, Brendan was par excellence the Apostle of the Isles.
The latter had reached manhood ere the Scots of Ireland had founded the
colony of Dalriada in 498, and was an old man at the time of St Columba's
exile from Ireland in 563. As pioneer of the Early Christian movement
among the rude tribes of Western Argyll, the period of his missionary
activity was spread over the second quarter of the sixth century. In 542
he founded the monastery of Ailech in one of the Garvelloch Isles, and a
few years later the church of Kilbrandon. He was patron saint of the
parish of that name: his festival day was the 16th of May. His name occurs
frequently in the place-names of the district - Dun Bhreanain, Cille
Bhreanain, Culi Bhreanain (the retreat of St Brendan), Suidhe Bhreanain
and Geodha Bhreanain (the Creek of St Brendan); while that of his more
famous successor St Columba occurs but twice, and then in connection with
artificial wells - one, Tobar Choluim Chille, in the island of Lunga, and
another of the same name in Eileach a' naoimh, or Holy Island. This fact
would indicate that all the prominent natural features had received their
Gaelic names before the advent of the great apostle in 563; and that ere
that time the colonising and Christianising of the Western seaboard of
Argyll was an accomplished fact. The way had been prepared and a strong
foothold secured for the coming of St Columba, the purpose of whose
mission amongst the Dalriadic Scots was to consolidate the power of the
Church and systematise the method of government: a work for which his
royal origin and statesman mind eminently fitted him.
The worship of stones,
fountains, trees and other natural objects, and the mysterious beings
which these represented, is as old as mankind itself; and it was this
worship and the influence of its ministers--the Magi or Druaidh--which the
early missionaries had to combat and subvert. Appropriately enough, at the
foot of Suidhe Bhreanain, crowning a low gravel mound on the shores of a
little lake known as the Dubh-loch, are the remains of a megalithic
circle—vestiges of that ancient cult. Only four of the upright monoliths
remain, but the general arrangement may be traced; and we may believe that
here in this sequestered spot was the principal idol of the Pagan
inhabitants, "the Cromcruach and twelve idols of stone around it,
and he was God of all the people until the coming of Brendan."
Each monolith is a roughly
hexagonal block of basalt, many tons in weight, standing nine feet or more
above the surface of the ground; and we cannot but wonder at the
mechanical genius and perseverance which the men of that far-off neolithic
age must have possessed to wedge the columns from their bed in the
trap-dyke, to transport them long distances, and ultimately, by lever,
inclined plane and the power of co-operation, to erect them as enduring
monuments of their worship and beliefs.
About a quarter of a mile
to the east of the circle, in a bleak, bare glen, is a large sheet of
fresh water known as Loch Seil, in the middle of which is still to be seen
the foundation of a lake dwelling, rectilinear, and built of square blocks
of stone; while to the north tower the basaltic cliff's of Duachy and
Ardnahua, crowned by the fantastic Losgann Lathurnach and the remains of
a, prehistoric fortress. Viewed from the sea, the rock upon which the
ruins stand, 600 feet above sea-level, resembles a bastioned fort. It is
precipitous on three sides, the scarp being about 60 feet high. landward
side was defended by a wall 250 feet long, drawn across the top of an
abrupt slope.
The main road from Oban
passes along the side of Loch Sell, and about a mile to the south, at
Achnasaul, bifurcates. One branch, turning sharply to the right, passes
over Clachan Bridge, then across the island of Seil, to communicate by
means of ferries with the islands of Easdale and Luing. The other branch,
traversing the steep defile of Bealach-na-cridhe, skirts a wide stretch of
swelling braes, known as Na-h-oighean (the maidens), which, while they
partake of the treeless aspect common to Highland moors, satisfy the eye
by the long, stately procession of purple-coloured undulations mounting to
a smooth, clear sky-line in the far distance. Passing along a
densely-wooded ravine, the road suddenly opens into a deep recess on the
shores of a sea-loch, and here, pleasantly situated at the head of the
Islay, is Ardmaddie Castle, a seat of the Marquis of Breadalbane.
Sheltered on three sides by tree-covered heights, it commands to the
south-west a magnificent vista of sea and shore, broadening in the
distance as the long rays of land - Seil, Iuing, and Jura on the one side,
and the jutting bold promontories of Degnish, Craignish, and Knapdale on
the other - diverge.
Behind the castle are the
gardens, and a long flat field called Lon a chuspair. It was here that the
retainers practised "cuspaireachd," or archery. Close by the Lon is a
pretty waterfall, known as Eas-na-ceardaich, down which the great volumes
of water gathered from the Braes above force a noisy passage to the sea.
The dome-shaped mound upon
which the castle stands was the site of much earlier buildings than the
present. During the fifteenth, sixteenth, and part of the seventeenth
centuries the house and broad lands in Netherlorn were the property of the
MacDougalls of Reray. This family, the chief cadets of the house of
Dunollie, attained during the period referred to a position of
considerable power and influence. Their leaders seem to have been men of
great ability, and were generally engaged in important service. The
marriage of John MacDougall of Reray to Isabel, daughter of Sir John
Campbell and Muriel of Calder, inclined the family to support the Argyll
Campbells in their schemes of aggrandisement against the MacDonalds of
Islay and Kintyre. Thus we find John MacDougall's grandson acting as
Argyll's lieutenant against Sir James MacDonald of Islay during the last
great struggle of that princely family to maintain the superiority which
had in previous centuries earned for its chiefs the proud title of "Lords
of the Isles": and during the same campaign Alexander MacDougall, a
brother of Reray, was killed while acting as Constable of the royal castle
of Duniveg in Islay.
Notwithstanding frequent
marriage alliances with Campbell families, the MacDougalls, during the
Civil War, actively supported 1Clontrose and his able coadjutor, Sir
Alexander MacDonald. Young MacDougall of Reray, reputed the most handsome
soldier in the Royalist army, was one of the few men of note who fell on
the victorious side in the sanguinary battle of Inverlochy.
For this defection, the
Campbells, who suffered severely during the strife, never forgave the
MacDougalls, and seized the first opportunity, which soon presented
itself, of revenge. The story is thus told. John Maol MacDougall, the last
baron of Reray, was married to a sister of Campbell of Ardkinglass; they
lived unhappily together, so that by and by a separation was agreed upon,
the wife being allowed a residence at Dunmore, near Easdale. MacDougall
being shortly afterwards at a fair held at Kilmore, near Oban, was induced
by one of the Campbells of Calder to marry a kinswoman of the latter. The
matter being reported to Argyll, MacDougall was prosecuted for bigamy, and
failing to pay the enormous fine imposed, his lands were seized by the
Earl of Argyll, at that time hereditary Sheriff of Argyll and Justiciar
for Argyll and the Western Isles, who bestowed them in feu upon his second
son, Lord Neil Campbell. It is said that the MacDougalls were not evicted
without a severe struggle, the old castle withstanding several attacks
before being captured. Strange to say, the fate of the family of Reray is
unknown; they appear to have sunk into instant and complete obscurity, and
at the present day not an acre of land in the district of Netherlorn is
possessed by one of the name.
Shortly after entering into
possession of the Netherlorn estates, Lord Neil Campbell partially rebuilt
Ardmaddie Castle; and a stone, carved with his initials intertwined with
those of his wife, Lady Vera Kerr, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian, and
bearing the date 1671, is set in the north gable.
Lord Neil, like his father,
the Marquis of Argyll and eighth earl, and his brother the ninth earl, was
a staunch adherent of the Presbyterian party in Scotland, and shared in
the persecution to which that body was subjected during the reigns of
Charles II and James VII. Thus, on 1st August 1684, "that excellent
person, Lord Neil Campbell, brother to the noble Earl of Argyll, was cited
before the Council for no other cause but that: he was the son of the
excellent Marquis and brother to the Earl of Argyll. Nothing worthy of
death or bonds could be laid to his charge"; but nevertheless we find it
ordained that "the clerks of council are warranted to receive caution for
him, under the penalty of five thousand pounds sterling, that he confine
himself to Edinburgh, and six miles about, and compear before the council
in a charge of six hours." In 1685, after the failure of the miserably
planned rising which ended in the capture and execution of the Earl of
Argyll, great severity was exercised towards the family and their
followers: their names were proscribed, their estates devastated, and, in
the words of Woodrow, "to that height of madness did some bigots run, that
an act was a-framing to be presented to the parliament for the utter
abolishing of the name of Campbell." Lord Neil became a fugitive,
ultimately escaping to America; but for two years he is said to have
hidden in a deep recess high in the cliffs overhanging the loch, a mile to
the north-west of Ardmaddie.
The cave is known as "Uamh
phubuill" (the cave of the tent), from the fact that, owing to the
capacious mouth of the recess, it was necessary to erect a tent or
pavilion to obtain shelter from the wind and rain. The opening is
effectively screened from observation by a dense growth of hazel and ash
along the range of cliffs. The exile did not return until the "killing
times" were over, and the Revolution Settlement had established a more
enlightened policy and juster system of government.
The hardships and exposure
to which Lord Neil was subjected brought on a weak and gouty habit of
body, and rendered him liable to a disease not uncommon among the better
living classes of those and other days: he became peculiarly subject to
the attacks of' what Burns calls "crowling ferlies." Stories about the
Morair Niall, as he was called, still linger in the district, and the
following bearing upon his bodily affliction is told. A tenant from the
island of Luing having duly paid his rent was surprised to get notice some
time afterwards that he was in arrears. Receipts not being customary at a
time when the small holder's possession depended upon the whim of the
tacksman or landlord, the tenant proceeded to the castle, where he saw the
laird and tried to remind him of the payment. The farmer's statement was
likely to receive no credit, when he interjected:
"Nach eil cuimhne agaibh
a Mhorair air an latha a thug mi miall thar cota?" ("Do you not
remember, my lord, that day upon which I took a louse from your coat").
Lord Neil became confused, but, remembering the incident, replied: "Companach
mial an righ, ach compannch coin deargan. Seadh! seadh! mo laochan phaidh
thu mall ceart gu Leoir."
("The flea may be the companion of dogs, but the louse is the companion of
kings. Yes, yes, my little man, you paid your rent right enough. Go away,
go away.") His trouble became so vexatious, however, that, consulting a
wise woman who resided near by, he was told that it was caused by the
presence of a certain plant - the ribwort (slanlus)--which grew in
great abundance near the castle; and, as he considered it impossible to
eradicate the root, he determined to dispose of the estates. They were
accordingly sold about 1692 to John, first Earl of Breadalbane, for a sum,
it is said, of twenty thousand pounds. The Earl of Argyll was furious when
he heard of the transaction, and refused to accept any portion of the
money, which, tradition relates, remains in the Sheriff Court of Inveraray
until this day.
For the greater part of the
eighteenth century Ardmaddie was the residence of the factor for the
Argyllshire portion of the Breadalbane property; but the first Marquis,
having been born there while his father, Colin Campbell of Carwhin, was
Commissioner upon the estate, made it his favourite seat when he succeeded
to the earldom. His son, the second Marquis, planned vast improvements to
the house and surroundings, but died before the work was well-nigh begun.
The present noble representative of the house of Breadalbane completed the
building as it at present stands, adding a large wing with decorated
towers and handsome elevation; so that the house, although not a large
one, is in perfect proportion to its surroundings. |
