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1787.
ON the 10th of May,
1787, my father was settled minister of nv, Kildonan, Presbytery of
Dornoch, Sutherlandshire. The living was procured for him by the
interest of his steady and tried friend, Charles Gordon of Pulrossie.
I have been informed that, on the death of Mr. William Gunn,
minister of Golspie, that living was first procured for my father by
Mr. Gordon; but, on considering that my father was not, by his
natural capacity, well fitted for so public a place, Mr. Gordon
waived his claim in favour of Mr. Keith, then minister of Kildonan,
and, upon his translation to Golspie, my father became his
successor.
His settlement at
Kildonan was not an harmonious one. The causes of this lead me to
state candidly what I conceive to have been his personal character.
He was the sincere and uncompromising enemy of sin in every shape
and circumstance. It might present itself under all its palliatives,
alleviations, and recommendations, but his hostility to it remained
unchanged and inveterate. Then he had naturally a beautiful and
inimitable simplicity of mind, which interwove itself into his
Christian character. There was an artlessness in all he said and did
which no one could have assumed. It was in this natural simplicity
of mind, under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, that lie received
his views of Divine truth. In the confession of his faith, there was
a simplicity, solidity, and connection, all of which were
characteristic of the structure of his mind. But while I state this
as my deliberate conviction concerning him, I must also mention some
things which contributed to obscure his Christian character and to
limit his usefulness as a minister. His piety, though genuine and
vital, was slow in its growth; divine truth had made a saving
impression upon his mind, but that impression was not, at its outset
or during its progress, accompanied by any very deep convictions.
Then, again, he was not a man of intellectual force. He comprehended
a subject after much and laborious investigation, but his mental
progress was slow and tedious. His apprehension, too, was neither
quick nor far-sighted, and he was defective in the ars loquerudi.
He had a difficulty in finding words to express his ideas or to
convey his meaning, and he had a timidity amounting to shyness,
which often crippled him as a speaker. Public observation his mind
shrank from, and the effect of it upon him frequently was to make
him confused in expressing his thoughts. When he felt himself in
this uncomfortable state of mind, words invariably failed him. When
settled minister of Kildonan, therefore, his parishioners,
especially those eminent for piety, received him coldly. I may
mention specially some of those who led the opposition. The first
was an old man, an elder, who lived at Kinbrace, about six miles to
the north of the manse. The next was John MacHarlish, who lived at
Kildonan, and who was afterwards one of my father's tenants. Another
was an old man who lived at Ulbster on the Strath at Helmisdale,
about four miles to the east of the manse. Of his opponents, the
most indomitable was the eccentric John Grant, who lived at Diobal.
The opposition which all these men gave to my father's ministry was-
of the passive sort. They never attended church, but on Sabbath held
meetings of their own. They thus succeeded in alienating the minds
of my father's parishioners from his ministry, and to this might be
traced the beginning of that disaffection to the Church of Scotland
which afterwards, in my native county, prevailed so largely. This
opposition, however, was not so persevering as it was strong in its
first outset; it ultimately died away. My father's natural
disposition and manners were, to the great body of his parishioners,
irresistibly taking, and, in addition to this winning disposition,
he had also those personal attractions which never yet were
overlooked by, nor failed to have their due influence over, the mind
of a Scottish Highland Presbyterian. My mother was eminently pious.
Combined with a mild, equable temper, she possessed a deeply
reflecting and intelligent mind. In these respects, she was to my
father, who was of a temper directly the reverse, a true "helpmeet."
Their circumstances were limited, as the salary of the Dirlot
Mission never exceeded £40, and at Kildonan the stipend was under
£70. At the outset they had difficulty in getting along. Furniture
for a larger house, stocking for a considerable glebe, and a farm of
very great superficial extent, which my father took in lease,
subjected them to a far heavier outlay than they were able
adequately to meet. My mother, who; to her mild temper, united a
degree of humour, used to say, "is bochd so, is bhi bochd roimh,"
which was synonymous with the adage, "out of the fire into the
embers." My father, however, had the faculty of keeping out of debt.
He (lid not indeed succeed in avoiding it altogether, but,
notwithstanding all his difficulties, he never contracted a debt
which he could not ultimately discharge. This was owing, not to any
special shrewdness in the management of his affairs, but solely to a
native honesty, which was the leading feature of his disposition.
The natural heat of his temper, however, was troublesome both to
himself and others. His parishioners were not unfrequently scorched
by it, and my mother often had difficulty in checking its violence.
Like the foam on the water's troubled surface, it appeared only
again to disappear. No judgment of my father's principles could be
worse founded than a judgment resting on the transitory ebullitions
of his temper, which, although too easily roused, somehow or other
were invariably excited on the side of truth. His parishioners knew
this, and when the more judicious and reflecting witnessed such a
triumph of "the old Adam " over him, they never nor were much
surprised at its brief outbreaks.
The members of the
Presbytery of Dornoch when my father became connected with it were,
his maternal uncle, Mr. Thomas Mackay, minister of Lairg; Messrs
George Rainy, of Creich; John Bethune, of Dornoch; Eneas Macleod, of
Rogart; William Keith, of Golspie; Walter Ross, of Clyne; George
MacCulloch, of Loth; and William Mackenzie, of Assynt. At Lairg, Mr.
Thomas Mackay was appointed assistant and successor to his father on
the 17th November, 1749; and at the death of the latter, four years
after, the whole care of the parish devolved upon him. Of deep and
fervent piety, he was profoundly versed, not only in Scripture
doctrine, but in its life-giving influence on the heart. Prayer and
the study of the Scriptures constituted the occupation of his
private hours. When he preached, every intelligent hearer could see
that "because he believed, therefore he spoke." He was recognised as
an earnest Christian when be was but a very youthful minister, and
his ministry was signally honoured in being made instrumental for
bringing many to the knowledge of the truth. Yet with these bright
features of spiritual character, Mr. Mackay was uneven in his
temper, dogmatic in his opinions, and in his judgments, severe and
harsh. My father, who was of different disposition entirely, could
never agree with him, and felt uneasy in his society. Mr. Mackay had
a family of five. His eldest daughter, Catherine, married Captain
Donald Matheson of Shiness, by whom she had a numerous family of
sons and daughters. His eldest son, John, was one of the clerks to
the Commissioners for India, and in their service he lost his sight
and retired on a pension. He purchased the small estate of Little
Tarrel in the parish of Tarbet, to which he gave the name of
Rockfield. Air. Mackay's second son, Hugh, was a captain in the
Madras Native Cavalry, and agent for carriage and draught horses to
the Indian Army under General Wellesley, afterwards Duke of
Wellington. He was killed in the battle of Assaye, assigning the
bulk of his fortune to his elder brother, John. Mr. Mackay's
youngest son, William, was a sailor, and commanded a merchant ship
trading to India. In 1795 he was one of the survivors from the
skipwreck of the Juno, on the coast of Arracan, of which he
published an interesting narrative. He died in 1804. The youngest
daughter, Harriet, married Mr. George Gordon, minister of Loth, by
whom she had five children. Mr. ,Mackay lived to be an old man.
Towards the close of his life, and when unfit to engage in his
public duties, he employed assistants. The first of them was a Mr.
William Ross, who was very popular among the humbler classes. The
people called him, by way of respect, a "Lump of Love," but the
higher classes called him "Lumpy." He died minister of the Gaelic
Chapel, Cromarty. Mr. Mackay's other assistants were the late Mr.
James Macphail, minister of Daviot; the late Mfr George Gordon, of
Loth; and Mr Angus Kennedy. The last of these succeeded him in Lairg,
but afterwards went to Dornoch. Mr. Mackay died in 1803.
My father's next
co-presbyter, in point of seniority, was Mr. George Rainy, minister
of Creich; he was settled there in 1771. A native of Aberdeenshire,
the Gaelic was not his mother-tongue, and even after practising it
during an incumbency of 45 years he could not easily get his mouth
about it. He was a truly pious man, and if he was not successful in
adding numbers to the church, yet be was an honoured instrument in
watering and refreshing the people who were committed to his
pastoral care. His great defect was his deficiency in the language
which his parishioners best understood. In other circumstances this
drawback would have been fatal to his usefulness as a minister. But
Mr. Rainy was the very model of a sincere, practical Christian ; he
preached the gospel by his life more than by his lips. What his
tongue failed fully to explain to his flock his everyday walk
clearly conveyed; and when they connected together the doctrines
which he taught in the pulpit, his personal intercourse with each,
his zeal, his sanctified dispositions, and the warmth and
overflowing tenderness of his heart, they forgot the liberties which
lie took with their language and listened with attention, because
they were convinced that they heard the truth from the lips of one
of its most faithful preachers. Mr. Rainy married a daughter of Mr.
Gilbert Robertson, minister of Kincardine. Mrs. Rainy was pious, the
impersonation of motherly kindness, the beau ideal of a minister's
wife.
The next member of
the Presbytery whom I would mention is air. Eneas Macleod, minister
of Rogart. His father I have already noticed as the author of "Caberfeidh,"
the Gaelic satire, and well known in his native parish of Lochbroom
as a poet, by the name of "Tormaid Ban," or the fair-haired orman.
Mr. Macleod of Rogart was his second son. His eldest son was
Professor of Hebrew in the University of Glasgow, and bequeathed his
valuable library to King's College, Aberdeen, of which both he and
his brother, the minister of Rogart, were alumni. The latter was
admitted minister of that parish in 1774. Mr. Macleod was not a
popular, nor a very evangelical preacher. He had a rich vein of
humour added to great penetration and solidity of judgment, and,
though not himself a poet, he possessed a high taste for the art,
and ardently patronised it. With Rob Donn he was intimate, and he
committed to writing the poems of that hard from the poet's personal
recital. It is to this manuscript that we are indebted for the
edition of Rob Donn's poems, edited in 1829 by Dr. Mackay. Dfr.
Macleod married Jane Mackay, the daughter of a respectable farmer
who occupied the place of Clayside, now a part of the extensive
ducal manor of Dunrobin. This Mr. Mackay was a connoisseur in
card-playing, and was therefore recognised among his associates
under the name of "Hoyle." By his wife ,Mr. Macleod had four sons,
Donald, William, Hugh, and Wemyss, and three daughters, Esther,
Jean, and Elizabeth. He died on the 18th of May, 1791, and was
succeeded by the Rev. Alexander Urquhart.
John Bethune, D.D.,
minister, first of Harris, and afterwards of Dornoch, and son of Mr.
Bethune of Glenshiel, my grandfather's contemporary, "ministear na
tunn" (the barrel minister) was my father's co-presbyter for upwards
of thirty years. He was translated from Harris to Dornoch in the
year 1778. He married Barbara, daughter of Mr. Joseph Munro,
minister of Edderton in Ross-shire, by whom he had five sons, John,
Joseph, Matthew, Walter, and Robert, and three daughters, Christian,
Barbara, and Janet. Dr. Bethune was an elegant classical scholar, a
sound preacher, and one of the most finished gentlemen I ever
remember to have seen. His manners were so easy and dignified that
they would have graced the first peer of the realm, and his English
sermons, which he always read, were among the neatest compositions I
ever heard. In preaching in the Gaelic language, he used very full
notes, as his mind was of that highly-intellectual character that it
could not submit to, nor indeed be brought to work in, mere
extempore or unconnected discussions. With all his other
qualifications he had a delicate sense of propriety, and from
anything, even the slightest word, come from what quarter it might,
that touched upon this terra sacra, he shrunk back as from something
positively loathsome. He was a model Christian minister in the eye
of the world; but with all his natural talents and acquirements,
with all his orthodoxy and sentiment, and with his high sense of
moral propriety, before the keen glance of Christian penetration, he
sank at once to a much lower level. To the anxious and sincere
enquirer after truth, his sermons presented only a dreary prospect
of cold and doubtful uncertainty.
Mr. William Mackenzie
was settled minister of Assynt in 1765. He was licensed by the
Presbytery of Edinburgh, and preached his first sermon in the pulpit
of Dr. Hugh Blair. Settled as the pastor of a rude and
semi-barbarous people, in a wild secluded district, instead of
setting before them the right path by his precept and example, lie
too became as barbarous and intemperate as the worst of them. His
exhibitions in the pulpit were not only lame and unprofitable but
absolutely profane, calculated as they were to excite the ridicule
of his audience. His excesses reduced himself and his family to
great indigence. On one occasion his shoes were fairly worn out. It
was Saturday evening, and he had not a decent pair to wear next day
in going to church. He therefore despatched his kirk-officer with
all convenient speed to a David Macleod, a shoemaker, who lived at a
very considerable distance off, and who had made many pairs of shoes
before for the parish minister without having received one copper in
the way of remuneration. Next day, after delaying the service as
long as lie could, his bearer per express to the shoemaker not
having returned, Mr. Mackenzie was obliged to go to the pulpit
slip-shod as he was. In his sermon, such as it was, he had occasion
towards the close to refer to some incident in the life of David,
King of Israel. "And what said David, think ye, my hearers?" He was,
in due course, about to answer the question himself, but just at
that moment his bearer to David, the Assynt shoemaker, who had
returned, was entering in at the church door. Hearing the minister's
question he shouted out, loud enough to be heard by the whole
congregation, " What did David say?—he said indeed what I thought he
would say, that never a pair of new shoes will you get from him
until you pay the old ones." Towards the close of his life he became
quite helpless, and an assistant and successor was provided for him
in the person of Mr. Duncan Macgillivray in the year 1813. Mr.
Mackenzie died in 1816, at the advanced age of 82.
Mr. William Keith,
minister of Golspie, my father's immediate predecessor in Kildonan,
was admitted minister there in 1776. Previous to his settlement in
that parish, he was first a missionary in the county of Argyle, and
afterwards assistant to Ttr. Donald Ross, minister of Fearn. Mr.
Keith, with whom I was intimately acquainted, gave me many anecdotes
of Mr. Ross. His narrow escape from a sudden and violent death,
through the gigantic exertions of Mr. Robertson of Lochbroom (am
ministear laidir), had in his latter days considerably impaired his
judgment. Mr. Keith was not many years his assistant when, on the
death of Mr. John Ross, he was settled minister of Kildonan. He was
a man of good ability and sincere piety. His ministry as well as his
temporal circumstances at Kildonan were successful and prosperous.
Eminently practical, his doctrine did not enter very much into
theological details, but it was sound, scriptural, and edifying. He
was on the best ministerial footing with his parishioners. The
living was very small, but his wants were few. He lived frugally,
and the parishioners filled his larder with all sorts of viands,
such as mutton, eggs, butter, and cheese. He had also, as minister
of the parish, the right of fishing in the river of Helmisdale to
the extent of seven miles down its course. He married Isabella,
daughter of Mr. Patrick Grant, minister of Nigg, and had seven
children, Peter, William, and Margaret, horn at Kildonan; and
Sutherland, Elizabeth, Sophia, and Lewis, born at Golspie. Mr. Keith
was not very active among his people, being of an exceedingly easy
temperament. He was also of a very social disposition; this indeed
he indulged in to a fault. Society, good living, and the luxuries of
the table, although they never led him into any excess, yet
presented such attractions to him as often brought him in undue
intimacy with the worldly and pi ofane. After Mr. Keith had laboured
for some years at Kildonan, the parish of Golspie became vacant by
the death of Mr. Gunn; he then applied personally to the patron, who
presented him to the living. His departure was universally regretted
by the parishioners of Kildonan, who were much attached to him.
Mr. Walter Ross was
admitted minister of Clyne in the year 1777. He was the immediate
successor of Mr. Gordon. His admission was opposed by the
parishioners, who had set their affections upon a Mr. Graham, a
native of Lairg, and known to be a godly man. The then Countess of
Sutherland was an enemy of God's truth, and her practice was to
appoint, to every parish in her gift, men who in every way brought
reproach on the ministerial character. The Countess, therefore,
indignantly rejected Mr. Graham, and Mr. Ross, whose principles were
in strict accordance with those of his patron, was presented. As a
preacher, he was nothing at all, for the reason that his sermons
were not his own. As the prophet's son said of the axe, when it
dropped into the stream, so might Mr. Ross say of each of his
sermons, "Alas, master, for it was borrowed." He had a Herculean
memory, and he used to say that he had often privately read, and
afterwards, for a wager, publicly preached the sermons of his
clerical friends. His private character, as an individual, had no
moral weight, for not only was his conversation light, worldly, and
profane, but it was characterised by exaggeration and absolute
untruthfulness. He completely understood the art of money-making,
and none could exceed him in domestic and rural economy. He was a
farmer, a cattle-dealer, a housekeeper, and a first-rate sportsman;
and he knew how to turn all these different occupations to profit.
He took a Highland grazing at Grianan, on the river Brora, about ten
miles to the north of his manse, where he reared black cattle, and
sold them to great advantage, lie resided here during the summer
months, and preached on the Sabbaths, in a tent, to the inhabitants
of the more remote districts of the parish. His skill in domestic
management recommended him to the late Sir Charles Ross of Balnagown,
and so entirely did Sir Charles give up to him the economy of his
household, and so much was Mr. Ross engrossed with this, that he was
an almost constant resident at Balnagown Castle, to the total
neglect of his parochial duties. Mr. Ross was, in short, like not a
few clergymen of his party in the church of that day, such a
minister as Rob Donn, in his satire on the clergy, has so
graphically depicted:—
Mr. Ross married,
some years after his settlement at Clyne, Elizabeth, daughter of
Captain John Sutherland, the occupier of the farm of Clynelish in
the vicinity of his manse, by whom he had a son and daughter. He
died in 1825, aged about 74 years.
My father's next
neighbour and co-presbyter was Mr. George Macculloch, minister of
Loth. With this short, keen, argumentative old man my earliest
recollections are associated. His youth was spent at Golspie, of
which he was the parochial schoolmaster. A native of the Black Isle,
Ross-shire, he understood the Gaelic language but imperfectly. When
at Golspie, he was the stated hearer of Mr. John Sutherland, who
afterwards became minister of Tain. Mr. Sutherland was an eminently
pious man, and a truly scriptural and orthodox divine. [Mr. John
Sutherland was translated from Golspie to Tain on 23rd June, 1752.
He died 25th Nov., 1769, in the 39th year of his ministry. He was
intimately associated with the eminent Mr. Balfour of Nigg in the
remarkable revival of true religion which, under God, by their
instrumentality, took place in Ross-shire at that period. He also
boldly contended for the rights of the Christian people in the
calling of ministers. His father was Mr. Arthur Sutherland. minister
of Edderton, a man of kindred evangelical spirit, who died in 1708,
aged 54 years; and his son was Mr. William Sutherland, minister of
Wick.—Ed.] To the doctrines of free grace he gave a more than
ordinary prominence, but this, instead of converting the
schoolmaster, only had the contrary effect of setting him to reason
against such doctrines, so that he ultimately settled down into a
bigoted and rationalistic system of Arminianism. He married
Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of the gardener at Dunrobin, by whom he
had sons and daughters. His sermons, both in Gaelic and English,
were intensely controversial. His Calvinistic antagonist stood
continually in his "mind's eye," like a phantom, and to this fancied
opponent he preached, but not to his congregation. They were
entirely neutral, and listened to his arguments and repelling of
objections very much after the manner of Uallio, who " cared for
none of these things." He argued right on, and while he wearied
himself by the "greatness of the way," he came at last to exhaust
the patience of his hearers. No friend, lay or clerical, who might
casually visit him, could remain for two hours under his roof
without being dragged into the "Arminian controversy." As he
advanced in years, although age did not cool his combative
propensities, yet his views of divine truth underwent a gradual but
most decided change. In his latter days he was much confined to his
room, and there, under the sanctified influence of bodily suffering,
he applied for strength and and patience to the volume of
inspiration. In these circumstances, his his arguments were
exchanged for deep reflection, the pride of intellect for
self-abasement, penitence, prayer, and self-enquiry. Into this
ethereal fire, the favourite "Arminian Controversy" was at last
thrown, and reduced to ashes. He died on the '27th December, 1800,
in the forty-fifth year of his ministry.
Fit for
pedlars or sailors,
Fit for drovers or factors,
Fit for active shrewd farmers,
Fit for stewards not wasteful;
Their sworn calling excepted,
Fit for everything excellent.
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