One of the popular schemes of the Congested Districts Board (1898-1912) was the provision of bulls, rams and stallions, on loan, to crofting parishes where the stock was in need of improvement. This wasn’t the first attempt to improve stock with the introduction of bulls: evidently Sir James Matheson spent £1200 doing the same, during his time as Proprietor of the island.  From 1898, the Board issued an annual notice regarding the scheme, of which this is a typical example:

The Congested Districts Board are prepared to supply a limited number of bulls for use in Townships or Districts in Congested Parishes, and Crofters’ Common Grazings Committees desirous of making application for these animals should now do so.

All applications by these Committees must be made on printed forms, of which copies may be obtained on application from the Secretary of the Board.

It is essential that applications be in the hands of the Secretary before 27th January 1901.

It must be distinctly understood that the Committee will be responsible for any damage done by a bull while in their custody; also, that all expenses in connection with the wintering of the bulls shall be paid by the recipients, who must, in every case, make satisfactory arrangements for the keep of bulls during the winter following each service season, until the Board removes the bull in ordinary course of their arragements.

The bulls will remain the property of the Board.

RR MacGregor
Secretary

6 Parliament Square, Edinburgh, 3 Dec 1901

The Board was supplying Highland bulls in the west, Shorthorn or Polled Angus in the north, according to the preference of the crofters. In 1900-01, for instance, 45 bulls were sent out, 34 Highland to Tiree, Skye, the Western Isles, Wester Ross and Sutherland, and 8 Polled Angus and 3 Shorthorn to Caithness, Orkney and Shetland. The demand was greater than the amount the Board could supply and they were obliged to judge where their bulls would be of best use. In 1904, the progress to date was reported, including some Uig dispatches:

Aird: Supplied first in 1899. Cattle small and badly bred. The people have paid some attention to the gets of the bulls and kept a good many of them. Their young cattle are much improved in every respect. They have a second bull now.

Callanish: Supplied in 1902. Cattle very small and badly bred. They have kept very few of the gets of the bull. Those they have are a wonderful improvement on the old stock, having a good coat and good bones.

Haclete: Supplied in 1902. The class of cattle here is small and badly bred. there is not very much improvement to be seen as yet. The people are very thankful for the bull.

Valtos: Supplied in 1900. Cattle small and badly bred. They kept as many as they could of the young cattle, and consequently their stock is much improved. They have a second bull now.

Miavaig (for Kneep): Suplied first in 1899. Cattle a fair class. They kept a good many of the bull’s gets, and took good care of them. They got another bull in May 1903. They have now calves between the second bull and the first bull’s heifers, and they look very well. This is about the best case of improvement I have seen in the Lewis.

Crowlista: Supplied in 1904. Cattle small and a mixed class. They will take time to improve.

Tobson: Supplied first in 1899, and again in 1904. Their cattle were a small, badly-bred class. They are now improving, and beginning to show something Hihgland in coat and bones, but the set of horn is still farm from right.

Breasclete: Supplied first in 1900. Cattle very small and badly bred. They did not keep very many of his gets. Those they have kept are an improvement on the old stock. They have a second bull now, and they promise to look better after his gets.

Dalbeg: Supplied in 1901. The cattle in this district are rather a mixed lot of several breeds, even polleds. Their cattle are not very much improved yet, but some of the young cattle have better hair and better bone.

Tolsta Chaolais: Supplied in 1901. Cattle small and badly bred. They have kept some of the bull’s gets, and they are an improvement on the old stock. They should have kept more of them.

In 1908, a further report shows that the scheme continued at about the same rate.

Up to the beginning of the financial year 1908-9 we had purchased in all [since 1899] 412 bulls, which were lent to Grazing Committees on condition that proper arrangements were made for the care and wintering of the animals. In December 1908 we issued our usual notice [...] for bulls, and the following distribution was made of 48 bulls:- [The majority to Skye, Harris and the Southern Isles; in Lewis, just one Highland, to Barvas.]

We have endeavoured to buy our Highland bulls from breeders as near the districts to be served as possible. We are now in touch with so many of the breeders of the best West Highland bulls that we are able to buy direct from them for delivery in May a considerable number on satisfactory terms. this not only obviates the heavy expense for keep which resulted from purchases at the February sales, but the animals are not so heavily fed as they would in that case be. But purchase at the public sales has considerable advantages, and we have always reverted to them for bulls that can be delivered soon after the sales.

As we have stated before, there is ample evidence that our bulls are doing great good to the cattle of the congested areas. This opinion is shared by the crofters and by authorities on stock conversant with the destricts, who urge us to extend our supply of bulls, and in this year of 1909 we have been able to secure and exceptionally good lot of suitable Highland bulls. If the crofters in the west could combine to reduce their ‘souming’ and give their young stock a chance to grow, the improvement would be large and immediate. Even as it is, they get better prices, and they carry out our conditions as to wintering with, as a rule, admirable fidelity.

The following year, Uig was praised for having made best use of the scheme; Barvas and Lochs were doing less well with it, especially the latter where it seems the cattle were very poor and inbred to begin with:

The Parish of Uig in Lewis has been having the use of CDB bulls since 1899. Some of the townships in this parish have been paying a good deal of attention to their cattle, in teh way of keeping the best beasts to breed from, and the results are very satisfactory. There are some very nice, well-bred young cattle to be seen in some parts of the parish.

In total, 679 bulls were provided to the seven counties; three came to Uig in the last year.  After the CDB ceased to exist, in 1912, a similar scheme was continued by the Department of Agriculture into the 1960s. The bulls were overwintered in sheds around Uig, one of which can be seen below the cemetery in Ardroil, and another by the shore in Crowlista using the walls of the old school.  Some of the bulls were swum out to small islands, which occasioned the loss of the Geshader bull in the 1930s.

Mangersta, like most occupied townships in Lewis, was relotted in 1849, with 15 crofts laid out and tenancies and rents allocated. Most, if not all, of the original tenants were long-standing inhabitants of Mangersta and the immediate vicinity (though Mangersta had been briefly given to sheep) and they included several members of the family of boatbuilding Macleans.

**Croft 14, on the map “Murdo Maclean (Malcolm), Carpenter, formerly No. 7″ and “£ 2.10/0″ are added.

In 1851 the Chamberlain, John Munro Mackenzie, was having the usual difficulty in collecting half-yearly rents. By the time of his spring tour of the island in February, he had devised a scheme for assisted (and to some degree compulsory) emigration for those of his tenants who were unlikely, based on arrears and stock values, ever to clear their debts. Six families of Mangersta (of which two were willing), comprising 34 people, were advised to emigrate in the summer, when James Matheson chartered ships to carry1,772 Lewis folk to Canada. It’s not clear which six families the Chamberlain had in mind but some correspondence with the information below can be expected. Note that the push to emigrate came after the lotting; and some of the accumulated arrears must have been carried forward from the pre-1849 holdings.

Mangersta, like other townships, struggled on. In 1872 the tenants requested that they be moved to better ground as the exposed site was causing them problems. Most of the families removed to new ground at Doune Carloway. The following croft-by-croft account gives the families in the village from about 1849, and their destination after the end of Old Mangersta.  Compare also the lists of tenants in 1824 and 1867.

From 1872 Mangersta was a single farm, occupied by Donald Mackay and family; it was of course resettled, with 13 crofts, in 1911.

The information below is compiled from old Comann Eachdraidh records and the census; if you can add or correct anything, please do.

1 Mangersta

The croft was originally let to John Macaulay but he and Angus Maclean (originally No. 8 ) exchanged.

Angus Maclean born 1804 was known as An t-Saoir Dubh (the boatbuilder). He was the son of Calum Maclean, born 1756, who appears on the Mangersta tenancy lists in 1807, 1819 and 1824. Angus was married to Kirsty (Morrison) 1814, and had children Donald 1834, Calum 1836, Catherine 1838, Peggy 1841, Murdo 1845, John 1848, and Norman1851.

In 1872, these went to Doune Carloway: Angus above, wife Kirsty, children Margaret and John; also son Donald above with his wife Mary and son Angus.

2 Mangersta

The original tenant was Norman Macleod 32 (TarmodDhomhnaill, a fisherman), his wife Catherine 33 (daughter of Norman Macleod pensioner, No. 11), children Betty 6 and Donald 1.Norman gave up the tenancy but Norman (plus later children Murdo, Norman and Peggy) remained in Mangersta as a fisherman and went to Doune in 1872

Before 1861, the croft was taken over by Peter Macleod (1804) from Carnish, his wife Ann 1803, children Jean, John and Donald.

In 1872, Peter and Ann moved to Doune Carloway with children John, Donald, Janet and Ann.

3 Mangersta

The original tenant was Calum Macdonald 1787 (Calum Aonghais Fionnlaidh) and his wife Peggy 1796, children Kenneth, Kirsty, Calum, Finlay.

In 1872, these went to Doune Carloway: Margaret Macdonald, widow of Calum above, son John with wife Betty and children Donald, Calum, Kirsty and Margaret; son Kenneth Macdonald with wife Ann and child Calum; son Donald with wife Catherine and child Mary Ann .

4 Mangersta

The original tenant was Donald Smith but his name was replaced by that of his son-in-law Kenneth – who had originally been intended for No 3. The family was Kenneth Morrison 1814 (a weaver), his wife Margaret 1814 (nee Smith, daughter of Donald below), children Catherine 1840, Angus 1842, John 1844, Marion 1847, Donald 1850.

Also on the croft, the said Donald Smith 1773, wife Ann 1771, daughter Mary 1807.

In 1872, these went to Doune Carloway: Margaret Morrison 1814 (widow of Kenneth, daughter of Donald Smith) with children Angus 1843, Donald 1850, Ann 1853, Margaret 1857, Kirsty 1860 and her sister the above Mary Smith .

5 Mangersta

The original tenant was Angus Maclean 1771(Aonghas ‘ic Dhomhnaill) who appears on Mangersta lists in 1807, 1819 and 1824; his wifeMary 1776, Kenneth 1821.Angus’s son Donald (1819), his wife Ann (1817) and daughter Flora (1850) were also in Mangersta.

In 1872, these went to 15 Crowlista: Ann Maclean (widow of Donald, above), children Flora 1851, Kirsty 1853 and Angus 1855. Also Catherine Maclean (widow of Kenneth above), children Angus 1860 and Mary 1862.

6 Mangersta

The original tenant was John Macleod 1791(Iain Chaluim) and wife Kirsty 1795, children Betsy 1828, Calum 1831, Murdo 1836, John 1839, Donald 1841; also living there, Peggy Macleod 1837 and Betsy Macleod 1831.

In 1872, these went to Doune: Murdo Macleod son of John above, his brother John, Isabella and Catherine.

7 Mangersta

The croft was originally let jointly to two widows.

Widow Mary Macaulay (or Maclean) 1796 and her son Donald 1829.In 1872, Mary Macaulay went to Doune.

Isabella Macleod 1801 (widow of John), sons Donald 1835 and John1838. In 1872, these went to Doune: Isabella Macleod above,and her children Donald above and Ann 1836. There was also a Calum 1832 in the family. Donald later returned to 1 Ungeshader.

8 Mangersta

The original tenant was Angus Maclean, who exchanged with John Macaulay for No 1.

The family was John Macaulay 1806 and his wife Margaret 1806; children Donald 1839, Murdo1843, Malcolm1846.Despite getting the croft, John emigrated to Canada in 1851 and settled in Whitton.

Before 1871 the croft was taken by Murdo Macleod 1811 from ArdBheag (Murchadh na h-Airde), with his wife Jean 1826, Donald 1855, Kirsty 1857, Calum 1859, Angus 1862, Marion 1863.

In 1872, these went to Doune: Murdo Macleod (above), wife Jean, children Donald, Kirsty, Calum, Angus, Marion.

9 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was Calum Maclean 1818 (Calum Beag, brother of Angus No. 1), his sister Peggy 1837, his mother Ann 1779 (widow of Calum Sr), and a John Macdonald 1826.

In 1872, these went to Doune Carloway: Calum, his wife Ann, and children Donald, Catherine, Calum, Kirsty, Betsy and John.

10 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was Donald Macdonald 1797 (Domhnall Aonghais Fionnlaidh), wife Kirsty 1803, son John 1834; also a Kirsty Buchanan 1843.

In 1872, these went to Doune Carloway: John Macdonald (above), wife Catherine, children Ann 1861, Donald 1862, Murdo 1867, Catherine 1869, and his mother the widowed Kirsty (above).

11 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was Norman Macleod 65 (Tarmod Buidhe, a pensioner of the 78th), his wife Margaret 1794, Kirsty 1813, Hugh 1827,Margaret 1829, Mary 1838.

In 1872, these went to Doune: Kirsty Macleod (widow of Norman above), daughter Margaret 1826, grandchildren Catherine 1855, Donald 1857, Mary 1861 (family of Hugh above)

12 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was John Maclean 1828 (Iain IainDeirg) and his wife Ann 1830, son John 1850. Also his brother Angus Maclean 1833, and others, Donald Macleod 1833, Angus Macleod 1833.

1872, these went to Doune: the above John Maclean and wife Ann, children John, Isabella, Donald and Kirsty. Also his brother Calum Maclean (Calum Buidhe) and wife Marion (daughter of Iain Mhurchaidh from Carnish) and their children Donald, Isabella, Murdo, Mary Ann, John, Kirsty  and Peggy.

13 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was Finlay Macdonald (Fionnlaidh Mac Aonghais), but after his death the tenancy was given to his son Alexander Macdonald (see 15A). On the croft were Effy Macdonald 1799 (widow of Finlay), Kirsty 1827, Marion 1833, Angus 1835, Donald 1841, Ann 1843. No notion of where they went before or at the time of clearance in 1872.

Alexander appears not to have remained in the village after the 1850s so the croft may have gone to one of the new arrivals below.

14 Mangersta

The original tenant in 1849 was Angus Macleod 1796, with his wife Kirsty 1786, Margaret 1846, also Rachel Matheson 1836. Angus moved to Carnish by 1851.

When Angus died with no heirs, the croft was taken over by Angus Smith 1816 (Aonghas a’ Ghobha), and his wife Kirsty 1812, children Catherine 1833, Hannah 1835, Catherine 1838, Marion 1842, Ann 1845 and John 1849. They emigrated to Quebec.

The next tenant was Murdo Maclean 1820 (boatbuilder, a son of Calum, brother to Angus No 1 ), with his wife Peggy 1821 and son Calum 1850.

In 1872 these went to Doune: Margaret widow of Murdo (above), children Calum, Margaret, Donald and Flora.

15A Mangersta

The original tenancy in 1849 was shared between Murdo and John Maclean below, sons of Calum Maclean and brother of Angus at No. 1.

On 15A were Murdo Maclean 1803 (Murchadh Ruadh),his sister Mary 1801, also Alexander Macdonald 1830 (tenant of No. 13)

In 1872, Murdo Maclean moved to Doune Carloway, but after the others.

15B Mangersta

John Maclean 1801 (brother of Murdo 15A) and his wife Ann 1815, children Murdo 1836, Donald 1838, Margaret 1840, John 1842, Catherine 1844, Mary 1847, Calum 1851.

John and family emigrated to Quebec in 1851; his share of the croft reverted to Murdo 15A

Landless cottars in Mangersta around 1851

Kirsty Smith 1882

Donald Macaulay 1811 (from Timsgarry), Catherine 1811 (second wife, daughter of Calum Maclean, sister of Angus 1 Mangersta), children Donald 1831, Mary 11834, Ann 11836, Kenneth 1840, Malcolm 1843, Catherine 1845, William 1847 and Ann 1850.They left Mangersta before the lotting and settled in Winslow, Quebec.

Murdo Macaulay (Murachadh Dubh) 1811 and his wife Marion 1814, children Ann 1836, Margaret 1836, Donald 1838, Calum 1841, John 1843, Catherine 1845, Angus 1846, also Norman Macaulay 1818.This family did not get a croft in Mangersta at the lotting. They moved to 1 Islivig before 1851 and emigrated to Quebec from there.

John Maclean 1822 and his wife Kirsty 1822. They appear to have left Uig before 1861, for parts unknown.

New arrivals in Mangersta after 1851 

Angus Buchanan 1840 (Aonghas Mhurachaidh) Kirsty, children Calum and Murdo. From Carnish before 1861.

John Macleod 1821, his wife Janet 1814, also Donald 1788. From Carnish before 1861.

Calum Maclean 1822, Marion 1809, children Donald, Isabella, Murdo, John, Kirsty, Peggy. Moved from Carnish to Mangersta before 1861.

Margaret Macdonald 1826; in Mangersta in 1861.

Hector Morrison 1802,  Schoolmaster from Gairloch, his wife Ann 1804, daughter Margaret 1835, and granddaughter Jane Barnett 1856. They come to Mangersta before 1861.

Mary Macrae 1813, daughter Margaret 1835 – from Ceann Chuisil, they arrived in Mangersta before 1871.

The Congested Districts Board was formed in 1897 to ease by means of grants and schemes the poverty identified in the remoter parishes of Scotland. From about 1906 the Board sought to improve the conditions of (and income from) poultry keeping in the the crofting parishes, and introduced distribution centres in target districts. The Uig centre was at Gisla Farm, where Duncan Maclean (brother of Big Bear) and his wife Marion (nee Shaw) were enthusiastic poultry breeders. They were both about 60 when they were visited by the Poultry Breeding in Scotland Commission.

Minutes of Evidence taken by the Poultry Breeding in Scotland Commission, 1909.

Mr Duncan Maclean and Mrs Maclean, visited and examined [on 22 July 1908].  The evidence obtained was as follows:–

252. Mr Maclean is a farmer, and his wife, who is a native of Cambridgeshire, takes a keen interest in poultry. (a) She has had eighteen years’ experience of it. She started by getting two sittings of eggs from the south – white Leghorns and silver Wyandottes – 8 and 7 hatched out of these sittings respectively. The white Leghorns did not do well afterwards, but the silver Wyandottes did splendidly. Next year she got Andalusians and Anconas. These were a lighter breed and did very well until the winter, when it was too bleak for them. She then tried Buff Orpingtons. At present Mrs Maclean has Orpingtons, Wyandottes, brown Leghorns, etc., but she thinks the Orpingtons are the best. (b) She has supplied the neighbouring lodge [Morsgail] with fowls for the table at 1s. 6d. apiece. The crofters’ fowls only fetch 6d. (c) The lodge also buys her eggs at 1s. a dozen, while the remainder are sent to London at an average of about 1s. 4d. per dozen. She gets 1s. 6d. a dozen for a standing order of 6 dozen per week. These are sent to a lady in London, and are rubbed with butter and wrapped up in paper before being dispatched. (d) They are put in special boxes, for which Mrs Maclean pays the carriage to London, and the lady pays the carriage on the return of the empty box. Mrs Maclean keeps boxes containing 6, 10 and 12 dozen, all fitted with cardboard sections, and the eggs are rolled in paper.

(e) Mrs Maclean has this season supplied 100 sittings of eggs to the Congested Districts Board, at 3s. a sitting, for distribution among the crofters in the neighbourhood. They put the result at 80per cent, and in some cases even higher where proper care had been taken. Mr Maclean delivered every sitting himself, and Mrs Maclean packed and sorted them so that each sitting should contain a portion of summer as well as winter layers. These eggs are not pure breeds; they are first crosses — that is what the Congested District Board wanted. (f) Mrs Maclean says she has lots of potatoes, and these are made into a mash mixed wiht meal, oatmeal, and barley meal for the hens. If a sheep dies it is boiled up for them, and she says that she is never without winter eggs. (g) The greatest number of of eggs is got in March and the least in October. The proportion is about 4 to 1. In the months of March, April and May, about 1000 eggs a month are got from a stock of from 40 to 50 hens. (h) Mrs Maclean says that the climate of Lewis is very much windier than Cambridgeshire, but she thinks that with care even more can be made of the poultry in Lewis, because it is much milder although windier than in her native place. (i) Disease rarely occurs among the fowls, and chickens are never lost in this way. The fowls are kept in outhouses, where they are kept scrupulously clean and free from vermin.

(j) Mrs Maclean would very much like to have movable houses as she has plenty of room for them. She would also like to have an incubator. (k) Mrs Maclean puts the net profit per hen per annum at 4s. 6d. but she thinks that if feed stuff could be obtained in larger quantities – which might be done if people joined together for the purpose – a much higher profit could be obtained (l) Mr and Mrs Maclean distribute pure white Orpingtons, Buff Orpingtons, partridge Wyandottes, Jubilee Orpingtons. These are all winter layers and have been distributed to all the people. They have also sent out Anconas, Andalusians and brown Leghorns. This year Mrs Maclean has tried white and black Leghorns. She has also sent out Faverolles and Indian Game. (m) The eggs weigh, as a rule, from to 17 lbs per long hundred in summer, and 17 lbs in winter. Mr and Mrs Maclean buy eggs themselves at 1s. in winter and they pay 8d. a dozen in summer. The market value of brown eggs is higher than white ones.

(n) They have tried ducks but they have no suitable place to keep them in, and they are so dirty that they do not associate well with the hens.

(o) they are of opinion that it would be a great advantage to the crofters to have a central depot for collecting eggs, where they could be graded and set off to market in large quantities and thus realise better to market in large quantities and thus realise better prices. (p) They are also of opinion that the best way for the Government to improve the Lewis poultry would be to institute experimental farms with a good practical man at the head, who could give lectures and demonstrations to the people. Most of the people understand English quite well, and anyone who could not, could have the information interpreted.

We have one egg-shipping box in our collection (picture above), made of card and dating we think from the 1940s, though as Mrs Maclean was sending larger quantities she was presumably using a sturdier wooden box like the one shown here – or perhaps something like this one with wee hammocks, though that seems unlikely given her description of the process.

The Commission took very detailed evidence from communities across Scotland but the only other West Uig visit was to Macdonald and Macleod in Enaclete, on the same day:

Mr Macdonald and Mr Macleod [Enaclete], visited and examined.  The evidence obtained was as follows:–

253. There were 20 chickens out of two settings at each croft; these were well grown and were true to their kind. The majority of them were crosses hatched from the Congested Districts Board eggs supplied by Mrs Maclean of Gisla. The poultry in this district are very much improved.

The last visit of the day took place on the Commissioners’ road back to Stornoway, when they saw Mrs Maciver in Lochganvich, who was not in receipt of Congested District Board sittings and seems to be showing the effects of that.

Mrs H Maciver [Lochganvich], visited and examined.  The evidence obtained was as follows:–

254. Mrs Maciver keeps about 10 hens. They do not pay very well because the price is poor. (a) She gets 6d. a dozen in summer and 1s. in winter. The chickens are hatched about May. She has never received any of the Congested Districts Board’s eggs. (b) The hens are kept in outhouses with a fire at night in the witner. (c) She gets no eggs in winter till after New Year. (d) The fowls are the old-fashioned breeds. They are two or three years old, but she did not know exactly.

Evidence was also taken in other parts of Lewis, including from Kenneth Maclennan, merchant in Stornoway, who was buying between 297 and 1570 hundred eggs a month for export – and he agreed that quality had improved (the eggs being bigger, and less fishy) and that brown eggs attracted a higher price.

Robert Buchanan, in The Hebrid Isles (Chatto & Windus, 1883), gives an account of the practice in Uist in the 19th century:

Ever and anon, in the course of these aquatic rambles, you meet a group of kelp-burners gathered on a headland or promontory; and a capital study it would make for an artist with some little Rembrandtish mastery over the shadows. Clouding the background of a cold blue sky, the thick smoke rises from their black fire, and the men move hither and thither, in and out of the vapour, raking the embers together, piling the dry seaweed by armsful on to the sullen flames. as they flit to and fro, their wild Gaelic cries seem foreign and unearthly, and their unkempt hair and ragged garments loom strangely through the foul air. On the hill-slope above them, where a rude road curves to the shore, a line of carts, each horse guided by a woman, comes creaking down to the week-strewn beach to gather tangle for drying. The women, with their coarse serge petticoats kilted high and coloured handkerchiefs tied over their heads, stride like men at the horses’ heads, and shriek the beasts forward…

The manufacture of kelp, although depreciated infinitely in value since Government took the duly off Spanish barilla, is yet carried on to a large extent. The process is very simple – that of burning the seaweed in stone ovens until it leaves the solid deposit called kelp in the raw state; but care and experience are required to produce the best article.

He also quotes John MacCulloch’s The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, in a series of letters to Sir Walter Scott of 1824. MacCulloch was a geologist and wrote in very useful detail; the publication is available in full on Google Books.

As the price of kelp varies in the market, the revenues of the proprietors are subject to fluctuations from which the labourers are exempt. When first wrough, and down to the year 1760, the price reached from £2 to £5 per ton; the expenses being then far less than at present. In 1790 it was at £6; whence, as the succeeding war checked the importation and raised the price of barilla, it rose to £11, £12, £15, and, for a short period, to £20. Valuable, therefore, as this species of property may be, it is extremely unsteady; while it is also precarioius, as any great discovery of the long-attempted problems to decompose sea-salt by a cheap process, might extinguish it in a moment. Where the interests are so few, and the total advantages so limited, it could scarcely expect protection from restrictive laws. I must now indeed add, that between the period of writing and printing this, the duties on barilla have been diminished, but that an after-suspension of the law has also taken place. Hence it becomes unnecessary further to alter what I had written; while the present view will tend to show what the effects of the loss on this manufacture are likely to be on the insular population, and how necessary it is that some equivalent, if temporary, relief should be given.

If this manufacture was once ill-understood and worse imagined, it seems now to have attained all the perfection of which it is susceptible. June, July, August and part of September form the period of this harvest. The drift weed thrown on the shore by storms is sometimes used; but, if much injured, it is rejected, as in this state it is found to yield little salt. This kind consists chiefly of tangles, as they are called here, or Fucus saccharinus and Digitatus, which at all times contain less soda than the harder species, and are also much better adapted for manure. The latter consists chiefly of four, the Serratus, Digitatus, Nodosus, and Vesiculosus, and these are cut at low-water from the rocks on which they grow. As the value of a kelp estate depends on the magnitude of the crop, it is therefore regulated principally by three circumstances: namely, the linear extent of the shores, the breadth of the interval between high and low water mark, consisting in the length of the ebb or fall of the tide and the flatness of the beach, and the tranquility of the water of its shelter from the surge: to wich may be added the nature of the rocks, as some kinds are found to favour the growth of the plants more than others. It has been attempted to increase the extent of this submarine soil by rolling stones into the water; but I believe that the success has never repaid the expense. On some estates this harvest is reaped every second year; on others only every third; nor does it seem to be agreed what are the comparative advantages of either practice.

The weeds, being cut by the sickle at low-water, are brought on shore by a very simple and ingenious process. A rope of heath or birch is laid beyond them, and the ends being carried up beyond the high-water mark, the whole floats as the tide rises, and thus, by shortening the rope, is compelled to settle above the wash of the sea, whence it is conveyed to the dry land on horseback. The more quickly it is dried, the better is the produce; and, when dry, it is burnt in coffers, generally constructed with stone, sometimes merely excavated in the earth. In Orkney the latter are preferred. It has been attempted, idly enough, to introduce kilns, a refinement of which the advantages bear no proportion to the expense, as in the ordinary mode the kep forms its own fuel. As twenty-four tons of weed, at a medium, are required to form a ton of kelp, it is easy to conceive the labour employed for this quantity, in the several process of cutting, landing, carrying, drying, stacking and burning.

In general the kelp shores are reserved by the proprietor, who thus becomes the manufacturer and merchant. If, in somepoints of view, this is a questionable piece of policy, it is a practice not easily avoided. The farms of the great bulk of the tenants are too small to allow of their managing the kelp to advantage; nore would it be easy to find a responsible lessee for this part of the estate alone. As there is no class of labourers in this country, the work must also be performed by the small tenants. These, however, are not paid by money wages; but, being the tenants on the estate itself, a portion of their rent is thus imposed and received in the form of labour. Thus two pounds a year, and the manufacture of a ton of kelp, will represent the average rent of a farm here valued at five pounds.

The Hebridean Seaweed Company gives a good history of the industry in general.   The industry is on the rise again and is believed to have great potential for the economy of the Western Isles.

In the Outer Isles the folk who make their living off the land can’t come to the market. So the market goes to them.  And the cattle sales may well decide whether the crofter and his family have a good year or a bad year.

In Lewis the hub for the sales is Stornoway.  It’s there that the buyers from the mainland gather. And it’s from their that the bus hired for the occasion plies its way to Harris, Uig or some other distant spot, with driver Murdo Macleod showing his magic touch, guiding his big vehicle along the narrow, twisting roads and negotiating bridges that give me only an inch or two clearance on either side.

Aboard it are auctioneers Angus Macdonald, of Stornoway, and Duncan MacCallum, Dingwall, and a company of mainland buyers – Hugh Allison, Dingwall; the brothers William and John Maclennan from Inverness; Kenneth Macrae, Ullapool; and Kenneth Munro, Evanton, just to mention a few.

And when the bus finally reaches its destination, say Uig, one of the sale centre, it comes suddenly on a scene of great activity.  The quiet, remote countryside bursts into life. Along the road appears a straggling army of crofters, young and old, women and lassies amongst them, bringing their calves and stirks to the sale.

It’s a trek of many halts and obstacles, for the calves, led by a halter – some may be the family pet – just don’t like this sudden disruption of their docile country life.  So there are ‘rodeo’ acts and incidents, with sweating crofters tugging, pulling and cajoling to get their beasts to market.  Even the parish minister is there with his calf, the product of his glebe.

But finally the gather-in for the sale is completed, and, with bidding brisk, some 60 or 70 animals go quickly through the ring, which in this case is an old stone-fank at the roadside [at Ardroil].

The mood of the crofters and country folk depends on the bidding. This year there were smiles all round, for as auctioneer Macdonald put it, “Trade was very good.”

Gone are the days when the Lewis crofters would accept any price for their stock. One turned down a £46 bid for a neighbour’s stirk that he took to the sale. His neighbour, he said, wouldn’t part for less than £55.

With one sale soon over, auctioneers and buyers set off for the next centre, where the process was repeated. And, at the end of the day, there was another commotion. Reluctant calves and stirks – one or two ‘dry’ cows amongst them – did their darndest to defy every effort to get them into the trucks that would take them to Stornoway for shipment on the Loch Seaforth to Kyle and the mainland.

A tough job, especially for the drivers, men like Angus Mackenzie, who handle their heavy, live loads along treacherous narrow roads with all the cool skill of a Lewis Stirling Moss.

Chrissie Matheson 2 Ardroil, and Chirsty Bell, Scoddaidh Mor and Scoddaidh Beag, 5 Ardroil, with Suainebhal behind.

A very unseasonable picture:  a party from Reef, out at Strome for peats in fine weather.  Angus Mackay (an Gagan), James Morrison (Seumas Mhurchaidh Seumais), Christina Mackay, Peggy Macritchie (Peggy an Irish) and Murdo Macdonald (Morgan).

West Uig, along with other parts of the Island, has contributed its quota to the fighting forces, both army and navy.  Being on the Atlantic Seaboard, much interest is taken in all surface craft observed, and much speculation as to their intentions is rife.  More interest, however, is taken in the very unusual appearance of any aircraft and, so, considerable apprehension was blended with interest one day last week when an aircraft was first heard and then seen rapidly approaching the coast.  One was not very sure what to do – whether to stand and star or make for the nearest ditch!  The absence of a gas mask, that talisman against air raids which hasn’t been distributed here yet, added to the feeling of insecurity.  “How can anyone escape a gas attack when one’s only protection is a thatched roof?” is how one old lady put it.  However, the plane must have been a friendly one, for not even a leaflet was dropped, and apart from a few cows which swung their tails and rushed helter-skelter for cover, no one was seriously alarmed.

Some of the people of Crowlista were the spectators of a very unusual sight last Tuesday.  While the 1pm news was being broadcast, a sheep belonging to Angus Matheson was labouring to give birth to quadruplets.  We regret that two of the lambs were dead on being delivered but the other two are doing well.  Triplest are rarely seen here and so far as we know this is the only instance of quadruplet lambs within living memory.  This sheep dropped twins the last two seasons.  She has no hand feeding to help her through the lean months of winter and spring.