Work is underway in Reef on a new commemorative landmark commissioned by the Bhaltos Community Trust to mark the impact of land reform in Uig and throughout the island.

The Trust agreed at a public meeting to commission the monument to commemorate the 19th century Lewis land clearances, the 20th century raids by the Reef Raiders, more recent Scottish land reforms, and the creation of the Trust itself.  Marion Leven and Will Maclean, who created the landmark structures around Lewis at Pairc, Aignish and Gress, were commissioned to design the monument.

The Reef monment, Suileachan (‘lesson’),  will be constructed on an elevated, panoramic site in the village, with views over the surrounding land, sea and islands. The proposed structure has been designed with two circles, connected by a walled walkway. The eastern circle has a grey stone circular floor, inscribed with the names of the Reef Raiders. The walkway will lead the visitor through an archway, designed and constructed by Jim Crawford, to the west circle, overlooking the sea and islands of West Loch Roag, symbolically linking the past and the present.  This circle will have integrated seating inside and outside of the drystone walls and there will be an iron fire basket to provide a beacone which will be lit at times of celebration and commemoration. Suileachan will provide a future setting for cultural events as well as being aplace of reflection, contemplation and inspiration as it provides a panoramic view of the local area; it will describe the land struggle and its impact to visitors, and show the importance of working together to improve the future of our 21st century island century communities.

Suileachan has been designed to celebrate island craftsmanship and skills. The land around Bhaltos is defined by distinctive old stone walls, which will be replicated in the monument walls, constructed of stones from blackhouses in the area by an island stonemason.  The iron fire-basket will be made by a Stornoway blacksmith and the seating by a local craftsman from local stone and windblown trees from the Stornoway Trust.

The project has been made possible by funding from Scotland’s Islands, Community Regeneration Fund, Proiseact nan Ealan, Uig Community Council and the Bhaltos Community Trust, with the help of volunteers, the Comann Eachdraidh and Cllr Norman A Macdonald.

A launch event is being planned for March; watch local outlets for details.

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 late 1840s were years of desperation in Lewis (as elsewhere), with much of the population near to starvation and dependent on ‘destitution meal’ from the Proprietor, Sir James Matheson, who according to the Poor Law Act of 1845 was obliged to do something about his famished tenants. Weakened, overcrowded and in many cases without stock, the tenants were accumulating rent arrears they had little prospect of ever clearing.

Sir James and his Chamberlain, John Munro Mackenzie, proposed that the worst off be helped to emigrate to Canada – see the detailed proposal. In February of 1851 the Chamberlain made his bi-annual tour of the island, collecting rents and deciding which of the families should be asked to go – both to avoid mass famine, and to allow the consolidation of small holdings into profitable sheep farms. The following table is drawn from his Diary (published by Acair) and extracts are below. In the event not all of these families did emigrate, at least not in 1851, though a total of 1772 sailed from Lewis to Canada in May and June of that year.

The townships not mentioned had already been cleared – Mealista, Ardroil, Erista, Timsgarry and Reef.

For the text of the Diary entries – read on.

This song was composed after the Great War when they began breaking down the new villages.  Domhnall Donn (Donald Maciver, b. 1862) of Kneep was, like many in Uig, a very strong supporter of Leverhulme,  and believed that he was doing right for the Island bringing employment. A lot of Uig people were employed around Stornoway.

Chuala sinn gun laigh an eucòir
Ann an lèig air muin nan coir
Thug e an ceartas dubh a leum às
Chuir e an eucoir fon a bhròig
Thug e dhachaigh thugainn ‘Lever’
Dh’fhuadaich e na caoraich mhòr
’S thug e ceartas do na daoine
leis am faod iad a bhith beò.

Tha laghan ùr a gabhail àite
Anns an latha ’sa bheil sinn beò
Tha na glinn an diugh ’gan àiteach
‘S chaill na Tàillich orra an coir
Ach, Alasdair, ma ’s tu tha riaghladh
Na leig dichuimhn’ air a choir
Leig a chlìb ag cur ‘na stiallan
‘S bheireadh sianar aist’ bi-beò.

Bha ‘Lever’ gu math ri dhèanamh
Bha e a’ riaghladh ceart gu leòr
Thug e buannachd as an t-siabann
‘S fhuair na ceudan às bi-beo
Thug e laghan do ar dùthaich
Ris nach robh dùil aig duine beò
Dh’fhuadaich e na slatan-sgiùrsaidh
‘S tha sgìre Uige mar bu choir.

Nach robh ‘Lever’ dhuibh a’ sealltainn
Gu robh ann dhuibh Cridhe blàth
Thug e dhachaigh lagh na Galldachd
Chur e’n gamhlas fo’n an fhàd
‘S eadar Mialastadh ‘s Gabhsan
Theid a planntraigeadh gach àite
‘S chan eil baile bàn a Leòdhas
Nach bi tighinn ann ‘s iad bàn.

O, ‘s iomadh cridh’ thug osna thùrsach
Ag caoidh na flùran a bha ann
Chlunnaist iad a’ seinn ‘s ag ùrnaigh
‘S iad a muigh air cùl nam beann
Chuala sinne bho ar càirdean
‘S iad a’ bruidhinn ‘nuair bha iad ann
mar a bha iad fhèin is Pàdruig
Aig an t-sacramaid ‘s a’ ghleann.

O, ’s iomadh athair, ‘s iomadh mathair
Bha gu làr a silleadh dheòir
An uair a dh’fhuadaicheadh ‘s an àite iad
Anns an deach an àrach òg
Chuala sinne bho ar càirdean
Mus do dh’fhàs sinn gu bhith mòr
Gun laigh mallachdan an àite
Air na dh’fhàsaich Buidha Mhòr.

Ach cha toir ‘Lever’ car dhuinn tuilleadh
Gu dè an nis an ni an t-àl òg
Thug na tràlairean an t-iasg bhuap’
Chan eil rian aca bhith beò
Sgabaidh iad mar eoin na h-iarmailt
Fear an ‘s ear as iar ‘san lòn
‘S a chaoidh cha choinnich iad ri cheile
far na rinn iad èiridh òg.

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 1923, Lord Leverhulme began to dispose of his Lewis estates, first offering to give the island to its inhabitants.  Stornoway Town Council and Stornoway Trust accepted Lews Castle and the crofts around the town, but Lewis District Council feared that on the sporting and crofting estates the expenditure exceeded the income, and declined the offer.  Angus ‘Ease’ Macleod remarked that “some people might be inclined to say that the Lewis District Council failed to appreciate the historical significance, both to themselves, and to posterity, of the decision they were called upon to make at their meeting on 5th October 1923, when they voted six against, three for, and one abstention.” This was a time when many were landless and emigrating.

Leverhulme was travelling in Africa in late 1924 and early 1925, and died shortly after his return in the spring.  Lever Brothers shut down the Leverburgh operations immediately and before the end of 1925, the greater part of the islands of Lewis and Harris, including the fishing station at Leverburgh, were being offered for auction in twenty lots – see the full list and the Uig particulars.  The Uig estate had already been split into two parts, Uig Lodge Fisheries and Uig Crofters, when Leverhulme gave the former to his niece Emily and her husband, Donald Macdonald (Dolly Doctor). The Fisheries and the Lodge account for the exclusions given for Lot 18. Uig Crofters consisted of 67,300 acres and included the shooting, Miavaig Farm, all the crofts in Uig and a number of feus.

In the event, no bidder was found for Uig Crofters but the estate was later sold for £550 to Thomas Bremner of Hendon, Middx (near Hampstead) and shortly afterwards sold on to Norman Robertson of Tarbert, former factor to Leverhulme. Uig Crofters became the Uig and Hamnaway estate.

Sources: David Jones, Sporting Estates of the Outer Hebrides; Emily Macdonald, Twenty Years of Hebridean Memories; Angus Macleod, papers in the Angus Macleod Archive.

From West Over Sea (1953) by DDC Pochin Mould.

Near the sheep fank on the flank of Benisval there is, so they tell me, a stone commemorating the visit of Lord Campbell, Lord Chief Justice in the 1850s. When I splashed through the Kinloch Resort river, I crossed from Harris into Lewis, and it was Lord Campbell’s boundary that I went over.

There was a long dispute concerning the boundary line between Harris and Lewis in this part of the country. Along Loch Seaforth there was no dispute, but here, in the featureless moors, the problem was more difficult.

It all began long ago, when a Macleod of Lewis married Kintail’s daughter. After a year, he grew tired of her and sent her away, and took a Macleod of Harris’ daughter to wife. For her dowry she brought a strip of land upon the borders of Harris in the Kinloch Resort district.

As time went by, this piece of land became a subject for dispute. People from Valtos in Lewis would go to make ready their shielings for the summer season and come back to find the Harris people had destroyed their work. If the Harris men worked on what they claimed was theirs, the Valtos people destroyed it all again.

Eventually Seaforth took te case to the courts. Much interesting evidence of old methods of marking the boundary between the two districts was cited. One way was to bury charred peats on the march line. Another, also used in England, was that of beating the bounds. A Harris witness told how his father, who had died twenty years previously at the age of 80, had been whipped on the boundary line by Donald Macaulay of Brenish and Donald Campbell of Scalpay, both of whom gave him five shillings afterwards to salve his wounded feelings.

The case dragged on. Seaforth sold the Lewis to Sir James Matheson and it was he, after the case had reached the House of Lords, who got Lord Campbell to the actual ground. Up Benisval went the Lord Chief Justice and from the top determined on the boundary line, taking the shortest route from the head of Loch Resort up the Kinloch Resort river and across to Aline on Loch Seaforth.

After his visit it was decided to erect a stone to commemorate the event. A very strong Valtos man got the job of carrying the stone over the hills from Uig. For the work he said he would need two days, and drew two days pay for it. Then he heaved the stone on his back and walked rapidly over the hills to Benisval in one day.

I saw a cairn on the flank of Benisval, a little below the top, and made for it [NB 096 185]. From it a line of little cairns and stones set on edge led across the moors and between the lochs. I began to follow them, for they took the direction which I had planned to follow. All the way they lead through the peat, which yielded like butter, and over the rocky knolls. Once or twice I saw a vague footprint in the soft ground, but for the most part it was too wet to take any permanent impression, and there was no trace of a path. The stones led to the postman’s house at Ardbheag – he makes the journey several times a week and brings back, among other things, food supplies ordered by mail from Glasgow. It was the postman who erected the cairns.

Some depositions from the 1805 enquiry are here.  Hebridean Connections gives detail about how those perceived to be on the wrong side of the line were warned off:

‘Throwing off the divot’ was a ritual performed, normally by the forester or sub-forester, as a warning to the occupant of the sheiling to leave and remove his cattle to their own pasture. The forester would take a divot or ‘turf’ from the roof of the sheiling and throw it to the ground. It was done in a non-aggressive fashion and one instance is recorded when the person involved (a Harris man) who … “after having done so, he ate and drank with the Lewis people in the shealling”….

If, after a few years, the common warning was ignored the Chamberlain would sometimes order the sheiling be demolished, the roof timbers broken up and thrown over the boundary. The added threat that the leg of the occupant’s best cow be cut off and attached to a roof timber before it was thrown was normally enough incentive to vacate the premises.  Another common method of dealing with cattle that strayed across the boundary was to cut one ear off before driving it back to its own pasture.

Life on the island of Vuia Mhòr was hard, with little fertile land and no safe anchorage. The peats were cut and harvested in Drovinish and taken home by rowing boat or sail. Boats had to be beached after each fishing trip.

Amongst the inhabitants were the family of Neil Macleod, who had found refuge in Vuia Mhòr after being cleared from the old village of Mangersta. Neil was married to Catherine Mackenzie of Kirkibost, Bernera and they had twelve children, ten of whom emigrated to Cape Breton between 1821-1826. Kenneth, one of the sons, emigrated in 1826 with his wife Ann Macleod from Balallan, and their child died on the long sea voyage across the Atlantic. They managed to keep the child’s death a secret so that the child would not be buried at sea.

A grandson of Neil Macleod, ‘An Og (John, son of John), lived on Vuia and was courting Ann Maclennan from Reef. It is said he swam across to Reef regularly with his dry clothing strapped to his head.

The islanders fished to sustain the families and paid their rent by harvesting the sea-kelp with the substantial profit from the sales going to the landowner. When the landlord’s greedy eye focused on sheep rearing the community was sacrificed and scattered to the four winds.

The land officer evicted the inhabitants from the seven homes and forty-six souls young and old came ashore in the village of Geshader.  The strong swimmer John Macleod married his Ann in 1847 and lived in Geshader, having been cleared from the island along with his mother and sister. They lived there as cottars and the ruins of the house can be seen to this day at No 2. The Martin and the Smith family became cottars on No 10 Geshader and later emigrated. The Mathesons went to Ungeshader, then some emigrated and others went to Brue. The MacArthurs settled south of Enaclete at a place still known as Buaile Mhic Artair.

Tales of the eviction were repeated in oral tradition and are expressed in the poetry:

‘S iomadh athair agus màthair
Bha gu làr a ‘sileadh dheòir
Mar chaidh a fuadach as an àite
Far an deach an àrach òg.
Chuala sinn e bho ar cairdean
Mu’s do dh’fhag iad tìr nam beò
Gu’n ghabh mallachdan an àite
Air na dh’fhàsaich Bhuidha Mhòr

À Amhran Lord Lever
le Domhnall Donn, Donald Maciver Cnip

The land officer responsible for the evictions, Kenneth Stewart, tacksman of Hacklete, went to Canada after his wife diedand fell on hard times. According to tradition, he was a tramp and went to the door of a house and knocked. The girl who opened the door gave him a piece of bread and after he had eaten she enquired if he had enjoyed this morsel. He replied that he truly had and was very grateful. She then proceeded to tell him that he had been responsible for the eviction of herself and her family from Vuia Mhòr!

Cha robh dùil agad fhads a bha thu gam fhuadach à Bhuidha
Gum biodh tu lorg aoigheach orm ann an Canada.

Though she had only been a very young girl at the time of the eviction, she recognised the man at her door. She then urged him to leave before her husband came home. She believed he would murder, either he who carried out the evictions, or her for showing compassion to the man who had evicted the families so brutally years before.

Kenneth Stewart was born in 1781 in Skye and came to Uig – in fact to Bernera – with his relative, Rev Hugh Munro. He married Mary Smith, daughter of Farquhar the tacksman at Earshader, and lived at the farmhouse in Hacklete where they had nine of a family. Six of his children emigrated; five to Canada and one to Australia. He went to Canada after his wife’s death in 1851 (she is buried at Baile na Cille) and himself died before 1861 in Victoria County, Nova Scotia.