A series of articles on the Old Soldiers of Uig appeared in the Comann Eachdraidh Uig publication, Sanais, in the 1980s, from which this is an extract. John Munro, Iain Mac a’ Mhinisteir, was the only son of the Rev Hugh Munro, minister at Bailenacille for fifty years; a son of the manse with a [...]
Read more →The Highland News, 5 July 1913: On Wednesday, 2nd inst., the Rev Allan Mackenzie, parish minister of Uig, received a deputation from his congregation who presented him with a handsome new trap and carriage rug. Mr John Matheson Aird said that when the congregation understood how much the minister required a new trap, they entered [...]
Read more →David Watson was ordained as minister of Uig in 1845 but as the congregation had mostly migrated to the Free Church, his Church remained largely empty. He was at odds with the people and the estate, as the following notes in the 1851 diary (published by Acair) of the Chamberlain John Munro Mackenzie attest: Thursday [...]
Read more →A letter from the Rev Alexander Macleod (formerly Established Church minister in Uig, who had taken his congregation to the Free Church in 1843 and left Uig shortly thereafter for Lochalsh) to Lady Hood, his previous patron. See also a letter from 1824. Lochalsh 19th March 1844 My very dear and much respected friend, I had [...]
Read more →Lewis tradition maintains that the Brahan Seer was born in Uig, in the vicinity of Baile na Cille, and that his powers of second sight came from a seeing stone he found there. Dolly Doctor gives the following account in Tales and Traditions, based on the version told in the Uig ceilidh-houses: Kenneth’s mother was [...]
Read more →The ladies who did the tea at Rev Angus Macfarlane’s 25th Anniversary presentation at Baile na Cille in 1976. Back: 1. Catriona Macdonald PO Miavaig 2. Dollag Buchanan 9 Mangersta 3. Mary Macleod 10 Geshader 4. Mary Macleod Lochcroistean 5. Nan Buchanan Brenish 6. Christine Maclean 3 Brenish 7. Christina Matheson 2 Ardroil 8. Chrissie [...]
Read more →After Rev Alexander Macleod and the entire congregation left the established Church in 1843 for the Free Church, the manse at Baile na Cille was vacant for nearly two years. In 1845, David Watson, a native of Croy, educated in Aberdeen, was received as a probationer and required to preach in Uig on 16 February 1845, [...]
Read more →by John Macleod OBE DL MA (1928-1998), of Carishader. Published by Comann Eachdraidh Uig in 2001. ISBN 0 903960 73 7. A detailed account of all the ministers in Uig and the significant developments and changes under their ministries from 1778 to 1929, with supporting material and documentation; in addition to the church records, it provides [...]
Read more →Letter to the Gazette, 5 May 1921: Sir – I observed in your columns the other week an interesting article re the origin of the Clan Macaulay and Lord Macaulay’s ancestors. We have no definite historical proof that the Macaulays are of a Scandinavian origin. The name Macaulay is admittedly pure Norse, also their appearance [...]
Read more →From the Comhairle SMR (Sites and Monuments Record.) A Bronze Age (2350BC-700BC) cairn was identified at NB045338, on the point of Tolanais overlooking Traigh Uig. Two small assessment trenches were opened on the southern of two large mounds, in order to determine which features of the site were artificial, and to date these, if possible. The mound [...]
Read more →Having been on the losing side in the Jacobite rising of 1715, the Seaforths had to forfeit their lands to the Crown. These were then administered by a body of Commissioners for a number of years (though the Seaforths were eventually allowed to buy them back, because no other buyer could be found.) It appears [...]
Read more →From Emily Macdonald’s Twenty Years of Highland Memories (1939). Before Emily was married to Dolly Doctor, she stayed at Uig Lodge as a guest of her uncle, Lord Leverhulme, along with other guests. One Sunday Mrs Strang and I decided we would like to go to the local church and hear a real Gaelic service. [...]
Read more →From Eilean an Fhraoich, December 1965 In April 1925 – a year late – the churches in Stornoway held a special service to commemorate the centenary of the coming to Uig of Rev Alexander Macleod, who, in the words of one of the speakers at the gathering, “was the first Christian minister in modern times [...]
Read more →Dolly Doctor, in Tales and Traditions, tells of the wreck of a ship at Carnish in 1775. In the picture Sgeir an Iaruinn is the small island in the middle of the picture, with Shielibhig in the distance on the far left. All night the people round Uig Bay had listened to the cries of woe [...]
Read more →From the Kirk Session records, 13 September 1825: At the Church of Uig 13th September 1825 the Session having met and constituted, Angus Maclean and Peggy Macaulay from Brenish were interrogated respecting a previous information made to the Session of their having used very improper and foul language against each other both to their own [...]
Read more →A minute from the Kirk Session; Alexander Macleod had left Uig (and the Established Church) 23 years previously. We don’t know how this turned out. At Stornoway, the 4th day of December 1866 years. Which day the Kirk Session of the Parish of Uig, under leave obtained from the Presbytery of Lewis, met here, and [...]
Read more →A rather long letter from Rev Alexander Macleod, Baile na Cille, to his “benefactress” Lady Hood, Mrs Stewart Mackenzie, written some six months after his arrival in Uig. Manse of Uig 30th November 1824 Honourable and Dear Madam, It is time that I should acknowledge your very friendly letter from Brighton dated [...]
Read more →Alexander Macleod was born in Balachladaich, Stoer, Assynt in 1786. In 1808 he entered King’s College, Aberdeen to study theology and his first post after completing his studies was tutoring the sons of a farmer in Skye. He evidently eloped with the farmer’s daughter, Margaret, which caused much indignation at the time but peace was [...]
Read more →From the Stornoway Gazette, Local and District News, Friday December 3rd, 1920. Landslide in Valtos Glen On Thursday morning of last week, there was a repetition here of the previous Monday’s storm. Though it did not last so long, there were gusts during the early morning which were almost as strong as any we had [...]
Read more →The church at Baile na Cille was built in 1829 to accommodate the growing congregation of the evangelical minister Rev Alexander Macleod, who had arrived in Uig in 1824. Church records include the following: Dec 17, 1829 Roderick Nicolson Esq residing in Stornoway most respectably expressed his attachment to his native Parish by making a [...]
Read more →