A list of tenants of the villages that then comprised Ardroil, with their rents and accumulated arrears. From the Seaforth Muniments (the Estate records). First Capadal and Pennydonald: Tenant Rent Arrears Donald Matheson £ 5.3.6 £ 16.13.0 Norman Morrison £ 5.3.6 £ 19.17.11 Duncan Macritchie £ 5.3.6 £ 13.8.2 Norman Macleod £ 6.10.0 £ 15.12.10 [...]
Read more →Ardroil (Eadar Dha Fhadhail – ‘between two fords’) lies on the southwestern side of Uig Sands. The area now occupied more or less by the village once contained five townships: Capadal, Peighinn Dhomhnaill (Pennydonald), Baile Nicol, Baile Ghriasaich and Baile Ghobhainn. These were cleared by Stewart Mackenzie, the proprietor of the island, in the late [...]
Read more →Donald Òg, younger son of Dugald Macaulay of Brenish and himself tacksman of Brenish and Ardroil ca. 1740-1762, left, like many of the Macaulays, a lasting impression on the oral tradition of the area. Among his characteristics were a taste for swordfighting, and a certain delight in the vastness of his herd: evidently when his [...]
Read more →Donald Òg was the younger of two sons called Donald, born to Dugald Macaulay, tacksman of Brenish, in the late 17th century; he was the great-grandson of Domhnall Càm. Rev William Matheson’s columns on the Macaulays, published in the Gazette in the 1950s, include several stories about Donald Òg drawn from the Morrison manuscripts. He [...]
Read more →The unclear demarcation of the boundary between the estates of Lewis and Harris was the cause for two sets of hearings in 1805 and 1850. The 1805 enquiry was pursued by Alexander Hume, Esquire of Harris, against the Right Honourable Francis, Lord Seaforth. This was a judicial enquiry with local crofters giving accounts of where [...]
Read more →(picture of Valtos and Kneep by Chris Murray) An Dotair Ruadh, Donald Macaulay, seventh in line from Dòmhnall Càm, was the son of Dòmhnall mac Sheorais, the tacksman of Linshader who himself became something of a legend because of his size and strength. His son has come down in tradition as equally renowned, but for [...]
Read more →Kirk Session records, 15 November 1825: The Session at Uig having met and constituted, Peggy Morison and Angus Morison, both Capidle, having been charged with a Criminal Connection were examined by the Members of said Kirk Session, they confessed their guilt and agreed as to the time and place in the Statement of the Fact. [...]
Read more →A Fenian (and Ossianic) tale, adapted here from WC Mackenzie’s Traditions of the Western Isles. Cuoch (or Cuithich) Mac Nuadharan was a giant who lived at Dun Boranais in the river at the edge of Uig Sands. He had three giant, broch-dwelling brothers: Glom, at Ballyglom; Tid, at Tidberry, Kirkibost (both Bernera); and Dearge at Dun [...]
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