Fresh notes and old stories from Uig Historical Society, Isle of Lewis
The Soldiers’ Return
From notes by Rev Col AJ Mackenzie, the story of the Old Soldiers of Uig who after the battle for Batavia, had many long years of service before they could finally return home, a full nine years after they had left it as young recruits to the 78th.
Uig Cattle Market in 1958
An account of the cattle sales at Ardroil from the People’s Journal, 27 September 1958. 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.
Five Sons at Sea
During the Second World War, five Macdonald brothers from the village of Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, served at sea. The five sailors were sons of Donald and Christina Macdonald 22 Valtos. Their mother Christina (nee Maciver), formerly of 25 Valtos, had lost two brothers [ » read more ]
RAF Party Stuck at Achmore
In the winter of 1961, the Commanding Officer of RAF Aird Uig and twenty-six of his officers and men were stranded in Stornoway while returning from the first night of the charity concert organised by the camp in the Town Hall.
In the Freezer
There are no safes for breaking in the Outer Hebrides… but we didn’t go hungry in 1972.
A Serious Accident at Cliff
After the end of the Great War, dangerous materials were still washing up on the beach. All credit to Nurse Maclean for her tender care of Murdo Macleod, Cliff, in 1919.
Dolly Doctor speaks up for Gaelic
From the People’s Journal, 27 September 1958. It’s a while now since Dr Donald Macdonald [Dolly Doctor] of Gisla in Lewis practised at his profession. But the jovial, big-hearted doctor is still a cure and a tonic for many folk not only in his native [ » read more ]
Of Finns and Fairies
This is the final section of an interesting and detailed piece on the Pygmies Isle (first mentioned by Dean Monro in 1549 as having been inhabited by “little people”) near the Butt of Lewis , published by WC Mackenzie in the Proceedings of the Society of [ » read more ]
Just now I am up in a cold land…
Just now I am up in a cold land And a message has arrived for us to go to sea, That the ships are now assembled and when night comes We have to move off with them. -Murdanie Macritchie This song was written by Petty [ » read more ]
The New Website
Welcome to the new-but-familiar CEUig.com. I hope it helps you to discover stories you may have missed previously. It’s also a little more robust behind the scenes, and has room for more in-depth resources that weren’t fitting on the front page very well. So what’s new here?
Lewis Chessmen in concert, free at the Fringe
The National Museum of Scotland is presenting a month-long programme of music that draws on the Lewis Chessmen for inspiration, with a programme that “stretches from Norway to the shores of Lewis”. In partnership with Live Music Now Scotland, the Museum on Chambers Street in [ » read more ]
Gala Day 2010
See the full gallery here. I was behind the mussel stand for most of it so the selection is limited this year. If you have more pictures, feel free to send them to us.
Aonghas nam Beann
Angus nam Beann was a well-known figure in Uig at the time of the Revivals, and ever since. The following is from John Macleod’s History of the Church in Uig. Angus MacLeod’s father was a shepherd in the hills of Uig towards the border with [ » read more ]
Dòmhnall Càm in South Dell
Another grisly story about our Uig hero, Dòmhnall Càm, who has a much less heroic reputation in other parts of the island. This is from Capt FWL Thomas’s Traditions of the Macaulays (1880) and he notes that “this tale is certainly mythical”. We ought in [ » read more ]
The Macaulay Resistence
The Rev William Matheson, “Mac Gille Chaluim” and the pre-eminent Island genealogist of his day, gives the following account of the Macaulays resistence to, and eventually tentative alliance with, the Mackenzies who took ownership of the Isle of Lewis in 1610, after the decline of [ » read more ]