THEKINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN & NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETYMAGAZINE

No 1 April 1977

THE MAGAZINEof

The Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society.

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President: A. I. B. Stewart, O.B.E., B.L.

NUMBER ONE SPRING 1977

CONTENTS

Foreword & Introduction :Duncan Colville, Life PresidentA.I.B. Stewart, O.B.E., B.L., President............ 2

Editorial ............................................... 3History of the Society

Hector L. MacKenzie, M.A........................... 4The Jet Necklace

Frances Hood....................................... 6Largie

J.R. Maxwell-Macdonald, J.P........................ 7The North Carolina Connection

Angus MacVicar, M.A................................ 9Sika Deer in Kintyre

T.W.G. Coulson, B.Sc, F.I.F....................... 13Excavations at Balloch Hillfort

E.J.Peltenburg, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. Scot.......... 16Kintyre in Ontario

Efric Wotherspoon................................. 18Mary : A Hundred & Fifty Years Ago

Margaret MacDougall, M.A........................... 22William MacTaggart

Isabella Dunnett................................... 24

EDITOR : M. G. Hunter, M.A., B.Sc. COVER : J. Hex.

ARTICLES & LETTERS to POSTAL REQUESTS for MEMBERSHIPMrs. M. G. Hunter, and copies of MAGAZINE toMerkland, Mr. A. McNair,Southend, Campbeltown. 47 Limecraigs, Campbeltown.1

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F0REWORD by Duncan Colville, Life President.

As a founder member and the first Honorary Secretary of the original Kintyre Antiquarian Society, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the publication of this magazine. I am sure it will meet a long felt want, and I wish it every success in the future.

INTRODUCTION by A. I. B. Stewart, President.

In an age when scholarship is at a discount and change is regarded by many as synonymous with improvement, it seems to me that it becomes all the more important to look over our shoulders at the lives and achievements of our ancestors, for only by understanding the past can we prepare for the future.

This publication is an effort by the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society to give some permanence to the work done by our members in recording our past history and the natural features of our beautiful environment.

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EDITORIAL

For over half a century The Kintyre Antiquarian Society as it originally was has held meetings where talks on all aspects of life in Kintyre were given. In addition many of these lectures were published, but are now out of print. The Society's Library contains a large collection of books and manuscripts relating to Kintyre. Recently a sub-committee of the Society was formed to go into the question of making new and old material available to its members and others. This Magazine, which it is hoped to publish twice a year, is the result.

In this, our first number, we have included a variety of articles, touching on topics of interest to members. Much interest has always been shown by the descendants of Kintyre emigrants in this district, and perhaps this periodical will appeal to them also. In our limited space we have been unable to touch on all the many facets of the work of the Society, but we hope to repair some of our omissions in succeeding Issues. Meantime perhaps some of our readers will be inspired to send contributions for other numbers. These could be anecdotes as well as full length articles. We aim to record the present before it becomes past and forgotten.

The Editor thanks the members of the sub-committee and in particular the Chairman, who has shared the editorial task; all who have contributed; the Editor of "The Kist" of The Natural History & Archaeological Society of Mid Argyll, without whose help this Magazine would not have got going; and the Editor of "The Glynns" of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society for understanding and encouragement.

And lastly, we thank our subscribers, and hope that they will bear with our omissions and errors, and that they will enjoy reading our Magazine.

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A SHORT HISTORY OF KINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETYHector L. MacKenzie

On 14th June, 1921, the then Macdonald of Largie (father of the present Laird) and Sheriff J. MacMaster Campbell issued a circular letter convening a meeting in the Argyll Arms Hotel on 21st June, relative to the proposed formation of a society for the study of the Archaeology, History and Antiquities of Kintyre, and the preservation of the older records of the district.

The gentlemen convened were Col. Charles Mactaggart, Col. George Rome, Dean of Guild MacArthur, ex-Provost James Lothian, Dr.J. P. Brown, Rev. C. McEachern, Rev. A. MacKenzie, Messrs. T. Galloway, Latimer Maclnnes, D. MacKinlay, and Duncan Colville. Of these founder members only one is still with us - the venerable Mr. Duncan Colville, Life President of our Society, now in his 93rd year. At the first A.G.M., two ladies, Miss Moira Campbell, only recently deceased, and the late Mrs. Archd. Stewart, mother of our President, were admitted to membership.

Right away in its first year, the society inaugurated what was to become a regular feature, an annual outing to some place or places of archaeological Interest. The first was to Largie and Clachan districts, followed by lunch at the Temperance Inn at Clachan, and by tea at Largie Castle.

Mr. Duncan Colville was appointed first Hon. Secretary and Treasurer. Largie was the first President, but he died in his first year of office and was succeeded by Sheriff J. MacMaster Campbell, who remained President until his death in 1939.

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In April 1932, was admitted to membership the Rev. Father Webb, who, when he died in 1974, bequeathed a generous legacy to the Society, as well as all his antiquarian, historical and archaeological papers, which are currently being edited by Dr. Eric Cregeen.

The meetings of the Society were suspended In 1940 "until," as the minute says, "the war is over." The4

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first meeting after the war was on 19th October, 1946, but the Society did not regain its vigour for some time. Two members, however, were very active and all enquiries relating to the antiquities of Kintyre were referred to them. Mr. Colville and Father Webb were both active archaeologists, and continued to further the aims of the Society. Father Webb, for example, took advantage of the excavations made in preparing the ground for pre-fabricated houses at the Calton site in 1947. More than 400 flints were found, and other relics, which constitute, as one authority has said, "the earliest unambiguous remains of man in Scotland." "The dwellers in these 'prefabs' wrote Father Webb in characteristic fashion, "had the honour of living upon the occupation site and working stance of the first human inhabitants of Scotland at a remove of something like 8,000 years."

In 1962, Mr. Frank Bigwood, a master at the Grammar School, excavated a fort at Kildalloig. This highly commendable piece of amateur excavation was carried out with the ready assistance of the School and of our Society, and the results can be seen, fully detailed and documented, in the local museum.

In 1969 the Secretaryship was taken over by Mrs. Margaret Macaulay. Regular meetings were held and the membership took a great leap forward. It was decided in 1970 to widen the aims of the Society, and its title was changed to "The Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society." Mrs. Macaulay, unfortunately, had to leave Kintyre in 1970, and the Secretaryship was taken over by Mrs. Elfric Wotherspoon, who still holds that office and whose unobtrusive management keeps the society together.

In its fifty-five years of life, the society has provided a focal point for the people of Kintyre who have an interest in the history of their district. It has nourished this interest for over two generations, and hopes to enlist the further support of all Kintyre people who realise that the present is a product of the past.

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THE JET NECKLACEFrances Hood

In 1970 some former farm land on the right hand side of the old avenue Into Stronvaar House was being prepared for building. This land was owned by the McGrory family of the former Kintyre Nurseries, and while bull-dosing the land, Mfc. X. McGrory discovered a Bronze Age Cist. His bull-dozer had badly damaged the Cist, but fortunately Mr. McGrory realised the value of his discovery, stopped work, and contacted the late Father Webb and Mr. Duncan Colville, Kintyre's most able historians, who photographed the remains of the cist and made all possible notes on the discovery.

Father Webb contacted Dr. E.J. Peltenburg, the extramural Tutor for Argyll, whose archaeology class was just starting for the winter. On his first visit, Dr. Peltenburg found over one hundred Jet Beads, the skeleton which had been wearing it having crumbled to dust. Later when he and his extra-mural class visited the site with sieves and riddles, several more beads were found, and also a flint knife. After treatment with preservatives in Glasgow, the necklace was reconstructed and proved to be the longest ever found in

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Argyll, and consisted of 134 beads. The necklace was to have remained in Edinburgh at the Rational Museum of Antiquities, as it was one of the finest examples of a jet necklace the authorities there had seen. Those who had shared in the work of discovery felt that their find should remain permanently in Campbeltown, and due to the tireless efforts of Miss Cissy McGrory the necklace and the flint knife were returned to the Campbeltown Museum, where they are displayed In a burglarproof case.

The necklace belongs to the Bronze Age Period*, roughly 1800 - 1500 B.C., and the jet is believed to have been imported from Whitby, although a more local source may yet be found. So far ten necklaces of this type have been found in Argyll, but this is the only one on display in the place where it was found. Others are in museums in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and one found in Campbeltown years ago Is In Inveraray Castle.Note: The front cover shows a drawing of this necklace.6

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LARGIEJ. R. Maxwell-Macdonald

The first and only connection of Largie Estate with genuine archaeology was the finding of a very early stone axe-head at Ballure in, I think, 1909. It is now in the Campbeltown museum. The history of Largie and of the family of Macdonald of Largie is an integral part of the history of Scotland and of the Peninsula of Kintyre.

The Estate is said to have been given by the Lord of the Isles, who was also Earl of Ross, to Ranald Bane, grandson of John, Lord of the Isles, who married Margaret, daughter of Robert II of Scotland (grandson of Robert the Bruce). It was given to Ranald Bane for his services at the battle of Inverlochy in 1431, and the family thereafter came to be known as Clan Ranaldbane. This battle should not be confused with the much more famous battle at the 3ame place, in Montrose's campaign against the Covenanters in 1645. The first battle of Inverlochy was fought between the Earls of Ross and Mar, who were cousins, and perpetually at war with one another.

Ronald Bane's father, John More, known as Tanister, because he had succeeded through tanistry, an old Scots law which enabled a son (or daughter) who was not the eldest, to succeed, was murdered at Ard Ehu in Islay by one James Campbell. Very likely Regent Albany, father of the Earl of Mar, was behind this murder, and this, quite probably, was the real reason for the first battle of Inverlochy.

John More had married Marjory Bisset, heiress of the Earls of Antrim, which is the reason why the family is connected with Antrim, rather than with Skye or Glencoe.

The tenth laird, Angus, was a follower of Montrose and Charles I, and consequently the Estate was forfeited and given to Campbell of Inverawe. At the Restoration in 1660 the family regained possession of the Estate.

The next, and perhaps most interesting connection with history, is with Flora Macdonald, the rescuer of Prince Charlie in 1746. A daughter of Largie married

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the Rev. Angus Macdonald, Minister of Gigha and Cara,who also served for a time in Killean Parish, in the church, now ruined, at Killean, and where there are some interesting stone carvings. The Rev. Angus moved to South Uist, where his daughter met and married Ranald Macdonald of Milton. They had two sons, the younger of whom was accidentally shot in Cara, and a daughter, Flora. Her adventures with the Prince are too well-known for

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inclusion in this article. She visited her cousins at Largie more than once, and when she took sail finally for America, it was in a ship that sailed from Campbeltown.

Meantime John, 14th of Largie, had attempted to join the Prince. He only got as far as Clachan, where he called on the Minister. The latter brewed punch, and unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) upset the kettle over Largie's foot, which prevented any further attempt by Largie to join the Forty-five.

There is abundance of coal within three miles of Campbeltown, and a canal lately made to convey it to the town, where the small cart load (of which three should make a ton) sells at 2s.7i^d. About 40 carts a day are consumed in the town. Turf or peat is commonly used in the country; as it is also by many of the poorer sort within the town. There is likewise in this parish abundance of Fuller's earth, and soap rock, which, It is thought, may be manufactured into fine ware, or British china.

The mole, formerly unknown, has lately made an inroad to the extent of some miles within the isthmus.

From the First Statistical Account of Scotland 1794 "Parish of Campbeltown" by the Reverend Dr. John Smith.In 1791 there were four schools in the Pariah of Southend: (1) the parochial school, (2) a school in Glenbreckerie, founded by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, (3) a school in the Learside supported by the Duke of Argyll, and (4) a private school at Machrimore Mill.8

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THE NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTIONAngus MacVicar

In Kintyre, as compared with other parts of the Highlands and Hebrides, there Is no history of forced Clearances. And yet, from about 1750 to the present century large numbers of people regularly left the district, seeking a better living overseas. For example round 1750 the population of Southend was approximately 3,000.When my father became minister of the parish In 1910 It had dwindled almost to Its current level of about 500.

In a paper published In 1962 (reprinted In 1964) by the State Department of Archives and History in North Carolina, concerning men and women from Kintyre who had settled there In the years 1774 and 1775, the following reasons are given for their emigration: "Low wages, high rents, low prices of cattle, high prices of bread due to distilling, the conversion of arable lands into sheep pastures, and the exactions of landlords."

Around the rocky shores of Southend there can still be seen, grass-grown and deserted, the ruins of townships from which some of those people came. Balmagomery, Balmavicar, Balimacmurchle, Bailevearhil (township of Mac Michael), Balimackleconalich (township of Conley's son), Balinamoll - the names are like an old song sighing down the wind. Today such places appear to be of Interest only to local shepherds and to the Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland.

But when strangers from abroad come visiting, sometimes an old song can acquire a new and vigorous tune. In the summer of 1975 Mrs. Harvey B. Hunter of Charlotte, North Carolina, unexpected dropped in to see us. She was accompanied by her daughter-in-law, a lecturer in history at the University of North Carolina.

Mrs. Hunter is a formidable lady, eighty years of age, who, with the help of two sons, conducts the business of a large dairy farm. At the gate of her house, she told me, in an

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attractive Southern accent which I had imagined existed only in the movies, there stands the model of a cow, twenty feet high.9

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She and her daughter-in-law had less than three hours to spare. Could I In that time, give her any Information about her ancestor, Daniel Caldwell, who had emigrated from Southend in 1774? She showed me a copy of the testimonial to his good character which he had carried with him to America. It was signed by David Campbell, minister of Southend, and John Raid, elder.

We stood on my lawn, looking out over the sunlit bay at the Rock of Dunaverty and at the old jetty which lies close to it. American hustle is all very well, but this was ridiculous. Suddenly, however, the name sparked off a memory of something I had read in Andrew McKerral's book, "Kintyre in the Seventeenth Century." I went into the house and looked up the reference; and there, sure enough, was a master clue. In 1774 the Caldwells had been tenants in the farm of Christlach.

I went back out on to the lawn, where the ladies were talking to my wife and admiring our roses. They reckoned they were better roses than they themselves could grow in North Carolina. Delighted by such evidence of American magnanimity, I cut two of the best blooms and presented them with one each. I looked over the bay again at the jetty near Dunaverty, and another memory occurred to me.

"Do you know the month in 1774 when Daniel Caldwell left Southend ?" "August," said Mrs. Hunter.

"The ship he sailed in, was she by any chance the Ulysses ?" "Say, that was the very name ! How did you know ?"

I knew (or thought I knew) because a story about the Ulysses used to be told in Southend: how she had anchored in the bay while emigrants were taken out from the jetty in a small boat, and someone on the shore had played a lament on the bagpipes.

"It is possible," I told Mrs. Hunter, "that your ancestor sailed for America from out there, less than half a mile from where you are standing now."10

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She found words difficult. Her daughter-in-law made notes and worked hard with her camera.

"How then," I said, "we'll use my car and have a look around."

I stopped first at the graveyard at Keil, where I showed them the gravestone of John Reid, the elder who had signed Daniel Caldwell's testimonial. I told them that his descendants still live in the parish, and that a modern John Reid is a friend of mine.

Mrs. Hunter was all eyes, scrambling about the knolls and hollows of the ancient burying place like an adolescent. I admired her fitness and said so. "I can still take a ladder and repair the roof of our chicken run," she announced, somewhat tartly. Her daughter-in-law took more photographs.

Then I drove them three miles north to Christlach Farm, where Daniel Caldwell had tried to help the meagre family income by working - without much success, it appears - as a

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part-time shoemaker. More photographs were taken. Mrs. Hunter sighed. "Just wait," she said. "Just wait till I tell them about this back home !"

Finally we went to the church: St Blaan's Kirk in the centre of the parish. I told them it had been built in 1773 and opened for public worship early in 1774. I explained that the pews of Norwegian pine were the original ones, adjusted in numbers, but otherwise unchanged for more than 200 years.

While her daughter-in-law made still more notes, sunlight from one of the small, lead-paned windows cast a golden brown light over the old pews. "Your ancestor, Daniel Caldwell, was obviously a good church-goer otherwise he wouldn't have got a testimonial signed by both the minister and an elder. In the early part of 1774, therefore he must often have sat in these very seats."

Mrs. Hunter sat down carefully on the polished pine.

"Two hundred years doesn't seem such a long time now," I remarked.11

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She said nothing, staring up at the empty pulpit. Then, quietly, she began to cry. "Oh, my," she said, this is the moat wunnerful day of ma life !" It was a wonderful day for me, too.

When Mrs. Hunter returned to North Carolina she sent me a letter, enclosing photostat copies of the "Records of Emigrants from Scotland", transcripts of which are in the possession of the North Carolina Historical Commission. Prom these it appears that among the emigrants from Kintyre who, on 18 August, 1774, sailed with Daniel Caldwell in the "Ulysses" (James Chalmers, master) were the following, all of whom gave as their reason for emigrating either "high rents and oppression" or "poverty occasioned by want of work":

John Greenlees, 25, farmer, and his wife, Mary Howie, 25; Peter McArthur, 58, farmer, his wife, Chirst Bride, 52, and their children, Ann, John and Jean; Robt Mitchell, 26, tailor, and his wife Ann Campbell, 19; Alexr Allan, 22, workman; Iver McMillan, 26, and his wife, Jean Huie, 23; John Perguson, 19, workman; Rob McKlchan, 32, farmer, his wife, Janet McKendrick, 24, and their son, Neil; Malm McMullan, 58, farmer, his wife, Cathn McArthur, 58, and their children, Daniel, Archd, and Gelbt; Donald McKay, 20, tailor, Daniel Campbell, 25, farmer; Andw Hyndman, 46, farmer, his wife, Cathn Campbell, 46, and their children, Mary, Margt and Angus; Malm Smith, 64, his wife, Mary McAlaster, 64, and their children, Peter and Mary; Duncan McAllum, 22, and his wife, Cathn McAlester, 30; Neil Thomson, 23, farmer; David Beaton, 28, farmer, and his wife, Flora Bride, 29; John Gilchrist, 25, farmer, and his wife, Marion Taylor, 21; Neil McNeil, 64, farmer, his wife, Isobel Simpson, 64, and their children, Danl, Hector, Peter, Neil, Wlllm and Mary; Allan Cameron, 28, farmer; Angus Cameron, 18, and his wife Katrine Cameron, 21.

"The Highland church too, so long wanted and so much needed, is about to be rebuilt." From the First Statistical Account of Scotland, 1794. "Parish of Campbeltown."12

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SIKA DEER IN KINTYRET. W. G. Coulson

The Knapdale-Kintyre land mass projects south-south-westwards from the mainland of Argyll, forming a barrier between the Atlantic and Loch Fyne - Firth of Clyde. It is about

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50 miles long and varies in width from 6 to 14 miles. The land rises from sea level fairly steeply to a spine of hills of no very regular pattern; the highest being about 1,500 feet. The bulk of the drainage runs eastwards with the burns occupying valleys of pre-glacial origin. The soil and vegetation are variable. The bulk of the interior is peat covered over quartzose mica schist, though running almost the whole length of the peninsula is a narrow band of metamorphic limestone and an adjacent narrow band of greenbeds which gives rise to better quality grazing than the acid schists. In Knapdale the land tends to be poor as opposed to Kintyre where there are substantial areas of arable which increase to the south particularly on the alluvium and Old Red Sandstone in the neighbourhood of Campbeltown. The climate along the coast is extremely mild and the east coast so sheltered that many exotic plants can be grown.

The variety of topography, vegetation and soil is matched by a variety of bird and animal life which make the fullest use of this varied habitat. Outstanding among the animals is that most elusive and elegant of mammals, the deer. Within Kintyre four species are to be found. The small Roe Deer and the large Red Deer are native to the locality Roe are present in moderate numbers throughout the area but prefer the sparse scrub woodlands of the glens, straths and gullies as well as the newly formed conifer plantations of the Forestry Commission. Red are decidedly uncommon and may not number more than ten beasts In all and they are wandering stags. Intermediate in size between the Roe and the Red are two introduced or feral species, the Fallow and the Japanese Sika.

An interesting story Is provided by the latter species which was introduced into the Carradale Estate by Major Austin MacKenzie from a herd he owned near Harlow in 1893. Our worthy Hon. President, Mr. Duncan Colville, has recorded that he was present on the S.S.Davaar when he saw six animals being off-loaded, apparently two stags and four hinds, on to Carradale Pier. They were held, together13

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with some Fallow Deer, in a pound on Carradale Point until the 1914-18 War when the fence fell Into disrepair and they made their way out Into the neighbouring woodland in the fertile Carra Valley. At that time there was thought to be about twenty representatives of each species. Since then, the Fallow have remained in the "Deer Park" locality, immediately to the north of Carradale without any change in population. In the past two years there have been reports of a buck having been seen in Rhunahaorine Wood near Tayinloan.

The Sika population has increased in the most dramatic manner until by the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 they had spread throughout the peninsula to number over 400 animals, and on into Knapdale. Currently they are to be seen in Awe District and Cowal. An accurate estimate of the total population would be difficult but it must exceed the 1,000 level and constitutes one of the largest if not the largest group in the Kingdom.

The Japanese Sika Deer was first introduced into Britain in the mid-nineteenth century to a few deer parks from which there were escapes to form feral colonies. They are now to be found principally In the Lake District, Dorset, the New Forest, Peebles and Inverness. Their natural home as with all deer is wooded country with thick cover but they may be seen feeding along the margins of woodlands at dusk. In areas such as Kintyre where woodland is sparse, they live in small numbers on the open hill particularly to the North of Campbeltown and South of Glenbarr; and in the Sklpness area. Numbers in the Mull locality South of Campbeltown are low, perhaps not exceeding 50 animals.

The first indication of the presence of deer in an area is probably given by their tracks and droppings both of which have characteristics common to the species. It is beyond the scope of this note to describe them in detail but interested readers can consult one of the references given at the end. Voice too is characteristic, although deer are normally silent

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animals, this being a feature of the rutting season when the stag makes a whistle rising to a crescendo and declining down-scale to a concluding grunt, usually uttered three to four times in rapid succession. When in heat, Sika hinds have a special bleat rather plaintive and subdued.14

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In size Sika are similar to Fallow and lie approximately mid way between the large Red Deer and the small Roe Deer. Stags stand to the tips of their antlers at approximately five feet and the hinds three feet. Only the Stag carries antlers which are normally cast in April and grow over the period May to August; during this time they are covered with skin which is shed in the latter month. The process of shedding is assisted by the beast rubbing its horns against a hard surface or a tree which suffers in the process. With age, the size and quality of the antlers improve, feeding is also important, as is also heredity, soil and weather. Kintyre animals are of very good quality. Antlers are thought to be of great social significance to a stag; as he grows a new set each year their social value must be re-learned and co-ordinated with a range of expressive gestures which play an important role in the process of natural selection.

A good age for a Sika is ten years. There Is a seasonal change of coat from Summer, buff brown, to the Winter coat of longer, sooty, brown hair. In habit the animal tends to be gregarious but less so than Red or Fallow. The Stags normally travel alone or with one or two of the same sex except towards the end of the winter Just before the antlers are cast the males form small groups. In autumn, winter and spring hinds and calves also associate in small groups. The rutting or breeding season is from mid-September until the end of November when the stags mark out their territory and fight for the females. Calves are born from the beginning of June to the end of July.

The full story and status of Sika Deer in Kintyre are not well known. Information is required on seasonal movement; territorial demands; what antipathy, if any, occurs between each species e.g. there are indications in Kintyre that the Sika are driving the smaller native Roe out of their habitat - there Is evidence of Red Deer crossing with Sika, the resultant hybrid could have an economic significance; and antler development.

REFERENCES"British Deer and Their Management" Whitehead (Country Life)"A Herd of Red Deer", Fraser Darling, Oxford."A Field Guide to British Deer" Journal of the British Deer Society. Enquiries can be made to T.W.G.Coulaon, Secretary, Knapdale & Kintyre Deer Society, Lochside,Campbeltown.15

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SUMMARY REPORT ON THE EXCAVATIONS AT BALLOCH HILLFORT 1973 - 1976E. J. Peltenburg.

Balloch Hlllfort is strategically situated above Oatfield House, where it overlooks the whole of the Laggan and the pass to Southend. It is one of a group of forts that ring the Laggan, others of which are at Largiemore, where a Roman coin was found, and at Knock Scalbert, overlooking Campbeltown Loch. Excavations at the Balloch multi-ramparted hillfort were carried out to Investigate, for the first time in the West of Scotland, this important type of site, and to see what role its builders played in the Irish Sea province, probably at the time of the Roman occupation further to the south-east.

Kintyre has an extensive series of pre-historic forts, but large forts are much less numerous than the duns, some of which should be contemporary with this hill-fort, and the

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social organization required for sites like Balloch suggests an intrusive influence. We may be able to unravel the relations between the hillfort and the duns such as Kildonan Galleried Dun, which the Society excavated under the guidance of Dr. Horace Fairhurst.

As erosion at a quarry on the southern side of the Balloch Hillfort was taking place and its secondary buildings were slowly disappearing, the Department of the Environment encouraged the excavation of the 3ite. The Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society kindly supported the initial stages of the project, and thereafter continued its encouragement with a steady stream of willing and ever more capable volunteers. I am grateful to both bodies and to the staff and pupils of Campbeltown Grammar School.

The inner rampart of the fort is built of large facing stones retaining a rubble core; a small entrance faces east and it encloses an area of 1,000 sq. metres. Its plan, incomplete as we now know, is illustrated on p.66 of the Royal Commission's Inventory of Argyll I. Excavations have shown that a much more complex development took place at Balloch than was hitherto thought possible, and one that is exceptional in our present state of knowledge for Scotland as a whole. Bearing in mind that it was regarded as a conventional hillfort in which one '16

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fort, represented by the outer rampart, preceded another during the Iron Age, the following resume of our results are of considerable interest :

Activities are now known to have taken place first during the Neolithic period (arrowheads and scrappers). The hill was then reused in the Middle Bronze Age (cremation burials) by people able to command wealth (elaborately decorated accessory cup and bronze awl). At some period in the Iron Age the hill was fortified by two walls; a possible third with ditches may in fact belong to the Neolithic period. The outer had a foundation cut into bedrock, or was a revetment for a wooden palisade; the inner was massive (about 3 metres high), perhaps with a wattle superstructure (fallen charcoal) and perhaps incomplete (weak entrance). Its inhabitants probably lived there permanently (circular timber houses, flint knapping, cooking and perhaps industrial processes), gathering wood locally (hazel, willow, and larch or pine) and cultivating the fields below (barley). They may have been overcome (a hasty widening and strengthening of the ramparts by the entrance) and the fort abandoned.

Subsequently two circular buildings were hollowed out of the internal collapse of the inner rampart and reoccupation for some time took place (fixed hearth, jet and glass beads, lignite bracelet, iron spearhead, nails). We have therefore a long, if interrupted, sequence of human endeavour on the hill, stretching from the Neolithic through to the medieval period.

Much work clearly remains to be done, especially with regard to the levels involving those people who expended most effort on the hill, and who gave its top its present distinctive outline, the Iron Age fort builders. As we have dealt with the medieval (?) buildings, only a thin layer of soil now remains to be removed in order to expose a large area belonging to the original inhabitants of the fort. With the good wishes of the Society, this work will take place next summer.

"Whip behind," a cry by pedestrians to the driver of a carriage or coach, resulted in the coachman taking suitable action with his long whip, and so dislodging boys who had clambered on to the rear axle of the carriage,17

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KINTYRE IN ONTARIOEfric Wotherspoon

In the township of Elderslie, Bruce County, Ontario, there was a settlement of Kintyre emigrants. The name still remains, painted on the gable end of an immense barn, spelt, rather interestingly, Cantyre Farm. The school, no longer in use, was Kintyre School, and there is a Kintyre Graveyard, changed some time ago to St. Andrew's Graveyard, but still better known and remembered as Kintyre Graveyard.

The school was very similar to our Scottish village schools, consisting of one large room, but with an enormous iron stove in the middle of it, giving off a great heat, very necessary in the depths of a Canadian winter. The school stood at the junction of two roads, these ruler-straight roads, intersecting at right angles. Now-a-days the children are taken by the ubiquitous yellow bus to a central school.

Life must have been arduous for these first settlers. They were allocated a 'lot', a long strip of land covered by bush, and not bush as we know it, actually dense forest. A descendant of one of these first settlers told me his forebears' first home was a bark covering, attached to a fallen tree, making a primitive shelter until a log cabin was built. It was interesting to see in some of the older farms the progression to more prosperous times. The log cabin became the hen-house, the second and larger wooden house became the 'hired man's' house, and the farmer then lived in a substantial stone house. Recently the Canadian Government awarded plaques to be fixed to the farm houses which had been in the same family for a hundred years.

Upper Canada was the name of the area in which the Kintyre settlement was located, between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. Prior to 1763 this was a part of the French Colonial Empire, but the French had not made any agricultural settlements. The area was transferred to British Rule and the British were anxious to have this part of the country colonised. The first settlers were 'Empire Loyalists', who tended to stay near the trading posts of Kingston and York. The earliest emigrants were restricted in their choice of location, as the land had not been18

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entirely surveyed. Free land was offered at first. A famous Governor, John Simcoe, suggested that groups, led by a settlement leader, should colonise Upper Canada. Each settler was to erect a dwelling place and clear five acres per hundred acres of virgin bush. An attempt was made to have the settlers register their land at York, but as travel was difficult, there are no records that this was enforced.

Many Scottish emigrants left from Greenock. Often the ship had to beat about the Clyde, awaiting a favourable wind to take them round the Mull of Kintyre. There is a story told of a young Southend couple, who had left from Greenock. Several weeks later there was a severe gale. The parents of the wife, whose house was near the shore, heard a loud knocking on the door. The emigrant ship had been driven ashore on the rocks, and recognising the coast, the couple had made their way to the cottage. It is not known if they made a second attempt !

Fire was a great danger to the early settlers, and I was told of a 'jump' fire which travelled at great speed, setting fire to the tops of trees. Fortunately there was a lake close to the settlement and everyone took refuge in the water, human beings, domestic animals, and wild life including bears. By soaking blankets and keeping them over their heads they all survived.

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Bears were a great trial in the early days, and they had a particular liking for pigs and would carry them off, for despite their clumsy appearance they could travel very fast. The women were frightened of Indians, but there is no record of Indians molesting them.

The ground was tremendously fertile, untold years of falling leaves having enriched it, but there was back-breaking work to be done by the early settlers before crops could be grown. The trees, many of them of enormous girth, had to be uprooted and even with the help of a horse and chains, it was hard labour.

The intense cold of a Canadian winter was also a test of endurance. One severe winter the nails inside the log cabin were shining with frost and there was a thin film of ice on the bedclothes. A huge stock of wood logs had to be made ready for the winter.19

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In maple syrup time the woods were full of the sound of the drip, drip of the sap into tin cans. The syrup was boiled to the right consistency and was an enjoyable addition to the store cupboard. Vegetables were kept in the root cellar and milk and butter in a stone-lined hole in the ground. It must have been a time of great adjustment, particularly for the women.

In 1770 the brigantine 'Annabella' under command of Captain Robert Stewart left Campbeltown with emigrants. They survived the voyage, which was not always the case. There is one recorded incident of a ship on which one hundred people died on the long voyage across the Atlantic. The 'Annabella', unfortunately, was wrecked on the north coast of Prince Edward Island, and the list of names of those rescued still exists.

It included the names of Smith, Sinclair, McGougan, Ramsay, Woodside, Taylor and Montgomery,and others from Kintyre. The name Montgomery occurred quite frequently in the Kintyre Graveyard, and there were still Montgomeries in Campbeltown within living memory. It is said that the Indians were very good to the ship-wrecked passengers, who later continued on their journey to Ontario.

KINTYRE GRAVEYARD

The names in the graveyard were all familiar. Many had istles carved on the stones. Frequently there was carved (a native of Argyleshire), and I took note of those names which had the actual place of birth in Kintyre:

Christena Taylor, a native of Kilcalmonell, died 1871, wife of Peter Reid, Saddell

Mary Taylor, a native of Clachan, wife of Dugald Gillies, died 1882.

The name Gillies is perpetuated by 'Gillies Hill' a place name in Bruce County. There were a considerable number of Gillies's but for identification purposes, unfortunately just stating 'a native of Argyleshire' e.g. Hugh, Donald, Helen, John Gillies.

Dugald Blue and his wife (died 1859)Mirren McKinnon, native of Killean, Kintyre, Argyleshire.Neil Stewart, native of Kintyre.Peter Thomson a native of Skipness died 1864.Margaret Walker wife of Alex Taylor Killean, natives of Kilcalmonell, Kintyre.20

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Donald McFadyen born 1825

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Malcolm McFadyen " 1829Margaret McPadyen " 1826 the family of Lachlan and Ann McFadyenFlora McKillop died 1891Malcolm McKillopMalcolm McConachy born 1836Lachlan Bell, his wife Christina BellJames Bell, his wife Catherine McCalderMathew Freeman a native of IslayCatherine Taylor a native of Clachan, wife of Angus McNeill.

One feels oneself in Argyll in this small roadside graveyard, and one wonders if the wrench of leaving home was ameliorated by the fact of having so many people of their own countryside with them, making the most of the new country. Or was the heart 'forever Highland'?

Toward the end of the 18th Century a blacksmith, who only spoke Gaelic, left Drumlemble to work in Sheffield. The owner of the works there guarded his trade secrets well, end saw that his workmen did not get full knowledge of them, but he did not feel it necessary to maintain strict supervision over this dullard who could not speak English. A few years later, in possession of the trade secrets, the Gaelic speaking MacNeil left Sheffield and started his own forge in Stirlingshire. A son went to Tzarist Russia and started or developed the forge at the Sebastopol Arsenal. Until recent years his descendents, still in the iron trade, had two large works in Govan.

When the founder of the forge at Govan opened his own business he had to borrow some money. This was the sum of £300, in 1876, when Income Tax was 3d. in the pound !21

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MARY - A HUNDRED & FIFTY SEARS AGOMargaret MacDougall

What was it like living in Campbeltown 150 years ago ? We have some idea of the number of people in the town, what they did for a living, what kind of house they lived in. But what kind of people were they ? What made them laugh and what made them cry? We need a good gossip. Some one who was living in Campbeltown at that time and who had a sharp eye and a keen ear for the little details of everyday living which brings dry statistics to life. And luckily we have one. Her name was Mary Streete Campbell, and she came to live in Campbeltown in 1815 when she was nine years old. Her father, who was a native of the town, had been in command of a company of the Argyll Militia during the Napoleonic Wars, and Mary, together with the rest of her family, had led a peripathetic life following his various postings in Scotland, Ireland, and the south of England.

But by 1815 Napoleon had been disposed of, and Thomas Campbell returned home to take up an appointment as surveyor of roads in Argyll. In Campbeltown Mary grew from child to woman, the dutiful eldest daughter in a large family of 11 sons and daughters. She never married and in 1839 went out to the West Indies to join the household of her eldest brother, Donald. Like many a Campbeltown family before and since the Campbells scat-tered across the world. Four of Mary's brothers are buried in Jamica (where an older generation of the family owned estates), and at least one brother and sister settled in the United States.

In the course of her long life (she died in 1900 in her 90th year) Mary lived in both the United States and the West Indies. But when she was a very old lady, living in Edinburgh, and was given a present of a diary In which to record her memories, her thoughts went back over sixty years to Campbeltown, and to the precious time when the family were

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growing up together in their home in Kirk Street. Later her diary was printed as a slim booklet under the title, "A Nonagenarian's Memoirs."

Campbeltown was a close-knit community, with much interchange between all its members. The Campbell children went to school in the town, and got the rough edges22

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rubbed off them. Mary went to a dame school and tells a tale against herself of how she tried unsuccessfully to persuade one of her friends not to mix with a schoolmate out of school because she was "socially in a quite different rank of life." For some time after whenever Mary took her favourite walk down Kilkerran Road she had to endure shouts of "Royal blood," and "Proud feet."

Mary's brothers, meanwhile, found their way in the Grammar School with one brother, Dugald, thrashing the "Toddles," the school bully. Nicknames were apparently as common then as now, and the headmaster of the school Gillespie, was known as "Snipe" because of the sharpness of his nose!

The lower orders themselves were not easily abashed. There was, for instance, "Trumlan Jock," a local character known to all. One day, Mary records, he was in the street when a carriage drove past, owned by a parvenu. Jock watched its progress, then sourly commented, "The lakes o' hum wi' a coche." Another character was the Cricket. A remarkably decent quiet man when sober, says Mary, "but that was a condition in which he was very seldom seen." One day he followed Mary's father into a shop and came up to him, redolent of what he had been Imbibing. Mary's father recoiled, only to be told, "It's a good smell, Thomas."

The family took part In all the activities which were popular then. The boys learned to swim at the quay and indulged in bare backed riding of the pigs which still roamed the Campbeltown streets. John introduced the velocipede to Kintyre roads, and broke his arm when it failed to take a turn in Limecraigs Avenue. Donald walked to Carradale to see a famous whale and wouldn't stop for the smell, and Charlie was almost killed when he fell between the mill wheel and the wall at Auchaleek.

Mary lived less dangerously. After all she had the shirts to sew at home. But she too knew and loved the Kintyre countryside, and spent many happy hours searching for specimens for the botany box with her father at Glen-ramskill. She even ventured to the Mull Lighthouse with a friend, travelling by farm cart, on horseback, and finally on foot.23

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WILLIAM MCTAGGART 1835 - 1910Isabella Dunnett.

William McTaggart was one of the finest painters Scotland has produced, and an original genius, a pioneer of impressionism before it even had a label. In his early years he taught himself drawing and painting, and already at the age of twelve he was able to earn extra money and delight friends with his ability as a portrait painter* McTaggart was born of crofting parents at Aros, at the present day a farm beside the east end of the airfield at Machrihanish. His parents were Gaelic speaking and his mother was a granddaughter of the religious poet, Duncan Mac Dougall* His parents are burled in Kilkenzie churchyard, and in her later years his mother came back from Glasgow to live in Campbeltown.

At the age of twelve William McTaggart was an apprenticed apothecary to Dr. Buchanan of Campbeltown, who quickly recognised his ability and encouraged him. His starting

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wage was half a crown a week and his dinner on Sunday. William's parents had opposed his desire to train as an artist but his employer encouraged him to continue with his painting and portraiture, placing his library at his disposal, and introducing him to some of the wealthy local who gave him commissions and also the chance to see other paintings in their houses. When his apprenticeship was over William McTaggart took the bold step of sailing off to Glasgow with his savings, determined to make his living from painting. In February 1852 aged sixteen he stayed with an elder brother and sought the advice of Sir Daniel McHee to whom he had an Introduction. He was advised to enrol at the Trustees Academy, Edinburgh. This academy owed its origin to the Treaty of Union, and had been founded In 1760 by the Board of the Manufacturers of Scotland to Improve design for textiles etc., but had developed Into an art college. At the time McTaggart entered the school Robert Scott Lauder (1805 - 1809) was the director of Antique Life and Colour Studies. He inspired a group of well-known artists, most of whom later moved to London. This teacher's passion for colour and understanding of the properties of oil paint was taken up by the students and became the principal characteristic of most Scottish painting. McTaggart was carefully trained and during this time he managed to support himself by painting portraits.24

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Between 1852 and 1860 painting by the Pre-Raphaelites Milais and Holman Hunt were exhibited in Edinburgh but, although excited by their pursuit of naturalism, McTaggart moved further to perfect a truth to atmosphere by a more exact use of broken colour. David Fincham in the introduction to the "McTaggart Centenary Exhibition 1935" in the Tate Gallery writes "As early as 1875 McTaggart had invented a system of impressionism different from but comparable to that of Sisley, Monet and Renoir.

Although William McTaggart lived most of his working life in Edinburgh and after 1889 at Lasswade, he returned nearly every year to Kintyre, and places in this peninsula were the sites and inspiration of many of his paintings completed in his studio during the winter. In 1859 while still a student he was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1860 he was able to take a painting holiday around Campbeltown Loch, and when on a visit to New Orleans on the Leewardside Road he met Mary Holmes, who was also on holiday. McTaggart painted his first study of the sea, called "Hesperus" on this holiday, and in June 1863 he married Mary Holmes in Glasgow. The marriage was very happy and seemed to stimulate his painting, which improved steadily. As part of their honeymoon the young couple made a brief visit to London where Mrs. McTaggart met some of her artist husband's early friends.

In 1862 some of McTaggart's closest friends migrated to London, but he could never be persuaded to make the move and, although he showed pictures at the Royal Academy in London between 1866 and 1875, he rarely visited the capital, and settled in Edinburgh. With a growing family his holidays by the sea were for some years on the East Coast. He painted at Carnoustie and Broughty Ferry out of doors, and had a studio in his flat in Charlotte Square. As a result many of his patrons were from Dundee and nearby and the best public collections of his pictures are to be found at Broughty Perry and Kirkcaldy.

McTaggart and his family came to Kilkerran, Campbeltown, for a holiday in 1870 - a working holiday as he was always a very energetic painter. After 1870 nearly every summer found him and his family in Kintyre, at Machrlhanish, Tarbert, Carradale or Southend. His output was tremendous. He had a large family and throughout his life he never stopped painting or lowered his standards or aspirations. His paintings were much sought after and commanded high prices. Some regard as his best those pictures painted25

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about 1870, the year he was elected an academician. At that time he was probably the best open air painter in Britain. In 1875 "The Village, Whitehouse" was exhibited in the London Academy. MoTaggart painted several pictures of Whitehouse. To journey there from Campbeltown meant catching the Campbeltown-Tarbert coach and starting at 5.a.m.

In 1876 MoTaggart began water-colour studies at Machrihanish. These sketches were sometimes worked into pictures in oils painted later in the studio. The year 1884 must have been a very sad one for the artist. Early in the year his mother died in Campbeltown. On returning home his wife developed an illness which she had already and died on December 15th. His youngest daughter was inseparable from her father even when he went visiting. When he was wooing the lady who became his second wife Jean went too, and also on the honeymoon. He painted a beautiful portrait of this child in a red frock with a lace collar. It is called "Belle" and is owned by her sisters. William McTaggart's eldest daughter and his second wife, MarJorie Henderson, had a wonderfully happy relationship. They were really like sisters and the whole family were devoted to each other. McTaggart often included his family and young friends in his pictures, as for example in "Consider the Lilies." He was a most understanding and approachable father.

By 1889 McTaggart felt sufficiently established to abandon direct commission and paint the subjects he preferred - pictures of the sea and countryside. Before he removed from Edinburgh, Dowells held a sale of his accumulated works in the spring of 1889. A total of £4,000 was realised - at that time an unprecedented success in Scotland. In 1877 he had sold a painting for 330 guineas, which showed that he earned a satisfactory income, was able to paint what he wanted and still fulfil all family demands. In May 1889 he moved to Dean Park, Broomieknowe, on the outskirts of Lasswade, Midlothian, and built himself a studio in the garden. Later on in 1895 he built a bigger studio cum gallery, and painted at Broomieknowe from 1889 - 1910.

During the 1880»s McTaggart painted a lot In water-colours. There are many beautiful sketches of Klntyre, Glenramskill, Machrihanish, Kildavie, Bonnie Coniglen, Pennyseorach Bay, Southend, Dunaverty, Brunerican and26

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many pictures of Carradale were painted "on the spot." The summer visits of 1887 and 1888 were completely given over to watercolours, some to be transformed into larger compositions in oil in the studio.

In 1892 McTaggart altered his holidays to visit Kintyre in June instead of August and thereafter came practically every year i" this month till 1908. He found in the long light days new effects of light to study. 1894 was a particularly busy year for him and 1895 a particularly fine one for weather. This was the year his new studio was built and he painted a well known studio picture called "Consider the lilies." It shows a bed of large white lilies with two rings of dancing children. McTaggart never missed a R.S.A. Exhibition between 1855 and 1895. He showed a hundred and ninety pictures of which seventy two were portraits and nineteen water-colours all exhibited after 1875. Hugh Cameron, a well known critic, gave his opinion of McTaggart. "It was pioneer work - he put aside convention after convention in his consistent and purposeful development towards the expression of the things in nature which fascinated him." Another opinion was "Best open air painter in Britain." In 1894 the "Art Journal" of that year devoted an article to McTaggart's work entitled "A Scottish Impressionist."

1897 was the thirteenth centenary of the death of St. Columba. That summer when he visited Machrihanish he found that the Cauldrons bays had filled with sand and this unusual happening gave him the subject matter for his famous painting "The Coming of Saint Columba" which hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland. The year before this (1896) McTaggart had a serious illness but recovered completely by 1898. In that year his

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long standing friend and patron, Mr. Orchan, died and left his collection of pictures, after his wife's death, to Broughty Ferry. So there are about twenty of McTaggart's pictures on show there. It was felt that there had been no exhibition of his pictures for some time so in 1900, Mr. D. McOmish Dott purchased twenty nine pictures for £5,000 and showed them in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. In 1901 the "Scottish Artists' Benevolent Association" was started with a sale of prominent painters' works for its funds. William McTaggart took a leading part in the foundation of this association and gave an early Broomleknowe painting "Green Fields" for the sale. In the same year he visited Southend and painted some wonderful pictures in a fine August,27

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"Where the Smuggler Came A3hore" and "The Sounding Sea" - a masterpiece as is "The Paps of Jura" (1902).

Nearer home McTaggart painted some pictures at Cock-enzle on the Firth of Forth and the sea in these pictures is a completely different sea to that of the Atlantic paintings. In 1903 McTaggart was saddened by the death of his son, Hamish, at the early age of thirteen and came to Rosehill on Campbeltown Loch for a change. The family still came to Machrihanish for a summer painting holiday up to 1907 when McTaggart painted his last oil paintings "Cauldrons Bay", "Atlantic Surf", "summer Sea" and Mist and Rain Machrihanish."

The names ere evocative in themselves. There is a photograph of the artist painting on the beach at Machrihanish - coat flying in the breeze and his heavy easel and canvas held down by an assistant - probably a member of the family. He was a master painter at depicting the changing moods of sea and sky - the shining wind caressing western seas. The figures in his pictures are usually subordinate to or enhance the mood of the picture. "He loved to wreath the beauty of nature with the charm and innocence of childhood." As a Belgian artist, Emile Claus said in 1916 "Ah ! C'est lui qui peint les enfants comme des fleurs."

William McTaggart died peacefully in April 1910 and is buried in Newington Churchyard, Edinburgh. His paintings even in reproduction are an inspiration and delight.

Sources: Sir James Caw's Biography 1917.

The McTaggarts' Exhibition Catalogue 1974.

St. Couslan...

inculcated in the strongest manner the "Indissolubility of the marriage tie... end if lovers did not find it convenient to marry, their joining hands through a hole in a rude pillar near his church, was held, as it continued to be till almost the present day, an interim tie of mutual fidelity so strong and sacred that it is generally believed in the country none ever broke it, who did not soon after break his neck, or meet with some fatal accident.28

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