Fògradh, Fàisneachd, Filidheachd

by Duncan B. Blair

  (26 November 1892)

  Sutherland 1

  At one time Sutherland was full of people who were quite contented and who had every amenity and item that was of use to them in this world. It had brave, strong men who were heroic soldiers. In 1759 William, the 21st Duke of Sutherland, and the last duke who was a native of the place, raised in two months a regiment of two thousand soldiers to help the British kingdom in the war with France, in which Britain took Canada from the French after they captured Cape Breton and Québec.

  In 1745 the Duke of Sutherland was able to recruit an army of two thousand soldiers. During the American war between 1773 and 1779, a thousand soldiers were assembled in a Sutherland regiment. Another thousand soldiers were mustered for a different Sutherland regiment in the war with France between 1793 and 1798. This was done on different occasions and a thousand soldiers were raised in Sutherland five or six times.

  Sadly, things changed. Duke William died in 1766 and the only successor that he left was a baby girl called Elizabeth who was born in 1765 and was therefore only one year old when her father died. Her mother was from the southern Lowlands of Scotland and when the Duke died she went to live in her original community near the English border. She took with her the young Duchess, her own child who was only a small baby, and she nurtured and taught her in ways indigenous to the southern Lowlands, far from the land of her birth, heredity and ancestry.

  When the young Duchess reached the age of twenty in 1785 she married Lord or Marquis Stafford, called George Granville. This took her farther away from her own countryside in the north of Scotland, so that she had no knowledge of the people in her father’s territory. When she married Lord Stafford she became an Englishwoman, for “a wife and a minister have no hope.” Consequently she lost contact with the people of Sutherland and didn’t care for them. She left the governance of her ancestral estate in the hands of officials, factors and lawyers who were avaricious, egotistical and ambitious people seeking their own advantage rather than the people’s benefit.

  These people gave perverse advice to the Duchess and, having been under the Devil’s guidance, they told her that it would be an additional worldly bonus for her to clear the people from the land and replace them with the big sheep. They didn’t care what loss and oppression the people would suffer. They couldn’t care less if they were drowned and allowed to sink to the bottom of the sea, or if they died on the heather-covered hillocks, with their corpses lying like manure on the face of the earth. What these wretched puppets wanted was money for themselves and the Duchess. We will tell you some of the dreadful things that they did.

  (Detail) James Kirkwood. 1804. By permission. National Library of Scotland [NLS shelfmark: EMS.s.74].

  (26 Samhain 1892)

  Cataibh 1

  Bha Cataibh aon uair làn sluaigh a bha gu math air an dòigh, agus aig an robh gach goireas agus nì bha feumail dhaibh anns an t-saoghal so. Bha daoine treun foghainteach ann a bha ’nan saighdearaibh gaisgeil. Air a’ bhliadhna 1759 chruinnich Uilleam an t-Iarla Catach, an t-Iarla thar fhichead, agus an t-Iarla dùthchasach mu dheireadh a bha air an tìr, ann an dà mhìos a dh’ùine, rèiseamaid anns an robh dà mhìle saighdear a chuideachadh rìoghachd Bhreatainn anns a’ chogadh ris an Fhraing, nuair a thug Breatann Canada bho na Frangaich, an dèidh dhaibh Ceap Breatainn agus Quebec a ghlacadh.

  Ann am bliadhna Theàrlaich bha an t-Iarla Catach comasach air armailt a thional anns am biodh dà mhìle fear-cogaidh. Ri linn cogadh Aimeireaga eadar a’ bhliadhna 1773 agus 1779, chruinnicheadh mìle saighdear anns an rèiseamaid Chataich. A rithist ann an Cogadh na Frainge eadar 1793 agus 1798 chruinnicheadh rèiseamaid eile ann an Cataibh anns an robh mile saighdear. Rinneadh so uair no dhà, agus eadar a h-uile àm bho thoiseach gu deireadh chruinnicheadh ann an Cataibh aig caochladh thràthan mìle saighdear còig no sia dh’uairean.

  Ach, mo thruaighe, thàinig caochladh air cùisean. Fhuair an t-Iarla Uilleam am bàs air a’ bhliadhna 1766 agus cha d’fhàg e oighre ach aon chaileag bheag d’ am b’ ainm Ealasaid a rugadh air a’ bhliadhna 1765 agus a bha bliadhna dh’aois nuair a dh’eug a h-athair. Bha a màthair bho Ghalldachd taobh deas Alba, agus nuair a dh’eug an t-Iarla chaidh i a dh’fhuireach gu tìr a dùthchais faisg air a’ chrìch Shasannaich. Agus thug i leatha a’ Bhan-Iarla òg, a leanaibh fèin nach robh ach ’na naoidhean agus rinn i a h-àrach ’s a h-ionnsachadh anns gach oilean a dh’fheumadh i ann an Galldachd taobh deas na h-Alba, fad air falbh bho thìr a breith, a dùthchais agus a sinnsireachd.

  Nuair a bha a’ Bhan-Iarla òg air fàs suas gu bhi fichead bliadhna dh’aois phòs i Morair no Marcus Stafford, d’am b’ainm Seòras Granville, air a’ bhliadhna 1785. Thug so i na b’fhaide air falbh bho a dùthaich fhèin ann an ceann tuath na h-Alba, agus mar sin cha d’fhuair i eòlas sam bith air sluagh dùthchasach tìr a h-athar. Agus nuair a phòs i Morair Stafford dh’fhàs i ’na ban-Sasannach oir “chan eil dòchas aig mnaoi no aig ministear.” Chaill i mar so iomradh air sluagh Chataibh agus dh’fhàs i coma air an son. Dh’fhàg i riaghladh oighreachd a sinnsir ann an làmhan luchd-dreuchd, Factoran agus luchd-lagha, daoine gionach, sanntach, fèineil a bha ag iarraidh am buannachd fhein agus cha’n e math an t-sluaigh.

  Thug iad so comhairle an aimhleis do’n Bhan-Iarla agus air dhaibh a bhi fo threòrachadh an Diabhail dh’fheuch iad dhi gum biodh e a chum an tuilleadh buannachd shaoghalta dhi-se an sluagh fhuadach às an tìr, agus an dùthaich a chur fo na caoraich mhòra. Cha robh suim sam bith aca ciod an call agus am fòirneart a rinneadh air an t-sluagh. Bha iad coma ged a rachadh am bàthadh ’s an cur fodha ann an grunnd a’ chuain, no ged gheibheadh iad am bàs air na cnocannaibh fraoich, agus a laigheadh an cuirp mar aolach air aodann na talmhainn. ’S e airgead daibh fhèin ’s do’n Bhan-Iarla a bha dhìth air na seòid. Innsidh sinn an dèidh so pàirt de’n obair oillteil a rinn iad.

  (3 December 1892)

  Sutherland 2

  When Napoleon Bonaparte was at war with Europe and trampled it under his feet, Britain alone stood against him until she got the victory. However, with Bonaparte’s stratagems, every seaport in Europe and the United States of America was closed to British ships so that trade between Britain and other countries was not permitted. These countries could not buy or take anything from Britain, and Bonaparte would not let them sell anything to Britain or send anything to the island’s seaports. The people of Britain’s towns were therefore in dire straits through lack of food, since they could not get grain or meat from mainland Europe or America. The people used every possible means to procure all kinds of food within the country itself. All of the arable fields and meadows in Lowland Scotland, and the swards of England and the South, were developed and cultivated with the best available methods in order to make them rich and productive for growing plenty of corn and meal to provide bread for the people. Since the hills of the Highlands could not be ploughed to grow corn for bread, people thought that they were suitable for rearing cattle and sheep to provide meat for the populace of the cities of England, for there was thick and ample grazing on these hills where cattle and sheep and goats could get plenty of pasture.

  The greedy landlords and land-owners thought that the time was ripe for them to accumulate wealth, if they could remove the indigenous tenants and put sheep on the hills where the peasants’ cattle used to be on the sheiling in the summer. They began this wicked work, and there was no place where more cruelty was shown in removing the old inhabitants than Sutherland. As the prophet Daniel said: “Under all of heaven nothing was done like what was done to Jerusalem.” Similarly it can be said that nothing was done under all of heaven to compare with what was done to Sutherland.

  In 1807 the Duchess of Sutherland evicted about 90 families from the parishes of Lairg and Farr. In 1809 hundreds of families were removed from their homes in the districts of Dornoch, Rogart, Loth, Clyne and Golspie. This was done in a cruel and pitiless manner. The Duchess left the land under the rule of Mr. Young, a rich grai
n merchant. Along with him was Patrick Sellar, a lawyer from the county of Moray. Mr. Young was the Chief Executive, the Factor, and Sellar was his emissary, working under his jurisdiction. In the space of two or three years these men evicted most of the inhabitants of those five districts, and brought in Lowlanders from Morayshire, their own compatriots and friends, with whom they replaced the old tenantry.

  (3 Dùbhlachd 1892)

  Cataibh 2

  Nuair a bha Napoleon Bonapart a’ cogadh ris an Roinn-Eòrpa agus a shaltair e fo a chasaibh i, sheas Breatann ’na h-aonar a mach ’na aghaidh, gus an d’thug i buaidh. Gidheadh le innleachdan Bhonapart bha a h-uile baile-puirt san Roinn-Eòrpa agus an Stàtachan Ameireaga air an dùnadh an aghaidh Bhreatainn, air chor as nach robh malairt air a ceadachadh eadar Breatann agus tìrean eile. Chan fhaodadh na dùthchannan sin nì sam bith a cheannach no ghabhail à Breatann, agus cha leigeadh Bonapart leotha nì a chreic ri Breatann, no a chur a staigh do na puirt-mhara an àite sam bith de’n eilean. Bha sluagh nam bailtean mòra ann am Breatann uime sin ann an èiginn mhòir a chion bidh; oir chan fhaigheadh iad gràn no feòil à tìr-mòr na Roinn-Eòrpa na bho Ameireaga. Rinn sluagh na Rìoghachd gach innleachd a chleachdadh a chum biadh dhe gach seòrsa a sholar anns an dùthaich sin fhèin. Bha gach fearann treabhaidh agus magh air a’ Mhachair Albannaich agus ann an dùthchannaibh ìosal Shasainn, agus an Taobh Deas, air an leasachadh agus air am mathachadh leis gach ni a b’fhearr na chèile chum an dèanamh reamhar, tarbhach, air son pailteas arbhair a thogail, gu min us flùr a sholar chum arain a bheathachadh an t-sluaigh. Agus a chionn nach gabhadh beanntan àrda na Gàidhealtachd treabhadh gu arbhar a thogail air son arain, smuainich daoine gun robh iad freagarrach air son crodh us caoirich àrach gu feòil a sholar air son an t-sluaigh ann am bailtibh mòra Shasainn, oir bha feurach tiugh agus pailt air na beanntaibh sin far am faigheadh feudail agus meanbh-chrodh gu leòr a chum ionaltraidh.

  Smuainich na h-uachdarain shanntach agus sealbhadairean an fhearainn gun robh an t-àm so ’na chothrom math dhaibh-son air son saoibhreas a chur ri chèile, nam faigheadh iad an tuath dhùthchasach a chur air falbh, agus na beanntan far am b’abhaist crodh nan tuathanach a bhi air àirigh san t-samhradh, a chur fo chaoraich. Air an obair aingidh so thòisich iad, agus cha robh àite sam bith air a’ Ghàidhealtachd far an do nochdadh tuilleadh ainiochd ann am fògradh an t-seann luchd-àitich na dùthaich Chataibh. Mar a thubhairt am fàidh Daniel “fo nèamh uile cha d’ rinneadh mar a rinneadh air Ierusalem.” Mar sin faodar a ràdh fo nèamh uile cha d’rinneadh mar a rinneadh air Cataibh.

  Air a’ bhliadhna 1807 chuir a’ Bhan-iarla Chatach air falbh à sgireachd Lairg agus à sgireachd Farr mu thimcheall 90 teaghlach. Ach air a’ bhliadhna 1809 chaidh na ciadan de theaghlaichean a chur às an àitean-còmhnaidh ann an Sgìreachdan Dhòrnoich, Raghairt, Loth, Chlin, agus Ghoillspidh; agus rinneadh so air dòigh ain-iochdmhoir gun truacantas. Dh’fhàg a’ Bhan-iarla an dùthaich fo riaghladh Mhr. Young, ceannaiche saoibhir, a bha ri marsantachd air gràn; agus maille ris-san bha Pàdraig Sellar, fear-lagha, de mhuinntir Siorramachd Mhurraidh. B’e Mr. Young an t-Ard-fhear-gnothuich, am Factor, agus bha Sellar ’na Ghille-gnothuich ag oibreachadh fo a làimh-san. An ùine dhà no tri bhliadhnaichean, dh’fhògair na daoine so a’ mhòr-chuid de luchd àitich nan còig sgìreachdan sin a mach às an fhearann, agus thug iad a staigh Goill à Siorramachd Mhurraidh, an luchd-dùthcha agus an càirdean fèin, a shuidhich iad ann an àite na seann tuath.

  (10 December 1892)

  Sutherland 3

  Since the Duchess of Sutherland was living in Stafford in England she left the governance of the land in Sutherland in the hands of these beastly men, Mr. Young and Patrick Sellar. They continued the evil work, and in 1811 people from the Lowlands of Scotland could be seen wandering up and down inspecting the land before they would offer any rent for a portion of it. Many people had been given notice of eviction from their homes, since the land was to be divided into wide segments in order to make it into large sheep farms. The sluggish long-legged Lowlanders were terrified that they would get a thrashing from the people that they were going to put out of their houses, but they needn’t have worried. The poor Gaels treated them courteously. Not only that – they gave them hospitality and food generously.

  However, in Kildonan there was a mischievous rascal called Reid, a useless coward who started a rumour that a group of people from Kildonan were pursuing him in order to catch him and give him bad treatment. When Young and Sellar heard this fabricated story they pretended that they were shaking with fear. Their own conscience made cowards of them. They gathered between sixty and one hundred Lowlanders, their own minions and servants, and swore them in as bailiffs and constables. Then they prepared the cannons that were in Dunrobin Castle, where they had been lying unused since the time of Prince Charlie. They hurriedly sent out messengers to ask people to come to the castle and many were prepared to obey the summons. But when they were about six miles from the castle they heard a whisper of the cunning intentions of the Factors and stopped.

  After that they went to the Inn in Golspie to meet the Factors. These characters came with the Sheriff, bailiffs and sheriff-officers, and told the people that some of them were to be seized and imprisoned in Dornoch on suspicion of threatening Reid’s life. With one voice they shouted that they were innocent and that they would not allow any of them to be seized and put in prison for that kind of untruthful excuse. Then the Sheriff read to them the statute called the Riot Act, of which the poor people of Sutherland had been unaware of and couldn’t understand, but they dispersed and went home in peace.

  The Factors acted as if they were afraid. They jumped on to the saddles of the horses, and rushed to the castle for sanctuary in the shelter of the big guns. They sent a request to the garrison of Fort George to send a group of soldiers to quell the rebellion in Sutherland. An Irish Regiment was dispatched and the soldiers travelled day and night, a distance of fifty miles, with their armour and artillery. When they arrived there were no rebels to be seen or found, and they returned to their quarters in Fort George, like the idiots who were sent on a false journey by a concocted message on All Fools’ Day at the end of spring.

  (10 Dùbhlachd 1892)

  Cataibh 3

  A chionn gun robh a’ Bhan-Iarla Chatach a’ fuireach ann an Stafford an Sasainn dh’fhàg i riaghladh na dùthcha ann an Cataibh ann an làmhan nan daoine brùideil sin, Mr.Young agus Pàdraig Sellar. Lean iadsan air an obair aingidh, agus air a’ bhliadhna 1811 chìteadh a’ siubhal sios us suas air feadh na tìre Goill bho mhachair Alba, a’ gabhail beachda air an fhearann mun tairgeadh iad màl sam bith air son nan gabhalaichean. Oir thugadh bàirlinn do mhòran dhe’n tuath gus an cur air falbh às an tighean, a chionn gun robh an tìr gu bhi air a roinn na h-earrannaibh farsainn, air son gabhalaichean mòra chaorach a dheanamh dhith. Bha eagal an cridhe air na Goill luinnseach, fhad-chasach so, gum faigheadh iad droch laimhseachadh bho’n t-sluagh a bha iad a’ dol a chur a mach às an dachaidhean, ach cha ruigeadh iad leas, oir bhuin na Gàidheil bhochda gu sìobhalta riutha, agus chan e sin a mhàin ach thug iad aoigheachd agus biadhtachd dhaibh gu fìalaidh.

  Gidheadh bha eucorach mallaichte de Raoideach (Reid) ann an Sgìreachd Chill-donnain, Gall slaodach, cladhaireach gun rath, a thog tuairisgeul air buidheann de luchd-sgìreachd Chill-donnain gun robh iad ’ga ruagadh gu ghlacadh air son droch càramh a dhèanamh air. Cho luath ’s a chuala Young agus Pàdraig Sellar am faoindealbh sgeòil so, leig iad orra bhi air chrith leis an eagal, oir rinn an cogaisean fhèin cladhairean dhiubh,agus chruinnich iad ri chèile eadar tri fìchead agus ciad Gall, an leanmhainnichean agus an seirbhisich fèin, a rinn iad a mhionnachadh mar mhaoir agus mar chonstabaill. Chaidh iad an sin agus chuir iad às òrdugh na gunnachan-mòra a bha aig Caisteal Dhunrobainn, a bha ’nan laighe gun fheum bho linn bliadhna Theàrlaich. Chuir iad le cabhaig a mach teachdairean a ghairm an t-sluaigh a staigh a dh’ionnsaidh a’ Chaisteil agus rinn mòran deas gu ùmhlachd a thoirt do ’n gh
airm. Ach nuair a bha iad mar uighe sia mìle don’n Chaisteal fhuair iad sanas mu ais-innleachdan nam Factor, agus rinn iad stad.

  Chaidh iad an dèidh sin a dh’ionnsaidh an Tigh-Osda ann an Goillspidh gu coinneachadh ris na Factoran. Thàinig na seòid so leis an t-Siorramh agus le maoir us tarraidean; dh’innis iad do’n t-sluagh gun robh feadhainn diubh gu bhi air an glacadh ’s an cur do phrìosan ann an Dòrnoch fo amharus airson ionnsaigh a thoirt air beatha an Raoidich. Le aon ghuth ghlaodh an sluagh gun robh iad neo-chiontach, agus nach leigeadh iad le aon sam bith dhiubh bhi air an glacadh san cur am prìosan air son a leithid sin de leisgeul brèige. Leugh an Siorramh dhaibh an sin reachd ris an abrar Achd na Tuaireap (Riot Act), rud nach b’aithne do na Cataich bhochd agus nach tuigeadh iad; ach sgaoil iad agus dh’fhalbh iad dachaidh ann an sìth.

  Ghabh na Factoran orra bhi fo eagal; leum iad suas ’nan diollaidean air na h-eich, agus ruith iad chun a’ Chaisteil air son dìdein fo fhasgadh nan gunnachan-mòra. Chuir iad fios gu Gearrasdan Aird nan Saor (Fort George) air son buidheann shaighdearan, a chur fodha na ceannairc ann an Cataibh. Chuireadh Rèiseamaid Eireannach à sin, a bha triall a latha ’s a dh’oidhche, astar leth-cheud mìle, le airm agus uidheam-gunnaireachd. Ach nuair a thàinig iad cha robh luchd-ceannairc ri fhaicinn no ri fhaotainn, agus thill iad dhachaidh gu’n taighean-feachd ann an Aird nan Saor, coltach ri baothairean a chuireadh air thurus brèige le teachdaireachd mhealltaich air latha na gogaireachd deireadh an Earraich.

  (17 December 1892)

  Sutherland 4

  In the month of March many people in the district of Farr and Kildonan were given orders to leave their crofts at the upcoming Whitsuntide. To make the outcome certain, and to make them go quickly with their cattle, the heather was set on fire where the animals used to graze in the spring when fodder was scarce. This was done by order of Patrick Sellar, who took possession of their land as a sheep-farm for himself. This accursed man then set fire to the poor people’s houses. This was easy to do since the wooden roof and the rafters were made from bog-fir, old fir trees that had been lying in the moor for hundreds of years.