Knoydart: A History

By Denis Rixson

A local historian chronicles the famously remote region of the Scottish Highlands from its early Viking settlers to the present day.

Located in the “Rough Bounds” of northern Scotland, the remote region of Knoydart is Britain’s last true wilderness. Deriving its name from Viking settlers, the desolate peninsula was home to warlike inhabitants who became notorious in the 18th century under the ruthless leadership of Coll of Barrisdale. Notorious across Scotland, his protection racket gave the word “blackmail” to the English language.

Knoydart was also a fertile recruiting ground for the Jacobites. But in the 18th and 19th centuries the area suffered large scale emigration, partly as a result of the brutal clearances of 1853. A long century of decline followed until, in 1948, it became the scene of the famous land-raid by the “Seven men of Knoydart.”

Today, Knoydart continues to be the focus of land settlement and reform controversies. Local historian Denis Rixson places these issues in their larger historical context. It is the story of a community’s ongoing struggle to preserve itself against the harshness of the environment and the cynical exploitation of man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9780857909640

Book preview

Chapter 1

GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY

Physically, Knoydart appears like an extended knuckle stretching westwards from Loch Quoich. It is bounded on the north by Loch Hourn, on the south by Loch Nevis and to the west by the Sound of Sleat. To the east lie high mountains and the freshwater Loch Quoich. Seton Gordon reports that three cairns beside the track at Mam na Cloich Airde (NM 8994) mark the boundaries of the lands of Lovat (N Morar to the WSW), Lochiel (Loch Arkaig to the ESE) and Glengarry (NE and NW). Since Glengarry held both Knoydart and Glengarry, he was presumably not concerned with the boundary between his two territories.

Most of Knoydart is incapable of agriculture. Very little land lies below 200 feet and most of this is confined to the coastal strip and the major glens (See Plate 1). Relief has always dictated the district’s settlement pattern which concentrated on pockets of land along the coast and in the river valleys of Barrisdale, Guseran, Inverie and Carnach.

Geography has also determined Knoydart’s orientation and communications. Access to the east is by steep, rocky passes from Kinloch Hourn, Barrisdale or Carnoch to Loch Quoich, or from Sourlies to Loch Arkaig. These are so harsh and inaccessible as to effectively prohibit commercial traffic through the ages. Men and animals can walk these routes, but little can be carried. Even today only the first of these passes has a road. Knoydart’s communications, and therefore orientation, have always been seawards; west to Skye, north across Loch Hourn to Glenelg, or south to Morar. Boats can carry heavy loads and the distances involved are not great, usually only a mile or two to Glenelg or North Morar, about three to Skye.

Climate, Soils and Geology

Knoydart’s climate is also unfavourable to agriculture. Along with other parts of the west coast it is affected by the warm-water currents of the Atlantic Gulf Stream. It enjoys relatively mild winters, especially on the coast, with a great deal of wet and windy weather. This favours pastoral, rather than arable, farming although in past times the climate was not always as it is now. The Vikings, in particular, enjoyed a climatic optimum between about 800 and 1200 AD.

Knoydart’s natural resources are limited. It has only a tiny amount of cultivable land, with plenty of rough grazing of varied quality. It has some woodland but, as we shall see later, this was not always of economic value. Its rivers support some salmon and it has peat. It is surrounded on three sides by the sea and this has always been its richest resource. The underlying rocks, as for the rest of the Rough Bounds, are an intractable mix of Moinian schists. The soils are thin, patchy, and heavily leached by the incessant rain. The only mineral of any value is mica, which was exploited briefly during the Second World War.

Until the eighteenth century, Knoydart was inhabited on the basis of agricultural potential alone. There were attempts by the Forfeited Estates Commissioners to establish a fishing industry but these ended in failure. It is only in the recent past that sporting interests, or the desire to have a good view, have become determinants in settlement. Any historical summary must reflect this agricultural orientation. People settled here, not for the mineral resources or the presence of local industry, not because of strategic ports and harbours or established trade patterns, but because they could grow crops and graze animals.

Early Topography and Cartography

Our earliest visual impression of Knoydart comes from Holland. In 1654, Blaeu published Volume 5 of his Atlas Novus and made Scotland one of the best-mapped countries in the world. In this volume, on a map showing ‘Braid-Allaban’, Knoydart appears; not quite as we visualise it today, but with the deep embayment at Inverie instantly recognisable. Kilchoan is marked as a settlement and the glens named at Meadail, Guseran and Barrisdale (See Plate 2). Although this map is attributed to Robert Gordon of Straloch, there is good evidence that the groundwork for the western coastline was done by Timothy Pont, the father of Scottish cartography, at the end of the sixteenth century. Pont, minister of Dunnet in Caithness from about 1600, was responsible for the majority of Blaeu’s maps of Scotland. He travelled the length and breadth of the country, making sketches and writing descriptions of the areas he surveyed. His motives are not known, although Jeffrey Stone has suggested that it may have been in connection with the newly reformed church in Scotland.

The Rough Bounds

illustration

Certainly some of the great statistical and analytical surveys in Scottish history are connected with the Protestant Kirk. Webster’s population survey in 1755, the Old and New Statistical Accounts, the collection of ‘Moral Statistics’ by the Inverness Society for the Education of the Poor in the Highlands in 1822, are all good examples of this appetite for data. Whether it was because the new church needed and wanted the information, or whether it was because ministers were among the few with the education, and the leisure, with which to conduct such investigations, is a matter of almost theological nicety. At any rate, clergymen were always at the forefront of surveys in the Western Isles, from Dean Munro in 1549 to John Walker in 1765 and John Buchanan in the 1780s.

After his death, some of Pont’s papers passed to Robert Gordon of Straloch, who had known Pont personally, and thence to Robert’s son, James Gordon of Rothiemay. Others among them went to Holland where they became background material for Blaeu’s Atlas. There is a collection of his surviving manuscript maps in the National Library of Scotland. Pont not only drew maps, he also made notes of what he saw, as an aide-memoire and to help him in the later process of composition. Not all his original jottings have survived, but in the Sibbald Collections are copies of some of his notes as made by James Gordon. In 1907, Sir Arthur Mitchell edited further copies of these amongst the Macfarlane Papers and pointed out James Gordon’s contribution. ‘There is no doubt that James Gordon was largely copying when he wrote, but he commented, deleted, and amplified as he copied’. Nevertheless, Mitchell attributed the great bulk of these notes to Timothy Pont, giving them ‘exceptional value’. This is an important issue. If the notes which appear in Macfarlane are really Pont’s then this makes them the earliest description of Knoydart by at least 100 years. They were probably made between 1583 and 1610 and give us a glimpse of the area as it emerged from the Middle Ages.

Pont’s notes survive in two forms, a long and a short version, both of which are printed in Macfarlane. The short version is James Gordon’s copy, but bears such a striking resemblance to the long version that it is obvious that they each derive from the same original. It is likely that both Macfarlane versions are later copies of Pont, James Gordon’s being contracted and perhaps more polished. (Phrases like ‘abundance of milk’ become ‘abundance of pasture’.) Knoydart is described four times. Two of these are essentially contractions of the other two and so in each case I give the longer, anonymous, version. James Gordon adds virtually no detail and, in the one place he does, his editing is probably an error. (He creates an extra sea-loch in Loch Hourn called Loch-Voirne.)

Knodeard is a very rough countrey full of mountaines, Glens and sundrie litle rivers wherin is abundance of salmond fish slaine — And in the sea of Knodeord there is abundance of all kind of fish slaine, and bigg mountains on everie syde of this countrie and some of the lands theroff doeth lye southward, some other pairts West and some North forgainst Glenelge, The lands which are in Loghneves forgainst Morrour is rough being the southsyde of the Countrey. The midst of the countrey lyeth westward foregainst Sleit, and this is the most plain and pleasant place of the countrey The Northsyde forgainst Glenelg is verie rough and abundance of salmond fish and herrings and other kynd of fish is slaine in that Logh called Loghuirne, in some little rivers at the syd of the Logh in a glen called Glenbaristill and another river at the head of the Logh And there are great store of deare and rae in Knoidord.

(Mitchell, A. (ed.), Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections, Vol II, 1907)

(In 1793 Reverend Colin Maciver, Minister of Glenelg, wrote for the Old Statistical Account ‘The deer and roe still frequent the hills and woods on Lochurn-side’.)

The other description contains some interesting differences:

this countrey of Knoidort is very fertill of corne, and abundance of milk and all kynd of fishes in this Countrey. There is sundrie litle rivers and speciallie fyve litle rivers. two of them at the head of Loghneves [Carnach & Finiskaig] And there is a bigg mountaine betwixt these two rivers [Sgurr na Ciche] and the river which doeth lye on the Northwestsyde of this high bigg mountaine [Carnach] and it doeth run through a glen and there is abundance of fish in this glen. There are other two Rivers. One of them running through a glen called Meddill. and there is ane fresh water Logh wherthrou another litle river doeth run and there is abundance of fish in this fresh water Logh [Loch an Dubh-Lochain?] and the two waters doe meet togidder and they runn by th parish church of the said Countrie callit Kilghoan and this is the principall dwelling toune of the Superior of that Countrie. And there is abundance of salmond fish slaine in this water of Killhoan, And on the Northsyde of this Countrey there is a verie profitable glen for guids and cattell to feed, And there is a river runneing throwgh this glen And there is abundance of salmond fish slaine therin and this river is called Gaisiron, and the glen is called after that name Glen-gaisiran. There is one Logh of saltwater on the Northsyde of Knoidart, and it goeth farr up above eastward. There is abundance of herrings, salmond and sundrie other fishes slaine in this Logh it is called Loghvoirne. There is one glen at the southestsyde and there is ane litle river or glen therintill. [Barrisdale?]

(Mitchell, A. (ed.), Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections, Vol II, 1907)

It appears from the above that Pont visited Knoydart twice. The way the notes are laid out suggests that on one of these visits he travelled north by sea since his descriptions move in a geographically coherent manner from Ardnamurchan to Moidart, Arisaig, Morar and Knoydart. If he landed, he probably only walked as far as Loch an Dubh-Lochain. The fact that he does not give a detailed list of settlements as he does for, say, Trotternish in Skye, suggests he did not spend much time ashore. His description gives the impression of being written by somebody who saw the area by boat; which was, and is, the easiest way to travel.

Proof that the notes really were written by Pont comes in his reference to the ‘Superior’ of the country living at Inverie. In the immediately preceding section he specifically points out that North Morar belonged to Glengarry – who lived by Loch Oich in the Great Glen. Knoydart did not become Glengarry’s until 1611. This is about the time of Pont’s death and the fact that he differentiates between the Laird of Glengarry and the Laird of Knoydart establishes that, at the time of writing, these two people were different. This is long before James Gordon made his copy, probably between 1661 and 1686. Gordon made some literary changes, but he evidently did not know enough about the area to edit this much more important fact about ownership.

Assuming then that these notes were written by Pont, can we relate them to the map that appears in Blaeu? In particular, what grounds do we have for ascribing the Knoydart section of Blaeu’s map to Pont rather than Gordon of Straloch as indicated on the map itself?

Pont was the source for most of Blaeu’s maps of Scotland. This is particularly true of the west coast where Pont is credited with the maps of Kintyre, Knapdale, Lorn, Islay, Jura, Mull, the Small Isles, Skye and Uist. We even have his manuscript maps of South Uist, Loch Linnhe, and parts of the north-west and western coastline as far south as Loch Duich. Blaeu’s map of ‘Braid-Allaban’ etc., though credited to Robert Gordon, is essentially a composite. Blaeu had written in 1642 that his coverage of Scotland was incomplete and specified the areas he was lacking – which included Argyll and Lochaber. Robert Gordon’s map was a response to this and since he was already an old man it is likely that he was dependent on Pont’s notes and sketches, which he had to hand, for coverage of the west coast. Gordon had probably never seen Knoydart, Pont certainly had.

A characteristic feature of Knoydart, and Blaeu’s map, is the deep embayment at Inverie. To anyone approaching by sea this is their first impression, along with the shape of Sgurr na Ciche, which Pont also mentions. Pont must have anchored in Inverie Bay and left some sort of sketch for Gordon whose outline of the coast is otherwise pretty inaccurate. It is also telling that the names that appear in Blaeu match perfectly with Pont’s descriptions of the Rough Bounds contained in the Macfarlane Collections. If we include the lands of Moidart, Arisaig, Morar and Knoydart, then exactly the same names occur in the literary and cartographic descriptions, the only exceptions being Lochs Hourn and Nevis which Blaeu omitted. Curiously, these are the very features where Gordon was weakest geographically and makes it feasible that Blaeu also had access to a sketch by Pont which made him doubt Gordon’s accuracy in respect of these lochs.

We can understand the nature of Pont’s work better if we put it into a contemporary context. The reigns of Elizabeth I in England and James VI & I in Scotland and England saw an explosion of interest in both the wider world and the remoter corners of their own kingdoms. This is the period of the Elizabethan onslaught on Gaelic Ireland, the plantations in Ulster, the colony of Fife Adventurers in Lewis. Ambitious and powerful men dreamt of and pursued fabulous wealth. Alongside the opportunists and adventurers there were also those who had an intellectual interest in the area concerned; those who wished to describe it, map it or assess its economic potential. Such a man was Timothy Pont. We can only admire his stamina and courage. This was a period of bloody clan battles, such as Loch Gruinart between the Macdonalds and Macleans in Islay. This was a time when the Laird of Balcomie, one of the Fife Adventurers, was kidnapped by Murdoch Macleod. This was when Highland fleets travelled to Ireland as mercenaries and engaged with the English off the Copeland Islands. Travelling in the Hebrides was not for the fainthearted and Pont must have enjoyed good relations with at least some of the Highland chiefs. How has his description of Knoydart stood the test of time?

To answer this question we may compare Pont’s visual and literary description of Knoydart with its latest image – a satellite photograph (See Plate 1). The striking features in the satellite image are the high mountains which show up very white, particularly on their sunlit southern flanks. The freshwater lochs of Bhraomisaig and Dubh-Lochain are well-defined, as are the rivers at Inverie and Inverguseran. The deep embayment at Inverie is obvious and it is apparent that the terrain in the westernmost section of Knoydart, west of a line between Inverguseran and Scottos, is significantly lower-lying. Now let us assess these findings against the earliest descriptions we have of Knoydart – Blaeu’s map and Macfarlane’s notes – both of which derive from Pont.

The area of the Rough Bounds as portrayed in Blaeu’s map of ‘Braid-Allaban’ is geographically weak. We have the district names of Moidart, Arisaig, Morar and Knoydart, but little other detail. Eilean Tioram is the only site marked in Moidart, Kilmory likewise in Arisaig; no settlements at all are marked in Morar. The alignments north-south are better than those east-west and the whole coastline is only a coarse approximation to reality. Knoydart, however, does surprisingly well. Three of the glens are named. Two of these lead down to the sea and the third, Glen Meadail, is clearly visible from Inverie Bay. The sea-lochs which separate Knoydart from North Morar and Glenelg are also well-defined. The deep embayment at Inverie must have been sketched by Pont for Gordon to include it.

If we turn to Pont’s written description, we find he had noted that the ‘most plain’ (i.e. flattest) part of the country lay facing Sleat, precisely the area that was most densely populated at the time of the Clearance in 1853. Inverie, by Kilchoan, is still the ‘principall dwelling toune’; the shores of Loch Hourn and Loch Nevis are yet ‘verie rough’. The views of Glen Meadail and Sgurr na Ciche from Loch Nevis are as striking now as they were then. Salmon and deer remain economically important, although for sporting interests rather than as a source of food. Geography does not change greatly and Pont’s analysis of the essentials is as telling now as it was when he made it, 400 years ago.

Chapter 2

PREHISTORIC AND EARLY CHRISTIAN

We have very little evidence for prehistoric settlement in Knoydart; this can mean one of two things. Either the evidence does not exist because Knoydart was not populated; or it has not been recognised. The former is inherently unlikely. We have evidence for prehistoric settlement in Skye, Glenelg and Arisaig. Throughout the West Highlands and Hebrides we find cairns and chambered cairns, standing-stones and cup-and-ring marks, kists, crannogs, duns, forts and brochs. These monuments are associated with different phases of the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages over a period of perhaps 2500 years. It is only to be expected that there will be considerable variation in the distribution patterns of all these classes of monument. Large cairns, for instance, could only be constructed by relatively numerous and settled agricultural populations. The lack of cultivable land in the Rough Bounds meant that this area was always less likely to support such monuments. Kists, standing-stones and cup-and-ring marks are also scarce, but there are several forts and duns. These prove that the Rough Bounds were settled by the Iron Age.

Glenelg has a cluster of fortified sites as well as two exceptionally well-preserved