Photocopied letter dated 22/10/1900 from Heylipol manse to the Duke of Argyll.
Letter dated 22/10/1900 from the Rev Dugald MacLean to the Duke of Argyll informing him that the report on the condition of Heylipol Church omits the decayed state of the windows and suggesting that it might be cheaper to build a new church than to repair the existing one. (Bundle 2504)
Photocopied bill of account dated 1861 for fitting out the fishing boat `Duchess`.
Bill of account dated 1861 from Malcolm R Lister, Boat Builder, to the Duke of Argyll for fitting out the fishing boat `Duchess`. (Bundle 1537)
Photocopied letter dated 8/3/1862 to the Duke of Argyll from Edward Curtis Stanford about kelp processing.
Letter dated 8/3/1862 to the Duke of Argyll from Edward Curtis Stanford about kelp processing. (Bundle 1542)
Rescue involving the crew of the ‘Duchess’
Transcription of a letter of 1868 from the Tiree factor John Geekie about a rescue involving the crew of the ‘Duchess’.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In a letter of 1868 to the 8th Duke of Argyll, his factor John Geekie commended eight Tiree men who had rescued three fishermen from drowning in Balephuil Bay during a gale. Two of the men were crew of the ‘Duchess’, built by the Duke in 1860 and let out to local men.
In May 1861 the factor had reported that ‘the crew of the Duchess fishing boat had a very good fishing…once they took courage and went out where the Tyree boats were fishing outside the light house’, the implication being that the crew were unnecessarily timid.
Their reluctance is easily explained by their lack of familiarity handling a vessel nearly twice the length of the average Tiree fishing boat and also by the dangers of fishing five or more miles from shore in a small sailing boat in the days before reliable weather forecasting and global positioning.
Specification of the fishing boat ‘Duchess of Argyll’
Transcription of a letter of 1860 from Malcolm Liston of Granton regarding the specifications of the fishing boat ‘Duchess of Argyll’.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In 1860 the 8th Duke of Argyll commissioned Malcolm Liston, a boat builder in Granton, to build a ‘first class fishing boat’ costing £130. Named the ‘Duchess of Argyll’, the boat was delivered to Tiree and let out to local fisherman.
Much larger than the average Tiree boat of 22 feet, the ‘Duchess’ was the latest in a series of attempts to encourage local fishermen who, since the rich fishing banks offshore were discovered in the 18th century, had been unable to compete with the bigger boats and superior equipment of crews from the north-east and other islands.
The ‘Duchess’ lasted only ten years. Because of her size, she was difficult to pull up on the beach and had to be moored offshore. In 1871, during a gale, the anchor chain tore out the stern, broke the mooring and she drifted ashore among the rocks at Hynish and was smashed.
Photocopied letter dated 12/5/1862 to the Duke of Argyll from John Campbell.
Letter dated 12/5/1862 to the Duke of Argyll from chamberlain John Campbell about the fishing boat `Duchess`. (Bundle 1540)
Photocopied letter dated 30/11/1847 from Rev MacLean to the Duke of Argyll.
Letter dated 30/11/1847 from Rev Neil MacLean to the Duke of Argyll about the destitution on Tiree resulting from the potato blight.
Lachlan MacQuarie’s letter of 1866
Transcription of Lachlan MacQuarie’s letter of 1866 to the Duke of Argyll about a summons of removing served on him in Baugh.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In 1860, Dr Alexander Buchanan was appointed Medical Officer for Tiree. He was encouraged by the Duke of Argyll who seems to have promised him the tenancy of Baugh Farm. Previously doctors had not stayed long in Tiree due to insufficient remuneration.
His arrival was fiercely opposed by the sitting tenant at Baugh, Lachlan MacQuarie. The latter wrote to the Duke accusing Dr Buchanan and the factor Mr Geekie of excessive drinking and setting a bad example to the islanders which had led to an outbreak of petty crime.
As well as maligning the doctor and the factor, MacQuarie questioned the Duke’s ability to judge character. His appeal was rejected and Dr. Buchanan settled down in Baugh Cottage on the site of the present kitchen of Baugh House.
Booklet titled `The Tiree Crofter`s Struggle 1886-1986` produced by Alex MacArthur in 1986.
Booklet produced to mark the centenary of the Tiree crofters` struggle for security of tenure.
Petition from Poor Persons in Tyree for Aid to Emigrate
Transcription of a petition for assistance to emigrate appended to ‘Crofts and Farms in the Hebrides’ by the 8th Duke of Argyll.
This petition was sent in 1851 to Sir John MacNeill, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the Relief of the Poor in Scotland. Sir John was married to a daughter of the 8th Duke of Argyll, who appended the petition to his ‘Crofts and Farms in Hebrides’ addressed to the Napier Commission of 1883.
A hundred and thirty-six islanders signed the petition. Ninety-nine of them were landless cottars; the remainder were small tenants, of whom only four paid rent over £10 a year. They represented the class of islanders that the Duke was anxious to clear from his estate.
Around a third of the petitioners were given assistance to emigrate with their families on board the ‘Conrad’, ‘Birman’ and ‘Onyx’ in July 1851. Another twenty-seven families from the island left with them.
