TIREE FOOD PRODUCERS

SENT TO PRISON

AT THE INSTANCE OF THE

DUKE OF ARGYLL

Reports of the Proceedings in Oban Sheriff Court

April 6th and 13th, 1918

From the following summary, reproduced from press reports, there will be gathered the culminating events of a case which has already been large in the public eye, notwithstanding the curtailed notices that could be allowed by newspapers at a time when the all absorbing interest of the great war occupies their news-space. Three of the eight accused appeared before Sheriff Wallace, at Oban, on the 6th April, 1918, as thus reported:–

First Court Proceedings.

On Monday, the 1st April, Sergeant Gilchrist of the Argyllshire County Constabulary landed in Tiree, and in company with the local constable called upon the eight interdicted land raiders and informed them that they came to arrest them for their breach of the interdict and their contempt of Court in disregarding the summons served upon them. Asked if they were prepared to peaceably accompany the constable to Oban by steamer on the following Friday, they replied that they were prepared to accompany the constable if taken, but that they were not volunteering to go. Having learnt that the raiders would not walk the several miles which lay between their homes and pier, the constable arrived on Friday morning with three conveyances but could only find three out of the eight at their homes, and no information could be gleaned as to the whereabouts of the others. The three already referred to accompanied the constable on their return to the pier, and boarding the steamer when it arrived, they reached Oban about 3.30 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, the 6th inst., where they were allowed to shift for themselves until the opening of the Court at 11 a.m., – evidence that the authorities had no reason not to trust them to make their appearance. Appearing before Sheriff Wallace at the hour mentioned, they insisted on stating their pleas in Gaelic and the services of an interpreter had to be requisitioned. It was apparent that this was an unexpected and disagreeable disadvantage to the prosecuting agent, Mr David Stewart of McArthur and Stewart, solicitors, Oban. On the accused stating that they had no time to secure the services of their agent, Mr Donald Shaw, S.S.C., Edinburgh, they asked for an adjournment of at least a week. Mr Stewart resisted on the plea that such a delay would mean considerable inconvenience and loss to his client. He suggested an adjournment until the afternoon, when the accused would be able to secure the services of a local agent. He complained that the men were apparently being advised by an organisation called the Land League, of which he understood there were some representatives in the Court.

The Sheriff, after deliberating on the points, saw no reason to refuse the men the adjournment they wanted. To all appearance they looked very respectful and well-meaning men, and the fact that they were being advised only strengthened their case for the adjournment asked for, and it would be granted accordingly. Mr Stewart wished to know what security there was that the men would appear on the following Saturday, and on the Sheriff inquiring if there were any friends of the accused in Court who would guaranteed their appearance by giving bail of £5 each, Mr Hugh MacGowan, a representative of the Oban and Lorn Branch of the Highland Land League, immediately volunteered bail to the amount required. Thus ended another stage in the case.

The Board of Agriculture’s Incapacity.

The injustice of the men’s position and the utter incapacity of the Board of Agriculture in administrating the Small Holders Land Act will be better appreciated on perusal of the following communication, dated 5th January, 1914, and a copy of which was received at the time by each of the applicants for the land now taken possession of by them and for the doing of which they are being prosecuted by the large farmer, Mr Barr, and the proprietor, the Duke of Agyll. Following is the letter referred to –

“ Board of Agriculture,

Edinburgh, Jan. 5th, 1914.

“ I am directed by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland to inform you that they are now prepared to take the steps for your registration as a new holder in terms of the Small-holders (Scotland) Acts in respect of holding No. 2 on the farm of Balephetrish, in the Parish of Tiree, in the county of Argyll.

“ In order that the necessary application for this purpose may be made to the Scottish Land Court, I am to request that you will sign the enclosed form according to the direction given thereon and return it in the accompanying envelope without delay. The area of the holding is 7 acres, 1 rood, 27 poles, with 2.21 sts. share in common pasture of an area 64 acres, 2 roods, 30 poles. The fair rent has been fixed by the Land Court at £6. I am, your obedient Servant,

“ (signed) CHAS. WEATHERILL,

“ Asst. Secretary.”

It will be seen from the foregoing that the applicants were practically given possession of the disputed land, but that an unexpected hitch occurred on account of the exorbitant amount of compensation claimed by the farmer. Such compensation must necessarily imply that the tenancy is an exceptionally profitable one to Mr Barr, but the justice of the claim is rather depreciated by the remuneration he gives his workers. One of the present applicants, who is also one of the accused, states that when he first was able to earn his own living in a place where Mr Barr is the only employer of labour, he had to work from dawn to dusk for 6d a day, and neither food nor drink accompanied this serf’s wage ; and that the highest he had ever received was 1s 6d a day. Adults, at what is the heaviest kind of manual but skilled farm work, that is mowing grass, received from Mr Barr wages varying from 2s to 2s 6d a day, working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is still a further claim which can be maintained on behalf of the men of Tiree. The island is sometimes isolated for weeks at a time by stormy weather. A Glasgow steamer, the only means of communication, being frequently unable to call for three consecutive weeks at a time. Mr Barr farms over three thousand acres on the island, besides three large farms in other parts of Scotland, and he has three sons of military age not in the army, whereas there are hundreds of families in the island who do not possess an inch of land who have given their all to one or other of the Services, and some of these are among those who are now being prosecuted for obeying the National request to provide food.

Second Court Proceedings.

The eight men of Tiree, interdicted in the Oban Sheriff Court from obeying the national behest to produce more food, appeared again before Sheriff Wallace, Oban, on Saturday, 13th April, at the instigation of the Duke of Argll and his large tenant farmer, Mr Barr.

The names of the men are Hugh Maclean, John Maclean, Hector Maclean, Hugh Macphail, John Macinnes, Wm. Macphail, Hector Macdougall, and Archibald Kennedy. While all are aged men, two of them have passed the allotted span, being 73 years of age, and one of these is sub-postmaster for his district and a church elder. Arriving in Oban on Friday evening without police escort, they were met at the Railway Pier by a representative of the Oban Branch of The Highland Land League and conducted to the Masonic Hall, where the Oban Branch was holding a meeting for their reception. On their entry into the hall, the audience rose in a body and cheered them to the echo. The Rev. M. MacCallum, Muckairn, who presided, Mr T. D. MacDonald, Mr John MacCulloch, Mr John MacDonald, all of Oban and Mr Duncan Campell, Taynuilt, delivered addresses, welcoming the men of Tiree, and after speaking in its support, the following resolution, proposed by the Chairman, was passed with acclamation:– “ That the Small Landholders Act has proved a wasteful, provocative and painful failure, and that the many eligible candidates for small holdings in Tiree and elsewhere, whose applications have been refused or suspended, are entitled to the fullest sympathy and redress, that the only remedy for the unfair and prejudicial social conditions that prevail in the Highlands and Islands is that the State cancel the trusteeship of the landlords, evict the large graziers, and assume immediate possession of the land, freeing it from all tribute to the landlords.”

It was agreed that as many as possible of the audience should attend the Court next day and show their interest and their sympathy with the men from Tiree, who were subsequently conducted to quarters provided for them.

A considerable gathering watched the Court proceedings next day. The Duke of Argyll and Mr Barr were represented by Mr David Stewart, of the firm of MacArthur and Stewart, solicitors, Oban, and the defence was ably conducted by Mr Donald Shaw, S.S.C., Edinburgh.

Mr Shaw first questioned the relevancy of the complaint on technical grounds, which the Sheriff thought worthy of discussion. Arguments on both sides followed, Mr Shaw’s objections being ultimately repelled. He then opened the case for the defence by replying to the charge made by Mr Stewart at the previous Saturday’s Court proceedings and since then published – viz., that the trouble in Tiree was the work of the Highland Land League.

He showed that The Highland Land League only intervened after the men had already taken possession and the manner of the League's intervention is best judged by a recital of its first step in the case. The following communication was sent to the proprietor of the island, the Duke of Argyll:–

“ Urgent

“ 4th February, 1918.

“ His Grace the Duke of Argyll, Inverary Castle,

Argyllshire, Scotland.

“ Dear Sir – Our attention has been called to the fact that, at your instance, together with one Thomas Barr, farmer, Balephetrish, interim interdicts were obtained from the Sheriff-Substitute, Oban, against a number of members of our Tiree Division for proceeding to cultivate certain idle lands on Tiree for the production of food.

“ It will be within your knowledge that this land was about to be placed at these people’s disposal for small holdings when a hitch arose over the matter of compensation.

“ In this crisis in the nation’s affairs, when our rulers are appealing to everyone to till every possible acre of land, and produce as much food as we can to help the nation through the crisis, we feel that you will not willingly lend yourself to any repressive steps, even though zeal would seem to you sometimes to encroach on individual rights.

“ We have therefore to suggest that if you will take up this Tiree matter personally we shall be pleased to co-operate with you to secure an adjustment that will avoid a bitterness that must spread, if a loyal attempt to adopt practically our rulers’ advice is thwarted by your exercise of such authority and power as the law provided more especially for normal times. – We are yours faithfully, Highland Land League Central Council. – (Sgd.) “ G. J. BRUCE, Hon Secy. ”

The above letter, Mr Shaw submitted, was an eminently suitable one, and advisable under the circumstances.

The Sheriff – I quite agree.

Mr Shaw – No notice having been taken of it by His Grace, another communication was sent, worded as follows:

“ Personal – Urgent.

“ 12th February, 1918.

“ His Grace the Duke of Argyll, Inverary Castle,

Argyllshire, Scotland.

“ Dear Sir, – We have had no acknowledgement of a letter sent to you on 4th February, of which we enclose copy. Perhaps it has not reached you. If it has, however, we would like a reply before the 16th inst., on which date we will need to take up the matter energetically, in the event of you or your agents’ persistence in the thoroughly unpatriotic course of endeavouring to prevent people securing themselves against starvation, a course which is calculated to help the enemies of our nation. – We are, yours faithfully, The Highland Land League Central Council. ” – (Sgd) “ G. J. BRUCE, Hon. Secy. ”

The foregoing communication was also ignored by His Grace of Argyll. With such indifference to a serious situation, not to speak of the want of courtesy on the part of the Duke, whatever has followed, and whatever may follow, need cause no surprise.

Mr Shaw next gave a resume of the history of this Tiree case, as participated in by the Scottish Board of Agriculture, how, after deciding that the application of the cottars for this land was reasonable, that the land was suitable, and that it should be granted to the applicants; further, how the Board went to the expense of surveying and measuring the land, dividing it into lots, and apportioning to each applicant his share, and fixing the rents thereof – how, after all this was done, the whole proceedings and the expenditure incurred was rendered null and void because the Board refused to pay the £1200 compensation claimed by Mr Barr because his lease was unexpired. Without admitting the right of any compensation to landlords, it would in this instance have been good policy to have paid the compensation claimed, and thus have made a breach in Mr Barr’s monopoly of over 3000 acres. But when, as it happened, a breach occurred in this lease last year, why did not the Board step in then, at a time when no compensation could be demanded by Mr Barr? It looked very like as if there were an understanding between Mr Barr and the Duke regarding compensation. Whey did not the cottars’ applications come automatically into force with this break in Mr Barr’s lease? This is a pertinent question that should be put to and answered by the Board of Agriculture. These Eight Men of Tiree represent 33 other dependents ; they have sons in the Navy and in the Army; another son is now invalided at home wounded as a result of having twice narrowly escaped death from torpedoed vessels on which he was doing his part in bringing food into the country. It seems that while the Huns are preventing food coming from abroad the Duke of Argyll and Mr Barr, with the apparent connivance of the Board of Agriculture, are trying to prevent the production of food from the home lands.

Mr Stewart, agent for the prosecution, thought it sufficient that the men in the dock had either brothers, or uncles, or other relatives who had crofts, and who were able to give them potato land, while the farmer with over 3000 acres of the best land, could not do so. Mr Shaw described the suggestion as unspeakable. The Sheriff said that his personal sympathies were entirely with the men, but he was there to uphold the law and he would carry out his duties. Taking all the circumstance into consideration, he was prepared to let them off with a nominal fine for their breach of interdict – he had nothing to do with the question as between them and their landlord – if they would give an undertaking to refrain from any further proceedings in connection with Mr Barr’s farm. He would go as far as to accept an undertaking for a prescribed period – say two or three weeks or a month – in the hope that the Board of Agriculture might intervene in the meantime. He suggested that Mr Shaw should retire for a quarter of an hour with his clients to see whether they could not be persuaded to give such an undertaking.

On their return, Mr Shaw informed the Court that the men would not give such an undertaking. They had already some acres of the land planted, food was urgently needed, and the need was likely to become greater. The land already planted was unprotected and the crops, when they grew, would be at the mercy of Mr Barr’s cattle.

The Sheriff said that the position left him with no option, much as he regretted it, but to pass judgement accordingly. The other side was entitled to expenses in the case and he would modify these to £3 per head of the accused and their punishment would be ten days imprisonment without the option of a fine, with a recommendation that they be treated to the privileges of political prisoners.

Mr Stewart, Mr Barr, and their few friends in Court seemed unmistakably perturbed, while the condemned men stood in the attitude of victors. Meanwhile an undertone confab was proceeding between Mr Barr, the agents of both sides, and the Sheriff, with the result that notwithstanding the sentence just pronounced, the Sheriff intimated that before it would be formally recorded there would be an adjournment of the whole proceedings until 2.15 p.m., a period of an hour, and that perhaps, when partaking of their luncheons, the accused might reconsider their attitude. This was done, and the Eight Men of Tiree were again free for the time being.

On resumption of the Court proceedings after two o’clock, Mr Shaw announced that the accused were still adamant ; they would give no undertaking for the future.

Sentence was then formally recorded and the “Eight” were sent to be the guests of His Majesty in Oban’s modest lock-up.

The Release.

On Monday, the 22nd, twenty-four hours before the expiry of their sentences, the Tiree cottars were released about 5 a.m., in order that they might get the passage home by the boat leaving Oban at 6 am, the only one during the week. Had they been forced to complete their sentences, expiring on Tuesday morning, they would have been held up in Oban until the following Monday. The authorities rightly concluded that the enforcement of the letter of the law in this respect was unnecessary. It is to be hoped that higher authorities, including the Board of Agriculture and the Secretary for Scotland, will take an equally sensible view of the circumstances, and that the spirit of justice will dominate over the letter of the law in whatever future steps are taken. In order to test the good faith of the Solicitor-General’s request, made in the House of Commons, that the men should delay further action until the Board of Agriculture had time to make arrangements, they, the Tiree men, authorised a communication to be made giving an undertaking that they would abstain from further action for a week or a fortnight, pending the making of suitable arrangements by the Board. They pointed out that only about thirteen acres have been planted out of over thirty acres ploughed by them. More than a fortnight's delay at this time of the year would make it too late for sowing or planting the additional land already ploughed by them. Further, the land already sown or planted by them is unprotected, and any extended delay in fencing the crops would mean that they would be rendered useless by Mr Barr’s stock. They have, therefore, no option but to take steps to protect the fruits of their labour if the Board will not do what is necessary without needless delay.

They wish to contradict the Solicitor-General’s statement that the Board had informed them that it was “going to make arrangements” when the forceable seizure of the land made such arrangements impracticable. The Board never informed them of any steps to the effect having been taken. Their case has been hung up by the Board since 1914. How much longer are they to wait? Nevertheless, they wish in the present instance to give the Solicitor-General and the Secretary for Scotland, on whose behalf he was speaking, time to implement their offer.

The utter ineptitude of the Board of Agriculture’s procedure is at present being illustrated anew in connection with a case in the neighbourhood of Oban. A smallholder died a few months ago, leaving no heirs. An offer was made to the Board and to the proprietor a few months ago by a suitable would-be tenant. Beyond an acknowledgement of the offer being received, nothing further has been done, and this holding is going to be derelict for the present year at least, as it could not at this late time be prepared for cropping in time for the coming harvest season. And this at a time when the cultivation of every acre counts in the nation’s existence.

From the ages of the accused, as shown with the accompanying photograph, it will be seen that youthful effervescence cannot account for their action, nor can any Army shirkers be found among them. Their action has been deliberately considered, purposeful and with a full sense of its responsibility.

These men are fighting for a cause and a principle, the success of that cause and that principle will be won by them and their like. Those who sacrifice themselves in this manner should not be allowed to bear the necessary heavy expenses as well. An appeal is, therefore, made for subscriptions to meet these and future expenses. Several subscriptions have already reached the local teasurer, Mr T. D. MACDONALD, 40 Stevenson Street, Oban. Future Subscriptions should be sent to Mr J. M. CALDER, Hon. Treasurer of the Highland Land League (Central Council), 161a Strand, London, W.C.

Mr Wm. Young, M.P., Mr Dundas White, M.P., and Mr Wason, M.P., have all interrogated the Government on behalf of the men, but all replies to their questions have been characterised by the usual official subterfuge and sophistry, pointing the moral that

“Never but by Highland hands

 Can Highland wrongs be righted.”

Published by the Oban and Lorn Division of The Highland Land League.

Printed by Sinclair & Paterson, George Street, Oban.