Digitised copy of Letter from Malcolm McLaurine, chamberlain of Tiree, to the Duke of Argyll, 10 Mar 1802. In this letter McLaurine discusses: timber claimed but not proved; sending a sample of wine from a cask lying in a barn; rents due; distilling; barley and coals; Clyde Packet; the island being cut off due to stormy weather; opening a weekly communication with the post office at Tobermory; the ground officer; methods to find a good school master; model of a wind miln [windmill]; poor enclosure on McLaurine’s farm.
Digitised copy of Letter from Malcolm McLaurine, chamberlain of Tiree, to the Duke of Argyll, 14 Jan 1802. In this letter McLaurine discusses: sending specimens of barley, pottery, clay and fossil sand; an analysis of sand by Dr Gardner; corresponding with Captain Campbell; writing to Greenock; difficulty in finding boys willing to go to Inveraray to learn to be Quarriers, and the reasons for their reluctance; illegal distilling of whisky; removals from the island, including the schoolmaster and the miller at Crossapol; the Bailie; the farm at Crossapol; replacing the ground officer, Angus Munn, with Neil McLean (previously a sergeant in Lord Lorne’s fencibles), and remarks on their characters; using wood cast ashore to repair the byre and stable at the Factor’s house; a model of the windmill; problems with sending post in the winter.
Digitised copy of Letter from Malcolm McLaurine, chamberlain of Tiree, to the Duke of Argyll, 15 Dec 1801. In this letter McLaurine expresses gratitude to the Duke of Argyll for giving him the farm at Balephuil and agreeing to build a house on it; the factor; the division of the farm at Crossapoll into crofts; instructing the people of Tiree in farming; enclosing and subdividing the farm at Balephuil; plans to develop a large garden and nursery; using the Volunteer Company to maintain the social order of the island and to supress smuggling and distilling; the Argyllshire Companies.
Digitised copy of Instructions to Mr Duncan Campbell as chamberlain of Tiree, 1800. These instructions were sent from the Duke of Argyll and include: augmentations upon the rents of the farms; delays that have taken place in the payment of the rents; taking payment in barley. There is no transcript for this item.
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From the archives of the Dukes of Argyll at Inveraray Castle, made available through the Written in the Landscape project.
Digitised outline copy of the Plan of Kenvar and Gortandonel, Tyree, as divided by George Langlands, 11th August 1802. The township is divided into 16 crofts (no acreages given) laid out in an irregular grid pattern around the North and East shores of Loch Phuil. Separate areas of common pasture are shown for crofts 1-2, and crofts 7-16. The irregular line of the old march dike is shown.
From the archives of the Dukes of Argyll at Inveraray Castle, made available through the Written in the Landscape project.
Digitised outline copy of the Plan of Scarinish and Hianish, Tyree, as divided by George Langlands, 1802. Hianish is divided into 18 crofts of 3-6 acres each, laid out in an irregular grid pattern. Scarinish is divided into 30 crofts of mainly 4-5 acres, with some smaller plots, one of 12 acres and an Inn Croft of 36.2 acres. The site of a proposed village is shown near Scarinish harbour. Common pasture, shared common pasture and areas of blown sand are depicted on both townships. The shared common pasture is noted as being part of Drumdearg Commonty. Total acreages given.
From the archives of the Dukes of Argyll at Inveraray Castle, made available through the Written in the Landscape project.
Softback booklet ‘Prehistoric Rock Art in Scotland’, 2021. Produced and published by Scotland’s Rock Art Project (ScRAP) and Historic Environment Scotland to raise awareness and appreciation of the thousands of rock carvings made by early farming communities throughout Scotland over 4,000 years ago. Pages 27 and 43 include photographs of Dr John Holliday, Balephuil.
Colour photograph of the gravestone of Captain Hugh MacKinnon (1845-1915), Kirkapol, and his wife Annie, in Tiverton Cemetery, Ontario, Canada, in 2000. Hugh emmigrated to Canada with his parents Donald and Margaret MacKinnon in 1852.
Information about Tiree’s ancient and forgotten golf courses at Kirkapol, Vaul, Scarinish, Cornaigmore and Barrapol. Donated by Harry Ward, author of Forgotten Greens, 2019.
Softback book ‘The Last Laird of Coll’ by Mairi Hedderwick, 2011. The remarkable story of how Kenneth Stewart inherited the estate on the Isle of Coll. Burdened with debt, he spent his life trying to rebuild a livelihood from the estate. On the inside cover, the author has handwritten “For Philippa & Nick [Bristol]. Best wishes, Mairi Hedderwick, Isle of Coll, 2011”.
