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.
Payments to emigrants from Tiree to Canada in June 1846
Transcription of a list of payments made to emigrants from Tiree to Canada in June 1846.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In the fifty years before the potato famine, the population of Tiree doubled to over five thousand, making it one of the most congested areas in the Highlands and Islands. Continued sub-division of the island’s crofts had left most of them too small to support a family.
Poverty was endemic. Landless cottars, many of whom were ‘dependent of the charity of others for food’, comprised more than a third of the island’s population. A Free Church investigation into diet in 1846 found that potatoes formed over half of all food consumed.
In previous years, the smaller tenants and cottars had shown themselves reluctant to emigrate. However, when the potato crop failed in 1846 and the Marquis of Lorne promised assisted passages to Canada for the poorest, over a thousand from Tiree indicated their willingness to leave.
Photocopied letter to Sir Edward Coffin dated 26/1/1847 from Royal Navy Commander Baynton.
Letter to Sir Edward Coffin dated 26/1/1847 from Royal Navy Commander Baynton about the severe shortage of food and the appearance of typhus and cholera on Tiree.
Transcription of the Rev. Neil MacLean’s letter about the number of people with English on Tiree in 1845.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In 1845 the Parish minister, Rev. Neil MacLean, estimated that in three-quarters of the families in Tiree at least one member had some English. All the children apart from those attending the Gaelic schools were taught the language to some extent.
In the early 20th century most children entering primary school spoke only Gaelic but were taught solely in English. A survey conducted by Co-Roinn Ghàidhlig Thiriodh ’s Cholla in 1994 found that around 45% of the adult population on Tiree and 15% on Coll could speak Gaelic, most of these in the older age brackets.
In 1989, concern over the decline of the Gaelic language led to the opening of a Gaelic medium unit within the Primary Department of Tiree High School which is attended by half the island’s children.
Photocopied letter from estate factor Hugh MacDiarmid dated 13/7/1905 about a soup kitchen in Moss.
Letter from estate factor Hugh MacDiarmid dated 13/7/1905 to Donald MacDonald, teacher at Heylipol School, about a soup kitchen in Moss started by Lady Victoria Campbell for the benefit of scholars
