Transcription of the evidence of Charles MacLean given at the enquiry into the sudden of death of a fishing crew from Mannal in 1860.
Courtesy of Argyll & Bute Archives
In April 1860 two fishing skiffs, one from Mannal and one from Balephuil, were out near Stevenson’s Rock, twenty kilometres to the south-west of Tiree. Both boats were rigged with dipping lugs which require considerable skill when tacking in heavy seas.
In windy weather there is the danger that too much sail will cause the boat to heel over and be swamped. This is apparently what happened to the Mannal boat which was not seen again after leaving the fishing grounds in the early morning.
Lugsails are shortened by lowering the yard and taking in reefs, i.e. hooking the sail to the bow at a point further up the luff (the leading edge of the sail) and tying the excess sail with reefs (cords attached to both sides of the sail). A lugsail may have four to six rows of reefs depending on its size.
E-mail about the wreck of the Artuoise off Craiginnis in 1830.
E-mail about the schooner Artuoise wrecked off Craiginnis in 1830 with details of a monumental inscription to the captain Owen Williams in a graveyard near Cardigan, West Wales. The crew of the Artuoise are buried near Dun Hanais behind Ben Hough.
Donald Sinclair (Dòmhnall Chaluim Bhàin) of Balephuil talks about ceilidhing, sings a hymn ‘An t-seann, t-seann sgeula’, tells a story about a brewer, sings six Gaelic songs, one about the Balephuil fishing disaster of 1856, talks about bothies, sings another eight Gaelic songs, gives a prayer for a safe sea voyage, sings three Gaelic love songs and one about distilling whiskey, talks about Donald the Cooper’s daughter in America, tells a story about two old men in Caoles, sings two more love songs and talks about witches.
Donald Sinclair (Dòmhnall Chaluim Bhàin) of Balephuil talks about ceilidhing, sings a hymn ‘An t-seann, t-seann sgeula’, tells a story about a brewer, sings six Gaelic songs, one about the Balephuil fishing disaster of 1856, talks about bothies, sings another eight Gaelic songs, gives a prayer for a safe sea voyage, sings three Gaelic love songs and one about distilling whiskey, talks about Donald the Cooper’s daughter in America, tells a story about two old men in Caoles, sings two more love songs and talks about witches.
Donald Sinclair (Dòmhnall Chaluim Bhàin) of Balephuil sings three Gaelic songs, talks about wandering minstrels, tells an obscene story, sings a love songs and one in praise of companionship, talks about the clan Brown, sings a song about a boat, talks about one of the Browns from Balephuil, second sight, sings a Gaelic love song, a humorous song by Mary Flora MacPhail of Cornaig, a woman’s love song for a sailor and two more Gaelic songs, give a saying about a lazy man and another popular saying, sings a song about the first boat fishing after the Balephuil disaster and a sailor’s song, a song about the Rennies and one about a thin horse, gives a saying about ravens and their eggs, sings a Gaelic love song, gives a fragment of a folktale, sings two fragments of Ossianic ballads and talks about his father’s storytelling.
Donald Sinclair (Dòmhnall Chaluim Bhàin) of Balephuil sings three Gaelic songs, talks about wandering minstrels, tells an obscene story, sings a love songs and one in praise of companionship, talks about the clan Brown, sings a song about a boat, talks about one of the Browns from Balephuil, second sight, sings a Gaelic love song, a humorous song by Mary Flora MacPhail of Cornaig, a woman’s love song for a sailor and two more Gaelic songs, give a saying about a lazy man and another popular saying, sings a song about the first boat fishing after the Balephuil disaster and a sailor’s song, a song about the Rennies and one about a thin horse, gives a saying about ravens and their eggs, sings a Gaelic love song, gives a fragment of a folktale, sings two fragments of Ossianic ballads and talks about his father’s storytelling.
Audio cassette recording of Hugh Maclean of Barrapol talking to Dr John Holliday in September 1998.
Hugh MacLean (Eòghann Dhòmhnaill Eòghainn Mhòir) talks to Dr John Holliday in September 1998 about his upbringing, the early days of WWII, HMS Sturdy and other shipwrecks, the Home Guard, the crash of the Sylvia Scarlett and the mid-air collision of two Halifaxes, the Home Guard v. RAF shooting match, shops, diet and ration books, medical services and Dr Hunter, social life, dances and film shows, Italian POWs, the raising of the Loch Seaforth and meeting the German tug captain.
Photocopied book extract from `George Douglas, Eighth Duke of Argyll` edited by the Dowager Duchess of Argyll, pp 133-147, 285-6, 321, 508 & 633.
Extracts about the landscape of Tiree, its people and surroundings seas, Skerryvore lighthouse, the potato famine and emigration, some local birds and bird-shooting.
Audio cassette recording of Gilleasbuig Kennedy of West Hynish talking to Maggie Campbell in June 2004
Gilleasbuig Kennedy of West Hynish talks to Maggie Campbell in June 2004 about the meaning of the name ‘Na Cuiltean’, the division of the small crofts in 1907, the potato famine, the changing weather over the years, storms that hit West Hynish, the ability of Hynish people to predict the future, his mother’s baking skills and knowledge of traditional medicines both of which she passed on to him. (Continues on AC355)
