The baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Photograph of the baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
The Reverend Cowie is pictured here around 1963 baptising Christine MacDonald in Abhainn Bhì, attended by lay preacher, Lachlan MacKinnon. The stream, named after a Columban saint Mo Bhì, has long been associated with Christianity.
For over a hundred years until the 1940s, the Baptist Church was very influential in Tiree and its buildings frequently filled to capacity. In 1874 its membership peaked at a hundred and sixty. By the late 1980s it had fallen to under ten; today there are around a dozen.
There are two small Baptist churches on the island at Balemartine and Baugh. Only the Balemartine one is still in use and Sunday services attract over thirty worshippers.
Black and white photograph of a baptism at Balephuil.
Baptist minister Rev Cowie baptising Teen MacDonald in the burn at Balephuill, with Lachie MacKinnon, Parkhouse in attendance, around 1963-4.
Black & white photograph of Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Balemartine, and his family around 1900.
Courtesy of Ms Elsie MacKinnon
Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Baptist minister at Tobermory and Tiree, his wife Catherine and their children, the Very Rev. Dr. Dugald MacFarlane (1869-1956), former Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and his sister Anne, probably taken around 1900.
John MacFarlane, Duncan’s brother, was the first Tiree-born Baptist pastor. In 1851 John succeeded Rev. Duncan MacDougall, a devoted itinerant evangelist who, along with the Rev. Archibald Farquharson of the Congregational Church, was prominent in the religious awakening of 1839-1846.
Duncan MacFarlane, who had converted through the preaching of Rev. Farquharson, left Tiree to become a merchant in Tobermory. He was accepted as a Baptist missionary in 1856 and proved influential in the revival of 1874 in Tiree. In 1879 he succeeded his brother as pastor of the Tiree Baptist Church, which he served until his death in 1908.
Rev. Hector MacKinnon was born at Lodge Farm in Kirkapol in 1866, the son of Donald MacKinnon and his wife Ann MacLean. He studied at Edinburgh University where he won prizes in several Arts and Divinity classes and was awarded three bursaries.
In 1891 he was licensed as a minister and the following year chosen as the successor to Rev John Gregorson Campbell in Tiree. From 1894 to 1897 he ministered in Stornoway and then in Campbeltown until 1905 when he was called to the parish of Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow.
His eloquence as a preacher in English and Gaelic earned him the soubriquet of ‘Spurgeon of the North’. He died in 1913 aged forty-six from influenza complicated by pneumonia. A plaque in Kirkapol church commemorates his life.
Black and white photograph of Rev. Hector MacKinnon of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol.
Rev. Hector MacKinnon (1866-1913) of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol. Born at Lodge Farm, Kirkapol, he studied at Edinburgh University, was ordained as a minister in 1890 and served in Tiree in 1891. He ministered in Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow where he died unexpectedly aged 46.
Black and white photograph of Ruaig School around 1918.
Ruaig School around 1918. L-R: (front row) Helen Reilly, Milton; unknown; unknown; Mary Ann Lamont, Caoles; unknown; Morag MacDonald, Milton; unknown; (second row, behind second girl) Donald Archie Cameron, Caoles; unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown; (third row) Neil MacDonald, Skipnish; Donald MacDonald, Mull View, Caoles; Neil MacArthur, Milton; unknown; John Donald Lamont, Caoles; unknown; Hugh Archie MacKinnon, Ruaig; unknown; unknown; unknown; Hector MacKinnon, Caoles; (back row) Iain MacKinnon, Ruaig Post Office; headmaster Mr Rankine; unknown; unknown; unknown; Church of Scotland minister (?); Mr Taylor, Baptist Church (?); United Free Church minister (?).
Black and white photograph of the gravestone of Hector Cameron and his wife Anna MacLean.
The gravestone of Hector Cameron (d. 23/9/1923) and his wife Anna MacLean (d. 28/1/1925) and their children Mairi Anna, Flora, Margaret Christina, the Rev. Hector (co-author of the Tiree & Coll Handbook) and Mairi.
Local news including the arrival of Dr John Holliday and family, the 1989 ferry schedule, the airport runways, the agricultural show, articles by Meena Knapman and Rev George Donaldson and news from the school, WRI, golf club, the video society, Tiree Association and the regatta club.
Local news including the mains supply, pedestrian access to the pier, nursing beds at Taigh a` Ruadh, obituary for and poem by Rev Hector MacPherson (minister on Tiree 1973-8), article in Gaelic by Neil Brownlie, news from WRI, the hall committee, the football club, the churches, Tiree Association, the school and Tiree Agricultural Society.
Local news including nursing beds at Taigh a` Ruadh, township dumps, the Hebridean Trust`s purchase of part of the Skerryvore complex at Hynish, NFU report, Gaelic poem by Sandy MacKinnon, contribution by Rev George Donaldson and news from the Boys Brigade, WRI, golf club and the school.
Newsletter `An Tirisdeach`, December 1987 (3 copies).
Local news including report form the WRI, Womens Guild and Tiree Agricultural Society, recipes, Tiree Wave Classic, contribution from the minister, training courses for crofters, news from the school, the football and the regatta clubs.
