Captain Charles MacKinnon (1838-1926)
Photograph of Captain Charles MacKinnon of Ruaig.
Courtesy of Mr Alasdair Sinclair
Born in Ruaig in 1838, Charles MacKinnon embarked on a career as a young man that eventually included almost every kind of sailing ship service. In 1862 he shipped as an ordinary seaman on the tug ‘Bungaree’ which reached Sydney after six months.
The day after docking in Australia he signed on with a local barque, the ‘Woodbine’, and within four years he was its master and part-owner. He then bought the first iron vessel in Australia, the barque ‘Melrose’. He ceased sea-faring in 1882 on accepting an appointment as first Foreman of Magazines, Middle Harbour in Sydney.
Charles was a fluent Gaelic speaker and a founder of the Highland Society of New South Wales. On a trip home in 1901 he remarked to neighbour looking out to sea, ‘Dh’ atharraich a h-uile rud ann an Rubhaig ach Sgeir an Duilsg!’ (Everything in Ruaig has changed except Dulse Rock!)
Black and white photograph of Captain Charles Alfred MacKinnon 1838-1926.
Captain Charles Alfred MacKinnon 1838-1926.Born in Ruaig in 8/3/1838 the son of Archibald and Catherine MacKinnon. Married twice to (1) Christina Isabella MacKinnon and (2) Catherine Elizabeth Eglington. He joined the Scottish fishing fleet, voyaged to North and South America and then Australia. In 1862 he shipped as a seaman on the `Bungaree` voyaging to Australian ports. He then signed articles on the barque `Woodbine` which he later became master of and part-owner. At the end of 1882 he left the sea on accepting an appointment as first Foreman of Magazines, Middle Harbour, which he resigned in 1901 to visit Europe, the USA and Japan. He was a fluent Gaelic speaker, was one of the founders of the Highland Society of New South Wales and was a prominent member of the League of Ancient Mariners. He died in Sydney, new South Wales on 16/3/1926.
Newspaper cutting of an obituary for John Clark of Ruaig.
Obituary for John Clark of Ruaig, second mate on the `Kinloch` and the `Davaar`.
Effy Thomson and her daughter Cathie pumping water from a well at Ruaig
Photograph of Euphemia Thomson with her daughter Catherine pumping water from a well at Ruaig in 1944.
Courtesy of Ms Cathie Thomson
In this photograph taken in 1944, Cathie Thomson is watching her mother Effie pump water from a well at Ruaig. Before the mains water supply became generally available in the 1950s, most houses had their own well.
Wells were made by lowering open-ended concrete boxes about one metre square into a suitable hole dug in the ground. The sand or soil would then be dug out from the bottom of the box and another box laid on top until the well was around three to four metres deep.
The well would be covered with a slab and a hand pump installed. Before the days of concrete, wells would be lined with stones, a dangerous job as the water-logged soil was liable to collapse.
Black and white photograph of Euphemia Clark of Ruaig and her daughter Catherine Ann Thomson.
Euphemia Thomson nee Clark of Ruaig with her daughter Catherine Ann drawing water from the pump in Ruaig in 1944. (Original in Filing Cabinet 8 drawer 3)
Black and white photograph of the Clark house in Ruaig.
The Clark house in Ruaig in the mid-1950s.
Black and white photograph of Neil MacDougall (1888-1972).
Neil MacDougall (1888-1972), son of Rev Allan MacDougall of Milton and his wife Catherine MacDonald from Skye, photographed in army uniform in France in 1919. He was later headmaster of Ruaig School and of Johnstone School in Kirkcudbright.
Black T-shirt advertising the `Skipinnish` band.
Black cotton T-shirt advertising `Skippinish` band with white writing – SKIPINNISH “you know when you`ve been skipinnished” – on the front and the band`s website URL on the back.
Black and white postcard of Gott Bay at Ruaig.
Postcard of Gott Bay at Ruaig.
Paperback book `Shag the Caribou` by C. Bernard Rutley used at Ruaig School.
School reader from ruaig School.
Black and white photograph of Ruaig School around 1932-3.
Ruaig School around 1932-3. L-R: (back row) Mr Robert MacLeod, Alasdair MacLean, Minnie MacKinnon, Christine MacInnes, Ruby MacDougall, Effie MacKinnon, Hughina MacDonald, Jessie MacGill, Lizzie Barr, Margaret MacArthur, Mary Bell MacFadyen, Hugh MacKinnon, Miss Maggie MacLean, (middle row) Archie MacLean, Calum MacKinnon, Mary MacArthur, Ishbel MacDonald, Rena MacKinnon, Lena Middleton, Margaret Graham, Effie MacKinnon, Mary Flora MacKinnon, James Graham, Angus MacLean, (front row) Hector MacKinnon, Iain MacKinnon, Iain MacKinnon, Ruaig, Lilian Graham ?, Janet MacFadyen, Mary Ann MacDonald, Hugh MacLean, Lachie MacLean, Hector MacArthur, Alastair MacKinnon.
Hardback book `Prose Writings of Donald Lamont 1874-1958` edited by Thoma M. Murchison.
Collections of essays by Dr Donald Lamont (1874-1958) from Tiree.
