CRASK OF AIGAS

 
The Crask of Aigas lies some five miles from the village of Beauly on the road leading to Strathglass. "The Crask" as it is known locally is a small hamlet of some nine old houses most of which are over 100 years old and have been added to and improved over the years.

Four of the houses are holiday homes, normally unoccupied during the winter months, but providing accommodation for holiday makers, owners or tenants throughout the summer. During the last four years, two new homes have been built by people with young families, which is good for the area as the younger children attend the local Primary School at Teanassie, while those of secondary school age travel to Inverness. Visitors travelling along the main road may stop at the lay-by at The Crask to look over the deep gorge with the river running through it. When they view Eilean Aigas House, built on the large island which gives it its name, they little realise that a few minutes walk up the access road reveals the houses, which are not immediately apparent from the main road. The access road, which is narrow, but allows the use of a vehicle if necessary, winds steeply up through the hamlet passing the old smithy, now converted into a recording studio. Higher up, through some farmland it affords some splendid views over to Kiltarlity, the hills to the south beyond which lies Glenurquhart, to the west Strathglass itself and the hills round Glen Affric and eastwards back down river to the Beauly Firth and Inverness. 

Coming back down to the main road and continuing west, immediately on rounding the corner from The Crask itself, Strathglass opens out with the new nine hole golf course built in 1993 in the foreground. Next to the golf course is the old mansion house of Aigas, formerly the residence of the owners of the old Aigas Estate. Aigas House is now a Field Centre for groups coming to study the local environment and its wildlife. It was for a time a residential home for the elderly until new regulations made this uneconomic.

The first house to be built on the Crask of Aigas was South View. Completed in 1888, it was called "Three in One Cottage" as it was intended to house staff retiring from the Aigas Estate, namely the personal maid to the lady of the Mansion House, the Housekeeper and the Cook.

From the west facing windows, the Mansion House and the Home Farm buildings can be seen. Each of the three apartments in the building had a bedroom, living room and kitchen with running water. Toilets were provided outside.

The Estate joiner lived in "Cherry Cottage", now called "An Airidh" and the gamekeeper in a house built further up the hill at Macinaceap. The house called "Craig Cottage" was the abode and workshop of the tailor.

                                   Valuation Roll – 1893/94

Mansion House and Garden – James William Gordon-Oswald.
Shooting – J.W. Gordon-Oswald.
Donald Davidson – Gardener
John Grant – Coachman
Alexander MacKenzie – Gamekeeper
Charles Gibson – Ploughman
Duncan MacKenzie – Grieve
Schoolhouse – Proprietor for Occupier
House/shop – Hugh Cameron, Shoemaker
House – Charles Campbell, Carpenter
Cottage/smithy – Alex MacRae, Blacksmith
Cottage/shop – John Ross, Tailor
Cottage/shop – William Fraser, Merchant
House/garden – John Cameron, Shepherd

                                           1869/70

House, land and shooting, Mansion House, Mains of Aigas – Mrs. Jemima Chisholm, Batton of Thorn Falcon, Somerset.
House and Wellhouse, Aigas – John Fraser
Shop and land – William Campbell
Croft and Cottage - " "
Cottage - " "

                                           1870/71

Inn and lands, Wellhouse of Aigas – John M. Fraser
Schoolhouse, Aigas – possibly where Druim Cottage now is.

                                           1873/74

Mansion House and shooting – L.C. Andrew Hunt.

 

 

FORESTS

 Did you know? Glen Affric and Strathfarrar are amongst the finest native pinewoods in the north? Lord Lovat was the first Chairman of the Forestry Commission in 1919? The Forestry Commission forest is Glen Affric

comprising of 69,740 acres (27,896 ha.) of which 14,355 acres are actually tree covered.

The first trees to arrive in Scotland were the aspen and the birch, followed by pine, oak, alder, ash, elm, lime, hazel, juniper, holly and bird-cherry.

The Bronze age people used timber for a greater variety of purposes than their predecessors. They built forts and crannogs and used timber for lacing the stonework of their forts.

In medieval times, the King granted lands to many religious houses for the support of the monks. These communities established themselves within, or on the verge of, extensive areas of natural woodlands. The location of these houses gives some indication of those areas where primeval deciduous forests survived on fertile land work reclaiming for agriculture. The only one in this district was the Valliscaulian Priory at Beauly.

The natural woods in the valleys of Farrar, Cannich and Affric owe their existence today to their inaccessibility in the past, and it is only recently (1959) that the woods in Glen Affric have been penetrated by a road.

The smelting of iron did more to destroy the native woodlands of Scotland than any other industry. The ore, being heavy and compact, was more easily transported to the woods than the timber to the ore. The smelters preferred broad-leaved trees, such as birch and beech, which have high heat producing qualities, but, where there was a shortage of these, they had no hesitation in using pine.

Iron smelting took place at the head of Strathglass. There is a bloomery (a forge for iron) at Farley and also at Loch non Eun.

The building of the citadel in Inverness by Cromwell’s forces was done with oak from England and fir from the woods of Hugh Fraser at Struy.

The risings of 1715 and 1745 virtually stopped all estate improvements and forestry development, while the subsequent activities of the Board of Commissioners of the Forfeited Estates had a disturbing effect on many Highland estates. Vast quantities of trees were cut annually on the estates of Lovat, Chisholm and Struy by the Commissioners. In 1765, there was a large sawmill at Beauly, supplied by logs which were floated down the rivers.

 Glen Affric was made famous by J. McWhirter MA, and other landscape painters. McWhirter is said to have expressed the opinion that the view from Beinn-nan-Sparra (1,462 feet) at the foot of Glen Affric was one of the three finest in Europe, the other two being the Bay of Naples and the Golden Horn at Constantinople.

In the second half of the 18th century, there was extensive planting, especially on the Lovat lands. European Larch and common spruce were then introduced. In the first half of the nineteenth centry, other species of trees were introduced including Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and Japanese Larch.

The period 1850 to 1904 was disastrous for British forestry due to the imports of cheap timber and planting subsequently decreased. Increasing taxation after 1914 also made it impossible to continue a programme of planting equal to the excessive felling of trees during the first half of this century.

Felling started on the Lovat estates about 1904, but most timber was cut during the two world wars. For example, about 1,100 acres of Farley Wood which had a total area of 1 ,346 acres, were felled during the First World War, mainly mature Scots pine and European larch. The trees were milled on the lower slopes of Farley Hill and conveyed for about a mile to a specially built siding near Beauly Station by an overhead wire cable constructed by Lord Lovat in 1907. Timber only took ten minutes by the cableway compared to two hours by cart.

In the Second World War felling was again extensive. Another 240 acres were felled in Farley Wood. A company of Newfoundland civilian foresters was posted to the area and set up headquarters in Beauly. Later, Canadian foresters under military control, with headquarters at Belladrum House, operated a large sawmill at Allarburn and workshops at Beauly Station. The road in Beauly known as Maple Vale marks the site of the workshops, and the flagpole in the Square was erected by the Canadians to commemorate their residence in the area. Quite a number of young women from the parish crossed the Atlantic as brides of these war-time visitors. (Including the great aunt of Kilmorack Heritage Group’s Treasurer).

Someone said about the fellings which took place "When the war ended, everyone was so excited they forgot to tell the Canadians to stop felling the trees in Farley Wood". The school children of the Parish planted the forest many years before.

In the first statistical account of Kilmorack published in the 1700s, there is mention of three sawmills on the Island of Aigash. Timber was the only form of manufacturing and ships were built in Beauly. In the next statistical account published in the 1800s, the woodlands were managed with great attention and thinned annually. The fir trees felled were used for railway sleepers, and the birch was manufactured into staves for barrels.

GAELIC PLACENAMES

Place names - Scott Russell, Strathfarrar

Is anyone else out there intrigued by the local place-names?

I confess I'm smitten. Since first I moved to the glen in '83, the place-names have held a fascination for me, so much so that I've had to learn Gaelic to find out what they mean. They're not all Gaelic, but there's only a very few which aren't, and this fact alone tells us a bit about the history of the district. I mean, we all know that Gaelic was the main language in this area until relatively recently, so it comes as no surprise that the names of the places are in that language. But what of Eskadale? This is a Norse name signifying 'ash valley'. From this we learn that the Norse, who also gave us the name Dingwall, came, and probably settled, as far south as Eskadale. It seems that this is probably as far south as they did settle in this part, at least going by place-name evidence alone. There are plenty of Norse place-names further north and on the islands.

Another group of settlers who have left their mark in terms of place-names are the Picts. In fact, one of the methods of determining the range of Pictish settlements is to map the occurrence of names containing the element 'pit' which means 'portion'. The proliferation of the names with this element all down the east coast indicates considerable settlement there, whereas the scarcity of them in the west may indicate either fewer Pictish settlements or, as is possibly the case, that Gaelic names have superseded them. A local place-name that I would guess to be of Pictish origin isUrchany. But I stress this is only a guess, and if anyone knows better, please get in touch. I would be happy to be proved wrong in this. A still earlier group of names, either early Celtic or possibly pre-Celtic, is also in evidence in this area, and I would hazard a guess that Farrar belongs to this group. The great Celtic scholar Professor W.J. Watson identified Farvar with the Gaulish river 'Arar' but failed to come up with a convincing translation.

However, as I have said, the majority of place-names in this area are identifiably Gaelic. This doesn't always make them easy to translate unfortunately, because some have been corrupted over time to the extent that their meaning is often obscure. We can say with some certainty, for instance, that Kilmorack (G. Cill Mhbraig) translates as 'the church o~ someone-or-other, but opinion is divided as to who the M6rag in question was. Quoting Prof. Watson again, the church is dedicated to St. Moroc.Teanassie is another in this category. The first part is easy, the 'tea' being a rendering of the modern Gaelic 'taigh ' (a house or dwelling). When we come to the second part, however, we find it to be a shortened form of the Gaelic ‘fasadh' (shelter or dwelling). To me it seems highly unlikely that the name means the dwelling-dwelling, so I'll settle for the earlier meaning of ‘fasadh ' in place names, which indicated a good level resting-place where a drover might pasture his cattle for the night. That is, until I'm proved wrong.

I'll conclude this rather long-winded introduction to place-names of the locality with one with which we're all familiar - Beauly. That's easy.  It comes from the French 'beau lieu' (nice place). Mary Queen of Scots gave it that name, didn't she? Well, no, actually. The name is French, of course, given to the land surrounding the Priory by the French monks who lived there from about three hundred years before ever the good Queen set eyes on it - if she ever did. Originally called 'Bellus Locus' (Latin for nice place), the same name given to at least eight houses of the same religious order throughout France and several in England. The place also, you won't be surprised to hear, has a name in Gaelic. Yes, of course, its up on the new signs on the approach road to the village. Well, again the answer is no. In their zeal to erect those admittedly impressive signs, the then Highland Regional Council seem to have omitted to ask a Gaelic speaker what the name might be.

For those who are interested, the Gaelic name for Beauly is A 'Mhanachainn (The Monastery or Priory). The name on the signs is a piece of nonsense in any language.

HOUSING

 There are a number of settlements dotted around the parish of Kilmorack which were once home to ancient farmers. They adopted this way of life almost 6,000 years ago. An upland settlement would have consisted of a group of dwellings built of stone and roofed with heather or thatch. With an earth floor and a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape it was a very primitive way of live, but one which provided some sort of shelter from the elements.

Probably, the earliest form of permanent dwelling in the parish would have been built of timber or stone by early farmers. Before 1,000 BC, the dwellings could have been square, oblong or oval. After about this date, they had a tendency to be circular. These dwellings would be common in upland areas where they can be recognised by low stone foundations.

Much later, approximately 12th - 13th century came the medieval settlement, which consisted of homes built of timber and covered with wattle and clay. Obviously these buildings would disappear from the landscape far more quickly than those built of stone.

Where the timber, wattle and clay would be home for the farmers of the time, the noblemen fared better with a timber castle surrounded by a motte or moat. The building sat on a huge flat-topped mound, surrounded by a strong wooden fence or stockade. Inside the perimeter of the stockade would be the domestic buildings and the motte, which circled the bailey, would be water filled for defence.

By the 14th century, settlements called ring works would have contained a hall for a nobleman plus domestic buildings. These ring works would consist of a stockade containing a low flat mound surrounded again by a moat. Usually rectangular in shape, these homesteads could have been farms or hunting lodges.

From the 12th century onwards, the rich noblemen would replace the timber structures with substantial stone castles and on a smaller scale, tower houses. Erchless Castle in Strathglass is an example of an early 17th century tower house, although permission to build was given in 1529 to Hugh, Lord Lovat. Erchless has a late 19th century baronial addition. The upper windows of the castle being Georgian.

Later, the homes of the people in the area would be much the same as in earlier times, still primitive but with the addition of perhaps a byre tacked on to the end of the building to house the animals. The hearth would be in the centre of the floor as in years gone by so there was no improvement in the smokey, sometimes choking atmosphere of the dwelling. The hearth consisted of a group of flat stones with peat piled up on them to provide the heat for the cooking pot, which would be suspended by a chain attached to a tripod. All the cooking was done on this one fire. Although they were not big dwellings, the crofts had to house a family and animals also. They were built to withstand the severe weather of the Highlands and local materials were used. Again, a byre would be built on to house the livestock. There are still many crofts dotted around the hills and glens of Kilmorack. Some of them have been left to disintegrate, and some still stand empty and uninhabitable, but what a tale they could tell!

The first great clearance of Strathglass was in approximately 1801 when the wife of William Chisholm was blamed for clearing the whole Chisholm clan from the glen. This obviously left many crofts empty to fall into disrepair. In another clearance in 1810, the tenants of the Dowager Mrs. Chisholm were able to keep their homes as she could not be induced to evict them and so they remained until her death.

The next stage in the development of the croft house was the introduction of a wooden partition that divided the living area from the sleeping area. Also, the hearths were much improved by the addition of dry stone walling to the rear of the hearth and hobs were built of rough stone and clay. Later the fire was raised from the floor by a simple iron grate which would be fashioned by a local smiddy. A feature of the fireplace would be a hanging chimney, whereby a wooden hood would project over the chimney with a flap that could be let down if the chimney smoked. With a shelf to display ornaments etc., it would have made the croft seem far more homely.

Another type of home found in the glens is the butt and ben, which is a two roomed cottage with the butt end being the kitchen, and the ben being the sleeping area. As one could perhaps imagine, the space for furniture would be very small. The box bed would be built into the interior wall and there would be shelves at the head of the bed and at the foot of the bed. The butt end or kitchen contained a cupboard or aumry, where milk and other food stuffs would be stored, and above there would be a shelf or skelf where pottery and other various utensils were kept. The man of the house had a wooden chair with arms (a muckle chair) and the women and children were consigned to stools or creepies. A spinning wheel to provide the family with yarn to clothe them would be an important item in the household. Also a barrel of salt fish and another of oatmeal which were both staple foods, along with a crude lamp called a cruisey complete with a supply of oil and the dried pith of rushes for the wick, would more or less complete the belongings of the crofters. Last but not least, they would most likely have three books in their possession: the Bible; Pilgrim’s Progress and a copy of Rabbie Burns.

A very basic shelter found in the Highlands is the bothy. Nowadays, they are used by hill walkers to provide shelter on the hill, but in days gone by the bothy was used by farm labourers and shepherds. Obviously, there was no electricity and the only running water available was if the bothy was built next to a burn. There would be only a single room with an earth floor, so it was only shelter from the elements that the bothy afforded.

Nowadays, many croft houses and butt and bens can be seen empty on land on which has been built a new house or bungalow. In some instances the crofts have been added to , to provide a substantial sized dwelling, but the charm of the old building is lost.

There are numerous houses in the glens that have a lot of character. These would have been the homes of the factors or estate managers. They are usually handsome houses of stone with slate roofs. The gable ends are adorned with carved barge boards, many with intricate patterns. A lot of the porches on the houses have whole tree trunks as supports, some are painted, some left as they are. With the addition of stag antlers as decoration they look every bit the country house.

There are a good few large houses in the parish. Erchless Castle has already been mentioned, but Guisachan House at Tomich at the south western end of Strathglass is the only one in ruins. The first house was built circa 1755 by William Fraser of Culbokie. It was replaced by Lord Tweedmouth who had all signs of the original house removed. The present house which is now in ruins was built in the latter half of the 19th century, as was the model village of Tomich which was built to house the crofters of the community, whose own dwellings were subsequently demolished. Although the houses that were provided for them in the village were tidy, slate roofed stone dwellings with wooden floors, they seemed to prefer their old tumbledown ruins which they would visit every year. They must have longed for their previous way of life because the procession of the old people to their former houses was a very sad one.

HYDRO

 Public Electricity supply in the Highlands is synonymous with "Hydro". In fact, the first Hydro-Electric development in Scotland, and the second only in Britain was in Greenock, Renfrewshire in 1885. This experiment by the Policy Board was intended primarily to demonstrate to the public the advantages of such a facility. The scheme only operated for some two years, hardly long enough to prove its economic advantages, but it was an unqualified success technically.

Kilmorack Falls before the Hydro

The next successful venture into this tapping of a most valuable natural resource was much nearer home.
The monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey at Fort Augustus constructed in 1890 an 18 kilowatt water turbine on one of the local streams to supply the Abbey and some 800 inhabitatants of the village. Fort William was next, six years later with two 60 kilowatt turbines to provide power for the 3,000 inhabitants of the town.

The ensuing story of Hydro-Electric development in the Highlands is a fascinating one in itself both for its political and technical aspects. Two names stand out in particular. Sir Edward MacColl and Tom Johnston, whose far sightedness brought enormous benefits to the people of the Highlands, were two of the champions of the development of this natural resource. Opposition to Hydro-Electric Schemes came from many sources. Coal mining and sporting game interests probably chief among them. One can look back with the benefit of hindsight in this modern age to gauge the sagacity of men such as these. Tom Johnston remarked at the time that it was wrong "to hand over to a private corporation, for purposes of gain, the great national resources of our country".

Kilmorack Dam Present Day

The Grampian Electricity Supply Company proposed in 1929, a scheme to develop the waters of Loch
Affric, Loch Mullardoch and Loch Monar, which are the main headwaters of the River Beauly. This scheme although supported locally was rejected by a Select Committee of the House of Lords on the grounds that the City of Inverness would receive no benefit and that the natural beauty of the area of Loch Affric would be harmed irrevocably to the detriment of the tourist trade. 

 Aigas Dam

The Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Bill was steered through the House of Commons in February 1943 by Tom Johnston. It faced many difficulties before being finally passed in August of the same year. At last "an increasing number of farmers, crofters, lumberjacks and fishermen (would) enjoy for the first time the blessings of electricity in the home and (would) be able to face as never before the long darkness of the winter months". 

 Aigas Gorge

The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board came into being under it’s first Chairman Lord Airlie. The Board’s Panel of Technical Advisers first met in October 1943, with the Deputy Board Chairman and Chief Executive Edward MacColl, who proved to be a driving force in bringing forward construction schemes, among them No. 62: Rivers Affric, Cannich, Farrar, Glass and Beauly" with a potential annual output of 6 ,274 million units of electricity. 

Many difficulties had still to be overcome. Lord Airlie suffered much personal criticism in his enthusiasm for the objectives of the Board and the disappointment of the rejection of a proposal for the Hydro-Electric development of Loch Duntelchaig near Inverness. A rejection mainly engineered by the Inverness Burgh Council, proved the last straw and he resigned from Chairmanship, but only when he was assured that his successor would be Tom Johnston.

Constructional Scheme No. 7 - the Mullardoch-Fasnakyle-Affric Project was published in August 1946. No objections were raised on grounds of amenity and the Scheme passed through all its stages without opposition and became operative in February 1947. A great deal of work was necessary before actual construction could begin. Two labour camps, one at Cannich and one at Cozac near Mullardoch, were built to accommodate a total of 2,100 men. Offices and workshops were also built, new roads were constructed and existing ones were improved. Finally the Project was under way.

To find out more about Hydro Electricity in Scotland visit Power From the Glens.

RELIGION

 

 

Beauly Abbey was founded by the Valliscaulians, a branch of the Benedictines. It was the second of three such establishments, the first being at Ardchattan in Lorne, the third at Pluscarden in Elgin. Its founder was John Bissett of Lovat in 1230. In its ruin can be found a large Aisle dedicated to St. Katherine. A side chapel is the burial place of the Mackenzies of Gairloch.  In 1841, the village of Beauly and the four to five miles around it comprised nearly two thirds of the population of eighteen hundred. Of these, approximately 100 were Catholics and 50 Episcopalians. Attendance was generally good. The Church of Scotland Minister besides preaching in Beauly, also held services in Cannich school and at Glenstrathfarrar. Two Catholic priests looked after the Beauly area, one at Wester Eskdale and the other at Fasnakyle. In 1847, the first Free Church was opened at Balblair, it was built with voluntary labour. The first Minister was the Reverend Andrew W. Mackenzie, who was a notable evangelistic preacher, Gaelic scholar and member of the Inverness Gaelic Society. He gave the inaugural lecture on the 19th October, 1871. Following the disruption a revived interest in religion took place. In the 1890s during his Ministry the Church held seven hundred worshippers and was well filled at Gaelic services. On Communion Sundays in July, so many came from neighbouring parishes that the services had to be held in the open air. By 1875, the Church of Scotland opened St. Columba’s Mission Church in Beauly. This was the first time instrumental music had been used. Four years later the Free Church opened in Croyard Road. Another Free Church was built at Fasnakyle. In 1893 further disruption took place. With the Declaratory Act which permitted Ministers and office bearers to interpret the Westminster Confession of Faith with freedom of conscience, many people became disturbed and feared the introduction of modern ideas. This saw the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church. They took over the Old Parish Church at Balblair. The parish of Kilmorack was named after St. Moroc, a Culdee monk of Dunkeld, whose life is celebrated on the 8th November. In 1437, records show that there was a "Vicar of Kilmorok". Lands were granted at the Kirktown of Kilmoricht in 1521 to Thomas Fraser of Lovat, by Robert, Bishop of Ross. The parish church (shown above) was built on the banks of the river Beauly, by the falls in 1786. It was not kept in good repair and maintenance had to be done in both 1835 and 1890-91. This building was on the site of a much older church. The parish today comes under the auspices of the Inverness Presbytery. One of the most noted of Ministers at Kilmorack was Thomas Chisholm. He was born on the 14th December, 1680, the son of Alexander of Teawig. His ordination was marred by a "rabbling" of both men and women who surrounded the Church. Sanctuary took place in the Manse, where they were pelted by sods and rocks. It was impossible to proceed further, so the following day at Kiltearn, he was finally ordained and inducted. The previous incumbent’s widow, Jean Baillie, refused to leave the Manse as she claimed her late husband had built it. After two years of constant struggle she was finally paid the sum of one thousand pounds. Thomas had a very rough time, due to two thirds of the parish being Catholics and many of the Episcopalian faith. Eventually, things became calmer and he remained Minister for fifty seven years. He died on the 6th January, 1768.                                                                                  Kilmorack Manse When a John Knox visited Fasnakyle, Clachan, Aigas and Inchully in 1786, he found that the Protestant clergy when arriving at their "preaching stations" in inclement weather found the people in the same condition as themselves - drenched through and shivering with the cold. They were exposed to the weather all through the service, having no buildings to preach in, and living in hovels. Whilst the Catholic priests live and preach in buildings in excellent repair. But the Protestants had a stipend, although small, with the Catholics depending on their flock giving them alms. In Strathglass lived the Reverend John MacPherson, a parish priest of the Jesuit mission. He was a collector of Gaelic poetry and it has been suggested that he translated Ossian’s poems. He never published his manuscripts and they were lost for some time. They came into the hands of Father John Farquharson, who in 1775 left them in the Scots College of Douai. Unfortunately, they got into the hands of young men who did not understand Gaelic and a late Principal of the College saw, as a student there, the papers being used as kindling for the fire.

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS

We are trying to build up a collection of old school photographs for the primary schools in the Kilmorack Area; Teanassie, Struy and Cannich in particular.

We have a number of photographs already but as you will see there are still some very large gaps in our collection.

If you have any old school photographs that you would like to see on our web site then we would love to hear from you.  We just need to have the photograph for a short time just to scan it in to our computer.

We also need help in identifying all the peopple in the existing photographs, so if you recognise anyone, please get in touch.

SPORTS

 

STORY

 Translate this page into English

 

Affaire : Mac Lean - Chisholm (Highlands)

1662. Les façons d'agir à l'égard des sorcières étaient cruelles.

Un groupe de pauvres gens, paroissiens de Kilmorack et de Kiltarnity (comté d'Inverness) : Hector Mac Lean, Jonet Mac Lean son épouse, Margaret Mac Lean soeur de Jonet, et dix ou douze autres femmes aux noms compliqués des Highlands avaient été arrêtés et emprisonnés pour le prétendu crime de sorcellerie sur l'instance d'Alexander Chisholm de Commer, de Colin Chisholm son frère, de John Valentine et Thomas Chisholm cousins d'Alexander.

Les femmes avaient été retenues sous la contrainte dans la maison d'Alexander Chisholm, tandis qu'Hector Mac Lean était en prison à Inverness.
Donald, un frère de John Mac Lean, reconnu comme sorcier, fut lui aussi activement recherché mais il se tint à l'écart.
Les Chisholm soumirent les femmes à la torture. Ils les pendirent par les pouces, leur brûlèrent la plante des pieds. Ils les lièrent entre elles avec des liens d'osier autour du cou et des pieds et les traînèrent, accrochées à la queue d'un cheval.

Le traitement eut raison des suppliciées. L'une d'elles devint folle, une autre mourut, quant aux autres, elles confessèrent tout ce que l'on voulait.
Les victimes protestèrent contre ces terribles tortures, pires que la mort. Mais, forts des aveux extorqués, les Chisholm obtinrent une commission pour juger les accusées.
Dans une requête, Mac Lean et les autres prisonnières déclarèrent que toutes les poursuites judiciaires retenues contre eux résultaient de la haine implacable des Chisholm. Depuis 200 à 300 ans, les Chisholm vivaient sur les terres de gens qu'ils avaient expropriés.
Dans ce cas précis, les Chisholm n'avaient pu obtenir l'expulsion des Mac Lean de façon légale, aussi avaient-ils choisi de les accuser de sorcellerie. Ce procédé fut employé de bonne heure pour déposséder dans les Highlands.

Les Mac Lean, quoi qu'éloignés du fief de leur chef (celui-ci résidait dans la place forte de Mull) lui demeuraient fidèles.
En conséquence, Sir Rory Mac Lean de Dowart vint crier justice devant le Conseil Privé. Le Conseil Privé ordonna que la commission arrête ses débats et pria les Chisholm de venir vers lui avec leurs prisonniers.

Nous ne savons pas comment l'affaire fut réglée. Mais le fait que les Mac Lean appartenaient à un clan contribua sans doute à les sauver. 

Sources : Register of the Privy Council.