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Electric Scotland News
The news this week is dominated by Donald Trump and the hearings to elect his cabinet.
-------
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night.
Visit our Robert Burns page for lots of information about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/burns/index.html
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Scotland’s largest haggis maker creating new recipe to meet US rules
Macsween working to circumvent food regulations that have banned traditional recipe in US for more than 50 years
Read more at:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-scrapped.html
What lies ahead for the world as Donald Trump returns to the White House?
Donald Trump returns to the White House tomorrow promising to deliver policies that are set to be even more incendiary and controversial than those he introduced during his first term as US president.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/donald-trump-returns/
Watch President Donald Trump's inaugural address
Watch President Donald Trump's inaugural address at:
https://youtu.be/VTmm00uwYtQ?si=CtNB97leP5OFw2Im
Trump Has a Mandate to Lead. What Comes Next?
During his first term of office, Trump’s energies were concentrated on negation. This time around, all thoughts are turned to action.
Read more at:
https://www.thefp.com/p/martin-gurri...e-inauguration
Trump’s Day One Executive Order on ‘Male and Female’
The White House strikes out at gender ideology and pronouns. Also: ends housing of biological men in women’s prisons; self-ID on passports; and more.
Read more at:
https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-day-o...ology-pronouns
Canada’s Bold Move: Is This the End of US-Canada Trade? Electric Vehicles & New Trade Alliances
In this video, we delve into Canada’s bold trade move and its potential to disrupt U.S.-Canada relations. Learn how these developments could impact the automotive industry, energy exports, and critical minerals. Stay tuned as we explore what this means for the future of trade and industry.
Watch this at:
https://youtu.be/oJyrFtJCngk?si=lZoxFTYM73iSbxZr
Poilievre's Conservatives SURGE to Records in the Polls!
We take a look at the latest poll results for Canada's 2025 federal election. We will examine how the parties are performing in terms of vote share and seats, and look at potential coalition scenarios that could shape the country's political future. Enjoy watching.
Watch this at:
https://youtu.be/-IEy-4gakiY?si=Y5FBm9xWgkFWCVbr
Electric Canadian
Arctic Trader
The account of twenty years with the Hudson's Bay Company By Philip H. Godsell, F.R.G.S., Former Field Officer Hudson’s Bay Company. (1934) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rtictrader.pdf
The Anglo-American Magazine
Published in Toronto from 1852 to 1855 and also Art & Literature in Canada.
You can read the first issue and an article at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...loamerican.htm
The World's Work
Added volume 4
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...worldswork.htm
Dominion of Canada With Newfoundland and an Excursion to Alaska
Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker (1900) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...of-Canada..pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 19th day of January 2025 - Uncertainty
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...25-uncertainty
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 4 No. 1 (pdf)
You can read this issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ctober1923.pdf
Electric Scotland
Aspects of the Religious History of Lewis
Up to the Disruption of 1843 by Rev. Murdo MacAulay (1980)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/aspects.htm
Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae
The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation in 11 volumes By Hew Scott, D.D. (1950) Added volumes 10 & 11.
You can get to these new volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/fasti.htm
Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Minister of St. Peter's Church, Dundee by the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, D.D., Minister of the Free Church of Scotland, Glasgow. New edition with Appendices, Facsimiles of Writings, and Portrait (1892)
You can read this memoir at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/r...raymcheyne.htm
Debating the Highland Clearances
By Eric Richards (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...0748629589.pdf
James Hutton's Edinburgh
By Donald McIntyre (pdf)
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/friends...r%C3%A9cis.pdf
The Foundations of Society and the Land
A Review of the Social systems of the Middle Ages in Britain, their growth and their decay; with a special reference to Land User, supplemented by some observations on the connection with modern conditions by J. W. Jeudwine, LL.B., F.R.Hist.S. of Lincoln’s Inn (1918) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...00jeudgoog.pdf
Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey
Edited by Frederick W. Ricord Volume VI. 1769—1775. (1899) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...in0018unse.pdf
Music
Have added 3 videos all to do with the Simon & Garfunkel song, The Sound of Silence. I've added one on the original song and then one by Disturbed which seems to be getting rave reviews and then a third where the new version of the song is analysed by an opera singer. While nothing to do with Scotland I just thought it was an interesting way to present a popular song so hope you like it.
You can watch these at:
https://electricscotland.com/music/index.htm
Oysters and a Pearl of a Club
Posted on December 21, 2006 by Christine Richard OBE FRSA
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...oysterclub.htm
Joseph Black
Added a biography on him to his page along with a video.
You can see this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ack_joseph.htm
James Hutton
Added a video about him to his page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tton_james.htm
Letters of Two Centuries
Chiefly connected with Inverness and the Highlands from 1616 to 1815, edited, and each introduced with explanatory and illustrative remarks by Charles Fraser-Mackintosh of Drummond, M.P., F.S.A. Scot. (1890) (pdf)
Should find a place upon the book-shelves of everyone who desires to know anything of the inner life of the Highlands during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is bound to take a high place in Scottish antiquarian and historical literature. - Scottish Highlander.
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00frasgoog.pdf
Clan MacKenzie Initiative
Found this web site with some great information on it so have also added the link to our Clan MacKenzie page.
You can check this out at:
https://clanmackenzie.org/
Tales of the Heather
By Emma Rose MacKenzie (1892) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...he_Heather.pdf
Tartans
Added a video about the history of Tartan and a link to Peter MacDonald, one of the foremost tartan designers in Scotland. Also reinstated a link to information about Blair Urquhart, former owner of House of Tartan.
You can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/tartans/index.htm
America The Land of Contrasts
A Briton's View of his American Kin By James Fullarton Muirhead (1898) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...fcontrasts.htm
The Martyr Graves of Scotland
By J. H. Thomson, Hightae (1903)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/martyrgraves.htm
The Life of James Watt
With selections from his correspondence by James Patrick Muirhead, M.A. (1858) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...-Watt_text.pdf
Newhaven
The Scottish Fishing Village That Was Gutted. Added a video to this page.
You can view the video at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/leith/19.htm
Falkirk
An Unremarkable Town. Added a video about the town.
You can watch it at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...of_falkirk.htm
History Tour of the Merchant City | Glasgow Scotland
A guided tour of the merchant city in Glasgow Scotland. We walk through the streets and learn about Glasgow's merchant past. Added this video to our Glasgow page.
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/index.htm
Story
The Seaforth Sanatorium
The Givers and the Gift.
“Sgur Ouran’s steep crags and Conon’s sweet vale,
Shall welcome Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail.”
If the good intentions of the present Government regarding ancient Scottish buildings should ever be accomplished, it may be that some day, ere it be too late, what remains of the old castle of Eilandonan may engage the attention of those to whom the administration of such legislation may be entrusted. This ancient pile, erected on a rocky islet of the western sea, was once the cradle, as it is now the shrine of the scattered remnants of that clan, which, spreading in number and influence, came at last to fill all the mansion-houses of Ross from the Butt of Lewis to the German Ocean. The origin of the Castle is lost in antiquity. It is known to have endured the attacks of the roving Viking, afforded shelter to King Robert the Bruce, received the unfriendly attentions of General Monk in the days of the Commonwealth, and was finally destroyed by Wightman after the battle of Glenshiel, in the year 1719. Colonel Stewart-Mackenzie of Seaforth, who, with his amiable wife, are the givers of the most humane and princely gift ever bestowed upon a Highland county, springs from that race of unsubmitting spirit whose ancient home now crumbles into dust beneath the shadow of the five sisters of Kintail, yet speaks eloquently of a vanished past and a power that is no more. In our day it may be said of it—
No warder calls on the castle walls,
No sound of joy or grief,
No clansmen shout in wassail rout,
No wife, no child, no chief.
Among the territorial families of Scotland there are few around which circle such a halo of romance as that of the
HIGH CHIEFS OF KINTAIL,
who were born and lived and fought within these mouldering walls, now a refuge only for the owl and the bat. The centuries are full of tales and legends connected with the clan, beginning with that far-off day when the king’s life was saved from an infuriated stag by a brave Caledonian, who thus linked the name of Mackenzie with their well-known crest and the familiar motto of Cuidich an Righ. Of the many romances connected with the family, those associated with Kenneth Mackenzie, commonly known as Cainneach Odhar, the Brahan Seer, are perhaps of most general interest. He appeared towards the close of the seventeenth century—a plain, untutored clansman—yet one who is held in remembrance perhaps more than any of the long line of his chiefs. He professed and was credited with the gift of second sight. Whatever doubt may exist as to his-supernatural powers, he was manifestly a shrewd man of considerable intellectual gifts and an outstanding figure in Ross-shire life in the generation to which he belonged. Even yet his name and fame are cherished by the people, and his “prophecies,” mainly bearing upon the fortunes of his clan and chiefs, still circulate freely in the more isolated portions of his native county. The traditional story of his death on the shore at Fortrose, near the Cathedral, which was then the ecclesiastical centre of the district, though not well authenticated, is firmly believed in by many Ross-shire people at home and abroad. He is said to have been burnt to death at the instigation of the Countess of Seaforth for having expounded a vision reflecting on the honour of her husband. A small stone pillar marks the spot on which the tragedy is said to have been enacted; and on the Ordnance Survey map there appears the legend, “The last witch was burnt here.” Passing Loch Ussie on his way to doom he threw’ the perforated pebble, by means of which he was able to foretell the future, into the water, and upon the person who finds it will fall his prophetic mantle. So the legend goes. His last prophecy foretold the doom of the family of his Chief, and it was supposed to have been fulfilled in the case of the Lord Seaforth, who, with his wife, were the personal friends of Sir Walter Scott. It was of Lady Seaforth he wrote, referring to her husband’s death, predeceased by all his sons, a circumstance foretold by Coinneach—
“And thou, gentle dame, who must bear to thy grief,
For thy clan and thy country the cares of a chief.”
The serious troubles of the family began, like those of many other Highland lairds, with the struggles of the unfortunate Stewarts. Sheriff muir sealed the fate of the then Chief of Mackenzie, as it did also that of the Old Pretender himself. Seaforth became an exile. Thereupon arose a man of whom too little is heard in Highland story. Donald Murchison, ardent Jacobite, lawyer, soldier (he fought at Sheriffmuir), scholar, and progenitor of Sir Roderick Murchison, defying the forces of the Government, aided by a sympathetic tenantry and the difficulties of warfare in a mountain land, regularly collected the rents of the estates, and transmitted them to the exiled chief. The titles of nobility so long associated with the family ultimately became extinct and the vast heritage of the chiefs gradually slipped away, until at last there were left only the old acres of Brahan, with the historic castle, overlooking the “sweet vale” of the Conon. Coinneach Odhar was indeed so far a true prophet; yet if he could have peered a little farther into the future he might have told of a time which has now arrived, when the days of doom would end, and a brighter morning dawn upon the ancient house of his Chiefs. Among his numerous prophecies, fulfilled or unfulfilled, there is not even a suggestion of this Sanatorium—the greatest act of benevolence ever performed by his own or any other Highland Chief.
On an elevated nose above the little village of Maryburgh, and two miles round the corner from the county town of Dingwall, two generous hearts, desirous of alleviating human suffering, and moved by the greatest of all the graces, have erected and endowed what will in future be known as the Seaforth Sanatorium for the care and cure of consumptives. The total amount of the endowment, when completely established, will reach the handsome sum of £100,000. No Highland Chief ever reared so magnificent and beneficent a monument as that which will commemorate and consecrate to future generations the memory of both the givers and their gift. But its value in arresting the plague, to which the poverty and the climate of the Koss-shire glens contribute so many victims, cannot be expressed in figures or assessed in sterling money. It is not to be a mere infirmary, where the patient lies the livelong day murmuring elegies and brooding over his sorrowful fate—not entirely a place like Hornbook’s - of
. . . “doctor’s saws and whittles
O’ a’ dimensions, shapes, an’ metals,
A’ kind o’ boxes, mugs, an’ bottles.”
On the contrary, it will be a hive of industry, where useful and suitable work, under the direction of a qualified medical superintendent, will provide sufficient occupation for mind and body—no doubt an important factor in the process of cure. The building is beautifully situated. It may be said of it, as of Macbeth’s house—
“This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.”
How snug, and bright, and quiet it looks! The stately pines and oaks of the woods of Brahan stretch out a finger and touch it on the west; the southern rim of the saucer that bolds Loch Ussie shelters it from the biting northern blasts; while nothing can ever intercept the rays of even a mid-winter sun from cheering and warming the various apartments and those who are destined to occupy them.
It is a far cry from Eilandonan in its prime, with its record of mediaeval war, to this latest development of human sympathy and generosity. There—was gathered all that ingenuity coula then devise for the destruction of life— here—all the newest contrivances for its preservation and nourishment; and so pass we the milestones on the roadway of civilization. Charity, embodied in stone and lime, now sits in the landscape of which the giant bulk of Wyvis forms the central and crowning glory. The mariner passing through the Sutors, and navigating his ship into the upper reaches of the Cromarty Firth, will find a new landmark to guide him on his way; the crofter of Ferintosh (where the good Lord President Forbes was wont to distil whisky free of duty) will observe a new light as he gazes at night towards the western hills and gauges the weather of the morrow; the traveller by road and rail will have his attention arrested by the crescent-shaped building on the hill; the sufferers within will experience a joyous hope of life prolonged, and universal benedictions will be the donors’ reward.
Curliana Dingwall
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
The news this week is dominated by Donald Trump and the hearings to elect his cabinet.
-------
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night.
Visit our Robert Burns page for lots of information about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/burns/index.html
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Scotland’s largest haggis maker creating new recipe to meet US rules
Macsween working to circumvent food regulations that have banned traditional recipe in US for more than 50 years
Read more at:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-scrapped.html
What lies ahead for the world as Donald Trump returns to the White House?
Donald Trump returns to the White House tomorrow promising to deliver policies that are set to be even more incendiary and controversial than those he introduced during his first term as US president.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/donald-trump-returns/
Watch President Donald Trump's inaugural address
Watch President Donald Trump's inaugural address at:
https://youtu.be/VTmm00uwYtQ?si=CtNB97leP5OFw2Im
Trump Has a Mandate to Lead. What Comes Next?
During his first term of office, Trump’s energies were concentrated on negation. This time around, all thoughts are turned to action.
Read more at:
https://www.thefp.com/p/martin-gurri...e-inauguration
Trump’s Day One Executive Order on ‘Male and Female’
The White House strikes out at gender ideology and pronouns. Also: ends housing of biological men in women’s prisons; self-ID on passports; and more.
Read more at:
https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-day-o...ology-pronouns
Canada’s Bold Move: Is This the End of US-Canada Trade? Electric Vehicles & New Trade Alliances
In this video, we delve into Canada’s bold trade move and its potential to disrupt U.S.-Canada relations. Learn how these developments could impact the automotive industry, energy exports, and critical minerals. Stay tuned as we explore what this means for the future of trade and industry.
Watch this at:
https://youtu.be/oJyrFtJCngk?si=lZoxFTYM73iSbxZr
Poilievre's Conservatives SURGE to Records in the Polls!
We take a look at the latest poll results for Canada's 2025 federal election. We will examine how the parties are performing in terms of vote share and seats, and look at potential coalition scenarios that could shape the country's political future. Enjoy watching.
Watch this at:
https://youtu.be/-IEy-4gakiY?si=Y5FBm9xWgkFWCVbr
Electric Canadian
Arctic Trader
The account of twenty years with the Hudson's Bay Company By Philip H. Godsell, F.R.G.S., Former Field Officer Hudson’s Bay Company. (1934) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rtictrader.pdf
The Anglo-American Magazine
Published in Toronto from 1852 to 1855 and also Art & Literature in Canada.
You can read the first issue and an article at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...loamerican.htm
The World's Work
Added volume 4
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...worldswork.htm
Dominion of Canada With Newfoundland and an Excursion to Alaska
Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker (1900) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...of-Canada..pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 19th day of January 2025 - Uncertainty
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...25-uncertainty
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 4 No. 1 (pdf)
You can read this issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ctober1923.pdf
Electric Scotland
Aspects of the Religious History of Lewis
Up to the Disruption of 1843 by Rev. Murdo MacAulay (1980)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/aspects.htm
Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae
The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation in 11 volumes By Hew Scott, D.D. (1950) Added volumes 10 & 11.
You can get to these new volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/fasti.htm
Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Minister of St. Peter's Church, Dundee by the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, D.D., Minister of the Free Church of Scotland, Glasgow. New edition with Appendices, Facsimiles of Writings, and Portrait (1892)
You can read this memoir at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/r...raymcheyne.htm
Debating the Highland Clearances
By Eric Richards (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...0748629589.pdf
James Hutton's Edinburgh
By Donald McIntyre (pdf)
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/friends...r%C3%A9cis.pdf
The Foundations of Society and the Land
A Review of the Social systems of the Middle Ages in Britain, their growth and their decay; with a special reference to Land User, supplemented by some observations on the connection with modern conditions by J. W. Jeudwine, LL.B., F.R.Hist.S. of Lincoln’s Inn (1918) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...00jeudgoog.pdf
Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey
Edited by Frederick W. Ricord Volume VI. 1769—1775. (1899) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...in0018unse.pdf
Music
Have added 3 videos all to do with the Simon & Garfunkel song, The Sound of Silence. I've added one on the original song and then one by Disturbed which seems to be getting rave reviews and then a third where the new version of the song is analysed by an opera singer. While nothing to do with Scotland I just thought it was an interesting way to present a popular song so hope you like it.
You can watch these at:
https://electricscotland.com/music/index.htm
Oysters and a Pearl of a Club
Posted on December 21, 2006 by Christine Richard OBE FRSA
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...oysterclub.htm
Joseph Black
Added a biography on him to his page along with a video.
You can see this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ack_joseph.htm
James Hutton
Added a video about him to his page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tton_james.htm
Letters of Two Centuries
Chiefly connected with Inverness and the Highlands from 1616 to 1815, edited, and each introduced with explanatory and illustrative remarks by Charles Fraser-Mackintosh of Drummond, M.P., F.S.A. Scot. (1890) (pdf)
Should find a place upon the book-shelves of everyone who desires to know anything of the inner life of the Highlands during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is bound to take a high place in Scottish antiquarian and historical literature. - Scottish Highlander.
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00frasgoog.pdf
Clan MacKenzie Initiative
Found this web site with some great information on it so have also added the link to our Clan MacKenzie page.
You can check this out at:
https://clanmackenzie.org/
Tales of the Heather
By Emma Rose MacKenzie (1892) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...he_Heather.pdf
Tartans
Added a video about the history of Tartan and a link to Peter MacDonald, one of the foremost tartan designers in Scotland. Also reinstated a link to information about Blair Urquhart, former owner of House of Tartan.
You can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/tartans/index.htm
America The Land of Contrasts
A Briton's View of his American Kin By James Fullarton Muirhead (1898) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...fcontrasts.htm
The Martyr Graves of Scotland
By J. H. Thomson, Hightae (1903)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/martyrgraves.htm
The Life of James Watt
With selections from his correspondence by James Patrick Muirhead, M.A. (1858) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...-Watt_text.pdf
Newhaven
The Scottish Fishing Village That Was Gutted. Added a video to this page.
You can view the video at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/leith/19.htm
Falkirk
An Unremarkable Town. Added a video about the town.
You can watch it at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...of_falkirk.htm
History Tour of the Merchant City | Glasgow Scotland
A guided tour of the merchant city in Glasgow Scotland. We walk through the streets and learn about Glasgow's merchant past. Added this video to our Glasgow page.
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/index.htm
Story
The Seaforth Sanatorium
The Givers and the Gift.
“Sgur Ouran’s steep crags and Conon’s sweet vale,
Shall welcome Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail.”
If the good intentions of the present Government regarding ancient Scottish buildings should ever be accomplished, it may be that some day, ere it be too late, what remains of the old castle of Eilandonan may engage the attention of those to whom the administration of such legislation may be entrusted. This ancient pile, erected on a rocky islet of the western sea, was once the cradle, as it is now the shrine of the scattered remnants of that clan, which, spreading in number and influence, came at last to fill all the mansion-houses of Ross from the Butt of Lewis to the German Ocean. The origin of the Castle is lost in antiquity. It is known to have endured the attacks of the roving Viking, afforded shelter to King Robert the Bruce, received the unfriendly attentions of General Monk in the days of the Commonwealth, and was finally destroyed by Wightman after the battle of Glenshiel, in the year 1719. Colonel Stewart-Mackenzie of Seaforth, who, with his amiable wife, are the givers of the most humane and princely gift ever bestowed upon a Highland county, springs from that race of unsubmitting spirit whose ancient home now crumbles into dust beneath the shadow of the five sisters of Kintail, yet speaks eloquently of a vanished past and a power that is no more. In our day it may be said of it—
No warder calls on the castle walls,
No sound of joy or grief,
No clansmen shout in wassail rout,
No wife, no child, no chief.
Among the territorial families of Scotland there are few around which circle such a halo of romance as that of the
HIGH CHIEFS OF KINTAIL,
who were born and lived and fought within these mouldering walls, now a refuge only for the owl and the bat. The centuries are full of tales and legends connected with the clan, beginning with that far-off day when the king’s life was saved from an infuriated stag by a brave Caledonian, who thus linked the name of Mackenzie with their well-known crest and the familiar motto of Cuidich an Righ. Of the many romances connected with the family, those associated with Kenneth Mackenzie, commonly known as Cainneach Odhar, the Brahan Seer, are perhaps of most general interest. He appeared towards the close of the seventeenth century—a plain, untutored clansman—yet one who is held in remembrance perhaps more than any of the long line of his chiefs. He professed and was credited with the gift of second sight. Whatever doubt may exist as to his-supernatural powers, he was manifestly a shrewd man of considerable intellectual gifts and an outstanding figure in Ross-shire life in the generation to which he belonged. Even yet his name and fame are cherished by the people, and his “prophecies,” mainly bearing upon the fortunes of his clan and chiefs, still circulate freely in the more isolated portions of his native county. The traditional story of his death on the shore at Fortrose, near the Cathedral, which was then the ecclesiastical centre of the district, though not well authenticated, is firmly believed in by many Ross-shire people at home and abroad. He is said to have been burnt to death at the instigation of the Countess of Seaforth for having expounded a vision reflecting on the honour of her husband. A small stone pillar marks the spot on which the tragedy is said to have been enacted; and on the Ordnance Survey map there appears the legend, “The last witch was burnt here.” Passing Loch Ussie on his way to doom he threw’ the perforated pebble, by means of which he was able to foretell the future, into the water, and upon the person who finds it will fall his prophetic mantle. So the legend goes. His last prophecy foretold the doom of the family of his Chief, and it was supposed to have been fulfilled in the case of the Lord Seaforth, who, with his wife, were the personal friends of Sir Walter Scott. It was of Lady Seaforth he wrote, referring to her husband’s death, predeceased by all his sons, a circumstance foretold by Coinneach—
“And thou, gentle dame, who must bear to thy grief,
For thy clan and thy country the cares of a chief.”
The serious troubles of the family began, like those of many other Highland lairds, with the struggles of the unfortunate Stewarts. Sheriff muir sealed the fate of the then Chief of Mackenzie, as it did also that of the Old Pretender himself. Seaforth became an exile. Thereupon arose a man of whom too little is heard in Highland story. Donald Murchison, ardent Jacobite, lawyer, soldier (he fought at Sheriffmuir), scholar, and progenitor of Sir Roderick Murchison, defying the forces of the Government, aided by a sympathetic tenantry and the difficulties of warfare in a mountain land, regularly collected the rents of the estates, and transmitted them to the exiled chief. The titles of nobility so long associated with the family ultimately became extinct and the vast heritage of the chiefs gradually slipped away, until at last there were left only the old acres of Brahan, with the historic castle, overlooking the “sweet vale” of the Conon. Coinneach Odhar was indeed so far a true prophet; yet if he could have peered a little farther into the future he might have told of a time which has now arrived, when the days of doom would end, and a brighter morning dawn upon the ancient house of his Chiefs. Among his numerous prophecies, fulfilled or unfulfilled, there is not even a suggestion of this Sanatorium—the greatest act of benevolence ever performed by his own or any other Highland Chief.
On an elevated nose above the little village of Maryburgh, and two miles round the corner from the county town of Dingwall, two generous hearts, desirous of alleviating human suffering, and moved by the greatest of all the graces, have erected and endowed what will in future be known as the Seaforth Sanatorium for the care and cure of consumptives. The total amount of the endowment, when completely established, will reach the handsome sum of £100,000. No Highland Chief ever reared so magnificent and beneficent a monument as that which will commemorate and consecrate to future generations the memory of both the givers and their gift. But its value in arresting the plague, to which the poverty and the climate of the Koss-shire glens contribute so many victims, cannot be expressed in figures or assessed in sterling money. It is not to be a mere infirmary, where the patient lies the livelong day murmuring elegies and brooding over his sorrowful fate—not entirely a place like Hornbook’s - of
. . . “doctor’s saws and whittles
O’ a’ dimensions, shapes, an’ metals,
A’ kind o’ boxes, mugs, an’ bottles.”
On the contrary, it will be a hive of industry, where useful and suitable work, under the direction of a qualified medical superintendent, will provide sufficient occupation for mind and body—no doubt an important factor in the process of cure. The building is beautifully situated. It may be said of it, as of Macbeth’s house—
“This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.”
How snug, and bright, and quiet it looks! The stately pines and oaks of the woods of Brahan stretch out a finger and touch it on the west; the southern rim of the saucer that bolds Loch Ussie shelters it from the biting northern blasts; while nothing can ever intercept the rays of even a mid-winter sun from cheering and warming the various apartments and those who are destined to occupy them.
It is a far cry from Eilandonan in its prime, with its record of mediaeval war, to this latest development of human sympathy and generosity. There—was gathered all that ingenuity coula then devise for the destruction of life— here—all the newest contrivances for its preservation and nourishment; and so pass we the milestones on the roadway of civilization. Charity, embodied in stone and lime, now sits in the landscape of which the giant bulk of Wyvis forms the central and crowning glory. The mariner passing through the Sutors, and navigating his ship into the upper reaches of the Cromarty Firth, will find a new landmark to guide him on his way; the crofter of Ferintosh (where the good Lord President Forbes was wont to distil whisky free of duty) will observe a new light as he gazes at night towards the western hills and gauges the weather of the morrow; the traveller by road and rail will have his attention arrested by the crescent-shaped building on the hill; the sufferers within will experience a joyous hope of life prolonged, and universal benedictions will be the donors’ reward.
Curliana Dingwall
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair