THREE KINTYRE BOOKS
John R. H. Cormack

     Few, if any, parts of Scotland have been the theme of so many books as Kintyre. The peninsula has over the years evoked a wealth of of literature of all kinds, including topography, local history, ecclesiology, archaeology, communications, biography, reminiscences, and fiction, and in addition several books or verse and of views, not to mention the various guide books, mostly published locally, and the useful booklets (reprints of newspaper articles and addresses given) which used to be issued by the Campbeltown Courier and Kintyre Antiquarian Society. To try to include everything item by item would require an article to itself. The purpose of this article is to describe three remarkable books, which appeared rather more than a century ago, and surviving copies of which are much prized.

GLENCREGGAN; or a Highland home in Kintyre by Cuthbert Bede.

"Glencreggan" was published in London in 1861 by Longrnan, Green, Longman, and Roberts. It was generally in two volumes, but sometimes the two were bound together into one thick book. Cuthbert Bede was the pseudonym of Rev. Edward Bradley, who was born at Kidderminster in 1527, graduated at Durham University, and became Vicar successively of Stretten, Rutland, and Lavington, Lincolnshire, dying in 1889. His holidays were often spent in Scotland, where he made a very careful study of the particular district that he was in and wove it all into a very readable account e.g. "A HOLIDAY RAMBLE IN THE LAND OF SCOTT; or "A TOUR IN TARTAN LAND."

     It was in the summer of 1859 that Bradley and his wife visited Kintyre, and "Glencreggan" opens with a full account of the voyage down from Glasgow and the various places seen en route to Campbeltown. Their holiday base was Glencreggan, nearly fourteen miles up the West Road, at that time tenanted by William Hancocks, to whom the book is dedicated. Hancocks and his other guests enjoyed the sports of fishing and shooting but Bradley did not follow such pursuits, so, while his friends were on the moor or by a stream, he would carefully explore the locality and make conversation with anybody he met, ferreting out historical links and legends, and noting personal traits and turns of phrase. The resultant book is thus very human, not without humorous touches, and also full and erudite. Two brief extracts follow:

Friend: The old Scottish capital, you say. Of course you mean Edinburgh?

Author: Of course I do not.

Friend: Scone, then, or perhaps Dunfermline?

Author: Don't know such modern places.

Friend: Forteviot, then, in Perthshire

Author: Nothing of the kind, my dear sir, though you are certainly coming nearer the mark; but Forteviot was not a capital until the ninth century - three hundred years after this spot; and Dunedin was not heard of when this town was the seat of monarchy.

Friend: But this town is Campbeltown, in Cantire, at whose harbour we landed yesterday afternoon from the Greenock steamer.

Author: Certainly, my dear Friend, and this Campbeltown was a capital city long before the present metropolis of Scotland had even swelled into the dimensions of a little village.

     The book is enhanced by many charming drawings and chrono-lithographs, all by the author, much more interesting and purposeful than impersonal photographs.

     It may be added that further writing by the author concerning this district was later gathered together and published posthumously, in 1902 as "Argyll's Highlands." Glencreggan is a delightful guide and companion, as the scenery, antiquity and quiddity of Kintyre are all through it.

HISTORY OF KINTYRE by Peter McIntosh.

The same year 1861 saw the appearance also of the "HISTORY OF KINTYRE" by Peter McIntosh, which was published by J. and E. Ralston, Campbeltown. Two other editions followed, slightly altered and enlarged, and published by J. Wilson, Campbeltown, the third edition being dated 1670. During the 1920s the text of the first edition appeared in the Campbeltown Courier in instalments, which in 1929 were reprinted together along with a preface about the author thu producing yet another edition.

     Peter McIntosh was a native of the district, having been born at Ardnacross about 1786. Through his own ability and perseverence he equipped himself to become a school teacher, and he was for many years in charge of Coalhill (Drumlemble) School. A keen churchman, he threw in his lot with the Free Church in 1843, and in the following year resigned his teaching post to become a catechist. This office took him to reside in several places in the area, including Islay and Gigha, where his labours met with much acceptance. He died in 1876 in his ninetieth year. He was a man of many parts, a Gaelic scholar, a student of place names, a gifted poet with a sound knowledge of the Bible and theology.

     The "History of Kintyre" is a fascinating little book without illustrations, and full of (sometimes curious) information. Strictly speaking the book is not a history of Kintyre; it is the history or story of some forty aspects of life in Kintyre, The chapter titles, to name but a few of them, are: Kintyre - Name and boundary, Original Condition, War, The Highland Clans, Superstition, Gaelic Language, Second Sight, Castles, Schools, Kintyre Hills, Music, Variety of Creation, Population, Geology, Sea Coast, Christianity, Emigration, Carnpbeltown, Kilkeddan, Burial Places. In places there are brought together pieces of infornation not presented thus anywhere else, such as the fresh water lochs of Kintyre and glens of Kintyre, with particulars for comparison.

     Most of the chapters include the author's own poems, which have very considerable merits. Both in the verses and in the text the religious note is strong, and a didactic purpose is to be found. There are many quotations from the Scriptures. As the preface to the 1929 edition says of the book; "It is a quaint compilation in some respects, while in every respect it is a clear revelation of the mind and character of the man." It was very popular, witness the editions it ran through. It is a local classic.

     Here is the introduction to the Chapter on Name and ~oundary:

Kintyre with its brown-heath Lochs,
Its hills and dales and well-fed flocks;
Its many lakes, where fishes swim,
Its game; profuse: each crystal stream
Flows singing down in rich supplies,
The glens to feed and fertilise -
Yet mental darkness, we are told,
Lay o'er these fertile glens of old.
The Druids taught false gods to seek,
Beneath the oak or mountain peak;
The sun they worshipp'd, in mistake
For him who did all worlds make.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SKETCHES IN SCOTLAND: DISTRICT OF KINTYRE.

     Our last book is by Captain T.P. White, R.E., F.R.S. Edin, F.S.A.Scot.and was published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, in 1873. It was actually the first of a pair by this author, the other volume covering Knapdale and Gigha, and published in 1875. This article deals only with the Kintyre book.

     Captain White was an officer with the Ordinance Survey. He explains in the Introduction, he was appointed in 1864 to take over the Glasgow division, which was then beginning a survey or Argyll, and where he remained till 1867. During that period he made a careful appraisement of Kintyre, systematically kept a record of everything of interest he saw, and drew numerous plans and sketches. He broke some new ground, and put the understanding of Kintyre's past on a firmer footing.

     The magnificent volume, with its gold Celtic cross embossed. on the cover, begins with the introduction, and goes on to the early history and ecclesiastical history, but the bulk of the book consists of a survey of each of the parishes in order (except Gigha) with an inter-chapter on monumental art. The buildings and remains surveyed are almost entirely ecclesiastical, which covers crosses and monuments as well as churches and saints abodes. Careful assessment of the evidence and sound judgment dispel some of the mists, as the writer feels his way among early saints and kings, and evaluates the old legends, Rubrics in the margin much assist the reader. There is an excellent map, clearly marking the parishes, sub-chapels and the still earlier sites known to have been saints' cells only by the prefix "kil."

     High praise is due to the splendid illustrations from the author's pen, both sketches and more technical plans and sections such as would have been expected of a civil engineer. There are beautiful drawings of the ancient sculptured stones in the various churchyards, of Campbeltown Cross, Saddell Abbey and many more - quite a treasury.

     Captain White must have devoted a vast amount of time and care to his researches, and done much more than his official duties required. We must still feel grateful to him today for his scholarly work.

     Both the spiritual and spirituous aspects of life in Campbeltown are covered in two comprehensive booklets produced by Mr Nornan S. Newton for the local Tourist Board. These publications answer most of the questions likely to be asked by visitors interested in the religious background of Kintyre and in the industry which was once synonymous with the name of Campbeltown.

     Campbeltown Churches gives a short but comprehensive history of the Christian religion in Kintyre, while Campbeltown Distilleries lists 34 distilleries which at one time or another operated in the town, and which Mr Newton admits is not exhaustive, In 1866 the total known output was just under 2 million gallons. Both booklets are lavishly illustrated and each contains a useful map of the town. They are obtainable from local booksellers or from the Tourist Board, The Pier, Campbeltown and are remarkably good value.

MACTAVISH of DUNARDRY

     Some years ago a young man found in his Edinburgh grandmother's attic an old kist which to his surprise contained records from 1630 to 1860 of the MacTavishes of Dunardry, an ancient sept of Clan Campbell. These papers had been purchased by the late Sir John James Macleod, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, whose mother was a Lochgilphead MacTavish and by good fortune were passed in 1985 to Dr E.F. Bradford who has published a most interesting book based on the 16th and 18th century correspondence. Many of the writers of these letters are familiar to students of Kintyre history - Macneals of Losset, MacDonalds of Largie and Sheriff Dugall MacTavish of Kilchrist, Campbeltown, the last of the Dunardry chiefs, who according to the late Colonel Mactaggart was the last man in Campbeltown to wear his hair in a pigtail. The book contains several useful family trees and is a most enjoyable and interesting read. Dr Bradford has generously donated the papers to the Argyll & Bute District Archives.

MacTavish of Dunardry, Price £12 + postage from the author Dr E.F. Bradford, Orchard House, Castleton Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO2 2HA.

     This is the third volume of local history written by Angus Martin. He says it is his last. In my view much as I enjoyed "THE RING NET FISHERMEN" and "KINTYRE, THE HIDDEN PAST" it is the best. What recalled sights, smells and sounds crowd in on ones senses as Angus recalls country life in Kintyre in days gone by. There must be many like me who had half forgotten the interminable flocks of sheep being driven along the roads to Campbeltown quay for shipment to the autumn markets; the smells of the cheese loft and more pungently of the pig sty where the inhabitants eagerly greeted the whey, the by-product of the cheese. One recalls too the sounds and smells of the stables as the horses were led out to the cobbled yard for the days work or were bedded down at night. The byre too is recalled with the rattle of the first of the milk squirting into the buckets- summer days in the harvest field, dipping and clippings with the concomitant chaffing and daffing are all brought back through the skilled pen of the author.

     It is pleasant to relate that shinty is making a comeback after a lapse of 100 years or more. But what has happened to the children's games? I see no evidence of marbles (jarries as we called them) and the tops and hoops which succeeded them in the proper season of the year. And have the girls given up skipping and peever?

    Our ancestors undoubtedly had a hard life of it but who is to say they did not have in some ways a fuller life. At least they made their own pleasures and had time for a crack.

     I cannot think there is a gift which would be more acceptable and more lovingly cherished by Kintyre exiles than this. Angus has researched everything so thoroughly and has described the results so felicitously that I would regard the reading of this volume as a duty which will give pleasure again and again. The older among us will recall the sounds and sights of our youth while the youth will learn what their ancestors endured and enjoyed.

     Kintyre is deeply indebted to this native son and although he says it is his last history there is just a hint in the contents that he can see seams still to be tapped.

A. I.B.S.

Please click on a Page Number  Page 2:   Westport - Its Geomorphology

Page 3:   Sparks and Flashes                   Campbeltown Photographers                   The PostOffice - A Complaint

Page 4:  James Nicol Fleming of Keil

Page 5:  The Quay  Notice

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