Janet and Marie Morrison’s
1993 Trip to Scotland
Janet and Marie Morrison’s
1993 Trip to Scotland
by Janet Morrison
The second part:
Wednesday, July 14 was a day we approached with great apprehension. It was the day we were to get our rental car and start driving on the left side of the road, while navigating with a steering wheel on the right side of the car. We had requested a small car with an automatic transmission, but when we arrived at the car rental office we were told they only had one automatic and it was an enormous stationwagon. It was the biggest car we saw while we were in Scotland, and we were driving it! It turned out to be quite a conversation piece as we toured around the country.
Our first stop in our stationwagon was the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum at Dunfermline. We learned some very interesting things about Mr. Carnegie. His mother, incidentally was a Morrison, but no relation to our Morrisons. From there we drove to Culross, which is considered to be an excellent example of a small Scots town of the 16th to 18th centuries, thanks to much restoration which was made possible by the National Trust for Scotland. Arriving in Callander in the afternoon, we enjoyed a film presentation about Rob Roy Macgregor at the Rob Roy & Trossachs Visitor Centre. We spent that night in a bed and breakfast in Callander and enjoyed a concert by the Callander & District Pipe Band at Ancaster Square that evening.
We traveled to Aberfoyle on July 15, where we visited The Scottish Wool Centre. Not growing up around sheep or in sheep country, we just thought sheep were sheep. We soon learned about eight different breeds of sheep in Scotland, the qualities and texture of wool of each one and the purposes they serve. It made the remainder of our trip more interesting as we saw various breeds of sheep by the road (and in the road.)
One can’t help but notice the beautiful wildflowers in Scotland! Pink Foxglove and thistle were plentiful that July. It was misty and foggy when we reached Loch Katrine, but it was still a nice quiet place to stop for tea. The mist made the rock wall lined roads seem even more narrow than they actually were, as we were still trying to get used to our big car. It was on that day that we saw our first Highland Cattle. We viewed the Falls of Dochart at Killin from an old stone bridge no longer used for vehicular traffic. We saw a very old looking arched stone railway viaduct and enjoyed following the River Lochy beside the A85. We arrived in Oban late in the afternoon. The Visitor Centre assisted us in making reservations at a bed and breakfast for that night. As was typical in Scotland, we saw lovely flowers in Argyll Square in Oban. There were begonia blooms the size of roses! That evening we enjoyed dinner and a Scottish musical show at McTavish’s Kitchen in Oban. There were tourists there from all over the world.
Friday, July 16 was a day we had looked forward to with great anticipation. It was the day we would travel to Campbeltown! We stopped at Ronachan Point to see the view and learn a little about the Iron Age fort which had occupied the spot. Unfortunately, the midgies had other ideas and we were quickly chased back into our car to get away from the pesky little insects. We stopped for a quick picture of the cemetery at Muasdale and hurried on toward “the Wee Toon.”
Just when we thought our trip could not get any better, we arrived in Campbeltown where we were greeted by Elizabeth Marrison. We had corresponded with her and she had told us in a letter that our Hall ancestors “farmed Eden.” We did not realize that every farm had a name which it carries for centuries and what she was telling us was that she could show us the very farm on which Janet Hall Morrison’s family were tenants when the 1694 Hearth Tax was taken! Elizabeth took us on the grand tour of Campbeltown and Southend. She took us to Keil Cemetery and helped us locate a marker in that ancient cemetery which gives three generations of Hall husbands and wives. Keil Cemetery is in a lovely setting, just across the road from the rocky coast from which one can see Ireland on a clear day. The cemetery is at the ruins of an early church, near the rock bearing “St. Columba’s Footprint,” and near the caves in which St. Columba took shelter upon arriving on the Mull of Kintyre with Christianity. It is an awesome place and was quite moving to think that our ancestors had been in and were possibly buried in that cemetery. We also visited Southend Parish Church. Although not the same sanctuary in which our Hall ancestors would have worshipped, it was a humbling feeling to go inside the church where that congregation worships today. Elizabeth then took us down a single track road, slowed the car, and said, “That’s Eden.” We could scarcely take it in! Eden is a beautiful farm in a lush, wide, green valley. We could just imagine Janet Hall Morrison playing in that valley as a child around 1700.
We returned to Campbeltown and Elizabeth took us to the large cemetery in town. We looked and looked, but did not find any Morrisons buried there.
We went to the Tourist Information Centre in Campbeltown and purchased the South Kintyre Ordnance Survey map. It is an invaluable map, as it shows the location of each farm by name. Friday was quite an exciting and fulfilling day. We felt as though we had come home.
On Saturday, July 17 it was raining, making it a good morning to go to the public library in Campbeltown to do a little research. We toured the museum housed with the library, then started looking for information about the Campbeltown/Southend area in the library. We learned some fascinating things from Andrew McKerral’s history of Kintyre in the 1600’s.
The sun came out on Saturday afternoon and it became the most beautiful day of our trip. We drove back to Southend to take another look at lovely Eden, then back to the cemetery at Keil Point. A seal was sunning itself on the rocks on the coast there. From Keil Point we drove up the winding road to the Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse. With every bend in the road we inched our way higher and higher. Each turn offered another spectacular view of the North Channel. It was quite possibly the most beautiful sight we had ever seen! It was absolutely breathtaking. We continued to the end of the public road, parked our car and attempted to walk down to the lighthouse. It is an extremely steep incline. We soon realized that it was going to be even more strenuous to walk back up the hill, and no matter how long we walked on the road with all those hairpin curves, we did not seem to be getting any closer to the lighthouse than when we started our descent. We decided we were not physically fit enough to get back up the hill if we went to the lighthouse, so we just enjoyed the view and returned to our car. It is not an exaggeration to say that only the most physically fit individuals should attempt to walk from the car park to the lighthouse.
Returning to Campbeltown, we took pictures of the former Lowland Church of Scotland sanctuary. Built in 1706, it would have been the church where William and Janet Hall Morrison worshipped and where their three sons were probably baptized. It is now used as a town hall. We did not get to go inside the building, but we were told it has been remodeled and does not resemble a church on the inside.
Sunday, July 18 was a special day because that morning we worshipped at the present Lorne & Lowland Church of Scotland. The worship service there was essentially the same as what we have in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. We enjoyed the experience of worshipping with the congregation of our ancestors. After the church service we talked with a gentleman who had been the Clerk of the Session for many years. He was kind enough to take note of the names of John, James and Robert Morrison and their baptismal dates as we had them. The following week he checked the original church records and later wrote us in North Carolina to verify those dates. He also told us that the Rev. James Boes was the minister of the church from 1694 until 1749 and would have baptized them.
It was not easy to find a restaurant open on Sunday afternoon, but we found one on Hall Street. After dinner, we visited Elizabeth Marrison again in order to tell her what we had done and seen since seeing her on Friday. In the interim, she had checked her notes and found that when the 1694 Hearth Tax was taken, a John Morrison lived at Baraskomill and a James Morrison lived at Crossibeg. She told us where those farms were located, so we could drive by and see them on our way out of town that afternoon. Due to the naming patterns in Scotland, we tend to think that the John Morrison who lived at Baraskomill was our William Morrison’s father.
We continued up the B842, which gave us an entirely different route back up Kintyre than the way we had come down on Friday. The A83 on the west coast of Kintyre is a much quicker route to traverse than the B842. We’ve been told there are some beautiful views of Arran from the B842, but in the mist that particular day we could not even see the water, much less Arran Island. We spent that night in a hotel in Lochgilphead.
On Monday, July 19, we toured the Auchindrain Township Open-Air Museum, which is about five miles south of Inveraray. In Argyll the word township seemed to be used to describe a group of tenant houses and farm buildings which would have stood in very close proximity to one another on the old farms under the tenancy system in place in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s when our ancestors lived at Eden and Baraskomill or Crossibeg. Someone had recommended that we tour Auchindrain Township in order to get a better idea how our ancestors would have lived in Kintyre. It was well worth the time.
From Inveraray, we continued north to the Oban Sea-Life Centre. It was interesting to see baby seals that had been rescued and were being raised to a point when they could be set free again in the ocean. We learned there that one should never touch a baby seal for the mother will abandon it when she returns and smells that a human has touched her pup. There were also several adult seals living there that for various reasons have been there too long and become too dependent upon humans to ever be released into the sea. We were fortunate to be there at feeding time. Visitors are invited to watch the seals swimming, playing and eating. We appreciated that fact that the seals are not taught to perform. It’s difficult to improve upon nature.
From there we drove to Glencoe. We had been told it was best and most fitting to see Glencoe on a rainy or stormy day; however, we were there on a beautiful day. As we travelled on, though, we noticed that there was still some snow on Ben Nevis. We continued on to a guesthouse in Fort William for the night. It was that evening that two waitresses in a restaurant in Fort William collided right behind me while carrying trays of various drinks. Tea, beer and soft drinks went all over me, my food and our table! My handbag smelled like beer for the remainder of our trip. After going back to our room and changing clothes, Marie and I drove out to Loch Shiel to see the Bonnie Prince Charlie Monument. It is a lovely setting, with the railway viaduct across the valley.
Tuesday, July 20 took us to the Falls of Glen Moriston at Invermoriston and on to Inverness. It was in Inverness that we saw a Burger King and realized that was the first “fast food” restaurant we had seen since arriving in Scotland. From Inverness we drove to Culloden Moor. It was an extremely cold day to tour the battlefield at Culloden.
From Culloden, we traveled west to Ullapool. The scenery was varied along the way. We stopped to see the Falls of Measach. Before we reached Ullapool, the landscape changed dramatically from wooded mountains to stark, rolling hills. We reached Ullapool just in time to see the ferry “Suilven” loading and preparing to set sail for Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. Our ferry reservations were for the next morning. We had never seen such a large ferry. It was amazing to see tractor-trailer trucks, refrigeration trucks, oil tankers, cattle trucks, etc. being loaded into the belly of that ship! (Since our visit in 1993, the “Suilven” has been replaced by a larger and somewhat faster ferry.)
We drove our big rental car onto the ferry on July 21 for the 9:30 a.m. crossing of The Minch to Stornoway. It was a three and one-half hour trip at that time. Arriving in Stornoway, we drove 25 miles north to Ness, where we were welcomed by our Edinburgh friends (who are natives of Lewis) and a couple of their relatives. They welcomed us to Lewis with tea and a host of sweets and homemade goodies.
Part Three next month
Page 3: David Whitehead's Genealogy Special - Part Three
Page 4: John and Mary Morrison of Rocky River - The Second Part
Page 5: Three Brothers from Drumalea // The Keprigan Hen
Page 6: The Vegetation of Kintyre - Part Two
Page 7: The Churches of Campbeltown Since the Reformation // The Norwegian Connection
Page 8: By Hill and Shore - Part 1
Page 9: John McLeod Campbell // An Apprentice Agreement of a Hundred and Fifty Years Ago