Janet and Marie Morrison's
1999 Trip to Scotland

by Janet Morrison of North Carolina

Part the Second

     Monday, July 26 was another bonny day in Kintyre! Not a cloud in the sky all day and it was very warm -- probably in the 70's F. (I never did quite get the hang of Celsius.) Alex drove his car and took us up the B842 on the east coast of the Kintyre Peninsula. We stopped to see the late-medieval stone grave slabs at Saddell. It is a truly impressive collection.

     We made our way up the peninsula, enjoying gorgeous views of Kilbrannan Sound along the way. We went as foot passengers on the ferry from Claonaig to Lochranza on Arran Island. We ate lunch at a small hotel in Lochranza. Alex ordered haggis and let Marie and me taste it. It wasn't too bad. I had been hesitant to order it for myself, so this was a good way for me to get introduced to it. After lunch we explored the ruins of Lochranza Castle, which was being worked on so we had to try to avoid the scaffolding and portable toilets when we took pictures.

     Upon returning to Claonaig, we drove a short distance north to see the ruins of Skipness Castle. Coming back down the B842, we stopped at the Grogport Organic Tannery at Grogport. Molly Arthur and her husband, Andrew, were quite interesting and cordial. I had corresponded with Mrs. Arthur prior to our visit. I was interested in seeing her tannery. The son of James Morrison (James, baptized in Campbeltown in 1728) was tanner in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina around 1800. Named for his father and known as "Tanner Jimmie," he probably used a process similar to Mrs. Arthur's at his tanyard. Mrs. Arthur's tannery was odorless, but she was quick to point out that "Tanner Jimmie's" would have had an odor because he would have used pits in the ground whereas she uses fiberglass tubs in her process. The tubs can be flushed out more easily than pits in the ground can be. In 35 years of trial and error, Mrs. Arthur has apparently perfected this organic way of tanning hides. She has beautiful sheepskins available in her shop and welcomes visitors. It's worth the time to stop in and talk to her and see her operation as you travel the B842 about halfway between Campbeltown and Claonaig. Continuing south, we stopped to see the pretty beach at Carradale and the fishing harbor at Carradale. We got back to Campbeltown late in the afternoon.

     After dinner, Marie and I went to the top of the hill just inside the cattle grid on the road to our chalet, where British Telecom has its mast. The views of Campbeltown, Campbeltown Loch and The Laggan were great from there! We stayed until the sun went down behind the next hill. There was a full moon and it was lovely over Campbeltown Loch. It was a very good day.

     Tuesday, July 27 was another spectacular day in Campbeltown -- warm, bright sunshine all day long! By that day, everyone was telling us how fortunate we were to have such good weather for our vacation -- or holiday, as they call it in Scotland. That morning we met Frances Hood of the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society at the public library. Marie and I joined the Society, which allowed us to do some research in the library collection of the Society. We wished we had had more time to spend reading some of the books, documents and notes in the collection. We were hurriedly looking through documents and lists, taking notes on any references we found to Morrisons, Halls, McEacherns/McEachrans, McLartys, Greenlies, Huies, and the other surnames we have in our ancestry or in our church history. It is wonderful that the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society has preserved such an array of records. We were pleased to see the three Morrison genealogies we published in 1996 on the shelf in the library.

     After lunch, we planned to go see Kilchousland Cemetery. As Alex drove us by the harbor, he noticed the door was open on the Campbeltown Lifeboat. Ian had told us that a nephew of his and Alex's was a crew member and might be able to give us a tour. We drove down to the dock and met their nephew, Steve Scally, who is Assistant First Coxswain. Steve, who is proudly following in the footsteps of his father who is a former Coxswain of the Campbeltown Lifeboat crew, gave us a guided tour of the new lifeboat. It was quite impressive. It cost more than one million pounds and is state of the art, high-tech all the way. We were fortunate to happen along while Steve was there and he was very kind to give us a tour of the lifeboat.

     Leaving the lifeboat, we drove out to the old Campbeltown Shipyard with Alex. From there we walked along the shore of Campbeltown Loch. That vantage point gave us a little different view of the loch and Davaar Island. There were swans swimming in the loch. The white swans and the white lighthouse on Davaar Island showed up beautifully with the azure water of Campbeltown Loch. We could see Baraskomill Farm from the shore and a little further along we could see Crossibeg Farm. We were hoping to find the graves of William Morrison and Janet Hall Morrison at Kilchousland Cemetery, since it was so close to Baraskomill and Crossibeg; however, we did not find markers for them. (Elizabeth Marrison told us that evening that they would not have been buried there since they were members of the Lowland Church and Kilchousland Cemetery was associated with Kilchousland Parish. Some of Carl Porter's Crossibeg ancestors were buried there, though, so we paid our respects to their graves on behalf of Carl who lives in Georgia.) The cemetery is in a beautiful place overlooking the water just above where Campbeltown Loch meets Kilbrannan Sound.

     From Kilchousland Cemetery, we walked back to the cliff above Macringan's Point. I had wanted to see it, as it is interesting geologically. It is perhaps the other end of what is called the Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland. Alex was going to help us go down the steep hill to the rocks on the shore, but Marie and I were too tired at that point and had to be satisfied with a bird's eye view. Our trek to Kilchousland Cemetery had been disappointing since we did not find the graves of our great-great-great-great-great-grandparents and the hike was fairly strenuous since Marie and I are not hikers, but the scenery was breath-taking and we did not regret the outing. As we were walking from Macringan's Point to town, we got to see the lifeboat speeding out of the loch. It was scheduled to go to Greenock a couple of days later to help with the tall ships race. We also got to meet Alexander "Wee Mo" Morrison, as we walked back along the loch. We were pleased to get to meet another Campbeltown Morrison.

     We visited Elizabeth Marrison that night. It was good to catch up with her since our visit in 1993. Elizabeth amazes us with all the South Kintyre history and genealogy she knows or has on paper. She has preserved a vast amount of Kintyre history through her painstaking note taking over the years. She is a great resource. She had some Morrison baptismal records from Campbeltown from the late-1600's and early-1700's that I did not have. I appreciated her letting me copy them. I don't know how any of them were connected to my Morrisons, but they were bound to be related in some way.

     The morning of Wednesday, July 28 we made some pictures around town (the Campbeltown Cross, the lovely flowers in the roundabout, the palms in the median along Hall Street) and did some shopping before meeting Alex at 11:00 a.m. at the ferry terminal. We went as foot passengers on the 11:45 a.m. ferry from Campbeltown to Ballycastle, Northern Ireland. We had been a little hesitant about going to Northern Ireland, but the residents of Campbeltown had convinced us that taking the ferry to Ballycastle would not be dangerous. The weather continued to dictate what we could and could not see and do that week and Wednesday was another beautiful day. We passed through a security checkpoint in the ferry terminal much as one does in an airport. We walked through metal detectors and the items we were carrying were x-rayed.

     As we sailed out of Campbeltown Loch, much as our Morrison great-great-great-great-grandparents did nearly 250 years ago, we could not help but wonder what emotions they experienced as they left for America. We were also amazed at how long we were able to look back and see the farms of Baraskomill and Crossibeg and to realize, if they sailed away on a clear day, they could have looked back on their home for several miles. It was a very meaningful experience for us.

     We had the currents with us and arrived in Ballycastle about fifteen minutes early at 2:15 p.m. That gave us 55 minutes to explore the lovely town of Ballycastle. Normally, round-trip foot passengers are not allowed off the ferry due to time restraints. Once more, we were very fortunate and the weather permitted us to do more than we expected. Having eaten lunch on the ferry, we could spend our time in Ballycastle shopping and enjoying the park and beach area adjacent to the ferry terminal. We also ate some Italian ice cream. It was the best ice cream I have ever eaten!

     We had smooth sailing back to Campbeltown and enjoyed the views of Fair Head on the Irish coast, the Mull of Kintyre, Sanda Island, Dunaverty Rock, Ailsa Craig, and Campbeltown itself. There was a stiff breeze which made it seem cool on the ferry, but it was still bright and sunny when we returned to Campbeltown Loch shortly after 6:00 p.m. Even though we had used sunscreen, we got sun and wind burn on the ferry. We had not anticipated getting sunburned in Scotland!

     That night we washed clothes and worked on packing our souvenirs and other things we did not anticipate needing again on our trip or later in the trip. It had been really nice to stay in one place for a week, but we knew in a few days we would have to pack up and move along. For the rest of the trip we would be moving along every day or two. We wanted to be able to leave those items we did not need in one suitcase in the trunk (er... "boot") of the car and not have to take it into every B&B later in the trip. Among our most cherished souvenirs from Campbeltown are the Campbeltown mugs we bought at Campbeltown Pottery. The logo on the mugs was designed by Elizabeth Scally, a teenage niece of Alex and Ian's. We look forward to drinking hot tea from our mugs this winter in North Carolina.

That evening we looked at how we could possibly change our travel plans and stay in Campbeltown to see the tall ships pass the Mull of Kintyre on Monday. We would have had to omit the Fort William to Peterhead leg of our trip and, if the weather turned out to not be clear on Monday, our views of the tall ships would have not been very good. We haven't heard how the weather was in South Kintyre that day, so we don't know what we missed; however, we are glad we did not miss the couple of days of crossing Scotland from west to east across the Grampian Mountains.

     On Thursday, July 29, Elizabeth Marrison had made arrangements for Marie and me to visit Eden Farm at Southend, where Janet Hall Morrison's family lived in the 1690's to at least the 1740's. We drove down "the leerside road," which is a single-track road from Campbeltown to Southend. It was a bit hazy that day, but the views of Campbeltown Loch, Davaar Island, and the North Channel were really "bonny." Mrs. McCorkindale at Eden was very cordial and happy for us to look around. Although none of the present buildings would have been there when Janet Hall lived there in the early 1700's, it was a thrill for us to get to walk around on the farm. Eden is a lovely farm in a lush green valley below Eden Hill.

     We enjoyed scones with jam and hot tea at the Muneroy Licensed Tearoom at Southend on our way to Keil Cemetery. We wanted to see the Hall family marker again, which gives us several generations of our ancestry since there was only one Hall family in Southend in the early 1700's. The inscription on the marker, which bears the date of 1805, reads as follows: "Erected by James Hall, farmer in Pirleyknow in memory of his spouse, Elizabeth Black who died April 10, 1799, aged 62 years & his forefathers viz Robt Hall & Jenat Ralston James Hall & Jean Anderson Robt Hall & Margaret Dunlop all tenant in Eden. This is the place designed..." (The rest of the marker is buried under the packed dirt could not be read.) We climbed the hill to see the rock carvings known at "St. Columba's Footsteps." Then we walked around and inside the ruins of the 13th century Kilcolmkil Chapel. It is thought that St. Columba first set foot on that site on his way to Iona, where he settled in A.D. 583. There are some interesting grave stones inside the ruins of the chapel.

     When we were in Kintyre in 1993, the sun came out one afternoon and we had fond memories of the magnificent views of the North Channel from the road to the Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse. From past experience, we knew we were not physically able to walk from the parking lot (er... "car park") down to the lighthouse, but we wanted to see the views from that road again. It is a single-track road which slowly climbs higher and higher. As one rounds each curve, there is another breath-taking view of the water and the coast of Northern Ireland, just 12 miles away. (The coastline we're accustomed to in North Carolina is primarily a flat terrain that very gradually reaches sea level, so to be able to look down on the ocean from several hundred feet up was a rare treat for us.)

     That evening, Marie, Alex and I had dinner at the Seafield Hotel in Campbeltown and Angus Martin joined us after dinner to discuss history. I met Angus' family outside when I went to get something from the car. I wish I had had more time to discuss genealogy with his wife, Judy. We enjoyed getting acquainted with Angus. He has a vast knowledge of the area, as is evidenced in his writings in the journal published by the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society. I had the opportunity that night to ask him about a number of things of interest in his book, "Kintyre: The Hidden Past." He was kind enough to autograph his two books of poetry for us, "The Song of the Quern" and "The Larch Plantation." We discussed some of the old buildings in Campbeltown. He talked about the buildings on Shore Drive and how that used to be on the waterfront. He talked about the "new" quay and the reclaiming of land along present-day Hall Street. He talked about the part the whisky distilleries had played in Campbeltown's history and the fact that only two distilleries remain in operation there today. He commented that Springbank has a worldwide reputation for excellent single malt whisky. We talked about Ben Ghuilean and the damage it suffered during the unusual storms of last winter. It was an enjoyable evening.

     Friday, July 30 was our last full day in Campbeltown. It was another beautiful but hazy day. We visited the post office in Dalintober once more. We'd found earlier in the week that we could buy note cards with a drawing of the Campbeltown Cross there. With McEacherns and McCachrens in our ancestry, we were particularly interested in the cross.

     We visited Crossibeg Farm for about an hour that morning. The mother of the owner was home and was happy for us to walk around the farm. She said the Duke of Argyll used to own Crossibeg but a Welshman named Campbell Davis owned Baraskomill at some point. Pointing down to a valley on the Campbeltown side of the farm, she asked if we knew that valley was called Porter's Glen for the Porters who used to live there. Of course, I had no reason to know that and I did not know if Carl Porter in Georgia knew it or not. I took several pictures of it, so Carl would be able to see what I was talking about.

     That afternoon Alex asked what we wanted to see in the area that we hadn't seen yet. It was determined that we did not have time to walk over to Davaar Island and back before the tide started coming back in. Marie asked him what he would suggest. He did not think our visit would be complete without a hike up Ben Ghuilean. We did not go to the top of the 1,154-foot mountain, which forms an impressive back drop for Campbeltown, but we made it up higher than Marie and I would have predicted. We enjoyed the outing. We hiked up to a place on the mountain where there is a picnic table. The views of the town, Campbeltown Loch, Davaar Island, Ailsa Craig, Arran Island, and the lowlands of Scotland are great from up there.

     When we came down the mountain, Alex drove us over to Kilkerran Cemetery, the huge cemetery in town. Unfortunately, as Elizabeth Marrison had told us, the old section of the cemetery had been closed to the public due to several grave stones falling over. Alex took us up to the veterans' section of the cemetery on the hillside. It was sobering to see the number of graves of service personnel killed in World War II. It was in Kilkerran Cemetery that we got to see fuchsia bushes up close. It was amazing to see fuchsia growing in the form of huge bushes in Kintyre.

     We talked to Ian Forshaw on the phone again that afternoon and tried to relate to him what a wonderful week we'd had in Campbeltown. We said our goodbyes to Alex and went back to our chalet to pack.

     On the morning of Saturday, July 31 we sadly left Campbeltown. The cows gave us a great send-off as we attempted to leave our chalet. After not paying any attention to us all week, that morning it was as if they knew we were leaving. They were in the road and refused to move. I finally had to bring the car to a complete stop. That turned out to be the wrong thing to do. Our "poor wee car" then turned into a cow magnet. Cows came from all directions and surrounded our car, which had gotten pretty dusty after a week of driving across the pasture road. We were already laughing at our predicament, when we realized the cows were licking our car! Needless to say, we had to look for a car wash that day by the time the car was caked with dust and cow kisses. It was a hilarious sight. Too bad we didn't have a video camera!

     Before we left Campbeltown, we went by the Campbeltown Courier gift shop again to say goodbye to the Morrison sisters there. We had met them earlier in the week and promised to see them again before we left. We had enjoyed meeting them and discussing our Morrisons and their Morrisons. With that we were on our way, with Newtonmore as our destination for the evening.

Wee Drams

Page  2:   Janet and Marie Morrison's 1999 Trip to Scotland - Part Two

Page  3:   A Series of e-mails from Daniel Stevenson

Page  4:  An American Lady in Southend, 1878

Page  5:  Bits and Bobs

Page  6:  Antiquity and Technology

Page  7:  Lt Colonel John Porter: A Gallant Provost

Page  8:  By Hill and Shore

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