THE MAGAZINE of

THE KINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN and
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Editor: Angus Martin

From

Issue Number Seventy Autumn 2011

CONTENTS

ISSN 0140 0762

William Gilchrist, 1811-1879, Letter Press Printer and Lithographer, Glasgow
Jean C. MacLeod

William Gilchrist was a Kintyre man who rose from humble beginnings to become a highly successful printer and publisher in Glasgow. William's parents, Archibald Gilchrist, Upper Barr, and Margaret/Peggy McMillan, Killean, were married in Killean and Kilchenzie Parish in 1808. Their oldest children, John, b. 1809, and William, b. 1811, were born at Amod, Killean Parish. After William's birth, the family left Amod and headed north to Drimnaleck, near Clachan, in Kilcalmonell Parish. Several additional Gilchrist births were recorded in the parish records: Mary, Effie, Catherine and Alexander. Gilchrists, perhaps relatives of Archibald, were noted at Drimnaleck in eighteenth century records: John Gilchrist b. 1785 (OPRs) and Duncan Gilchrist (Horse Tax, 1797/8).

Young William Gilchrist's formative years were spent in Kilcalmonell where he would have had a traditional Highland upbringing in a Gaelic speaking environment. But the Gilchrists, like many nineteenth century Highlanders, were looking for better opportunities. Some time between 1822 and 1837, they migrated to Glasgow. In 1838/9, Archibald Gilchrist was advertising as a spirit dealer in Glasgow Trade Directories. In the 1841 census the family were at Centre Street, Gorbals: Archibald Gilchrist, aged 60, spirit dealer; Margaret, aged 50; William, aged 25, book printer; Catherine, aged 20, and Archibald, aged 13.

Nothing is known of William Gilchrist's early life or education. To follow a career in printing, a sound education was essential. William may have completed his education at Kilcalmonell, or he may have had schooling in Glasgow, or both. Evening classes for all ages were freely available in the city, and many Highlanders took advantage of this opportunity. Whether Gilchrist became involved in the printing trade by choice, or by coincidence, is unknown. It is known, however, that he was apprenticed with the Glasgow Chronicle in Buchanan Street. In 1840, advertisements for 'William Gilchrist, Printer at 99 Trongate' began to circulate. By 1844 Gilchrist had re-located to 145 Argyle Street and 11 St Enoch Square. From 1845-52 the business was re-named 'William Gilchrist, Printer and Lithographer', 145 Argyle Street. Gilchrist was turning out tracts, broadsheets, posters, pamphlets, plans, statements, programmes, playbills, advertisements and books in English and Gaelic. He printed and published a Gaelic periodical, Fear-tathaich nam Beann ('The Visitor of the Bens') from 1848 to '50. This short-lived periodical cost three pence an issue. (A search of the library union catalogue Capac shows that twenty-four of Gilchrist's publications are now held at various UK repositories, including the National Library of Scotland. The National Library of Scotland holds a bound volume of Gilchrist's posters in the Rare Book Collection [shelfmark RB.e.14.])

By the mid-nineteenth century, widespread literacy had created enormous demand for reading material. The number of printers in Glasgow increased in response to demand, and an abundance of material in both English and Gaelic was appearing hot off the presses. William Gilchrist was not the only Highlander to spot a good business opportunity. Several other enterprising Highlanders set up as printers, among them Archibald Sinclair, 1813-70*. Gilchrist helped to train Sinclair, who established his business at 62 Argyle Street in 1848. According to the Celtic Review, Sinclair was advanced in years before he ever saw a printing press, and it was 'by dint of perseverance that he mastered the intricacies of the compositor's art'. Sinclair's business grew in stature to assume great importance in the Gaelic-speaking world, and later commanded a large part of the Gaelic publications market. The oral culture of the Gael was now being preserved and transmitted through print. With the growth of the urban ceilidhs and public performances on the platforms of Glasgow halls, a need for song books developed: this niche was amply filled by Archibald Sinclair, whose successful business continued as a family concern until 1951.

The Gilchrists, like other city Gaels, found themselves living in two worlds: the Gaelic and Highland one, on the one hand, and the workaday non-Gaelic one on the other. In 1851 William and his widowed mother, aged 62, were together at 24 Centre Street, Gorbals. His sister Catherine, wife of John Reid, baker and journeyman (born Kilcalmonell), and their children, William, aged 5, and Mary, aged 1 (both born Lochgilphead), were also at this address. Another sister, Mary, who was Mrs George Stewart, lived nearby. Like most immigrant groups who had severed ties with their homelands, Highlanders tended to live near one another for mutual support. The Gaels were involved in a wide range of occupations, and there were clear distinctions to be seen with regard to social class. Gaels formed groups of their own with interests in common. Territorial societies were established such as the Kintyre Club (1825), the Argyllshire Society (1851) and the Glasgow Islay (1862). Many of these groups had literary societies attached to them, and some supported shinty clubs, such as Glasgow Cowal and Glasgow Mid Argyll.

In the mid 1800s, many of the Gaelic writers and intelligentsia in Glasgow came from Argyll, especially Islay. Among the most prominent were John Francis Campbell (Iain Og Ile), 1822-85, aristocrat, lawyer, collector of Gaelic oral tradition and friend of Alexander Carmichael; John Murdoch, 1818-1903, founder of the Highlander newspaper to promote the crofters' cause during the Land Agitation; and William Livingston, 1808-1870, the distinguished Gaelic poet. The printing press was central to the dissemination of ideas, and it was inevitable that William Gilchrist would meet these scholarly writers. Such stimulating companionship must have widened Gilchrist's horizons.

Gilchrist was regarded highly by Livingston, and the two Williams became close friends. Livingston had ancestral connections with Kintyre, a place he knew and loved. Kintyre featured prominently in his poetry and he consistently displayed his admiration for the Gaels of Kintyre. His poem, The Battle of Sunadale, tells of a battle between the Gaels of Kintyre and Norsemen - that no such battle has been attested in history did not deter Livingston from 're-making' history. The poem contains vivid descriptions of bays and harbours in Kintyre, notably Campbeltown Loch, described as 'the desire of the poets and all who ever saw it'.

Livingston referred to Gilchrist in a number of his poems as Uilleam Ceann-tireach - 'William the Kintyre man'. He dedicated a poem in his honour, entitled Rannan do Uilleam Mac Ille Chriosd, Clo-bhuailtear an Glaschu ('Verses for William Gilchrist, Printer in Glasgow'), in which Gilchrist is portrayed as the helmsman of a boat, displaying energy, skill and dexterity as he navigates in the difficult, turbulent waters between Kintyre and Islay. Gilchrist published an edition of Livingston's poems in 1865 and also printed specimens of his verse as broadsheets, among them his most celebrated, Fios chun A ' Bhaird, in 1863.

By 1861 Gilchrist was employing five men and eight boys. Keen to embrace new technological developments, Gilchrist was advertising himself as a 'Steam-power Printer' by 1862. A shrewd businessman, he built up a portfolio of investments: shares in property; shares in Canadian railways; American investments; bonds and policies; shares in the Campbeltown and Glasgow Steam Packet Joint Stock Company. William Gilchrist never married: he was devoted to hard work and developing his business. He never forgot his birthplace or his connection with Kintyre. He enrolled as a member of The Kintyre Club in 1846 as William Gilchrist, 'Printer and Publisher in Glasgow'. His nephew, William Gilchrist Reid, 'Printer in Glasgow', also enrolled, in 1885. It is very likely that Archibald Reid, 'Printer in Glasgow', who enrolled in 1877, was William G. Reid's brother, but it is not certain as there were a number of Reid families in the printing business around that time.

By 1871 Gilchrist was employing ten men and sixteen boys. His home was at Argyle Terrace, Crosshill, Renfrewshire, where he lived with his widowed sister, Mary Stewart, niece Mary Reid, and a servant. It was there that William Gilchrist died, aged 67, on 24 August, 1879. On his death certificate, his father, Archibald, was described as 'farmer', not 'spirit dealer'. Highlanders had ambivalent views towards alcohol and there may have been family sensitivity regarding their father's occupation. No reference was made to Gilchrist's death in the Campbeltown Courier. The Glasgow Highland News column of the Oban Times reported the death, stating that Gilchrist had 'failed in health only very recently'.

Gilchrist expressed a wish for the business to be continued after his death. He bequeathed his business to his nephews William G. and Archibald Reid, but after due consideration they declined this generous offer. Therefore, under the terms of his will, Trustees were appointed with instructions to 'carry on business in Glasgow [then at 64, Howard Street] as Letter Press Printers under a firm of which the name "Gilchrist" will form a part'. The Mitchell Library holds a volume containing details of the Gilchrist Trust (T -MS9l). The last entry was made in 1902, but what actually happened to the business thereafter is not known.

The remainder of Gilchrist's estate was left to his sisters, Mary Stewart, Margaret Massie, and Catherine Reid and her children, William G., Archibald and Mary Reid. He was particularly close to his niece, Mary Reid, whom he probably regarded as a daughter**. There was no mention of other siblings - they may have died, emigrated or become estranged. Gilchrist was generous not only to his family, but to others. For example, as a mark of his respect Gilchrist bequeathed his Campbeltown Steamboat shares to Mr Charles Mactaggart, writer, Campbeltown. A small, poignant extract from Gilchrist's will reveals his thoughtful personality and how highly he regarded his sister Catherine: 'That my sister have access with any of her friends at any time during her life to the offices of the business as she has to my office at present.'

Today William Gilchrist is forgotten, but one wonders to what extent the obvious potential of his business would have been realised had he had a son to inherit.

* After Archibald Sinclair's death in 1870, his son, also Archibald, proclaimed himself to be 'the only printer who understands and speaks Gaelic'. This claim is puzzling, as William Gilchrist was working as a printer until his death in 1879.

**Mary Reid married George A. MacBeth in 1881. He became a very successful Clyde shipbuilder and ship-owner who amassed a fortune during World War I. In 1919, MacBeth bought Dunira Estate, Comrie, Perthshire, as a wedding present for his only son, William Gilchrist MacBeth. There is an elaborate memorial to the MacBeths at Cathcart Cemetery, Glasgow.

Acknowledgements: A Land that Lies Westward, eds. McClure, Kirk and Storrie, Birlinn Ltd, 2009; The Edinburgh History of the Book: Vol 3, Ambition and Industry, 1800-1880, ed. Bill Bell, Edinburgh University Press, 2007; Libraries: Stornoway, Mitchell, Glasgow; City Theatre Poster printed by William Gilchrist: 000-000-675140-R Glasgow University Library. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk NAS SC58/45/1; Angus Martin, Campbeltown.


Allt Beithe and Lagan Roaig
Archie K. Smith

The Kintyre Way commences at Tarbert Castle and soon rises steeply across the north hill of Kintyre, high above the west shore of Loch Fyne. Below the hiker is a sea of Sitka Spruce planted after 1982. The act of forestation completely covered the pastoral landscape of sheep-farming. Only the steep hill-face rising from the shore of Loch Fyne has retained its indigenous woodland and so was protected from this complete change.

My brother and I grew up during the middle years of the twentieth century. This land to the south of Tarbert became a place of inspiration to us. We heard it talked about by our elders. Some talked of having gone 'doon the shore', others of going 'oot the hill'

. During the summers before our father's all too early passing, he rowed us 'doon the shore'. We passed the Battle Isle and saw the cloud of terns rising above. We heard the Gaelic names of the bays that he had known so intimately in his youth on the small herring-fishing skifts. Wonderful picnics of home baking and tea brewed over a driftwood fire were held on little beaches cleared of bigger stones by the people of the past.

The favourite was one below the historic settlement of Allt Beithe. We heard of Lagan Roaig further on, but too far for our father's declining strength. He showed us the way 'oot the hill' on other days. We joined the old road built by one of the early lairds of Stonefield to link those settlements to Tarbert. However, our walks up past Jacob's Well took us only in sight of this land of enchantment. Years later, in our teens, we reached the ruins that had for so long inspired our walks. The hill overall was a magic landscape of varied local topography. Above Lagan was Lagan Loch which became the zenith of our exploration. We were always to remember it when our path of life led us far from our land of youth.

During 1982, conscious of the changes to come, I walked the hill again, alone. Lagan Loch was lovely, but lonely. I came down to the ruins of Lagan Roaig and Allt Beithe and with more mature eyes imagined them populated. Since then my journey has been to sources of information on their past, much helped by the Editor who chased me to write this article.

Allt Beithe ('Birch Bum') and Lagan Roaig ('Hollow of Roe Deer') appear in charters relating to Skipness Estate in 1481 and 1485 respectively. Both appear on a rent roll of Skipness Estate during 1751, but had become part of the neighbouring Stonefield Estate by 1770. Its progressive Campbell family acquired the MacAllister lands around Tarbert after then, and, by the end of that century, created the new town of Tarbert and roads around.

More importantly to their place in local heritage are the names of the people who lived there during centuries past. During 1683, Malcolm McIlcher in 'Aldebe' and Duncan McRorie in 'Lagan' found themselves in a Sheriff Court held at Tarbert. They were witnesses at the trial of John Darroch who preached at the 'Kill [Church] of Tarbert'. His crime was to be an unlicensed Presbyterian minister during this period of Episcopalian ascendancy.

During the following century, a John Campbell in 'Altbea' was a witness in a boundary dispute between the MacAllister and Campbell lands. However, it is the name of Leitch which gave Allt Beithe a particular place in the hearts of Tarbert people. At the time of the 1841 Census, two families of Leitches lived there. Both men listed themselves as fishermen, as this rising industry would be the main part of their livelihood. On the Kintyre shore below were the bays which saw the transition from the passive drift-netting of herring to the more dynamic beach-seining. This collecting of shoals on to the shore or between boats ('trawling') led to greater catches with resulting increased rewards. A boy was employed on the farm to herd the cattle.

Out the old low road from Tarbert through Allt Beithe came hikers of centuries past. One was a MacFarlane who arrived on a blazing hot summer's day. He demanded a drink of milk from the women. Probably annoyed by his attitude, one of the women suggested he refresh himself from the burn. It was a mistake. He belonged to a family with a reputation for sorcery. He produced a hazel twig from his pouch and stabbed the thatch of the house roof with it. All the time he did this, the women could not stop dancing, until they finally fell down exhausted. He left to proceed onwards to Skipness with the admonition that the next time a man came there for a drink of milk, they were to give it to him.

Whether because of this happening, or otherwise, hospitality was given to a tramp in 1845. His visit was to prove even more unwelcome. He left the plague of cholera behind him. A relation of the Leitches, one of the Carmichael family of Bruach na Suith, above Tarbert, came to the stricken settlement. He found all dead or dying, except a baby, Archibald Leitch. He carried him home and reared him as his own. His descendants carried on this family name into the twentieth century.

One of Archibald's daughters married a Tarbert fisherman, John Smith. One of their sons was named Archibald Leitch Smith. He graduated from Glasgow University and pursued a career in education in Argyll. His son was named John Smith. He graduated in law, became a Q.C., entered politics and became leader of the Labour Party. His early death at the age of 55 in 1994 prevented him becoming Prime Minister.

The houses of Allt Beithe were burned after the tragedy, never to be inhabited again. No such tradition exists in relation to Laggan, to use its more usual designation. Its inhabitants were remembered only as illicit distillers of whisky - the herring fishermen of the small sailing skifts were probably customers - but tragedy on a smaller scale apparently occurred there too.

In Tarbert, the MacMillan grand-aunts of the poet George Campbell Hay told him that a McTaggart farmer in Lagan Roaig was 'killed by a horse' and that the family 'left the farm'. This has not been verifiable, but in the Census of 1841 a John McTaggart was farming there with his wife Catherine and their family; by the Census of 1851, she was a widow there with six children and a farm servant, Archibald McCorkindale.

A sheep-farm unit, named Mealdarroch, had been created over the hill grazings of the old settlements. The house of the tenant was built south of Tarbert Castle. A new house for an out-stationed shepherd was built near the shore below the old settlement, which came to be referred to as Sean ('Old') Lagan. The shepherd of Lagan appears as a minor player in Gillespie, the great novel of the Reverend John Macdougall Hay, published first in 1914. The very isolated situation of a real resident there was the indirect cause of the tragic death of his little daughter some years after that date. There may have been no successor.

The ruins of the settlements on 'The Hill' were not forgotten. John Hay's son, George the poet, mentions them in one of his few prose works: 'Grey, pathetic assemblies of tumbled walls and gable ends, they are not entirely forsaken, for they are still remembered with affection by the descendants of their inhabitants.'

This was written in 1947 when George Campbell Hay was recovering from his mental injury during the Second World War. Twenty years later, he was to remember them from afar and present them in a poem, which exudes his optimism and very personal idealism that life would return to them again. Entitled Ar Laraichean ('Our Ruined Townships'), it commences: 'Seanlagan and Allt Beithe, they are awaiting the old days.' To him they were 'more lasting and more eternal than stately realms'. He believed that 'each ruin will find its household and voices will ring out in the derelict township'. As regards the land around, 'bracken and docken grow unchecked in every field', but he predicted that 'there will be sowing and harvesting in them for numerous reapers'.

This, of course, was a dream not to be realised. However, beside the ruins of Allt Beithe, the little in-by field of the Leitches and their predecessors remained an oasis of rich sward among the otherwise basic pastoral landscape. This heritage did not go unnoticed at a time when all good pasture was valuable. The old road rose south of Tarbert and ran through the ancient settlement of Baluachdrach, the 'upper township' of Tarbert. Our maternal grandfather, Archie Kerr, was born there during 1860. His father, Edward, was of the old farmer-fisherman tradition. He prospered and built a substantial house high up on the 'Big Brae' above the East Pier Road. Perhaps it was he who started summer-grazing his young cattle by the ruins of Allt Beithe. Certainly, our mother remembered her father continuing doing so up until his. retirement during 1932. During Sunday afternoons, between the church services, he went out the old road to check on them. Despite the old turf walls' being easily breached, the cattle always remained by the ruins. Thus, the cultivation of the ages left its own compelling legacy.

Allt Beithe is mentioned in many other of George Hay's poems, but it was Lagan, two or so miles further on, which really captured his soul. Unlike Allt Beithe, which stands on a plateau, the ruins of Laggan are in a hollow near the shore of Loch Fyne. Theirs was a sheltered situation, a mystic world of its own. Here nature and human settlement came together. In his prose, he describes it thus: 'Seanlagan, the Old Hollow, above a clean, white, shore and at the foot of a gracious, sheltering slope, where the roe-deer go calling in the fresh stillness of the morning - a wild land's quiet and secret sanctuary.'

He had reached it in youth, remembered it in war, returned to it in peace, and immortalised it in his poetry.


Book Reviews

By Hill and Shore in South Kintyre. Angus Martin. The Grimsay Press, 2011,304 pp., £14. 95p.

When a new issue of The Kintyre Magazine comes along, what's the first thing you turn to? The fresh insight into local history? The carefully researched genealogy? The latest discovery about moths? I turn to 'By Hill and Shore', the regular column by Angus Martin, which quite probably touches on all the topics above and more besides, and has done so, amazingly, for twenty years. Most welcome, therefore, is this book, a generous anthology drawn from those two decades during which Angus has been walking, observing and musing, and writing up his notes for our delight. (If your bookshelves house a complete run of the magazine and thus of the column, you needn't worry; while most of the items are reprinted from past issues, some are previously unpublished and a few have been specially written for the book. You'll still find something new here. )

The approach has been to extract topics from the column, arrange them chronologically (in general; some related topics are grouped together), and give them brief indicative titles ('Rowan Berries'; 'Transfixed by Swifts'). Thus the contents list provides a good idea as to the scope of the book, and acts as a powerful incentive to read on. I couldn't wait to turn to 'Rooks' Fouling Protests', though, sadly, the protests proved to be about the rooks, and not, as I rather hoped, by them. But 'Seggans and Seamus Heaney' lived up to its promise, as did' Leaping Seals'.

The scope is wide indeed. The titles just quoted suggest that natural history topics are in the majority, and that is probably true. But, as you might hope, there is more: some archaeology, some history, notes on dialect words and place-names and stars and superstitions, observations on society past and present. There are appreciations of several well known local characters, and - a special joy - photographs of some of them. (The book is illustrated by over 80 splendid photographs in all, scenery and animals and artefacts as well as people.) Thank goodness there's an index, so that you can find your way again to something that has really stuck in your mind: the discussion of witch hares, perhaps, or the stunning description of Venus, the morning star, laying a path of light over the sea.

The mention of Seamus Heaney above points up another feature which is pretty unusual in your average natural history book (though, as you will have realised, that is not how I would describe 'By Hill and Shore'). Angus walks and observes and notes in South Kintyre, but what he sees is liable to remind him of something he has read, referring to quite another area, perhaps another country, a related custom, a philosophical point (his reading is massively wide). He quotes the passage in question - I will allow that he possibly goes home and checks the exact wording - and he gives precise details of the source. In other words, this book opens doors, leading us on to writers and ideas we had never thought of exploring before. In addition, and in passing, we occasionally get a quick burst of Angus's own poetry, as and when it has sprung from his observations by hill and shore. No, not an average natural history book at all.

Among all these rooks and witch hares and seggans and meteors, everybody will have a favourite type of item. Mine, luckily for me, occurs quite often in the book. It happens when Angus is on Ben Gullion or some other vantage point, just standing still looking at the view. Sometimes it's a fiery sunset, sometimes a brief whiteness of snow. Sometimes there's a kestrel, or a flock of gulls crosses the sky. He brings the scene before us in wonderful description, not a wasted word; he is a poet after all. These are the moments that remain with me, and will remain, I think, with anyone who loves Kintyre and reads this book.
MOIRA BURGESS

One of Heaven's Jewels, a biography of the Rev Archibald Cook, an evangelical preacher from Arran, has recently been reissued. Written by Norman Campbell, the book tells how Cook and his generation lived and worshipped at a time when Calvinist doctrine was dominant in Scotland and religious revival swept through the country. Campbell explains the confrontations, clashes and splits that took place, for the 'Evangelicals' were not always in agreement, a feature of Presbyterianism to this day.

The book explores Cook's ministry in Caithness and Inverness-shire, giving an account of the people who influenced him and the church issues of the time, a time when Evangelical Christianity was characterised by conversion and repentance, strict Sabbath observance and regular church attendance. Cook's powerful, impassioned preaching might be considered fanatical today. He set very high standards for the partaking of Communion, 'fencing' the Lord's table strictly - some said too strictly. The Evangelicals actively encouraged separation from 'worldly' concerns, and Cook was particularly against music and dancing. Superstitious elements, mostly concerning predictions and prophecies, were a common feature of the era. This is to be seen particularly in a disturbing anecdote which tells of the promise Cook extracted from a bride, sealed with a handshake, on the day of her marriage, that no dancing would take place at the festivities. The girl was warned by Cook that the 'displeasure of the Lord' might follow her to her grave and might even commence the day after the wedding. Folklore tells how her promise was broken and of the terrible consequences.

The history of the nineteenth century church in Scotland is an unfashionable subject these days and such a detailed book may not appeal to the ordinary reader. Nevertheless, religious practice is an important element in the understanding of how our forebears lived. Looking back, much of what went on in Cook's day appears harsh and unattractive, but it also shows the dramatic change in the state of the church in Scotland nowadays. The book is well illustrated and gives background information about Arran, including an appendix on Arran Gaelic. One of Heaven's Jewels is available from the Bethesda Care Home website, the Free Church Bookroom in Edinburgh and the F.P. Bookroom. It costs £19.99 and all profits go to the Bethesda Care Home and Hospice in Stornoway. Norman Campbell displays an impressive knowledge of the history of the Scottish Presbyterian Church and has researched his subject meticulously. Now a journalist with the BBC, based in Inverness, Campbell has strong local links, having been brought up in Campbeltown, where his father, the Rev Donald Campbell, was Free Church minister.
JEAN C. MACLEOD


Genealogical Enquiries

TAYLOR. I descend from Taylors who are known to have been in Skipness, at Creggan and South Colphin, in the 18th century. Taylors were numerous in Skipness then and are thought to have been all related, although the links are difficult to trace. I would be interested in exchanging (both giving and receiving) any information about Taylors (including similar spellings like Taylour and MacIntaylour) who were in Skipness in 1800 and before. Martyn Taylor, 7 Waters Green Court, Brockenhurst, Hants, S042 7QR; e-mail: martyntaylor@msn.com

ADAM(S). Any information on John Adam and Jean Smith who married in 1766 in Campbeltown Parish (both of the parish). In 1792 Jean Adam was with five children at 81 Shore Street, Campbeltown. John and Jean had 12 children between 1767 and 1790, all born Campbeltown. The Adam family were residents of Saddell Street and High Street, their various occupations being master dyer, fisherman, mariner, coastguardsman, tailor and baker.

BROWN. Edward Brown, b. 1745, d. 1838 (Keil Cem.) married Jean Mitchell, b. 1754. They resided at South Machrimore, Southend, in 1792. They had 12 children, the eldest three born at Kerranbeg, the rest at Machrimore. These two families are connected but not blood-related. The connection was when Matthew Brown, b. 1843, Southend, married Ann Dickie, b. 1837 in Symington, Ayrshire. Matthew was a grocer and living with his family in 1881 at 8th House, Front Row, Southend, and then at Annfield, Argyll Street, Campbeltown, until his death in 1912. It would be nice to hear from any relatives. Contact: Wendy Sutherland, sOtherlOnd@blueyonder.co.uk or 6 Beamsley View, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 9DA.


Copyright belongs to the authors unless otherwise stated.

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