The Agricultural System.
The people who lived on Tireragan were what would nowadays be called poor peasants. According to the 1779 list, they were tenant farmers, but there was also a family whose head was a 'workman' and another, a 'servant'. The land at Tireragan shows little evidence of the individualisation to be found at, say, Shiaba, further along to the east. In 4 of the 5 settlements one can see the remains of infields' - small walled areas of better land, well manured and seaweeded, which were divided by lot each year among the small tenants. This form of temporary land division was called 'runrig'.
The system served to give each tenant a chance of some reasonable land, and encouraged collective, rather than individual initiatives in land use. 'Outfield' land was further away and less well fertilized. All the arable land used the 'lazy bed' system - strips of soil running down slopes, with ditches between them. The nutrient rich soil washed off into the ditches, and was easily shovelled back up again, maximizing drainage and minimising leeching. Old lazy beds can be seen all over the Tireragan landscape, and experimental re-use in the project house's garden shows that they are an extremely effective method of cultivation for such a damp climate.
The 5th Duke discouraged the runrig system, but it must still have survived at Tireragan till the small tenants were finally removed, for the only evidence of the individual walled strips that replaced them is where isolated houses have been built outwith the clachans. Even the 18th century Estate Instructions indicate that Tireragan was not individualised, and walled infields are to be seen on 4 of the 5 settlements. The land was said to have been 'very fertile'.
As previously mentioned, Tireragan was said to be noted for its whisky 'at about the time of Waterloo'. The Rev. Dougal Campbell says in the (circa 1793), that there were 6 houses for the retailing of spirits in his parish. It is most likely that the settlement had its economic 'heyday' for the few year after this time, during the Napoleonic wars, for by then kelp production was getting good money (600 tons was manufactured in Mull in 1801), and cattle prices were reasonable (see also population statistics in section 1). Rev. Dougal Campbell gives some description of life iii the parish in general during this period. Every farm had access to the shore: "They are accustomed to the sea from infancy". "There is plenty of fish for all."
Donald MacDonald, witness to the Napier Commission, said that one of the grounds for eviction before 1846, was 'smuggling'. Tireragan might have been an ideal place for it, being so isolated and with sea access on two sides. With the Torran Rocks offshore, even wrecking might have happened in the middle ages. But boats were little. In 1793 there was only one boat in the whole parish large enough to carry animals. By 1843 there were a dozen boats trading to Glasgow, but: "Mostly small, open and insufficient," said the Rev. Donald Campbell,(NSA).
Animal Farming.
On the hills the local sheep had already been displaced by the 'Low Country sheep', but the Rev. Dougal (OSA) is not keen about it: "Their flesh is not so well tasted."
J.MacDonald, in his 'General View of Agriculture in the Hebrides' (1811), writes that there were still more original breed sheep on Mull at the turn of the century than Blackface or Cheviot together and it is possible that the latter had not then taken over all the land of the Ross of Mull, relatively densely populated and without high hills. But the stock in trade of all small tenant and cottars alike, was their black Highland cattle.
Back into the remote past they had been the main source of income: and a cause of clan feuds as young men proved their vitality by rustling from the neighbours. The milk cows lived with the people in winter, sharing one end of their houses, while young women and children led them to graze the higher hills in summer. It was then that, living in rough stone shelters, the 'shielings', butter and cheese were made, an important food source for the winter (Shaw, Grant). It was this vital summer grazing that was lost as landlords and their tacksmen introduced the new sheep. In 1800, according to MacDonald, there were 8000 Highland cattle on Mull, and another source indicates an even greater number for "as many as 5000 beasts were exported annually from Mull." (Le May, p.17) In MacDonald' s view, the Mull breed: "is one of the hardiest breeds in Great Britain... It is small, clean boned and well clad." Some specimins had manes on their necks. He adds: "Hebridean butter scarcely admits of improvements, being perhaps the very best in the British dominions." (p.443) Martin Martin, writing 200 years earlier, was of the same opinion: "The horses are but of a low size yet very sprightly; their black cattle are likewise low in size, but their flesh is very delicious and fine." (Martin)
It is not clear whether the cattle from Tireragan went far away into the easterly hills of Brolas or even further, or stayed on the lower, local hills, but, with the advent of the sheep-farming tacksmen, they were displaced. I.E Grant, in her book, 'Highland Folkways', which brings together an enormous amount of information about life in the Highlands and Islands in the past, writes: "In the west, the loss of the hill-pastures brought severe suffering to the people, and the stocks of the all important cattle had to be drastically reduced." In evidence to the Napier Commission, it was said that the average tenant from the mid-nineteenth century in the Ross of Mull had only: "3 cows, a stirk, 3 sheep and a horse."
Even at earlier times, conditions for the cattle in winter were very severe. There was hardly any hay for wjnter feedstuff. The dairy cows in the houses were so weak in the spring that they sometimes had to be carried out to the pasture!
There were "a few sheep,~but no goats" on the Ross (OSA), although some feral goats survive along the Brolass coast. Small Highland horses were treasured and were highly praised: "They were sure-footed, full of mettle, hardly bigger than Shetland ponies (OSA op. cit.). Uncouth" ploughs (home made), "are drawn by 4 horses abreast." "The Isle of Mull breed of horses is extremely valuable on account of its hardiness and durability." (MacDonald, op.cit.) Such horses made light of rough country with no roads.
The sale of animals made possible the purchase of extra meal, for even at the best of times the Ross probably never produced enough barley, oats and bear to feed the population. Shaw cites evidence to show that even at the end of the sixteenth century Mull had very poor grain production (p. 106). Potatoes quickly became very important, especially for the winter diet. As available grazing land was reduced by the new sheep farms, there was no reserve of surplus cattle for bad years, so the potato blight created a disaster perhaps even worse than in the past, when cattle might be sold for cash, or even bled to tide families over a failed harvest.
Working the Land.
The people worked the land largely with hand made instruments - "Everyone makes his own plough," using the minimum of metal, which was in short supply (Grant). If horses were not available, or the land was not appropriate for their use (how 4 horses abreast, even small ones, ploughed a lazy bed is unclear), a foot plough, the cas chrom was used. It was said that this gave better harvests than the drawn plough. The infield was regularly dunged and covered with seaweed, but 'ouffields' tended to be used till the crop dropped and then abandoned for a while. The large scale production of kelp was very labour intensive and must have put .some pressure on the use of seaweed as manure, both in terms of quantity and time involved'.
Housing.
A criticism of the kind of houses the people lived in has already been cited (Leyden). A drawing of a 'typical Mull house' is appended. Grant defends them as making effective use of local raw materials, but concedes:
"All these types of primitive houses were open to serious criticism. Among their faults was the dampness of their earthen floors, their darkness and that the roof was not entirely watertight. As the rafters and divots lining the roof were thickly coated with peat soot, in the event of heavy rain, drips of inky black water were liable to fall on the inhabitants. There was a special word - snighe - for rain coming through the roof of a house." (p. 151)
So also must the people of Tireragan have lived. The tacksmen had better houses, with slate roofs from the 18th century on. At Tireragan the nearest thing to a tacksman' s house is that in the settlement of 'Tobht Alic" on the SE march, home of Alec MacLean of Pennycross. But there are no remnants of slates around it.
Song and Story.
The people were poor in material things, and lived very hard indeed in winter and spring, but in better years there may have been stocks of cheese and salted fish smoked in the rafters, in which the hens also lived. It was a basic, tough life, subordinate to tacksman and factor and material wealth did not have a high value in their culture. More important were clan loyalty and connection and it was song, dance and story that were rich. Grant comments: "The small, simpiy built houses and the unproductive land was the background to a mental life, proud, vigorous and beautiful." She cites an early traveller in the Highlands, Mrs. Grant: "In every cottage there is a musician and in every hamlet, a poet." (p. 129-31).
Unfortunately, we do not know the particular stories that were told in Tireragan, the songs that were sung, the legends recQunted. No one ever wrote it down and there is no-one left who remembers. But it is said that there were many stories on the Ross of the fairy folk, and the wishing cairn
Between them Grant and McArthur give much information on a Highland cultural life that must have been common to Tireragan as well. The latter mentions the large amount of interaction between Iona and the Ross - 33% of Iona folk between 1855 and 1905 married people from the Ross of Mull; they also had to come over to cut peats - perhaps sometimes from the great peat beds above Traigh Gheal beach, though Iona peats normally came from the north side of the Ross.
After reading those accounts, it is good to go beyond history, to visit the land of Tireragan itself and to allow the magic still alive in the place to link us to the folk who lived there, grew up, worked, loved, sorrowed, and finally departed across the globe with their dispossessed fellows, in a diaspora, a memorial to 'economic necessity'. Connect with them in their strongest years, two hundred years ago, cutting peats, tending cattle, digging the ditches of the lazy beds, sowing, reaping, harvesting, and bringing in the seaweed. Follow their songs down the paths to the boats drawn up on the west side of Traigh Gheal beach. Hear them on the wind among the ruins of Tireragan; listen on smoke-filled nights as the fabled stories of the 'Fionn' unfold.
The eagles still soar over the hills, fairies can still be re-discovered in the circles made by hidden oak trees among the birch woods. As we learn a little of their history, the least we can do is to honour land and people - by creating from their heritage so their ghosts may rest easy and the land live again.
(1) J.E. Campbell collected much Highland Folklore from the period, recently republished in 4 volumes.
A letter to the 8th Duke of Argyll from James McFarlane Tireragan, dated 24th February, 1848:
"That one of the name of Aleck Campbell, Farmer, came from Islay last year, to the above mentioned place, that he is threatening to eject me out of my house and to send me away and I do not know where to go as I am a poor man and in destitute circumstances, having a wife and 6 children and unable to work.
I was working at a quay in Carsaig and got myself hurt. I was under the necessity of going to Inveraray to be under the medical attendance of Dr. King there and your noble father, the late Duke of Argyll ordered me a house and a small piece of ground and a stone of meal a week, and I went to your factor and the answer I got that he was dead and that he did not know how matters would be.
I got a yard of mast on the shore sometime ago and the said Aleck Campbell took it from me and I received nothing for it and it was my intention if it was lawful for me to sell it.
I get food for my wife and children, your Petitioner hopes your Grace will be so good and so kind as to take my distressed case to your serious considerations and be so good as to allow me to remain in my present house as it is convenient to the fishing which will be a great help for me in rearing and supporting my wife and tender family.
I travelled all the way, penniless to throw myself on the mercy and clemency of your Grace, from Mull, and I sincerely hope you will grant my request. It would be a great help for me if I had nets but these I have not and if your Grace wants to be so kind as to give me them I would promise to pay them by degrees as I could and I do not know how to go home.
Hoping your Grace will grant the above request.
(Written for him and marked by him.)
On 20th March, 1848, John Campbell, the factor, made the following comment about James McFarlane's Petition: "The petitioner, James McFarlane, Cottar, Tararigan is habit and repute a thief, has a wife who is confined to bed for the last 6 weeks from a thrashing he gave her, five of a family, 2 daughters about 20 years of age, a son about 16, all with at home. The Neighbours say they live upon thieving, principally sheep, and keep a dog for the purpose of catching them.
I gave him a boat last year under promise that he should fish & support, or help to support himself, but as far as I could learn made no use of her."
There is no indication as to what the Duke did with this petition.
References are given in the bibliography. Many people have helped me. The local librarian has been most helpful and I have visited other libraries when I could. My particular thanks to Murdo MacDonald, the Argyll County Archivist and to Alastair Campbell of Airds the archivist of the Duke of Argyll's records at Inveraray Castle. It was a wonderful experience to visit these extensive, well-kept records, a Highland treasure house of information. They are referred to as 'IA' - Inveraray Archives - in the text, with a Bundle number. I have had much help from local people, especially Hugh Cameron, Callum Campbell, Terry Hegarty, and Attic McKechnie. John Chalein(Campbell) and Jimmie McKeand also gave background information. Main MacArthur, whose knowledge of the oral history of the Ross and Iona is unsurpassed, helped as well. It is to her I am indebted for supplying the rhyme on the front cover from Mary MacKechnie, Bunessan, Mull Oral History Project 1992. Jackie Bradfield did the delightful line drawings. The cover picture is of Traigh Gheal Beach, Tireragan.
