It started with a bible in which the owner had written "Mary MacIntosh 1855". My cousin in London had John MacIntosh's Certificate of merit from the Glasgow Police showing that he left in 1872. That was the sum and total of our combined knowledge of our Great Grandparents although my Mother had said that her paternal line had come from the Bonar Bridge area.
I happened to be chatting to a friend, Mairi Planner, about a proposed trip round the Highlands. As a self-taught genealogist she offered to research my family. Research was a little confusing as my Mother was a MacIntosh and married a MacIntosh. Both my immediate grandparents were John MacIntosh and I was now to find out that I had a further four generations of Grandfathers with the same name. For that reason I will refer to them by their occupation.
My story, which could be anyone's story from Sutherland in the 1700's starts with 4 x Great Grandfather (born 1745) who was evicted from his farm at Cambusavie (Dornoch). There was a protracted court case against Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland including many appeals, which went all the way to the House of Lords. The case appears in the archived journals of the House of Lords, dated March 1777 showing that the appeals were turned down. The family members were forced to rebuild their lives on the Moor at Balvraid where life must have been very tough indeed.
The indigenous population, descended from Vikings and Gaels, were all crofters although many had a secondary trade. My 3 x Great Grandfather (1775-1852) was a shoemaker. There is a paragraph in the archived Session Records of Dornoch Cathedral about a Balvraid shoemaker being charged with "Sabbath profanation" because he burst into a neighbour's house on a Sunday having suspected the husband of removing an ox from the grass. He admitted the offence and had to satisfy discipline which often involved having to stand in front of the congregation.
In 1799 the Countess of Sutherland had a census taken of all able-bodied men living on her estates and had them lined up for inspection, parish by parish. Her cousin, William Wemyss, a Major General in the regular British army, hand-picked on her behalf, 600 men to join with soldiers from the recently disbanded third Sutherland Fencibles. I was to discover that my ancestor was one of the "volunteers" who enlisted in the 93rd Regiment of Foot which was a forerunner of the Sutherland Highlands. The regiment which became known as "The Thin Red Line" was immortalised later at Balaclava in the painting of the same name. I have a copy of John, shoemaker's Statement of Service with dates which allows me to fit his movements precisely into history. He joined in 1799 and was to remain with the regiment for 16 and a half years.
In 1806 a journey to Jamaica was truncated and the regiment was diverted to the Cape of Good Hope with a mission to recapture the Cape Colony from the Dutch. It is recorded that at the Battle of Blauwberg the Highland brigade advanced, fired one volley and charged. 3,000 Dutch withdrew and Cape Town surrendered. How frightening to be on the wrong side of the bagpipes!
From 1806-1814 the 93rds moved into garrison at Cape Castle where life for a time must have been much more relaxed. They built and equipped their own Church, appointed elders and paid for a Church of Scotland chaplain. They bought a silver communion service and collected large sums of money for relief of relations evicted and ruined by the Highland clearances. £1,400 was raised for books and societies in support of the gospel. This was an amazing amount considering a soldier's weekly pay averaged 1 shilling and 7 pence.
By December 1814 the British were advancing up the left bank of the Mississippi towards New Orleans where the last major battle in the American War of Independence took place. Much detail is written about the Battle of New Orleans but for me the most poignant piece was written by General Jackson on the American side who recognised the immense bravery shown by the 93rds during their advance. He wrote in his biography:-
"To the very edge of the canal before the rampart the few that were left of the Highland regiment, marched, then halted there. The men who had been detailed to bring ladders and fascines had failed to come up. They were unable to go forward, too proud to retreat even although the regiment behind them had fallen back. At length a mere handful of what had been the magnificent regiment slowly retired, still in unbroken order, still turning to face the foe. From the ramparts the Americans cheered them wildly. All rifle fire ceased"
John, shoemaker and now soldier, lost a leg at the Battle of New Orleans. The regiment arrived back in Cork where he was discharged. He must have redeemed himself since his altercation involving the ox as his papers describe him as a man of excellent conduct. His papers showed a receipt which read, "Lost a leg at the Battle of New Orleans - one shilling". How he made his way back to the Highlands in 1815 with one leg and a shilling is now known. He does appear on the list of Chelsea Pensioners which at least provided some income until his death back in Balvraid, aged 77.
The son of John the soldier was my 2 x Great Grandfather, John the forester (born 1823) who married a Barbara Sutherland. For the first time I realised that she was the source of my name which had meandered down the generations via a Grand Aunt and my Mother, to me. We thought it would be interesting to see if we could find any remains of the Forester's House (Nursery Cottage) which was clearly shown on the old maps. We found our way to the area where we identified the Manse with the help of a local. That was the start we needed as the old estate records listed the houses in order - The Manse; Farmer's House; Forester's House (Nursery Cottage); Overseer's House etc. A little way up the hill we found the ruins of a old steading and cottage. We were then able to tick off both the Manse and the Farmer's House. A further half mile walk along the main road we spotted through the thicket what looked like a ruin. There it was, exactly as shown on the old map. Only one side wall with the footprint of the rest of the structure remained. It was from here that Great Grandfather, John, who was mentioned at the beginning of this story, left his primitive life style in the Highlands to make his own way in the world in the Glasgow police force. I wonder if he ever saw his Mother again as she was to die two years later along with a younger brother in this very house.
Some years later John, the forester, married the Overseer's daughter, Helen Urquart (nee Munro) who was also widowed and they could be found on the 1881 census at Linside. We set out on bicycles from our B and B in Lairg to see if we could find his last croft, taking a short detour en route to visit the small cemetery at Invershin to visit his grave. It was strangely emotional to have to pick the moss from the long neglected head stone.
The co-incidences which were to happen from here on were remarkable. We retraced our steps and continued on our original road to Linside. At the top of the hill, half way round the single track road, I happened to stop to look at the view. A car slid to a halt at my side to drop off a passenger. I took the opportunity to ask the driver if she knew where the two crofts, MacIntosh and Bethune, were as they had both been mentioned in Helen's Will.
"I live in the Bethune croft which is next door to the MacIntosh croft" she replied. "I have to rush off again but go down and knock on the door as my husband has some old pictures" she added.
Her husband did indeed have photographs of some of the distant relatives but as he did not immediately know where they were he promised to send them on. We exchanged addresses including his post code which was "IV?? 4??"
I texted my sister Heather who was only vaguely aware that I was in the Highlands following some current whim. (I should say here that my Nephew, Alistair was, at the time, a young architect with a firm in Glasgow). Her reply came the following day:-
"Well done, Sherlock! Are you anywhere near Lairg? Alistair is home for the weekend and is currently applying for planning permission for a client somewhere in Sutherland. The post code is "IV?? 4??" she wrote!!!
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