RECORDS of GRACE in SUTHERLAND Tfr,, N 11110/D 1\L/1111R"

$RECORDS of GRACE in SUTHERLAND Tfr,, N 11110/D 1\L/1111R$ RECORDS OF GRACE IN SUTHERLAND tfr,,_ n 11110/d 1\l/1111r". l>.f) . RECORDS OF GRACE IN SUTHERLAND Compiled by REv. DONALD MUNRO, D.D.. of Ferintosh and Rogart. and Edited by Rev. KENNETH A. MACRAE, M.A., Free C hurch of Stornoway and others. 19 53 Pablislied by FREE CBURCH OF SCOTLAND PuBLlCATIONS CoMMITIEE 15 NORTH BANK STREET EDINBURGB Printed by John A11ery and Co. Ltd. at The Greyfriars Press. 105 King Street, Aberdeen FOREWORD Trrn publication of this book has been attended with great difficulty. Of this, Principal Macleod in his Donald Munro, of Ferintosh and Rogart, has given some indication (c.f. pp. 27-29). If ever Dr. Munro made any attempt to prepare for the press the vast amount of information he bad gu thered over a course of many years concerning the re ligious past of his native county, such a compilation could nowhere be fo und after his death- nothing but notebooks, und more notebooks; and all filled with precious jottings, unrelated a nd unrevised. The difficulty of editing such notes appeared to be in superable and, in fact, would have been so had not Mrs. Alexander Gunn of Lairg- herself nearly related to Dr. Munro- with infinite patience and industry sorted them out topographically, and then transcribed them word for word. After that the difficulty of preparing Mrs. Gunn's manu scripts for the press still remained; for, obviously, Dr. Munro had written his notes hurriedly, just as be bad re ceived them from his old-world informants, with no thought of niceties of language or literary style, but desiring solely lo put on record an exact and faithful rendering of the information which had been communicated to him. These notes had never been revised, and to publish them as they stood would have been a great injustice to the memory of their compiler. On the other hand, to alter them too freely might entail the elimination in great part of that pungent, graphic phraseology so characteristic of Dr. Munro, which would be a great disappointment to those who knew him well. The editor. therefore, has done his best to keep to V vr Records of Grace in Sutherlandshire the middle of the way, and he hopes that this explanation will disarm any criticism which, on the score of literary style, might readily be forthcoming. The editor does not consider it necessary to attempt any appreciation of Dr. Munro in this work. That already has been ably and amply done by Principal John Macleod, D.D.-who was his life-long friend-in the volume to which reference bas already been made. Let it suffice here to say that as a man, a preacher and a friend, he was unique. Unworldly, old-worldly, and unlike everyone else, to memory be appears as a man who stood apart from his generation- although by no means from his fellowmen one who in his own person preserved the aspirations and outlook of a long-past day when the Gospel of sovereign grace triumphed in the straths and glens of the North. For the benefit of Southern readers, it may perhaps be advisable to explain that in the Highlands the services of the Communion season are continued over five successive days. Thursday is the Fast Day and is observed as a day of humiliation and prayer. Friday is the day for self examination, and in the forenoon the service is held to which frequent reference is made in the following pages the' Fellowship Meeting. Al this service a passage of Scripture is given out, generally by one of the local elders, in the light of which the characteristic marks of the Lord's people are to be traced. This is called " the Question ", and the duty of the senior minister present is to" open" it, that is, to explain its setting and import. Then the" men " present a re called upon in succession to "speak to the Question ", after which all is summed up by the other minister in his "closing o[ the Question ". As the text is not known beforehand, the exercise is a rather severe test, not only of readiness of mind and speech on the part of those who engage in it, but also of their theological know ledge and spiritual experience. Saturday is the day of preparation. Sabbath is the great day when the Lord's Foreword vii Supper is dispensed with a simplicity and solemnity seen nowhere else; while Monday concludes the season as a day of thanksgiving. Such seasons are frequently times of re viving and refreshing, even in these present degenerate days. when the glory has so largely departed. Special thanks are due to Mr. Donald Jack of Rogart Dr. Munro's brother-in-law- for placing at the editor's dis posal the material left in his custody ; and to Miss Dinah Munro of Laxdale. Stornoway, who gave valued services in typing out the revised sheets for the press. KENNETH A. MAcRAE. F RE!l C IIURCII MANSE, STORNOWAY. APRI L. ]948. Tbe MSS edited by Mr. MacRae amounted to about half the material in the present volume. Mr. MacRae handed these along with the rest of the material at his dis posal to the Free Church of Scotland Publications Com mittee. He suggested that the material he had prepared ror the press should be published as a first volume to be followed by a second should this appear warranted by the reception accorded to the first. The Committee, however, decided to publish the whole as one volume. They re mitted to the Convener and another member to prepare the remaining MSS for the printer. They acknowledge with deep gratitude the work done by Mr. MacRae on the earlier part of th,is book. They record their sincere thanks to the Northern Chronicle, Inverness. for permission to use their viii Foreword photograph of Dr. Munro. The Convener would add his personal thanks to three friends, one of whom typed the whole volume and two who assisted in reading the proofs. HUGH G. MACKAY, Convener. Publications Committee. May, 1953. CONTENTS Page FOREWORD V Chapter I STRATH BR'ORA AND CLYNE l Chapter II PARISH OF GoLSPIE 53 Chapter III PAR ISH OF DORNOCH 65 Chapter IV PARISH OF ROGART 83 Chapter V PARJSH OF LAIRG. SOME MINISTERS AND M EN - - 100 Chapter VI PARJSH OF CREICII - - J39 Chapter vn HELMSDALE AND LOTH - - 143 C hapter VIII STRATHS OF KILDONAN AND HALLA- DALE - 15l Chapter IX PARJSH OF AssYNT - 183 Chapter X PARJSH OF EDDRACHAOLIS - 211 Chapter XI PARISH OF TONGUE - 220 Chapter X H PARISH OF FARR - 224 Chapter XIII SOME M EN OF CAITHNESS - 238 A PPENDIX - 250 IX ILLUSTRATIONS Rev. Donald Munro, D.D. - Frontispiece Migdale Loch • facing page 140 Strathy Bay - facing page 234 xi CHAPTER I STRATH BRORA AND CLYNE CAPTAIN ADAM GORDON, STR~TH· BRORA THOUGH the heritors of Clyne were not in general specially distinguished for their religious zeal, one at least of their number was a man of fervent piety. He was Adam Gordon of Kilchalumkill, now known as Gordonbush. He went to Germany in 1634 with Colonel Sir Hector Munro of Foulis after whose death he served in the Swedish Army. He was promoted to be Captain whereupon he returned to Scotland and raised " a Company of able men out of Sutherland". Having shipped with his men at Unes, now · called the Little Ferry, he arrived at Gottenburg, Sweden, on November 6th, 1635. From that port be wrote to Sir Robert Gordon on the eleventh day of the same month a· letter which clearly evinced his devout spirit. He seemingly bad a presentiment that he was to die abroad, which proved to be true. A grace very tersely and felicitously worded in Gaelic, was once well known to not a few of the worthies of the North, some of whom, including James Macdonald, the father of Dr. Macdonald, Ferintosh, made use of it, when circumstances called for brevity. According to some, it originated on the Continent, during the wars in defence of Protestantism. One version of the tradition is to the follow ing effect. A certain Captain from Sutherland of the nar.ne of Gordon and related to the house of Dunrobin, was marching with his men, who belonged to the North of Scotland, on a very hot day, when they came to a small A 1 r I • 2 Records of Grace in Sttiherlandshire I , -brook, but, before partaking of the cooling draug];it, he uncovered his head and asked the divin·e blessing in the f ollowin·g striking terms. '' An Ti a che-annaich gum - beannaiGh's dha ainm.gu robh a' ghloir ''. _,,. May He who provided (literally, bought} ble·ss, and to ·His name ·be th·e praise.'' · Now if the tradition in. its le:adi1tg particulars is well founded, there is good reason to conclude that the officer referred to was Adam· Gordon of Kilchalumkill. No doubt there was another Adam Gordon, a brother· of the covenanting Earl of Sutherland, ·who was a ·Captain and fell in the battle of Nordlingen in Germany in 1634 at/ the early age of twe·nty-three. He- appe·ars to have been much esteemed, bu.t it is most unlikely that his mastery of Gaelic was SlJ.Ch as to enable him to express his thoughts so happily in that language. It is, however, almost a certaintf that Captain Gordo·n of Kilchalumkill must have known Gaelic well, for in those days few on his p.roperty in Strath Brora knew EngJish, so that he was brought up in a Gaelic atmosphere.

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