Trip to , 23 July 2016

A group of 12 members met at the Isle of Hall where they minimised the number of cars before travelling down to to take the small car ferry over to Luing.

Their first stop was at the graveyard at Kilchattan, the site of a small chapel, where they were met by Ann McQueen of the Luing History Group. On the face of it the church, which was first recorded in 1589 and in use until the 17 th century, looked like similar sites in , but the group soon found this one is a little special. Engraved on the wall was graffiti – a series of carvings of West Highland Galleys. The timing of these carvings is not known, but they are at least 300 years old and are thought to celebrate the visit of Alexander II to Luing in 1249, shortly before his death at Dalrigh on the nearby .

The churchyard has a wide variety of gravestones, many of which are made of local slate. Of particular interest was that for 15 Latvians who had drowned when their steamship the ‘Helena Faulbaums’ sank off in severe storm on 26 October 1936, when travelling to Blyth, Northumberland following discharging a cargo of timber in Liverpool. Four members of the crew were rescued by the lifeboat. This sad incident has led to a longstanding friendship between the people of Luing and Latvia.

Another fascinating gravestone is that of the Covenanter Alexander Campbell who formed a strict sect in 1787, but he later expelled all of the other members because they did not adhere strictly enough to the rules he had set. He carved the stones for his own grave, which include many biblical references and denounce ‘dancing schools’, ‘play actors and pictures’, ‘men (that) have whiskers like ruffian soldier’ and much more.

After the leaving the churchyard, the party made a short visit to Blackmill Bay, viewing the remains of the old steamer pier and seeing the site of the former island shop at Gorstan. A quick visit was made to the slate village at Toberonochy, before a stop was made at the island church where the carved gifts from Latvia were viewed en route to lunch at Atlantic Islands Centre at Cullipool.

As well as having an excellent café, the award-winning centre has an interesting museum covering all aspects of the history and wildlife of the islands. Following lunch, Norrie Bissell, also from Luing History Group, took the NHASMA members up to look at the slate quarry at Cullipool where they were able to view up-close the workings of this impressive site and its geology – a sill within the slate and a dyke reaching from across the Firth of Lorne from Mull. There was just time for a short visit back to the Centre, before returning to the ferry at Cuan….just as the rain started. They sneaked that one in!

NHASMA members at Kilchattan churchyard

Graffiti of West Highland galley on Kilchattan church, Luing

Grave to Latvian sailors from steamship Helena Faulbaums