Mcwillie Diaries
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THE MCWILLIE DIARIES. The Diary of a Scottish Tenant Farmer (1826 to 1876). As compiled and researched by Robert McWillie. -------------------- The transcribing of the original handwritten diaries must have been an Herculean task and we residents of Drummuir/Botriphnie and readers around the world owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Robert McWillie and the wider McWillie family for their generosity in allowing us to publish the diaries on our community website. Anyone interested in life in the 19th century or in farming in general will be fascinated by George McWillie's accounts of life at that time. For those of us lucky enough to live in this beautiful place the diaries provide a poignant window into the lives of our forebears as we visualise George's peregrinations around the area. We can go for a stroll and follow his footsteps over every field he farmed and every hill and wood he shot over. Most of the buildings he speaks of were replaced in the great building boom of around 1900 but their replacements stand on the same sites and the countryside around them is little changed. Thanks are also due to Alex and Priscilla Gordon-Duff, Lairds of Drummuir Estate, who originally brought the existence of the diaries to the attention of Robert McWillie, generously provided other material relating to the diaries and enthusiastically supported the publication of the diaries on this website. Webmaster This painting of a Scottish gentleman over-looking his farm with his cattle in the back ground was sent to the author by a descendant of the McWillie's of Drummuir. Within the diary there are two occasions George relates how he and others where having their likeness drawn by a local artist. The author is aware that two copies of similar paintings exist and are both being claimed to be a painting of Alexander McWillie RN=40 who farmed on Coldhome farm. It is the authors view that one of those paintings are in fact that of George McWillie author of the diaries, in any event we concluded it was an appropriate item to appear at the title of this transcription. Robert McWillie. INTRODUCTION. In 1987 while doing family research in Scotland we had occasion to visit Drummuir Castle which is situated approximately five and one half miles south west of Keith Scotland. Drummuir estate was the home to a number of McWillie ancestors for over two hundred years dating back to the late seventeenth century. While in discussion with Mrs. Priscilla Gordon Duff wife of the Laird of Drummuir I was informed of the existence of diaries written during the eighteen hundreds by a George McWillie, a tenant farmer of Drummuir estate. Later while visiting Elgin, Scotland, we were able to examine a copy of those diaries. I was struck by the detail and the invaluable information provided in the diaries as it related to my research of McWillie families as well an observation of other historical events at the time and the providing of an excellent insight into the lives of tenant farmers in the 50 year period from 1826 to 1876. The original diaries consist of seven volumes with hand written entries and although still in Scotland unfortunately are not in the possession of, or available to, the McWillie family. Shortly after but prior to leaving Scotland discussions where held with Alistair McWillie of Stonehaven, Scotland, drawing his attention to the diaries and expressing a desire to have the diaries reproduced in a form that would make them suitable reading for family members. Shortly after returning to Canada Alistair informed me that he and his family had decided to undertake the task of transcribing the diaries. We owe our sincere gratitude to Alistair McWillie, his wife June, and his mother Barbara Symon for what must have seemed like an endless task in transcribing the diaries. It was from that transcript that we have now placed the diaries on computer and researched their content in detail, and added additional footnotes, photographs and other material to the original material started by Alistair McWillie and his family. George McWillie was born in 1802 at Cachenhead farm within Drummuir estate and baptized at Botriphnie church which served that area. When he was 24 years of age he started to keep notes from which he wrote a brief summary of events starting in the year 1826. Likewise he wrote summaries for the years 1828, 1829, and 1830. During 1831 he adopted a more detailed method by first recording then writing a monthly summary of events, a procedure he diligently followed until May of 1876. On the 9th of May 1876 George's last living child, Jean, or Mrs Watt died at the age of 46 years and 4 months. Although George was to live for another 9 years he seemed to have lost all interest in any further entries to the diary after Jean's death. George and his wife were buried in the Botriphnie church graveyard. While recording the diaries George signed his name as MacWillie up to 1842 then without explanation he changed the spelling to McWillie by dropping the a from Mac and thereafter it appears as McWillie. In all of the transcribing of the diaries particular attention has been made to preserve as much as possible the original phrasing and spelling that George used in the writings of the original diaries. Occasionally a reader will find the sign ****., which indicates that when transcribing the diaries the writing at that point could not be clearly identified. Footnotes have been added to assist the reader in identifying various people mentioned and also to attempt to clarify other events mentioned in the diaries. In a number of cases within the footnotes an "RN= followed by a number" has been included, those Reference Numbers refer to the RN=number that identify that individual in "VOLUME 2; GENEALOGY OF McWILLIE FAMILIES" published by Robert McWillie in 1999. Robert McWillie. DRUMMUIR CASTLE Drummuir Castle is situated some five and one half miles south-east of Keith, Scotland. The present day castle was built by Archibald Duff in 1848 at a cost of 10,000 English pounds. While under construction George McWillie took a great interest in its progress and reported on it from time to time in his diaries. Later throughout the diaries he has mentioned the castle particularly in regards to events that were held for tenant farmers. The Duffs have a long relationship with Drummuir after first building an earlier home in 1670. On the death of Admiral Archibald Duff in 1858 the estate passed on to a cousin, Lachlan Duff Gordon Duff. From then on the eldest son of each generation has been called Lachlan or Thomas alternately. The present Laird, Lachlan Alexander Gordon-Duff was living in the castle with his wife and four children in 1987 but has since moved to Kirkton House on the estate. It is believed that our McWillie family ancestors first entered Drummuir estate in 1778 and served as tenant farmers for well over two hundred years. There are presently no known tenants on Drummuir estate that carry the McWillie name. The photograph was taken in 1987 by Robert McWillie, at which time maintenance work was being done on the castle, as can be seen by the scaffolding in the entrance way. Year-1826. January continued fresh dray weather. February the first sleety showrs, the sixteenth snow, fresh about the twentieth continued dray rough winds all the spring dray bear land*** torneep time dray and warm, a verry bad crop general, we got some flying showrs in Agust. No rain the summer most wells went dray. The harvest is general about Glassmarket, a verry short crop, no bear at all almost, the barn yards was never seen so small. No rain till about halladay when the water began to come into the wells friday before Martesmass a dreadful day blowing. On the thursday night a great many persons was lost both by sea and land and thousands of sheep smored and frosen to death. The straw so scarce that the most of the people cut whins and heather, a great many peoples cattle died for want of fother. Price of corn 27s. pr bol and bear 23**. Thair came on a great fall of snow about a fortnight before Chrisamass continued long. Year-1827. A dreadful weat stormy spring and verry late with rain through the summer which brought a verry short crop and a great deall of it in the end of harvest was spoilled with weat weather, thair was no good of it for man or beast, it continued six weeks constantly. Rain the first dufftoon market, the oats sold that year from 16 to 18 shillings, bear from £1 to £l-2s. The first storm came upon yuleven, continued about 2 days. Year - 1828. A verry weat spring the oat land could not be harrowed and the bear none better. Good weather about Whitsunday a fine fire time but came out a splash of rain that they could not be got home. Thair was one of the finest crops ever remembered both of corn and straw, the corn sold to the sea from 16sh. to 19s-6d per boll, bear from 23sh. to 26sh. Year - 1829. Storm came on about the 1st of January, the torneep so sore frosen that we thawed them on the killen, second January frost verry hard with storm which continued to the 12th, then fresh rainy with some nights frosts to the 20th. Bear 22s to 24s, oats from 16sh to 17sh.