We’ve been recording the abundant pew graffiti in Baile na Cille church – it’s a common phenomenon, evidently. Here are some thoughts on the motivation behind the scratching.
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Baile na Cille Church is in private ownership now and renovation work will start fairly soon, but with the public opening as part of Doors Open Days we’ve had an opportunity to explore the building in some detail. One of the most personal touches is the large variety of names and initials carved on the pews by (mostly) boys.
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A fine photo of Baile na Cille kirk session. Taken in 1976 at the 25th Anniversary presentation for Rev Angus Macfarlane, Baile na Cille. Rev Macfarlane retired in 1979, at which point the congregation merged with that of the Miavaig church.
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Baile na Cille Church in Uig will be opened to the public for two days in September as part of the 21st Doors Open Days event in Scotland.
Read more →In 1909 the United Free Church congregation was worshipping in the old leaking Free Church. Work began on a new building in 1913 and they endured a summer of outdoor worship before the new church was opened.
Read more →“When I was born, and for the period of 23 years after, the whole inhabitants of the parish were sunk in dark ignorance of God. There was not so much as a form of Godliness in the whole place. Wickedness of all descriptions committed in broad daylight “
Read more →Martin Martin, in his Description of the Western Isles of Scotland (1695) gives an account of the use made of the Flannan Isles at the time and the superstitions that attended a visit: “The inhabitants of the adjacent lands of the Lewis, having a right to these islands, visit them once every summer, and there make a great purchase of fowls, eggs, down, feathers, and quills…”
Read more →The Rev Angus Maciver was the son of Angus Maciver “An Ceistear” (the Catechist), born at Reef in 1799. The family lived at Tobson on Great Bernera from 1835 to 1853. This extract from The Life of a Lewis Catechist, published in the Stornoway Gazette in 1971-2, is Rev Maciver’s memory of meeting-house nights.
Read more →[singlepic id=1167 w=200 float=left] We’ve looked before at the remarkable Angus of the Mountain. The little stories surrounding his life and faith are numberous – here are a few more abridged from Macfarlane’s Men of the Lews (1924): His mental constitution was not of gun-metal. It was weak and of the wool-gathering order. People said [...]
Read more →Do lorg ‘s do bhata treun Tha iad a tabhairt comhfurtachd Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm XXIII, v4 Do Lorg ‘s Do Bhata Treun was written by Murdo Macdonald of Crola during his stay in Lewis Hospital, while awaiting his operation for goitre. The operation was unsuccessful and he died at [...]
Read more →Colin Ian Maclean (Cailean Ruaraidh Phadraig) was born in 1927 in Crowlista and brought up at 8 Timsgarry. He was minister of the Church of Scotland charge of Trinidad, Port of Spain: Greyfriars and St Ann’s at the time of the laying of this foundation stone for this new building at Arouca.
Read more →RAF Corporal Technician Pete Davis and his wife Hilary spend the first 18 months of their married life Lewis after he was stationed to RAF Aird Uig. They lived in Linshader and Aird. This is an engaging account of their time in Uig.
Read more →Angus nam Beann was a well-known figure in Uig at the time of the Revivals, and ever since. The following is from John Macleod’s History of the Church in Uig. Angus MacLeod’s father was a shepherd in the hills of Uig towards the border with Harris, and this is where Angus was born. So it [...]
Read more →The renowned naturalist William MacGillivray was born in Aberdeen in 1796 and studied and worked most of his life there or in Edinburgh, but he had a Harris connection through his father and spent much of his childhood at Northton in South Harris (where the MacGillivray Centre now bears his name). As a young man, [...]
Read more →The Reverend Aulay Macaulay was born in Brenish in 1669, son of Dugald, grandson of Angus Beag Macaulay, he of the big stone and the critical wife, and brother of Donald Òg. Aulay started his career in Tiree and Coll and was minister at Scarista, Harris from 1712 until his death in 1758. He [...]
Read more →By long and solid tradition in Uig, the spot where the Uig Chessmen were found in 1831 is held to be the Bealach Ban, a hollow in the dunes in Ardroil. In November of last year, a paper by Dr David Caldwell et al in Mediæval Archaeology proposed that, on the evidence of the Ordnance [...]
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A photo of the Rev Norman Morrison, with his wife, sister (behind him) and children. Rev Morrison was minister at Baile na Cille from 1931 to 1950. He wasn’t the first of that name in Uig; the third known minister in Uig was also Norman Morrison, 1742 to 1777, who was a grandson of John Morrison, tacksman at Bragar – known in the archives as Indweller.
Read more →Rev Alexander Macleod arrived in Uig 1824 and evidently had a powerful influence on his congregation. In the first years of his ministry a number of stories arose demonstrating the (new) piety and upright behaviour of the people of Uig – perhaps exaggerating somewhat the change that had been brought about. In any case Uig [...]
Read more →Hugh Munro was minister at Baile na Cille for 46 years, until his death on 1 May 1823. He was replaced the following year by Alexander Macleod, but there was nearly a different minister in Uig, which, given Rev Macleod’s strong attachment to and leading role in the evangelist movement that was just beginning to [...]
Read more →[singlepic=866,379] This rare picture was taken inside Baile na Cille Church (1950s?) and contributed by Peter N Macdonald. The minister is Rev Angus Macfarlane and the precentor (top left) is Peter Macdonald 5 Crowlista. Can any of the others be identified from the backs of their heads? Edit: immediately identified, thanks to Pat. See comments [...]
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