From notes by Rev Col AJ Mackenzie, the story of the Old Soldiers of Uig who after the battle for Batavia, had many long years of service before they could finally return home, a full nine years after they had left it as young recruits to the 78th.
Read more →The following comes from the Spring 1987 edition of Sanais, the Comann Eachdraidh’s quarterly publication under the editorship of Anna Mackinnon. There are many tales about the Old Soldiers of Uig and this is another about the doughty Calum Olach of Valtos, serving with the Seaforth Highlanders as one of the Saighdeirean Mac a’Mhinisteir. They [...]
Read more →From the appendices of the Historical Record of the 72nd Highlanders, Vol. 2. I’m not aware of a particular Uig aspect to this issue, though there are tales of deserters here. Alexander Gillanders was the son of George Gillanders, Chamberlain of the Lews, and succeeded his father in that role (about 1790?); and Seaforth was [...]
Read more →A series of articles on the Old Soldiers of Uig appeared in the Comann Eachdraidh Uig publication, Sanais, in the 1980s, from which this is an extract. John Munro, Iain Mac a’ Mhinisteir, was the only son of the Rev Hugh Munro, minister at Bailenacille for fifty years; a son of the manse with a [...]
Read more →From Rev William Matheson’s “History of the Families of Lewis – Smith” published under the pseudonym Mac Gille Chaluim in the Stornoway Gazette in the late 1950s. See a further story of Calum Olach here. There was a noted family of Smiths of Valtos, Uig, for whom it has been claimed that they were of [...]
Read more →A mysterious cave full of swords was once discovered on Mealisval, but the could not be found again. Dave Roberts gave the story of the discovery of the cave in an article for Uig News and here gives a range of possible explanations. In the Iron Age (2000 years ago) people often deposited weapons made [...]
Read more →From a manuscript by (as far as I can make out) Rev Col AJ Mackenzie, son of Roderick Mackenzie, gamekeeper at Luachair and Uig Lodge. According to tradition, men were compelled to join the army when Seaforth was raising the 78th Seaforth Highlanders in 1793. When he arrived in Lewis, the men of Uig took [...]
Read more →From Donald Macdonald, Tales and Traditions of the Lews: Around 1840 there were four families living on Pabbay, and prominent among them was one of the old soldiers of Uig, the Sergeant Mòr, a son of Tormod Mòr Maciver of Beirghe (Reef). These old soldiers used to be given a small sum to act as [...]
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