The only Gairloch iron-furnaces which we can be sure were carried on by Sir George Hay were those at Letterewe, Talladale, and the Red Smiddy near Poolewe. (They will be described in Part I., chap. xx.). The vast woods of Letterewe were undoubtedly the prime motive that led Sir George to start the ironworks there. They must have been very extensive, for it is the opinion of those who should know, that each furnace would annually use as carbonised fuel the product of one hundred and twenty acres of wood. The works Sir George conducted seem to have combined two classes of industry,--(1) The manufacture of wrought-iron, the ore being smelted with charcoal into a mass of metal called a bloom, which was hammered whilst yet hot into bars of wrought iron, or into various articles used in the arts of peace or war; (2) The manufacture of pig-iron and articles of cast-iron, the metal being poured into moulds. The Letterfearn MS. says, that at Letterewe "Sir George Hay kept a colony and manufactory of Englishmen making iron and casting great guns, untill the wood of it was spent and the lease of it expired." The Genealogical Account of the MacRaes tells of "the colony of English which Sir George Hay of Airdry kept at Letterewe, making iron and casting cannon." The Bennetsfield MS. mentions the grant of the "lease of the woods of Letterewe, where there was an iron mine, which they wrought by English miners, casting guns and other implements, till the fuel was exhausted and their lease expired." Pennant notes in his Tour (Appendix B), that the Rev. John Dounie had seen the back of a grate marked "S. G. Hay," or Sir George Hay. Those acquainted with old inscriptions tell us that the initial S was a usual abbreviation for the title "Sir." It appears, then, that Sir George not only produced articles used in warfare, but also such goods as we are accustomed to procure at the ironmonger's. It is certain that improved processes of iron-smelting were introduced at Furnace, Letterewe, and perfected at the Red Smiddy, Poolewe, so that the results obtained at the latter place were almost on a par with those of the newest methods of the present day. The credit of these improvements must be given to Sir George Hay. In resuscitating the ancient manufacture of iron, he brought the intelligence of his cultivated mind to bear on the subject in a practical and successful way. The "new industry" thus commenced on the shores of Loch Maree soon attracted the attention of the government. Reference has already been made to the act of 27th January 1609, prohibiting the making of iron with the natural woods of the Highlands. The act is printed verbatim in Appendix G. There seems little doubt, as previously remarked, that it was intended to injure Sir George Hay. It was probably passed on the instigation of a political foe.