Gairloch in North-West Ross-Shire: Its Records, Traditions, Inhabitants, and Natural History, with a Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree, and a Map and IllustrationsDixon, John H. (John Henry)
History
Gairloch in North-West Ross-Shire: Its Records, Traditions, Inhabitants, and Natural History, with a Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree, and a Map and Illustrations
Dixon, John H. (John Henry)
Gairloch (Scotland) -- Guidebooks; Gairloch (Scotland) -- History; Ross and Cromarty (Scotland) -- History
There were six churches, or places of worship, in old days in Gairloch,
mentioned in the traditions still current among the people, and referred
to in chapter xvi. of this Part:--
1. The church of Gairloch was originally dedicated to St Maelrubha, and
perhaps erected by him in the seventh century; it stood near the centre
of the burial-ground at Gairloch. There are no remains whatever of it.
In the Dutch map of 1662 the place is called Heglis Ghearrloch, _i.e._
the church of Gairloch.
2. The church at Culinellan, near Kenlochewe, was mentioned in the Old
Statistical Account (Appendix C) as a place of worship at Kenlochewe; no
traces of it remain. It is probably the church referred to in the map of
1662 as Heglis Loch Ew.
3. The turf-built place of worship near the beach in Tollie bay was but
a temporary expedient; some remains of it (since obliterated by farming
operations) existed in the memory of old men now living.
4. A little church or meeting-house stood at Cruive End or Tollie Croft.
Here Pennant heard the Rev. John Dounie preach in 1772, and here some
old people still living attended public worship up to 1826, when it fell
into disuse upon the erection of the present church at Poolewe. It was a
thatched house, and agricultural works have destroyed all traces of it.
5. The church or chapel of Inverewe stood in what is still called the
Inverewe churchyard. This place is perhaps more generally known as the
Londubh burial-ground. The old name of Londubh is Baile na h' Eaglais,
which means the town of the church. The burial-ground is a hundred yards
to the east of the road leading from Poolewe towards Aultbea, a short
distance beyond Pool House. The house where James Mackenzie lives is
close to the churchyard; this house used to be the residence of the
proprietors of Kernsary; the place is now called Kirkton, a literal
translation of Baile na h' Eaglais. What is left of this old church of
Inverewe is supposed by some to be the remains of the oldest church in
Gairloch parish. It seems to have been forty feet long and eighteen feet
wide; it was not placed due east and west. The original wall forming the
north-east side of the church is still standing, overgrown with a large
mass of ivy. The Rev. Kenneth Mackenzie, from Bute, founder of the
Kernsary family (Part I., chap, xiv.), purchased the Kernsary estate,
including this churchyard, some time during the seventeenth century. He
was an Episcopalian clergyman, and held services in the church of
Inverewe, probably with much acceptance among his neighbours, who clung
to the old form of worship long after Presbyterianism had been
established by law. It seems likely he built this little church; some
say he only restored an older church; in either case this may have been
the site of an ancient pre-Reformation church, and even of a monastic
institution, for there are many traces of buildings in the
neighbourhood. On the death of Mr Mackenzie there was no one to conduct
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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