Hebridean Case Studies

Two Trips to the Outer Hebrides with Bob and Joanne Neil

By way of introduction, the Neils live in Bay Village, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Bob is a retired mining engineer. He has worked in Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and Ontario, Canada. Joanne is a Housewife.

Way back in the 1940s, Bob's Aunt, Mildred Morrison Campbell, used to reminisce about the stories her father Macintosh McKay Morrison told about his early childhood on the Isle of Harris. She always mentioned that a monument to her grandfather John Morrison was erected in Rodel on the Isle of Harris.

This information piqued our interest in the genealogy of the Morrison family. We gathered what information we could with a very crude computer and we were finally able to go to Scotland in September, 1993. In a way, the trip was like Paul Revere's midnight ride... on land, sea and air. We flew to Boston, then to London, and on to Glasgow where we rented a small car. After a short time familiarizing ourselves with right hand drive and the roundabouts we drove up through the incredibly beautiful Highlands to Inverness. We stopped at the excellent public library there and spoke with a very good archivist. Using the name Macintosh Mckay Morrison he was unable to establish a connection to a Morrison family on the Isle of Harris. He then asked the names of other siblings and I mentioned John Morrison, my grandfather's oldest brother. Immediately he found that relationship and we were in business! We were almost ready to leave empty handed, so that was our first lucky break!

Armed with this information, we got on the ferry in Ullapool and had a spectacular trip to Stornoway. The ferry was clean and comfortable and sailed right on schedule.

After a night in a nice B&B near the shore in Stornoway, we headed south down the spine of the linked isles of Lewis and Harris to Rodel. When we got there it seemed that the most popular tourist attraction was St. Clement's ancient church. As we looked around the old church and graveyard we saw a large stone monument ...there it was... the memorial to my great grandfather, John Morrison. He had been buried there in 1852.

Seeing this monument was a very moving experience indeed. My Aunt was right, the memorial was right where she said it would be. Wondering how we could find out more about the Morrison line we walked into the pub at the Rodel Hotel and asked the barman if there was a family historian in the area. He said, "That would be Bill Lawson...dial 84!" That was our second lucky break. Bill and his charming wife Chris talked to us about the Morrison's for more than an hour. He was gracious enough to allow us to videotape him so that my Aunt Mildred Morrison would have the benefit of his knowledge of the family history of the islands.

Bill described the immediate family history this way:

My great grandfather, John Morrison, known locally as "Iain Ghobha" was a well-known Cleric in the free Church. He was also a skilled blacksmith. His ancestors had been smiths and armorers for many generations. He was born in 1790 and died in Leaclea in 1852. John lost his first two wives in childbirth and finally married Mary Macauley who was Bob's great grandmother. John was caught up in the religious disruption of 1843 and was literally run out of his smithy in Rodel. He then moved up near his daughter in Leaclea and built another smithy there.

John's youngest son. my grandfather Macintosh McKay Morrison was born in Leaclea in 1850.

John Morrison died in 1852 having fathered 13 children-6 remained at home with his widow Mary. By 1855 the native population was being was being driven from their crofts to make room for sheep farming and the local economy was in almost complete collapse leaving Morrison's widow no choice but to emigrate to Kincardine, Ontario which was in Upper Canada at that time. There she and her six children built a two story log cabin on government land there and proceeded to clear and farm it. Luckily her oldest son John Jr. was in his mid-twenties and was a skilled blacksmith .He carried a large burden of the work.

Mary Morrison died in Kincardine in 1871 at age 55. Her oldest son John had already emigrated in 1864 to the copper mines in Houghton County of nothern Michigan. Later he was followed by his brother Roderick in 1867 and my grandfather Macintosh in 1873. All three brothers did amazingly well with the copper mines. John operated a large , successful logging business supplying timber to the mines. In 1879 he experienced a profound personal tragedy when his wife Euphemia Maclean died of quinsy (pneumonia) on January 22nd, and his son Alan, age 4, died the next day of the same cause .They are buried in Kincardine, Ontario. Roderick was mechanical foreman for the Quincy Mining Company in Hancock. He designed and built all of the shaft houses and mine buildings there and Macintosh Mckay was superintendent of shops and foundries for the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in nearby Calumet, Michigan. He died in 1930 there.

There is no question that the excellent mechanical aptitudes possessed by these three brothers was handed down through at least 10 generations of forebears on the Isle of Harris.

Our experience on the Isle of Harris was transcending and gave us an exceptional insight in to our family going back about five generations. There would have been no other practical way to get this information. We left the island greatly elated and vowing to return another time.

Luck was with us as we were able to get back to the Hebrides two years later... in October, 1995. This time our itinerary was a little different: we stayed for two wonderful days in Edinburgh, the Athens of the North, and from there we went to Uig on the Isle of Skye and took the ferry to Tarbert. There we stayed in the quaint old Harris Hotel and enjoyed an evening pub interlude with some very nice tourists from Glasgow. The next morning we drove down to Northton to the Old School House. It was a beautiful day and Bill Lawson was able to guide us up to Leaclea and Manish. We were able to see the ruins of John Morrison's Smithy and the larger house owned by his daughter, which is still occupied by a doctor and his family. His wife graciously answered our numerous questions. It is interesting to compare the beautiful sand beaches on the west shoreline of the island with the rock-ribbed bays of the east side.

Later we were able to go into the church at Manish which John Morrison had built in 1847. The church interior was light and beautiful with red carpeting. It was fascinating to see the bibles written in Scots Gaelic.

We had no idea that there would be accommodations available in the area but Bill Lawson lined us up with a nice B&B in Leverburgh. Oddly enough it was owned by a family named Morrison, I believe they were originally from the Isle of Lewis. We got a fine room, a roast beef dinner and a great breakfast all for 25 pounds! We hated to leave...

As we left Rodel the following afternoon we again vowed to return... the next time for at least a week. This would be a minimum time required to absorb the unique ambiance and culture of these fascinating islands. For the Neils it was an experience of a lifetime!

Robert Morrison Neil December 22, 2001
30329 Ashton Lane
Bay Village, Ohio 44140

Visit Hebrides would like to thank Bob Neil for all his help in putting together this story and supplying some great photos.