13th July 2024

Hi,

On the 3rd of July I took a trip which will live long in the memory: a visit to Rona, a remote Scottish island with which I have strong links through my MacLeod ancestry.

Our family have a direct link back to Malcolm MacLeod (1682-1761) the tenth Chief of the MacLeod's of Raasay. An old timey Malcolm X! The third generation down from Malcolm X is John MacLeod (1814-1884) known as Iain Ban (Fair-haired Iain), a crofter/fisherman. He married a Rachel MacLennan 1818-1896. Iain and Rachel are my great-great grandparents. At some time during the nineteenth century Iain and Rachel were cleared from the Island of Raasay onto Rona which lies at the northern tip of Raasay. For those unfamiliar with the Highland Clearances, the tenants on the land were cleared to make way for sheep farming by the proprietor.

At the 1861 census Ian and Rachel were living in Dry Harbour (Acarseid Thioram) on Rona. They had seven children and the eldest child Murdo MacLeod (1844-1922) known as Murchadh Iain Bhain is my great grandfather and I am indirectly called after him. Murdo married Janet (Jessie) MacKay (1847-1929) who was also brought up in Dry Harbour. Their daughter Rachel is my paternal grandmother. In addition to the photos of the trip to Rona I have included photos of Murdo, Jessie and daughter Rachel in order to bring some life to the history. As you can imagine with all these ancestral connections a trip to Rona has been on the agenda for a number of years since I started working on the family tree.

If you are still with me after these endless genealogies I'll just mention a few facts about Rona. It's often called South Rona as there is an even more remote island to the north. According to Wikipedia,

'Rona's name is believed to be of Old Norse origin, from Hraun-eyer meaning "rough islands" and probably reflects a Viking settlement.'

The island is about four to five miles in length and just over a mile wide. An eighteenth century writer described it well (as we were to find out on our trip):

'This little isle is the most unequal rocky piece of ground to be seen anywhere: there is but very few acres fit for digging.'

Currently Rona has three permanent residents plus two cottages available to rent. When planning this trip with Donald Gillies, Mairi and John Fraser, we were looking for an option whereby we could spend a whole day and check out the various places of importance to us. We eventually made an arrangement with Seaflower Skye to take us on a catamaran from Portree to Big Harbour (Acarseid Mhor) on Rona in the morning, picking us up in the late afternoon. Having a capacity of twelve on board, we had no problem filling the boat with others who had similar family connections, or those who just fancied an adventure to a rarely visited remote spot.

On the road north to Skye Donald and I stopped at my birthplace at Kintail Lodge Hotel for a nostalgic meal en route to Mairi and John's house at Bayfield in Portree. On the morning of 3rd July we set sail for Rona at 0930 from Portree arriving in Big Harbour on Rona around an hour later. The day was dull as you will see from the photos with intermittent rain in keeping with the 'liquid sun' of a Scottish summer.

From Big Harbour we passed the Hunting Lodge, built in 1866 and headed for Dry Harbour, dwelling place of my MacLeod ancestors. The walk took us about 35 minutes. There is no evidence available to point to which of the ruined houses actually belonged to great grandparents Murdo and Jessie. However it was quite an experience to stand in the midst of the township where they lived well over one hundred and fifty years ago. Some of the party with Nicolson connections were able to be photographed beside the ruined house of their forebears which could be identified. We saw the ruins of the Schoolhouse. The Mission House, built c.1880 and was used as a church was in good shape and has been converted into self-catering holiday cottages.

The next part of the expedition was to visit Church Cave on the east side of the island. The Gaelic name of the cave is 'Uamha an Fhuaimhar', translated as the "cave of the giant". It was apparently used for church services until the church was built c.1880. It was quite a scramble to get down the slope to the cave but Donald, John and myself managed to get there. It was well worth the hair- raising trip down the cliff face. There are stone pews in place as you will see from the photos. We tested the acoustics with Psalm 121. 'Thy foot he'll not let slide' seemed very appropriate after our journey down.

We made our way back up the cliff to be greeted by other party members who had felt it wise not to proceed further after some slips along the route. Thankfully the ground had broken their falls on all occasions! John, Donald and I decided to fill in the rest of the trip by heading south. Our first search was for the settlement of Doire na Guaileadh which translates 'Wood or Grove of the Shoulder', probably relating to the nearby hill. The ruins were more spaced out than at Dry Harbour. There was more greenery than I expected but still a pretty desperate place to have to survive in, with little arable land and bogs aplenty.

Last stop at the south end of Rona was at the ruins of a small 14th century chapel known as An Teampull. It has the only gravestone on the island (with the name Graham) within its walls as well as what is reckoned to be a monk's cell. For anyone visiting; it will take you at least three hours to get from Dry Harbour to An Teampull via Doire na Guaileadh and back.

So we come to the part of the blog when I ask you to enjoy the photos. Yes it was a dull day, a bit wet and the views over to Skye and the mainland were not what one would have hoped for. (We did see a sea eagle on the way back though!) However it was a memorable and highly rewarding trip from a personal perspective. My thanks go to Donald for keeping the dream of going alive and to John for finally making it happen. To those who were present (not in any particular order) Donald, Marion, Iain (x2), Seonaid, John G, Mary, Mairi, John, Catriona, Ken and Meg the dog; I thoroughly enjoyed the company and camaraderie. Special thanks to John and Mairi for putting us up in Portree.

I hope you enjoyed my wee trip into the family history. The photos should clarify some of these scribbling's. Also please check out the VIDEO section on this site for a brief film of Church cave.

All the best

Murdo