So I'm delighted to say that I got an A for my Advanced Higher in Gaelic (Learners), as taught through e-Sgoil (https://www.e-sgoil.com) - yay! Next stop for me now is a new course at the University of Glasgow, starting end of September, the Gaelic Immersion Cert HE, where I will become fully immersed on a daily basis in using the language, and which should (hopefully) take me towards fluency in eight months. It's been a great year for my Gaelic learning, having just come back also from the Isle of Skye, and a week long course in Gaelic at the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig college (https://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk), doing the level 8 learners course.
As part of the Advanced Higher, we had to write an essay on a topic using a primary text written in Gaelic, and I chose "Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders" by Lisa Storey. It's an interesting account of the islanders from Barra and Mingulary who decided to take the law into their own hands over a hundred years ago, when the laird would not grant them land for crofts on the island of Vatersay (Bhatarsaigh). This is the essay, I hope you find it interesting!
What historical lessons can modern Gaelic speaking communities learn from Lisa Storey's “Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders”?
Lisa Storey's publication “Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders” was published in 2023 by Clò Phabaigh, and tells the story of the 'Vatersay Raiders', a group of Barra and Mingulay men who, from 1906-1907, seized land on their neighbouring island of Vatersay on which to build homes. The land in question was owned by Lady Emily Gordon Cathcart, who had only visited the island once in 54 years, and who took the men to court in 1908 for squatting on her property. All were sentenced to short prison terms (1). However, the uproar surrounding the episode led to the UK Government purchasing the island just a year later, with the land divided up into 58 working crofts, and distributed to residents from both Barra and Mingulay (2). In the incident’s immediate aftermath Mingulay was permanently abandoned by its 23 remaining families (3). The island remains unsettled to this day by humans, its only residents today being various colonies of seabirds, and grazing sheep (4).
In the opening chapter of her book, Storey explores how Vatersay had been held for centuries by the MacNeills of Barra, who had leased it to their kinsmen. In 1816 the island was documented as having a small fishing community, but following increasing financial difficulties with the MacNeill estate, it was sold in 1838 to Gordon of Clunie (5). From 1845, Vatersay's final inhabitants were cleared, as was much of Barra, with 450 islanders forced to emigrate to Canada in 1851 (6).
By the Napier Commission of 1883, Vatersay was noted as consisting of just one farm. In the meantime, the remaining population of Barra was growing fast, with not enough crofts available to sustain the remaining families resident on the island. As Storey notes:
“Tha e furasda gu leòr a thuigsinn an iarraidh mhòr a bhiodh air fearann aig daoine aig nach robh chriomag dhaibh fhèin. Agus bha cuid den fheadhainn aig an robh ‘croitean’ iad fhèin riatanach air tuilleadh fearainn, leis cho beag is a bha na pìosan a bha aca, is leis cho mì-thorach is a bha an talamh air fàs an dèidh a bhith ga àiteach bliadhna an dèidh bliadhna. Mur b’ e obair an iasgach am Barraigh, bha cor mhuinntir an àite air a bhith na bu mhiosa buileach.” (7)
The Vatersay raids of 1906-07 were a final desperate act by the islanders, having already spent years trying to force any form of meaningful change within the law. At the Napier Commission hearings, the people of Barra were afforded an opportunity to express their previous failed efforts to secure any meaningful new plots of land from the Gordon estate for their needs:
“Chuala muinntir a' Choimisean bho Mìchael Canonach, am fear fianais à Borgh, gun do rinn coitearan Bhàgh a Chaisteil oidhirp roimhe seo air Bhatarsaigh fhaighinn 'na chroitean. Nuair a chuala iad gun robh an ùine gu bhith suas a bha Bhatarsaigh gu bhith aon de na tuathanaich air mhàl, chuir iad buidheann gu ruige bàillidh na h-oighreachd, an Siorrachd Obair Dheadhainn, a dh' iarraidh an eilean 'na chroitean. Chaidh an iarrtas a dhiùltadh. Thairg am bàillidh dhaibh pìos de Bheinn Tangabhal ann am Barraigh an àite croitean ann am Bhatarsaigh. Ach cha robh coimeas idir eadar an dà àite a thaobh fearainnl cha robh am Beinn Tangabhal ach ionaltradh do chaoraich agus do bheagan cruidh; 's e bha na coitearan ag iarraidh talamh a ghabhail àiteach.”
Although some reform was secured after the Commission, the people of Barra were still unable to secure territory for their needs. From 1900 several cottars therefore commenced a series of annual raids to Vatersay to seize land and to mark out potential croft boundaries (8), aiming to provoke the Government into intervening, and to persuade Lady Gordon Cathcart to sell them the land required. In 1906, they escalated their actions, building huts on the island in which to reside.
Within a year they were joined by four fishermen from nearby Mingulay, who equally required land, as they could not pull their boats up onto their island's rugged shores. After building sheds on Vatersay's shore to store them in, the Mingulay men were served with an interdict saying that they had broken the law. (9) Refusing to acquiesce, the entire group of raiders was subsequently prosecuted and imprisoned.
Author Lisa Storey was born on Vatersay (10), and in her book's introduction she explains that she was motivated to provide a modern account of the episode in Gaelic for a variety of reasons. She first noted that as someone who had herself written about the story previously in English, it was equally important to have a book on the topic written in Gaelic:
“Mar thè a rugadh agus a thogadh san eilean, far an robh Gàidhlig ga bruidhinn a h-uile latha anns a h-uile suidheachadh, bha mi a' faireachdainn gun robh e cudromach pàirt de stòiridh an eilean seo innse ann am prìomh chànain nan daoine fhèin.”(11)
Another motive for writing about the raids was her desire to make sure that the individual testimonies and motivations of those involved were never forgotten. Throughout her book, she regularly names the raiders involved both formally in Gaelic and with their full patronymic names, as they were known locally. Most notably, she offers a whole chapter offering a transcribed account from one of the Mingulay raiders, Dòmhnall Bàn Eileanach (Dòmhnall Mac a' Phì), who was interviewed in 1947 by Calum Maclean, a researcher from Raasay. In this he described how resolute the islanders were to challenge the status quo:
“…chuir sinn romhainn gu làidir is chaidh sinn ann an guaillean a chèile gu làidir. Bha rud mòr againn ri dhèanamh. Bha fios againn gun robh cumhachd an lagha agus an t-sluaigh nar n-aghaidh…. Dh’fhuiling sinn gu leòr. Gun teagamh sam bith, sinne a rinn sin, dh’fhuiling sinn even ar cairdean fhèin gu leòr. Ach, co-dhiù, thug sinn a-mach Bhatarsaigh doirbh ’s mar a bha, agus bha e cho doirbh ri sgath a chunna mi riamh, ach rinn sinn an gnothach orra. Fhuair sinn buaidh orra a dh’aindeoin cho làidir ’s a bha an cumhachd, cumhachd an lagh.” (12)
With her father originally from Mingulay himself, Storey had written an earlier book, “Muinntir Mhiughalaigh” (2007, Clàr), which looked at the history of the islanders. This also included a first-hand account of the Vatersay land grab by Mìcheal Dòmhnaill, who accompanied the four raiders' families when they were brought over shortly to join them after their initial raid. In this he noted the islanders’ desperation at the time:
“Bha na daoine ag iarraidh à Miughalaigh a thaobh 's nach fhaigheadh iad na bàtaichean iasgaich a thoirt ann ...cha b' urrainn dhaibh an gleidheadh sa gheamhradh, na 's t-samhradh cuideachd... agus sin an aon bheò-shlain' a bh' aca - dh'fheumadh iad a bhith ris an iasgach, 's cha robh iad ach ag iarraidh àite nan taighean ri taobh a' chladaich ann am Bhatarsaigh.” (13)
Fishing was the only way that they could earn a living on Mingulay, but they could not protect their boats in the winter or the summer, and had to act. Storey also points to further supporting interviews with raiders available on the Tobar an Dualchas website, such as that with Iain MacDhùghaill from the Glenn on Barra. (14)
In her more recent Vatersay book, the author has taken the opportunity to reflect on the importance of the events of a century ago on the politics of today. She discusses the relevance and effectiveness of the raiders at the time, and the example that they can still give to those who should find themselves in similar circumstances when faced with an inflexible status quo. At the end of her book the author also discusses where democracy should lie today with regards to island communities, and from where power should emanate (15). Understanding the pressures on small communities, such as that which existed on Vatersay, and which continue to exist in other islands, is an important lesson to remember and to take stock of in an ever-changing world. Despite what happened in 1908, there are still powerful landlords doing what they wish with their lands, for example, the recent situation on Eigg, leading to its community buyout in 1997 (16).
The success of the raiders in pushing the Government to respond in their favour gave their communities confidence; the inference is that such actions can inspire others today. There are many similar pressures for accommodation in the Western Isles just now, with regards to the lack of housing stock, with a high increase in second home ownership in recent years leading to fewer properties for locals to rent or buy. Those made available are done so at inflated rents and mortgage costs, leading to an economic clearance of locals raised from birth within the communities affected. This is having a devastating impact on the sustainability of such communities, particularly on the viability of the Gaelic language as the main language of their engagement and cultural transmission.
In a newspaper article on June 16th 2023, for example, Rhoda Meek outlined the pressures currently at play on her native island of Tiree with regards to the situation concerning the purchase of second homes, and its impact on the availability of residences for those who wish to live and work on the island all year long (17). At the village of Caolas, in the island's east end, she noted how the properties of “Millionaire's Row”, or the “dinner party end” of the island, regularly see helicopters arriving with evening guests. She further described how some 46% of the island's homes sit empty for most of the year, with second homes only temporarily occupied, or let out as Airbnbs; any income generated is being siphoned off through a form of absentee landlordism, with their profits not being reinvested locally. As a consequence Meek points out that
“…teachers and carers have no option but to turn down jobs that badly need doing, and families are planning to leave because of a lack of suitable housing.”
In 2021, to address part of the problem of what Meek referred to as “the increasingly swift decimation of our indigenous culture”, she and her neighbours established an alternative to Airbnb called IsleHoliday.com, with a view to tourism profits being reinvested locally (18). The site itself notes that with any booking
“you can sleep happy and proud knowing your booking is making a real difference. Creating resilient flourishing communities and securing the success of the islands for generations to come.” (19)
Meek also discussed how housing stock issues are not just a problem on Tiree. Argyll and Bute Council officially declared a housing emergency in June 2023, whilst in the Hebrides, Community Development Trusts are being forced to build houses to solve a problem that they did not create in the first place. In language that perhaps would not have been out of place a hundred years ago on Barra, Mingulay and Vatersay, Meek stated that
“…if we keep being too polite to talk about it, we will shortly reach a point where it is too late.” (20)
Lisa Storey concludes in her book that the success of the Vatersay Raiders led to a new found community confidence. She describes how there were various subsequent challenges to overcome on the island, to develop facilities on the island, including the opening in 1991 of the causeway to Barra – improving access on a range of fronts, particularly for medical needs, although equally providing an excuse for the primary school on Vatersay to be closed just three years later (21). The community battles continue, but there is still a vibrant community there to fight them.
As well as the immediate aftermath of the raids themselves, Storey also discusses the Women's Land League formed on Vatersay in 1908, showing the islanders' determination to further promote and fight for the land reform cause (22). Storey clearly sees the whole incident as providing inspiration to similarly challenged communities today.
The books ends with an important rallying call for islanders today:
“Suas leis na Raiders, agus a h-uile duine a coltach riutha, ge brith càite a bheil iad, air feadh an t-saoghal. Bithibh a strì!” (23)
Bibliography
Books:
• STOREY, Linda: Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908. Inverness, Clò Phabaigh, 2023.
• STOREY, Lisa: Muinntir Mhiughalaigh: A' Fàgail Mhiughalaigh. Clàr, Glasgow, 2007.
Articles:
• “Second homes debate in Scotland has no place for manners. Here's why”, Rhoda Meek, The National, 16 JUN 2023
• “Scottish islanders launch Airbnb rival in fight against second homes crisis”, Libby Brooks, The Guardian, 5 DEC 2021
• An Litir Bheag: 953: Raiders Bhatarsaigh (1), accessed at https://learngaelic.scot/litirbheag/index.jsp?l=953&lang=gd
Notes
1 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.10-14
2 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.1
3 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.15
4 Wikitravel: Vatersay, accessed at https://wikitravel.org/en/Vatersay on 5 FEB 2024
5 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.2-5
6 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.5-6
7 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.6-7
8 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.8
9 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.11-13
10 An Litir Bheag: 953: Raiders Bhatarsaigh (1), accessed at https://learngaelic.scot/litirbheag/index.jsp?l=953&lang=gd on 5 FEB 2024
11 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.ix
12 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.36
13 Muinntir Mhiughalaigh: A' Fàgail Mhiughalaigh, Lisa Storey, Lisa Storey, p.149
14 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Mar a Ghabh na Daoine Bhatarsaigh 1900-1908, Lisa Storey, p.49
15 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: A' Coimhead Air Adhart, Lisa Storey, p.79-80
16 The Isle of Eigg: Community Buyout, accessed at http://isleofeigg.org/ieht/community-buyout/ accessed on 5 FEB 2024
17 “Second homes debate in Scotland has no place for manners. Here's why”, Rhoda Meek, The National, 16 JUN 2023, accessed at https://web.archive.org/web/20230626172117/https://www.thenational.scot/politics/23592814.second-homes-debate-scotland-no-place-manners/ on 5 FEB 2024
18 “Scottish islanders launch Airbnb rival in fight against second homes crisis”, Libby Brooks, The Guardian, 5 DEC 2021, accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/05/scottish-islanders-launch-airbnb-rival-in-fight-against-second-homes-crisis on 5 FEB 2024
19 IsleHoliday: Why book with us?, accessed at https://www.isleholiday.com/what-are-the-benefits-for-you on 5 FEB 2024
20 “Second homes debate in Scotland has no place for manners. Here's why”, Rhoda Meek, The National, 16 JUN 2023, accessed at https://web.archive.org/web/20230626172117/https://www.thenational.scot/politics/23592814.second-homes-debate-scotland-no-place-manners/ on 5 FEB 2024
21 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: A' Coimhead Air Adhart, Lisa Storey, p.76-79
22 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders: Comainn Fearann Nam Ban, Lisa Storey, p.51-59
23 Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders:, Lisa Storey, p.81
Comment: Bhatarsaigh agus na Raiders is available to buy from https://www.gaelicbooks.org/rannsaich-an-bh%C3%B9th/neo-fhicsean/eachdraidh/bhatarsaigh-agus-na-raiders
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
