Matheson Collection > Macleods of Dunvegan from the time of Leod to the end of the seventeenth century

i8o THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN
from which I give extracts whicli show the real nobility
of the man. It was dated December 26, 1846 :
The awful possibility of starvation has approached too
nearly to be disregarded. We must meet it with energy and
stout hearts. You are all aware that, as possessor of the
property on which you live, no exertions on my part have
been, or will be, spared to alleviate your distress. It is my
duty to take care that the country is supplied with a sufficiency
of good and wholesome food. I am determined that there
shall be neither idleness nor want on my property. I intend
to remain among you during this time of trial. We will
unite together to drive famine from our door. What do able-
bodied and industrious men want to meet a calamity like
this ? Is it food and clothing gratis ? Is it even meal at
less than the market price ? No. What they look for is the
opportunity to earn their own honourable living. For the
helpless and the infirm we will not refuse to accept the noble
contributions of the generous, but, to them alone, let the rivers
of charitable goodness flow. Of strong and able-bodied
labourers let it not be said that they stooped to accept such
aid.
There are many letters from him in which he tells how
crowds of starving people were coming to him for food
every day. He says that he had started draining land,
having borrowed money under the Drainage Acts, but
bad weather often stopped work, and whether the money
was earned or not, he must supply food. Meal was 30s.
a stone, and his outlay was from £175 to £225 a week.
He is profoundly conscious of his own embarrassed
condition, but ' ruin must be faced rather than let the
people die.' He is at his wits' end to get seed. He has
induced the tacksmen to give the people land on which
to grow corn, but what is the use of land without seed ?
He bitterly feels the hardship that relief from the Com-
mittee is being freely given on the estates of men who
have done nothing to save their people, while he, who has