Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

ISLAY
Highlands, exhibiting no assemblage of mountain and
glen, yet displaying considerable diversity of structure
and of contour, and containing a fair amount of pleasing
landscape. Chief elevations, from N to S, to the E of
Lochs Gruinnard and Indal, are Scaribh Hill (1197 feet),
Beinn Dubh (974), Sgorr na Faoileann (1444), and Sgorr
Voucharan (1157) ; to the W, Rock Side Hill (575), and
Beinn Tartabhaile (755).
Harbours, with quay or pier, are at Port Askaig, on the
Sound of Islay; Port Ellen, on the SE coast; Bowmore,
near the head of the E side of Loch Indal ; Port Char-
lotte, on the W side of Loch Indal ; and Portnahaven,
to the N of Rhynns Point. The small bays on the E
coast are, for the most part, dangerous of approach, on
account of sunken rocks ; and Loch Gruinnard is almost
the only place on the W coast which affords any anchor-
age. Numerous streamlets rise on the heights, run in
all directions to the sea, afford plenty of water-power for
any kind of machinery, and abound with trout and
salmon. Of several small fresh-water lakes dotted over
the interior, the largest are Loch Guirni (| x -J- mile), 7
miles TOW of Bridgend, and Loch Finlagan (-§ x | mile),
3 miles WSW of Port Askaig. Quartz rocks prevail in
the principal hill ridge ; a fine limestone prevails in the
northern central district ; and a strip of clay slate
borders the W side of Loch Indal. Beds of excellent
slate are plentiful, and have been largely worked ; good
marble has been quarried ; beds of fine silicious sand, suit-
able for the manufacture of glass, are so extensive as to
have furnished many cargoes for exportation ; lime and
shell sand, for mixture with neighbouring sea-weed and
moss into composts, are inexhaustibly abundant ; iron
ore has been worked of prime quality ; lead ore and
silver are mined ; and copper, manganese, graphite, and
other metallic minerals have been discovered. The
average rainfall in eight years ending with 1S75 was
4Si inches, or 14 below that of Greenock ; and the
average temperature was very nearly the same as that
of Edinburgh — the mean in Islay being 47 "1°, in Edin-
burgh 47'4°.
'Of late years, ' writes Mr Duncan Clerk, 'the lands
have passed into new hands, the new proprietors being
Morrison of Islay (67,000 acres, valued at £16,440 per
annum), Ramsay of Rildalton (54,250 acres, £S226),
Finlay of Dunlossit (17,676 acres, £2882), and Camp-
bell of Ballinaby (1800 acres, £378). The larger por-
tion of the old native race tenantry has also passed
away, and their holdings are now mostly occupied by
tenants from Ayrshire and the Lowland districts, who
turn their attention principally to dairy -farming, and
find that Ayrshire stocks thrive exceedingly well. They
also rear a considerable number of cross lambs, which
are sent fat to Glasgow early in the season. The hill
districts, which were formerly only partially stocked,
are now covered with thriving flocks of black-faced and
Cheviot sheep, which help to supply the Glasgow mar-
ket. "West Highland cattle are still reared to a large
extent, and the number is likely to increase under the
stimulus of the high price of beef, which Islay supplies
in perfection. . . . The area of arable land, though
considerably increased, has not been so rapidly ex-
tended as might have been anticipated. However, the
cultivation of land has been very much improved, so
that the production of food for cattle and sheep is very
much larger per acre than it was thirty years ago. Many
fields carry heavier crops of turnips, potatoes, and corn
than are usual even in the Lowlands. The improved
culture, and the general rise in the value of farm pro-
duce, stimulated by the landlords' large expenditure on
houses, fences, etc. , has caused the rental of the island
to be nearly doubled within the last thirty years. So
much room for improvements still remains, however,
that, with a judicious outlay of capital, it might be
doubled again in the same number of years. The prin-
cipal exports from Islay are horses, cattle, sheep, pigs,
and poultry, cheese, butter, eggs, and, some years, a
large quantity of potatoes. Whisky is largely produced ;
and the seven distilleries afford a valuable help in the
supply of manure, while they also assist in maintaining
ISLAY
prices of stock in the local markets, many cattle being
fattened off in connection with them ' ( Trans. Jlighl. and
Acj. Soc, 1S7S). The arable soils are very various, but
generally fertile and well cultivated. More than one-
half of all the island's surface might be advantageously
subjected to regular tillage ; and much that was formerly
heathy, pastoral, or badly cultivated is now reclaimed,
well-worked, and very productive. Enclosing, draining,
judicious manuring, skilful cropping, and good road-
making were commenced not long after the era of general
agricultural improvement in Great Britain, and went on
with such steadiness as to render great part of the
island, many years ago, as well dressed as many an
equal extent of country in the Scottish Lowlands. The
roads are everywhere excellent, and have good bridges ;
and a very important one, 15 miles long, from Bridgend
to Port Ellen, opening up a district of previously little
value, was begun to be formed so late as 1S41. Drain-
age operations were facilitated by a very large grant
under the Government Drainage Act, and by the pro-
duce of a local brick and tile work. Farming traffic is
facilitated by abundance of local meal mills, by regular
markets and fairs at Bowmore, Port Ellen, Bridgend,
and Ballygrant, and by steamboat communication with
Glasgow daily during summer, and twice a week in the
winter. The spinning of yarn was formerly carried on
to the value of £10,000 a-year, but suffered extinction
through the action of the Glasgow factories. Telegraphic
communication with the mainland was established in
the autumn of 1871.
The island comprises the parishes of Kilchoman,
Kildalton, and Killarrow, with the quoad sacra parishes
of Kilmeny, Oa, and Portnahaven ; and contains the
villages of Bowmore, Bridgend, Port Charlotte, Portna-
haven, Port Ellen, and Port Askaig, all twelve of which
are noticed separately. A sheriff small debt court sits
at Bowmore four times a year ; and a justice of peace
small debt court is held on the first Wednesday of
every month. Islay has a combination poorhouse at
Bowmore, with accommodation for 48 inmates, a branch
of the National Bank at Bridgend, a branch of the
Royal Bank at Port Ellen, 6 Established churches, 5
Free churches, an Episcopal mission chapel at Bally-
grant, a Baptist chapel at Bowmore, and 16 schools,
with total accommodation for 1650 children. Valuation
(1S60) £20,805, (1883) £38,270. Pop. (1801) 6821,
(1831) 14,982, (1851) 12,334, (1S61) 10,345, (1871) 8143,
(1SS1) 7559, of whom 3766 were males, and 6673 were
Gaelic-speaking.
Islay was early and long in the possession of the Scan-
dinavians ; and it retains memorials of their swa} r in the
remains of many duns and castles, and in such topo-
graphical names as Kennibus, Assibus, Torribolse, and
Torrisdale. It passed from them to the kings of Man,
or sovereigns of the Hebrides ; and it is said to have
been, while in their possession, the place of their receiv-
ing rents and dues from large portions of their dominions.
Two rocks lying near each other, in a harbour on the S
side of the island, are called respectively Craig-a-neone
and Craig-a-nairgid, signifying the ' Rock of the silver
rent ' and the ' Rock of the rent in kind ; ' and these
are supposed to have got their names from being the
payment-scene of the Scandinavian royal rents. The
island next became the residence of the Macdonalds,
Lords of the Isles, the seat of their court, the sphere
of their pompous rule over their insular dominion ; and
it retains the ruin of their castle on an islet in Loch
Finlagan, the ruin of one of their fortalices at the SE
entrance of the Sound of Islay, the vestiges of another
of their fortalices on an islet in Loch Guirm, and the
ruin of a famous church of their period, surrounded with
an extensive cemetery, containing curious ancient grave-
stones, on Island-Nave, adjacent to the NW coast. The
lands of Islay, along with those of Jura, Scarba, and
Muckairn, continued to be held, for several generations,
by the descendants of the Macdonalds ; but they were
transferred, in the reign of James VI., to Sir John
Campbell of Calder for an annual feu-duty, the propor-
tion of which for Islay was £500 ; and they all were
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