Records of the clan and name of Fergusson, Ferguson and Fergus. Supplement

68 CLAN" FEEGUSSON
quits the valley of the Curr, which here trends to the north-
east, and descending by the churchyard reaches the loch at
Stronecrevich on Strachur Bay. This group of glens and the
shores of Strachur Bay were all at one time the property of
Fergussons.
' All are agreed that Glenbranter and Glenshellish was the
part of the parish in which they were first located, but how
many hundred years since they came there no one knows.
Both these farms were owned by them, and a great many
families lived there. Afterwards some of them came to the
bay and Glensluain.'
The Laird of Glenshellish was a Fergusson commonly
called Glen, and the property passed from his family to a
purchaser of the name of Napier. The Laird of Stronecheich
(Stronecrevich), now generally called Strachur Bay, was also a
Fergusson, and he sold his land at the time of the American
War to the father of General Campbell who built Strachur
House. ' When the small holdings were turned into large
farms many of the Fergussons emigrated to the United
States and Canada, where their descendants still are, but
there are in 1899 sixteen families of the name in Strachur.'
The Fergussons of Glenshellish were a very strong race of
men, and one or two of the old men in the locality still
remember the last laird, and say he was a fine-looking man.
There is a tradition that once the Duke of Argyll sent a
band of men armed to Glenshellish to exact some feudal tax
or enforce some claim. The ' Glen ' of the time saw them
coming, and said to his brother, ' What will we do, we have
nothing to defend ourselves with ? ' ' We will soon get
weapons,' said the brother, and they pulled young ash-trees
up by the roots. When the Duke's men saw their strength,
' they took fright and fled, and never more came back.'
According to another version of the story, the trees had
been severed at the root in anticipation of the visit, but left
standing as if growing.
Tradition also records that the fortunes of the Fergussons
of Glenshellish were watched by a fairy or familiar spirit,
called ' the Breediac ' (' Bredach,' Brownie, or Banshee),
which announced the death of any of the family by mourning
like a dove. It assumed various forms, and ' followed the