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

236 CLAN FERGUSSON
etc. From 1858 to 1868 Mr. Fergusson acted as a teacher in
a mission school connected with the Free Church, near For-
doun Station. During this time he occasionally acted as
local preacher, and officiated in almost all the Free Church
pulpits within the Presbytery. The close of Mr. Fergusson's
active career as a schoolmaster was spent in the little village
of Raploch, which nestles under the steep grey crags of Stir-
ling Castle. He has now retired, and having celebrated his
jubilee, is well entitled to do so. His time is chiefly occu-
pied in doing what he can to further the cause of Celtic
literature and the continuation of the Gaelic language. As
an ex-president of the Stirling Highlanders' Society, he has
no small influence in fostering Celtic sentiment, and the Clan
Fergusson Society has in him one of its original promoters.
" His poetical productions," says Mr. Edwards, in his Modern
Scottish Poets, " possess a remarkable roundness and com-
pleteness of thought, and while graceful in their simplicity,
and set in smooth and musical words, they ever manifest
buoyancy and spontaneity of flow, and occasionally quiet
pathos." '
Mr. Fergusson was interred amongst kindred dust in the
picturesque churchyard of Balquhidder, where representatives
of all classes paid their last tokens of respect to one who was
widely known and sincerely loved for his genial character,
patriotic sentiments, and truly Christian spirit.
FERGUSSONS IN ARGYLLSHIRE.
For many centuries representatives of the name and clan
have found a home in the county of Argyll. Very probably
the early progenitors of the present race first crossed the
West Highlands on their way from the north of Ireland,
whence the old Scots came, and some of them settled there.
It is no easy matter to trace their early history. In the Cowal
district there were many old families of the name, and in the
churchyard of Strachur is to be found a little tombstone, on
the back of which is cut in relief a well-executed representa-
tion of ' the arms of the Hon. Fergussons of Kilcarran.' The
stone bears the date 1774, and is in good preservation. The