Auchindrain is
a ancient village -- or township -- or communal tenancy
-- of about 20 buildings near Inveraray, Scotland, on the estate of
the Dukes of
Argyll. Auchindrain was not destroyed or materially changed by the
Highland
Clearances and is therefore the largest and most authentic
old rural village in Scotland today. The buildings and adjacent fields
have been preserved and are now an open-air museum
of farming life.
This webpage has hot links to many
documents written about and describing Auchindrain.
If you are
a descendant of Auchindrain -- or think you may be -- or if
you have any questions, comments, or additional information about
Auchindrain, please send e-mail to GeoVis@erols.com. Thank you very
much.
(1) Auchindrain in Context:
- Folk Museums in Scotland
(plus two in the US and Canada). This
webpage lists more than twenty historic preservations,
reconstructions, and folk museums. It shows how Auchindrain is the
largest and most authentic old rural village in Scotland today.
- Where to "See" the Highland Clearances
and Diaspora. This webpage lists monuments and other places to
"see" the clearances and the resulting diaspora (the massive flight of Scots
to other countries). Auchindrain is the best such
place, simply because it is the only old farming village never
cleared or deserted.
(2) Auchindrain History:
- Circa 3000 BC - Auchindrain in Prehistory.
Auchindrain's buildings surround a mound which might well be a
round cairn perhaps 3,000 years old, and there's a long
cairn of Clyde/Solway type likely to be some 5,000 years old just
across the A83 highway. Neither has been excavated. (This information
is from the 1978 article by Marion Campbell of
Kilberry.) A nearby state-of-the-art museum, Kilmartin House, complements the
Auchindrain
Museum by interpreting the prehistory of Mid-Argyll.
- 1457 - Sir Colin Campbell is named First Earl of Argyll.
- 1470's - How old is Auchindrain? Perhaps
thousands of years. The oldest written evidence is a legal document
from the 1470's which refers to Achadh an Droighinn -- The
Field of the Thorn Trees -- as a going concern.
- 1600's Several years of
near-starvation especially when an army of occupation came in -- Montrose in 1643, the Marquis of Atholl in 1685 -- and left "not a fishingnet nor a fruit-tree along Loch Fyne"; years when the precious seed-corn had to be eaten, leaving not enough to sow for the next year's harvest - years when a drover brought back the seeds of plague from Carlisle Market, or years when the men had all to go to the wars and leave "the harvest of the while coifs" when the women worked alone, not knowing if they were wife or widow.
- 1685 -
Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll invades Scotland as part of Monmouth's
attempt to overthrow the Catholic King James II of England and VII of Scotland. Argyll is executed
in Edinburgh. Some seventeen leading men of the Clan Campbell are hanged without trial in
Inveraray. Many Campbells escape to Ulster and later move on to North America.
- 1701 - Tenth Earl of Argyll is made First Duke of Argyll.
- 1710 (11 February) -
"Charter of Confirmation" from the Duke of Argyll grants
Clunaray and Auchendrain to Niall Campbell, Principal of Glasgow
University (1728-1761).
- 1740's -
Cheese making at Auchindrain. According to the Scottish Dairy
Association (SDA), "a supply of 'vells'
was part of the [Auchindrain] tenancy, clearly implying that cheese
could have been made by the landlord [the 3rd Duke of
Argyll]."
- 1745 -
Jacobite Uprising of 1745, during which the Third Duke of Argyll supports the government
against Charles Edward Stuart, aka The Young Pretender and Bonnie
Prince Charlie.
- Circa 1750 - Duncan CAMPBELL and Mary McINTYRE -- my 4x
great grandparents -- move to Auchindrain from Bridgend, Inveraray, about
the time that the New Town of Inveraray is constructed by the 5th Duke
of Argyll. Extracts from research by
Duncan Beaton of
Huston, Renfrewshire, in 1985. (Beaton is now Scottish Contributing
Editor for the Journal of the Clan
Campbell Society North America.)
- 1773 - "We
found an old woman boiling goats-flesh in a kettle." Samuel
Johnson and James Boswell tour the Highlands and Islands. This is
Johnson's description of a "Highland Hut" very similar to those of
Auchidrain which they visited on September 6 -- six weeks before
reaching Inveraray on October 23.
- 1780's - Clearance of Killean Township. The 5th Duke of Argyll
sold the neighboring township of Killean. Twelve tenants were
dispossessed and accomodated by the people of Auchindrain until they
could find employment elsewhere. See the 1978
article by Marion Campbell of Kilberry.
- 1788 - Plan for Modernizing Auchindrain by George
Langland for the 5th Duke of Argyll would have rearranged
Auchindrain's buildings in rows something like nearby Kenmore
on Loch
Fyne, but the plan was never realized.
- Circa 1800 - "That Much
Frequented Path". A network of busy drove roads
once converged at Auchindrain and the neighboring township of Braleckan from
Kilmichael Glassary, Loch Awe, the Isle of Mull, and
the Isle of Islay. These were used by cattle drovers
enroute to lowland markets and by charcoal traders enroute to Furnace on Loch Fyne
only two miles from Auchindrain.
Chick here for a description of two former drove roads (now poorly
maintained hill paths) from Kilneuair (11
miles) and from Durran (7 miles) to Auchindrain. And
click here for an interesting article on all of drove roads which converged at Inveraray.
- Circa 1805 - Departure of Two Sons of Auchindrain. This
is the approximate year in which my 2x great grandfather Malcolm
CAMPBELL [1787-1862] and his older brother Peter CAMPBELL
[1775-1842] moved from Auchindrain to Loch Caolisport in Knapdale (now
Ellary and Castle Sween Estates).
Their departure may have been linked to the opening of the new
Crinan Canal in 1801. They and their families subsequently emigrated
in 1821 to join Smith
relatives already farming in the Town of Russia, Herkimer County,
New York, USA, and in 1830 via the new
Erie Canal to Howard Township, Kent County, Ontario, Canada.
- 1847 - Potato
famine strikes Scotland, and Scots join the
tide of emigrants already flowing from Ireland.
- 1848 - Clearance
of Arichonan Township. According to the Mid Argyll Gaelic
Partnership (Coroinn Ghaidhlig Meadhan Earra Ghaidheal), about
forty residents were evicted from Arichonan in Knapdale, and five
of them were eventually convicted of rioting at the Courthouse in
Inveraray (now a museum).
- 1851 - Clearances
Elsewhere. Auchindrain was never cleared or deserted. This webpage
describes clearances elsewhere on the estate of the 8th Duke of Argyll
who wrote in 1851: "I wish to send out those whom we would be obliged
to feed if they stayed at home. To get rid of that class is the
object." Ironically, the only references to the clearances and to the
"diminishing rural populace" in today's official history of Argyll and
Bute are found under the heading "Improvement".
- 1856 - Harriet
Beecher Stowe (the famous American abolitionist and author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin) visits
Inveraray to gather information about
the Highland
Clearances.
- 1875 - "Achindrain [is an] old Highland
village, where a common old practice, now fallen into disuse,
continues." - No less an observer than Queen Victoria
drives past Auchindrain with the 8th Duke of Argyll who tells her that it
retains "the old system of village communities [that] once
prevailed all over Europe, and does still actually prevail over
the greater part of India."
- 1883 - Closing of the powder
mill at Furnace. For much of the 19th century one of Argyll's four
manufactuaries for high grade black powder was on Loch Fyne
only two miles from Auchindrain.
- 1884 - "Auchindrain: The place where
the real nest of the Campbells was." Our cousin Dugald
CAMPBELL [1809-1887] in nearby Kenmore
comments on
Auchindrain, the 8th Duke of Argyll, the Marquess of Lorne, and family matters to my great
grandfather and great uncle in Portage-La-Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
Here are two of several letters exchanged in 1884 which "bridged" the
104-year gap between 1821 (when my Campbell ancestors left Scotland)
and 1925 (when my grandparents became the first descendants to
"return" to Scotland -- and visit Auchindrain).
- 1925 - First Family Visit to Auchindrain & Vicinity -
Extracts from writings by my grandfather George
Alexander CAMPBELL [1869-1943] -- who arrived at
Inveraray by ship -- including photo of my grandfather with
Auchindrain tenant "Stoner" MUNRO and cousin John
CAMPBELL [1860-1947] of Furnace (coming soon).
- 1926 - Second Family Visit to Auchindrain & Vicinity -
Extracts from writings by my mother Georgia May CAMPBELL Lollis
[1901-1991], including visit at "Top House" in Kenmore
with cousin
Margaret CAMPBELL MacLachlan [1847-1928], neice of Dugald CAMPBELL [1809-1887] (coming soon).
- 1930 - Third Family Visit to Auchindrain & Vicinity -
Extracts from writings by my grandmother Luna May
JAMESON Campbell [1869-1940], including visits in Furnace with cousins
John CAMPBELL [1860-1947] of "Crystal Palace" and Archibald
SINCLAIR [1866->1930] of "Fasgaidh" and meeting with the 10th Duke of Argyll
and his sister at Inveraray Castle (coming soon).
- 1931 (age 30) - Emily Helen (Lee) CAMPBELL
Price [1901-1982] of Edmonton, Alberta, visits Scotland and has lunch
at Inveraray Castle with the 10th
Duke of Argyll and his sister on 29 January 1931. In 1970, she will write
The Campbells from Auchindrain; see below.
- 1935 - End of Communal Tenancy. Auchindrain is the very
last township to give up communal tenancy, once the most common
way of holding and working land in Scotland. The last three tenants
assign their shares to Edward (Eddie) McCallum. "Hippie" communes
will be recreated in the 1960's, and one of the most famous is the
Findhorn Foundation in Findhorn,
Moray.
- 1953 - Inveraray Castle is opened to the public by the 10th
Duke of Argyll (22 years before Auchindrain is opened to the public).
- 1963 - Auchindrain's Last Tenant. Retirement of
Edward (Eddie) McCALLUM who cultivated Auchindrain's fields up
to the mid-1950's.
NE OBLIVICARIS
- 1970 - "I want the old pioneers remembered, even those who
aren't kin to me."
Emily Helen (Lee) CAMPBELL
Price [1901-1982] of Vancouver, British Columbia, publishes The Campbells from
Auchindrain (TCFA), a 69-page "manuscript, gigantic letter, or
whatever you want to call it." NB: The complete
text of this document is available from any
Family History Center (FHC) of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).
- 1972 - Fourth Family Visit to Auchindrain & Vicinity -
Extracts from writings by cousin Jean WALLBRIDGE [1912-c1990]
from Edmonton, Alberta, who, guided by
Emily CAMPBELL Price, also visited family sites on Loch Caolisport (coming soon).
- 1975 - Auchindrain
as a Museum. The present Visitor Center was opened in
May 1975 by writer and TV personality Magnus
Magnusson (22 years after Inveraray Castle was opened to the public).
- 1978 - "A Fresh Look at Auchindrain (Site
of the Museum of Farming Life)." - Article based on a lecture by
Miss Marion CAMPBELL of Kilberry, FSA, FSAScot, Argyll
historian whose leadership preserved Auchindrain and turned it into a
museum. This is the single best article about Auchindrian.
- 1979 - "A Farming Township: Auchindrain, Argyll." - Text
of a booklet by Alexander Fenton, Keeper, National Museum of
Antiquities of Scotland (coming soon).
- 1982 - "This was the actual shed that the beasts stayed
in." - Transcript of an interview with Auchindrain Museum curator
Robert W. Smith and my 4th cousin Margaret URQUHART
[c1904-1987] of Furnace during my first visit to Auchindrain 06 Sep
1982 (coming soon).
(3) Auchindrain Today:
- Buildings of Auchindrain. A visitor
centre and about a dozen historic furnished long houses and
barns are open to the public, plus open-air ruins and
museum administrative buildings not op en to the public. This page
describes each of the buildings and recognizable ruins (coming soon).
- Fields of Auchindrain. Seven old in-fields
surround the buildings. None of these has been cultivated since the
1950's, except as small demonstration plots of the museum. This
page describes each of the fields (coming soon) .
- Pastures of Auchindrain. The Auchindrain tenancy
included about 4,000 acres of summer pastureland northwest of the A83
highway where the sites of Auchindrain's shielings and
(according to former curator Robert W. Smith) an illicit still
may still be seen (but are accessable only on foot).
-
Archaeology at Auchindrain. Various studies have been made, but
much remains to be done. Click here to see the description
of a similar project on South Uist (an island in the Outer Hebrides).
- Descendants of Auchindrain. Although Auchindrain never
had more than about a dozen families at any one time, there was turn-
over in its population, and many people are now related to someone who
once lived in Auchindrain. Surnames inc lude Campbell,
McCallum, MacCosham, MacGougan, MacNicol,
Munro, and Sinclair. Some descendants live nearby -- in
Inveraray or Furnace, for example. Many more live elsewhere in
Scotland and in England, Canada, the United States, Australia, South
Africa, and other countries. If you are a descendant of
Auchindrain -- or think you may be -- please send e-mail to GeoVis@erols.com.
- Photographs of Auchindrain taken by Richard D. Huseth of Austin, Texas.
- More
photographs of Auchindrain taken by a group from the University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs (UCCS).
-
Yet more photographs of Auchindrain taken by a group of students
from Beloit College in Wisconsin.
Link to "Folk Museums in Scotland"
Link to "Where to 'See' the Highland Clearances and Diaspora"
Link to Campbell/Jameson Family History
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