54170: Malcolm Macaulay’s testimony

Malcolm Macaulay, 22 Valasay testifies for the prosecution at the trial of the ‘Bernera Rioters’:

Examination-in-chief – I am one of the township constables in Bernera, and I live at Vallasay. It is quite close to Tobson; indeed, Vallasay and Tobson may be said to be one town. I remember meeting James Macrae, the ground-officer, with Maclennan, the sheriff-officer, at Tobson, on the 24th of March last. A little boy came and told me from the ground-officer to meet him, and I went with a lot of other people late in the evening to Tobson. We were all – that is, all the tenants – served with summonses of removing. I afterwards accompanied the officers and Peter Bain, the excise-man to Vallasay. On the moor some young people followed us, and threw clods and other things after us. I was struck on the back, so was Maclennan. He was very angry, and told me that I should find out who had thrown them. I told him that was impossible, as the night was so dark, I could not make them out.

Cross-examination -Before proceeding to the cross-examination, witness stated he would prefer to be examined in the Gaelic language; and accordingly Mr Macleod, keeper of the prison at Stornoway, having been sworn as interpreter, the examination proceeded. It was not at Tobson I and the other tenants were asked to meet the ground-officer, but at a school-house in the centre of the island between Tobson and Croer. I didn’t go to the place appointed, because when I got to Tobson I found what I was wanted for. There were a lot of my neighbours assembled at Tobson when I got there. We were in the centre of the village when the ground-officer with Maclennan and Bain, appeared. They did not come up to the place where we were, but the ground-officer called to us to come where he was seated on a little hill, about 80 or 100 yards from where we were. He called me by name, and as I was a constable I was obliged to go forward. After Maclennan was struck with the clod, he said in Gaelic that if he had his revolver, pistol, or small gun (dag was the word used), he would have shot at the people. The people following us could not hear what was said, being at a distance. When he said he would shoot, I said, "What good would that do you when you would lose your own life?" but he said he didn’t care, as he would throw the contents of the revolver at the people if he had it. The ground-officer said he should be thankful he had no pistol; and I said we should all be thankful he had none. I thought Maclennan spoke as if he meant what he said, he was so very angry. I told Donald Macdonald, Vallasay, of the officer’s threat. I was displeased about the grazings at Earshader being taken from us, and so were all the tenants. We only held these grazings for two years. The place offered us in exchange was not so large or so suitable for our circumstances. A considerable portion of the latter was arable land, which we didn’t want, and which couldn’t easily be divided among so many. What we wanted was to be let alone with our old grazings. We and our forefathers had, long beyond the memory of any living man, the grazings of Cuallin hill until 1872. After our removal to Earshader, we still paid the same rent, though we didn’t get the same value. The hill was converted into a deer-forest when taken from us. When we agreed to that exchange, the ground-officer read a paper to us from the factor, from which I understood we were to keep the grazing as long as we kept our crofts, and we had the promise of our crofts as long s we paid our rents. It was on that understanding we were removed to Earshader. When we had Cuallin hill, we were compelled to repair a dyke between ourselves and the proprietor’s forest. The proprietor paid no portion of the expense, though his deer broke down the dyke as much as our sheep. When any of our sheep trespassed in the forest, as much as 2s.6d and 3s. a-head was charged as a fine. When we went to Earshader, we were compelled to build, at our own expense, a new dyke between the grazing and the shooting-ground. The dyke was six to seven miles long. When we were lately summonsed out of these lands, we were not told we were to get any compensation; but at a meeting after the disturbance, the factor, I believe, was saying we might get something.