Lewis Hay & Margaret Watson, Tomintoul, Parish of Kirkmichael, Banffshire.

Possibly @1710 – 1800 (for both – estimates only)

I only know about Lewis Hay and Margaret Watson from the information on their son James Hay’s baptism records. Crunching numbers, they could have been born before 1700 and well into the years following, I estimate and this is a complete guess at best, up to around 1711, give or take. The fact is I have to date no critical evidence that supports a true date of birth for either one of them.

What I do know for certain is that on the 5th of September 1736, their son James Hay was baptised in Tomintoul in the parish of Kirkmichael, in the county of Banffshire.

Did they live in the village? I don’t know. Did they live in one of the outer lying rural tenant areas such as in the valleys connected to Tomintoul? I don’t know. Did they live on one of the surrounding estates as tenants to the larger property owners such as the Grant’s and the Gordon’s? I don’t know.

The closest I’ve been able to get so far is to make a comparison of life in the month that James was baptised with what would have been a neighbour of sorts in Duncan Maclauchlan, a Tacksman, who died aged 111 years. The article does give some insight into what life in the area was for the ordinary people of the time. Strathawin referring to, I suspect the Strathawin valley where Duncan’s family had been tenants on Gordon land for many generations.

Interestingly my research uncovered a common term I was previously unfamiliar with when referring to the tenants of Scots land owned by what were heritable landowners and this was Tacksman. I kept finding this repeatedly in historical newspaper searches referring to different inhabitants of the parishes of Inveraron and Kirkmichael. Specifically when reporting on the success of their crops. Generally turnips, potatoes and grass. A Tacksman was a tenant-farmer of the landowner. Beyond the financial agreement there was also an agreement of loyalty between the Tacksman and the landowner. This relationship went beyond a basic landlord relationship. . The Tacksman himself could have employed his own workers or indeed taken on his own tenants for part of the land he held. These relationships themselves were heritable. So one Tacksman could leave his ‘lease’ if you like to his descendants. These complex relationships were woven into the fabric of everyday clan life and based as much on tradition and mutual beneficence as financial gain. It would be these complex clan based relationships that the English government of the day would concentrate on dismantling as a direct outcome of the Jacobite uprisings. While not the sole reason these uprisings would contribute as a causative factor in the tragedies of the highland clearings that would follow.

Unlike their southern English counterparts, how these families of Scottish nobility came to acquire their landholdings was unique to the highlands and indeed Scotland in general. When Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) became King Robert the first, he rewarded his supporters with heritable lands. Sometimes this was land that had been taken from a previous owner and gifted in appreciation and sometimes this was formalising an existing arrangement on traditional land. For many, being ‘on the side of the Bruce’ would have far reaching financial gain down through the generations. Prior to Robert the Bruce uniting Scotland’s nobility during the Scottish Wars the country had maintained a disjointed, loosely organised series of fiefdom’s that were frequently in bloody conflict. It was this ongoing dissent in agreement that had long made it possible for invaders to rule Scotland through occupation.

Clans that rose to support ‘the Bruce’ who did particularly well out of his successes included the clans of the Campbells, MacDonalds, Erskines, Roses, Mac Millans, Buchanans, & Mackenzies. It was the descendants of these and other successful recipients of the gifting of land, property and titles that would form this revised understanding of Scottish nobility. What should not be underplayed was the extreme risk that a clan took in supporting Bruce during the Scottish Wars. Reprisal was swift and it was precise in its excisement. Clans that supported Bruce took an extreme leap of faith. It was common at the time for some clan leaders to hedge their bets. A sensible and reasonable decision. So a father might not be seen to support the Jacobite cause and for intents and purposes be on the ‘side of the English’. Whereas his son might be ‘Jacobite’. Playing both sides of the coin in many cases was the only way to gamble the outcome. At this point, it is worth noting that not all Hay’s were on the side of the Jacobites.

Fri 14 Sept 1736 The Daily Gazetteer
We learn from Kirkmichael in Strathawin, in the Shire of Banff, that Duncan Maclauchlan, an eminent Farmer in the Lordship of Strathawin, died lately aged 111 years. He has been near 80 years in possession of a farm belonging to the illustrious family of Gordon, the same which his precedents had rented for above 500 years. He was a gentleman of profound natural parts and a primitive simplicity, distinguished for hospitality, temperance and scarce knew of the vices so fashionable in this age, and retained all the faculties of body and mind to the last moment.

If Lewis and Margaret were indeed locals of the area then they belonged to notably small agricultural communities. The wider county of Banffshire was described as a Royal Burgh (land of the kings.) Banffshire had a documented recorded history back to the twelfth century. At this time however the small communities nestled in the hills and valleys in the parishes of Inveravon and Kirkmichael were not yet connected to the seaside communities below. This would not happen for many years yet. The villages remained stubbornly isolated by distance and convoluted access.

One of the uniquely distinctive features of the inhabitants residing in Tomintoul and Kirkmichael, was that well into the eighteenth century, the common language was Scots Gaelic, with particular dialectic evolution specific to the locals. The benefit of geographical isolation preserved a language that was much changed beyond these highland reaches far longer than it might have otherwise. Sadly my understanding is that this ancient language is now extinct in favour of our modern English. Murray, Henry Augustus James:,(1873).The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland )

Everyday folk had smaller holdings made up more of subsistence farming allotments upon which they paid a form of rent for its use. Common agriculture in the area featured the growing of grass for hay and later potatoes and turnips were very popular. Livestock could be moved through for feed among hills and valleys. Prior to the introduction of the more profitable and ground friendly potatoes, oats had long been a primary crop.

A further unique feature of Tomintoul and its surrounds is geographical. As the highest sitting village in Scotland it consistently records extreme winters with snow experienced over longer periods. Trawling through historical newspapers furnished many stories of unsuspecting folk who would be frozen to death in the region. It would not be uncommon in those days for roads in and out of this icy enclave to become challenging if not impossible to pass at different times. I’ve found graphic news reports (of the time ) where a poorly informed man from Perth had tried to bring his cattle through the hills in the winter, lost his herd and his way. Had become frozen by exposure and when he did finally get ‘saved ‘ and was brought into the village, his legs snapped off. He would expire as a result.

Prior to being reconfigured into a modern village Tomintoul and its surrounds had long retained a vibrant and fabulous history. The whole area had been reported as a thriving hive of illegal distilleries, whiskey smuggling and particularly popular with cattle reivers. Little known tracks in and out of the glens enabling people to travel in stealth between the different locations. It was this very advantage that would see the placement of King’s troops in garrisons and lead to the building of soldiers roads through the area, especially during the time of the uprisings.

 6 February 1685 saw the death of the English Protestant king Charles II. Much to the great hope of mdelight of many of the clans of Scotland he was succeeded by his Catholic Stuart brother King James II and VII. This was not well received in England with James quickly being deposed of his crown in 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Queen Mary who like her husband William of Orange, who would become King William, were Protestant. Any initial thoughts that Mary would rule in her own name were quickly quashed as William of Orange became the ruling king. This led to outrage in the highlands of Scotland. The Catholic highlanders believed in the divine right of kings to rule. It would be easy to see how the arrival of William of Orange, basically a foreigner (Dutch) from a staunch and rigid proselytising Protestant background would be threatening to the northern neighbours and their way of life. This unease would lead to the 1689 Jacobite Uprising where the Scottish Catholic highlanders successfully took on English forces at Killiecrankie. Which is not to say the lowlanders of Scotland did not participate on the side of their northern brothers either. Many lowlanders also feared the changes threatened by William of Oranges rule and participated. The planned endeavour was to forcibly remove William and Mary and replace King James II and VII to the throne.

Testimony to the willingness to ‘rise’ was evident in 1690 when a collaborative of the gentlemen of Tomintoul in response to a perceived threat to their independence printed a bond of association.

On the 15th of January 1690 at Tomintoul, twenty gentlemen of standing; in Stradoun and Braemar, headed by John Grant of Ballindalloch fought for James under Dundee of Killiecrankie. A Bond of Association- was signed (which would in six months’ time be produced in Edinburgh to hold the signees guilty)

1. Gordon
2. Gordone
3. Farqrsone
4. Forbes
5. Francis Gordon
6. Frendraught
7. J. Forbes
8. James Farqrsoune
9. Jo Grantt
10. John Farqrsone
11. John Gordone
12. John Grant of Ballnadaloch
13. John McGregor
14. Jonathon Grant
15. K. McKenzie
16. Robert Grant
17. The Farqrsone
18. W. Gordon.
19. W. Grantt
20. William Oliphant

(transcribed verbatim)

Wee vnder subscrivers in testimonie of our loyaltie to our sacred and dread Sovran and for the securities of our friends and good neighbours vous and protests before the Almightie God and on our salvation at the great day to go on secritlye and with all the pour and strength wee have to stike and bid by on another and when any of vs hier vnderscribers shall be stressed or in any wayes molested by anie partie or enime whatsomever wee shall repair to their aid with all our strength and pour and that upon the first call without any further moor or delay and that wee shall never be byesed or broken of of this said association without the consent of his Magesties General and the major part of ourselfs so help us God wee have subscrived thir presents the 15th day of Janvary 90: at Tomintoul.

The men listed in the 1690 Tomintoul testimony were staunch Catholics or as they were referred to then by the opposition “Papists”. 

For the highlanders it was personal. 1559-1560 had seen the introduction of Protestantism via the Reformation to Scotland. Where this history varied in relation to our genealogy is multi-factorial.  The Scottish Highlands would continue to contain staunch Catholic enclaves. The parishes of Inveraron and Kirkmichael and surrounds continued to be in the main such places. The reasons for this provided a framework for understanding common differentiations between lowlanders and highlanders. Distance from the English borderlands being one.  Much further away and more inaccessible than lowland Scotland.  Tightknit, well established clan traditions underpinned the rules of societal life. Highlanders spoke Gaelic over English. Communication for converting clergy in the highlands was much more difficult to achieve. Highlanders had long considered themselves separate insofar that their origins were completely different from the English.  This separateness included Catholicism being one of the symbols of difference and so became a valued characteristic of their identity.

 April 1690 would see the highlanders of Banffshire along with other clans meet with English troops at nearby Cromdale. this would not have the same outcome as Killiecrankie with the English defeating the Jacobite troops. This put an end to the first Jacobite uprising.

It is into this tumultuous time in history that our Lewis Hay and Margaret Watson were born. The impact of these events would have significant changes in their families lives.