Statue in Fort William

There is a prominent statue in Fort William at the North end of the High Street. This is a statue of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, 24th Chief of the Clan Cameron who was Lord Lieutenant of Inverness-shire and also its MP. He was born in 1835 and died in 1905. The inscription on the statue is badly in need of cleaning and repairing and is in places illegible. The statue was erected by his family and clansmen in appreciation of a good man who did much for the area and its people.

"DOMHNALL CAMSHRON LOCHIAL, MACDHOMHNAILL DUIBH, XXIV CEANN-CINNIDH NAN CAMSHRONACH, TOISEACH IS FEAR-TIONAL SIORRACHD INBHIRNIS RE IOMADH BLIADHNA FEAR-IONAID NA SIORRAMACHD ANNS A PHARLAMAID. RUGADH E 1835 CHAOCHAIL E 1906. CHUIR LUCHD-CINNIDH IS CAIRDEAN SUAS AN CARRACH SO AN GEALL AIR AM BAIGH AN SPEIS AGUS AM MEAS AIR AN UASAL URRAMACH"

"Donald Cameron of Lochiel, descendant of Donald Dubh, 24th chief of the Clan Cameron, Lord Lieutenant of Inverness-shire for many years, Member of Parliament. He was born 1835; he died 1906. This monument was erected by clansmen and friends as an acknowledgement of his humanity and his esteem and their respect for the noble gentleman"

MORE ABOUT THE HECTOR

In the previous blog, I talked about the "Hector" which sailed from the village of Ullapool on Loch Broom, Scotland to Pictou, Nova Scotia. The journey which had brought the barest of provisions and was grossly overcrowded set out in July of 1873 at a time when the weather was worsening. As it neared Nova Scotia, the ship and its crew were met by a horrific storm which sent the ship backwards and it took another three weeks to reach Nova Scotia. By this time, mid-September, the winter was setting in and there was little opportunity to start clearing the heavily wooded areas which the settlers found were to be their future farms. If it were not for the help from the native Miq Macq Indians and some earlier settlers who had moved from New England, few if any would have survived. A full scale model of the Hector is on permanent display at Pictou. The photograph shows the "Hector" replica berthed at the special museum pier in Pictou.

THE HECTOR

A ship called the Hector sailed from Loch Broom in the west of Scotland to Nova Scotia in 1773 and landed at Pictou. Among those who sailed from Scotland many perished through hunger, and disease. A considerable number of the passengers were children and of those a high percentage did not survive the storm-bound passage. One of the settlers was Alexander Cameron from Loch Broom, who as a youth, had witnessed the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The area where he settled is called Loch Broom to this day and his descendants are still living in the Pictou area. The picture on the left is of myself with Genevieve Oliver who is a direct descendant of Alexander Cameron. We are standing outside the house which was built by Alexander Cameron after he settled in the area.

ENGAGEMENT

Lochiel & Lady Cecil are delighted to announce the engagement of their eldest daughter, Catherine to Henry Trotter. I am sure we wish the young couple the best of health and happiness in the future.

CULLODEN

I have just had a communication from Colonel Charles Cameron to say that the opening of the revamped centre at Culloden will take place on 16th April 2008. This is of course three days before the annual Memorial Service on Saturday, 19th April. I pass on the information at this juncture so that any one making plans for the 19th might wish to include the 16th. This is a National Trust event and not a Clan Cameron event.

BATTLEFIELDS

Some time ago, I raised the issue of the effect of new electric pylons being sited on the Sherrifmuir Battlefield. This battle which took place in 1715 during the first Jacobite Rising was inconlusive. Such was the chaos on the field that the Camerons actually retreated not through cowardice but because they did not know what was going on. Anyway during the inquiry into the siting of the new power line, an expert revealed that none of our battlefields including Culloden and Falkirk are protected from planning applications. This is a serious matter which affects our historical heritage. It is time that we petitioned the Scottish Government to ensure that those iconic places where the great historic disputes were settled are not built over.

JOHN CAMERON - INVERASDALE

While I was at the Mod, I was fortunate enough to meet Mr & Mrs Hector MacKenzie. Hector was kind enough to give me a copy of a recently published book of Gaelic poetry. The poems were written by John Cameron of Inverasdale who was Hector's uncle. The gaelic poems have a side-by-side English translation. The book is entitled:
Inbhir Asdal nam Buadh Orain agus Dain le Iain Cameron
(The songs of Iain Cameron 1991-1989) The Inverasdale bard.

It is published by Clar and the ISBN is 1 099901 34 X