Margaret Bain was born on 10 May 1833 at Highfield, Ross-shire. So says her baptismal record and so says her passenger records of her emigration to the Australian colonies, which was confirmation that the Margaret on the Mary Pleasants was the right one! It is time to discover the places and times of Ross-shire in the Highlands of Scotland.
The Highlands of Scotland are a world apart from the lowlands, where Robert Buchan was born in 1834. See later posts for information about their different language, history, culture and industries. In essence the Highlands is an area of northern Scotland defined by its geographical isolation. It is heavily mountainous, with people surviving on its coasts, and along its glens that pierce the mountains often enough.
The Great Glen is a remarkable location on a map of Scotland, extending from Inverness in the east to Fort William in the west. Formed by a geological fault that has the norther part of Scotland moving in a different different direction than the south, ever the way! Rather than a barrier, it was the major transport route into and across the Highlands. The site of Fort William [only built during the Jacobite Wars] was the major place to enter the western isles and western mainland. Inverness was, and still is, the gateway to the Highlands. See later posts on Inverness, and my future travels there.
The Highlands extend well south of the Great Glen, encompassing mountainous regions of the Grampians in the counties of Moray, Nairn, Aberdeenshire, Banff, Perthshire, Stirlingshire, Angus, Argyll, Ayreshire and Bute. Seen as the area within the red dotted line below, historically many areas to the south of even this line were considered the Highlands. Note how narrow the region is as the crow flies - less than 150km across and less than 250km from north to south.
The county of Ross-shire lies to the west of Inverness, in Inverness-shire. Traditionally it was an agricultural county, though industries were to come in the 20th century. Most of the population was in the east, on the rich farm lands of the Black Isle, the most east of all parishes being a separate county called Cromarty. [Cromarty is interesting as the first royal burgh of Scotland, however it was later swallowed up into Ross and Cromarty in 1896].
In the map below, the Black Isle is that peninsula that sits across the water from Nairn. The populated parishes in the east were known as Easter Ross, and the wilder less populated western parishes were known as Wester Ross. The Bains lived in Easter Ross. Inverness-shire is similarly a huge area, most of which was sparsely populated. The Great Glen bisects this county, however most of it is similarly mountainous. The population was centred around the ancient town of Inverness, established in the 12th century. As the place of local government, in all eras, wealth, trades and industries drew people in from the surrounding regions, especially Ross-shire being so close. The Bains too would move to Inverness.
Traditionally, the Clan McBain, or Bain, or Bean, was located along the shores of Loch Ness in Inverness-shire. I have found no links, as yet, to the chiefs of Clan McBain.
Knowing that Alexander Bain and Margaret Chisholm were Margaret's grandparents, parents of her father Alexander, the first location I can find for our family is where this Alexander and Margaret were married in 1796 in Dingwall. Their marriage record in the Dingwall Parish records [OPR Dingwall v062/p237] reads: "Married June 10th 1796 Alexander Bain Servant in Lechin of Blackwells to Margaret Chisholm daughter to the deceased Don Chisholm or Millan."
It is well-known that Highlanders of this time could go by different surnames. "Don Chisholm or Millan." This will require research at the Highland Archives in May this year.
Dingwall is the ancient county town in Ross-shire. It sits at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth, the body of water that forms the northern edge of the Black Isle. It's name is thought to be from the Norse name "Thingvollr" meaning the field of the council and the court of justice. It looks a lot like Norwegian fiords with steep mountains rising on the sides. It was created a royal burgh in 1226 by King Alexander 11. Dingwall Castle is the only castle shown on Matthew Paris' 13th century maps of Scotland, as Castrum Dinkeual. Sadly it no longer stands. Dingwall was a major crossroads for the railway, where lines going west to the Kyle of Lochalsh and north to Wick in Caithness diverged from the main lines from the south.
At the southern edge of Dingwall is Ferintosh, famous as the first legal distillery in Scotland since 1690. In the late 1700s the state was selling more whisky than all of the rest of Scotland as it was not taxed [compensation for loss of Duncan Forbes' distillery during the Glorious Revolution, when he chose to fight on the side of William and Mary]. When this tax-exemption was withdrawn, Robert Burns wrote in 'Scotch Drink': "Thee Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast... ".
Ferintosh is where Alexander and Margaret's first child was born, and where later children were born. Ferintosh Church can be seen on the northern edge of the Black Isle, and this estate was owned by the Forbes family. The distillary business brought may families into the area in the 1700s. Other commentary locates Ferintosh between Dingwall and Maryburgh, due south of Dingwall, and the very bottom of the map can be seen 'Newton of Ferintosh'. Just to the west of this place is 'Muir of Highfield,' part of the Highfield estate where Margaret was born.
Note also the west of Dingwall is Fodderty, where I believe Alexander Bain was probably born.
There is now a Blackwells St in Dingwall - is this where Alexander was a servant in 1796? The parish church of Dingwall, St Clements is not far away. Although not the same building, which was condemned in 1795! The story goes that the church burnt down when Kenneth Bayne was shooting at a pidgeon on the heather thatched roof of the church.The new church was opened in 1803. Where would Alexander and Margaret have married?
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