Durness Parish Register - Part 2

[djct59]

Uamh is Gaelic for "cave", and beag is Gaelic for "small". From the births and marriages listed in the parish register it's clearly somewhere in the central third of the parish, neither west of the Kyle of Durness, nor east of Loch Eriboll. While it's not, as you know, marked on any map online, I would surmise that it was either on the wide expanse of flat land to the south of Smoo Cave, or on the high ground above and to the west of the cave. Interestingly, Smoo does not appear as a township name in the parish register.

[Munro84]

Uamh is Gaelic for "cave", and beag is Gaelic for "small". From the births and marriages listed in the parish register it's clearly somewhere in the central third of the parish, neither west of the Kyle of Durness, nor east of Loch Eriboll. While it's not, as you know, marked on any map online, I would surmise that it was either on the wide expanse of flat land to the south of Smoo Cave, or on the high ground above and to the west of the cave. Interestingly, Smoo does not appear as a township name in the parish register.

Thanks for the Gaelic translations. As it happens on that, I have also located a place on the coast called "Bagh Uamh Dhadhaidh" with nearby "Loch Uamh Dhadhaidh". Could these be the possible location of Uaibeg ? There was apparently once a village there.

See: http://canmore.org.uk/site/86200/bagh-uaigneach
 
and: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-244000-963000/page/1   ("The old fishing village on Bagh Uamh Dhadhaidh (D) is long deserted and a few houses in ruins...."

On the old 1st Edition Six Inch OS Map it appears simply as "Bagh Uaigneach".

It is also very close to where my ancestor who was potentially born there, had her definite first son in Ceannabeinne.

[DonM]

Have you looked here to see if it is mentioned?

http://new.durness.org

Curious - I suspect there is a family connected to this place.  Did they by chance emigrate somewhere in the early 1800's?

Don

[djct59]

Munro84: Given the size of the population of Uaibeg in the late 18th/early 19th century I would safely rule out it being a major township between Rispond and Port Chamill. The soil there would only support a community of a few houses, and evidence suggests Uaibeg was bigger than that. Based upon the geography I ruled out the side of that Loch as the site of a large community; there was also a township at Lochshian barely 400 yards away. From Ceannabeine to Smoo Cave is a matter of some fifteen or twenty minutes on foot.

The best person to ask is teacher/historian Graham Bruce, but I believe he left the village in 2013

[Munro84]

Munro84: Given the size of the population of Uaibeg in the late 18th/early 19th century I would safely rule out it being a major township between Rispond and Port Chamill. The soil there would only support a community of a few houses, and evidence suggests Uaibeg was bigger than that. Based upon the geography I ruled out the side of that Loch as the site of a large community; there was also a township at Lochshian barely 400 yards away. From Ceannabeine to Smoo Cave is a matter of some fifteen or twenty minutes on foot.

The best person to ask is teacher/historian Graham Bruce, but I believe he left the village in 2013

Hang on just a minute, according to your previous post above you ruled out that it was: "neither west of the Kyle of Durness, nor east of Loch Eriboll" - and the place I have identified complies with that. As for ruling it out as a major township, yes I would agree with that - the 1st Edition Six Inch OS Map shows only two houses there and that is from the mid-19th century.

[djct59]

Sorry, maybe I didn't make this clear.

I started by ruling out anywhere on the Parph (Capeside) and anywhere on the West Moine  (west of Eriboll). That still left a fairly large area.

Next I looked at the village records to see from the number of births whether this was likely to be a large or a small township, and concluded it was likely to be one of the larger ones. Based upon that, I therefore ruled  out  Bagh Uamh Dhadhaidh as too small to have had a community with this number of births and marriages.

Thirdly, I looked to see if the term "Smoo", now used for the cave, appears as a township name. It doesn't.

Having been there last week it is clear that the area around the cave was occupied and cultivated over 200 years ago, and remains populated to the present day.

My conclusion was therefore that the area uphill of Smoo was a more plausible situation for this township. Finally, I looked at the marriage records. These disclose that the community had its own weaver (Richard MacKay, married 29th March 1798) and that most marriages were to persons living in the more central townships (Balnakeil,Cnockbreac, Balvoolich). That's not wholly conclusive, as Richard's wife was from Achiemore on the Capeside, but my conclusion remains that the most plausible site for this settlement is in the vicinity of Smoo Cave

[aspin]

I posted part of  this a long time ago but still not sure of the couple

John Sutherland M Isabella Campbell When and where
Had one daughter that I know of she is my 3rd grt grandmother
Margaret born1791 d 10.8.1876 Helmsdale M ( 1 .4.1811 )
to James Gordon b 1778 Helmsdale d 3.11.1876
both died at Gartymore
Would like to get more family to John and Isabella if possible
Elizabeth

[djct59]

Unfortunately, there is no listing for a marriage of a John Sutherland and an Isabella Campbell anywhere in the County of Sutherland between 1775 and 1790

[aspin]

Thank you so much for your quick reply
Looks like I will have to keep searching
Elizabeth