FOLK LORE - Melness

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RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE REAY COUNTRY

AFTER THE REFORMATION.

BY REV. J. S. MACKAY, FORT - AUGUSTUS.

CHAPTER II.

THE first minister, so far as can be ascertained, who was settled on this
coast, was Mr. Alexander Munro, who was ordained and inducted to the charge
of Durness. He was a native of the burgh of Inverness, and the son of a
dyer. When a young man, he had the privilege of hearing the celebrated Mr.
Robert Bruce of Edinburgh, who was confined for a time, by King James VI.,
to Inverness. The crowds that attended on Mr. Bruce's ministry while there
were immense. People came in great numbers from Nairnshire and Ross-shire,
and even from Sutherlandshire. It was by no means uncommon for people from
Golspie and the districts around to walk all the way to Inverness, and to
consider their labour and fatigue abundantly repaid if only they got within
hearing of Mr. Bruce on the Sabbath. The Earl and Countess of Sutherland
went there, and remained for a month under his ministry, and reaped
therefrom the, salvation of their souls. Mr. Alexander Munro was also
converted under Mr. Bruce's ministry, He gave early evidence of the reality
of the great change he underwent, by living a life of earnest and close
communion with God. On

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one occasion, while thus intensely exercised, he thought he heard, as it
were, a voice urging him to devote himself to the Lord's service in the
work of the ministry. On reflection, he attributed this impression to some
vain imagination of his own heart, as he knew himself to be altogether
unqualified, and thought himself unsuited for such an office. For a time he
managed to drive the idea from his mind. But again, on two different
occasions, the impression returned that he heard a voice in imploring tones
urging him to devote himself to the ministry of the gospel. On the last of
these occasions he was led to understand that the sphere of his labours was
to be Durness in the Reay country. Regarding all this as a call from the
Lord, he could no longer decline. He entered the University of Aberdeen;
made very rapid progress in all his studies, and was ultimately licensed to
preach the gospel. Soon therefore the way was opened up for his coming to
Durness, and he was ordained and inducted into the charge of that parish.
Whether he was preceded there by any other settled minister it is difficult
to say; but there is a probability that the congregation was gathered and
formed into a Presbyterian charge before his induction. The date of his
ordination is not recorded. He died in 1643. But as Mr. Bruce was in
Inverness about 1605, and as Mr. Munro's family were grown up and some of
them married before his decease, his induction must have taken place in the
early years of the century, or some fifty years after the establishment of
the Reformation under Knox.
On his induction to the charge of Durness, he soon discovered that the
ignorance of the people was the chief barrier to his usefulness and success
in the work intrusted to him. To remedy this, he set about the cultivation
of the

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poetic talent, of which he had a considerable share. He versified large
portions of Scripture in Gaelic; and composed hymns descriptive of
creation, the fall, and the work of redemption, etc. He gave these to the
people, who sang them together at their winter evening gatherings and at
their work during other seasons. He thus inaugurated a mode of instruction
which was afterwards effectually followed up by others, - notably by Mr.
John Mackay, tacksman of Taobhbeg, Mudale, at the head of Strathnaver. It
was hearing the Mackay Fencibles recite Mackay of Mudale's hymns that first
suggested to Dugald Buchanan the composition of his own very beautiful
Gaelic poems.

The Lord very graciously countenanced Mr. Munro's labours in the ministry,
and made him the honoured means whereby a large harvest of souls was
gathered in to Christ. Notices of this appear in the then Presbytery
Records of Dingwall, or of Ross. The blessing bestowed upon Durness under
his ministry extended in some measure to neighbouring districts. His hymns
were sung in all of them, and long after his decease were known as
"Laoidhean Mhaighstir Alasdair," - Mr. Alexander's Hymns. It would thus
appear that God was pleased to make use of human hymns in this instance, as
He did of those of Luther, for the diffusion of gospel truths among a
people who were uneducated and who had not the written Word; and through
them gave instruction, guidance, comfort, and encouragement to multitudes
of His people. Highlanders of those days did not esteem human hymns to be
the objectionable and awfully corrupting things they are now supposed to
be.

Mr. Munro was evidently held in high esteem among his people, and must have
enjoyed the same among county

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families, inasmuch as his daughter Christina married Mr. John Mackay of
Achness in Strathnaver. This Mr. Mackay became afterwards Captain of the
Clan Mackay, and went by the complimentary title of "Lord John," and she by
that of "Baintighearna Cursty," i e. Lady Christian. He too who was Bishop
of Caithness during the ascendency of Prelacy in the period immediately
following Mr. Munro's death, esteemed the influence of his piety to be so
great among the people, that he thought it would be a great gain to Prelacy
if he could succeed in getting his son, the Rev. Hugh Munro, over to
Episcopacy, and made rector of Durness. In this he succeeded, but found
afterwards that Mr. Hugh, who was really a good man, made but an
indifferent prelatist, as is seen from notices in the records of the
Bishopric of Caithness.
Towards the close of Mr. Alexander Munro's ministry at Durness, Mr. George
Squair became minister of Edderachilis and Kinlochbervie. It cannot now he
ascertained what provision was made for him in the way of temporalities.
After the Reformation, the lairds and great men of the period laid hold of
all the Church lands they could get within their power. These and other
possessions of the Church were taken by some at an earlier, and by others
at a later period. The extensive possessions of the Church in Assynt were
not taken possession of by the family there until after the death of the
last Episcopal minister, a Mr. Gray. He died shortly before the ordination
of Mr. Scobie, the first Presbyterian minister of Assynt after the
Revolution Settlement. But whatever the means may have been whereby Mr.
Squair was supported, he was appointed as colleague to Mr. Munro at the
time mentioned. He was a man of God, faithful in all

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that related to his office, and the Lord set His seal very manifestly upon
his ministry.

Mr. Munro, as noticed before, died in 1643 A.D., and so escaped the times
of persecution. Not so Mr. Squair. He experienced great hardships and had
narrow escapes during that bloody period, that has so stamped prelacy with
indelible disgrace. After labouring successfully and in peace for many
years in his charge, he was at last pounced upon, and hunted over mountain
and glen, because of his faithfulness to Presbyterianism, and to the cause
of the covenanted Reformation in Scotland. He was at this time the only
Presbyterian minister in the Reay country. Though thus alone, and in the
midst of many dangers, he nevertheless resolved on administering the Lord's
Supper to as many of the faithful among his people as would venture on
meeting with him. To do so was considered a greater crime than holding
conventicles or maintaining field - preachings. He therefore went about it
very quietly and cautiously, and took council with a few godly followers as
to where and when it should be observed. There are two places in the parish
where the people were wont to assemble for this purpose, -one in
Edderachilis proper, named "Larach nam Bord," at "Airidh nan Cruithneach,"
above Scourie; the other on the march between Oldshoremore and Drumnaguy,
in Oldshorebeg, at a spot between Captain Mackay's house and the rising
ground to the north. These places, however, were not considered in the
circumstances safe from interruption. They chose, therefore, a more
secluded spot in the neighbourhood of Rhicoinich, at the head of Loch
Inchard, and between the little hamlet and Loch Garbad. When the spot was
fixed upon, the few with whom he took counsel

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were enjoined to exercise the greatest prudence in diffusing the
information, but to give to such as they might confide in an opportunity of
being present. On the Sabbath appointed they assembled to the number of
five score. These were the more devout and faithful in all the hamlets of
Edderachilis and Kinlochbervie. They approached the place as if by stealth,
with feelings greatly agitated, but with hearts rising in earnest
supplications that the Lord might grant them His protection and gracious
presence. When they came to the place, they found themselves in the centre
of a glade overgrown with birchwood, and sheltered by wild and beetling
rocks. The pulpit desk was a birch tree, sawn off at a considerable height,
and the tables were formed of turf covered with green smooth sod. The
service was opened with singing and prayer, and after reading and a short
exposition, and again singing, Mr. Squair took for his text the words of
Thomas when delivered from his unbelief, "My Lord, and my God." The whole
service was a memorable one. The Lord was the "shield and the exceeding
great reward" of His people that day. Not only was there no interruption of
the service, but all there felt so much of the Lord's presence, and their
bonds were so loosened, and their fears so dispelled, that all, without a
single exception, felt constrained to say with Thomas, "My Lord, and my
God," and without