Neil Ban (Secundus) Maclean

From 'The Macleans of Boreray', 1946, p.29-30:

Neil Ban, 7th of Boreray, was involved in the wars of Montrose. In April 1646, when the King surrendered to the Scottish Army at Newark, and ordered Montrose to disband his forces, the Macdonalds of Sky and Uist returned to their homes. On 12 August 1648, Sir James Macdonald made terms with the Committee of Estates for himself and his principal followers who had taken part in the late insurrection, Major General Middleton, in pursuance of the powers given to him by Parliament, gave an assurance to Sir James and his friends that he and they 'sall be free of all censure, pain or punishment, in thair lyffes or fortunes for anie deid done by thame, or anie of thame, in the late rebellion'. Sir James's friends and followers who had been conspicuous in the late rebellion were Donald Macdonald of Castleton (brother of Sir James), Donald Macdonald of Arnishmore, Angus Macdonald of Sartill, Neil Maclean of Boreray, Ranald Macdonald of Barrick, Somerled MacNicol of Dreemyl, Alexander Macdonald of Skirinish, and Kenneth Macqueen of Orinsay (Clan Donald, Vol II, p.781, and Vol III, p.60)

From 'The Macleans of Boreray' 1946, pages 7 to 17:

The tacks (leases) of 1626 and 1712 are given below with commentary, for they describe Boreray and the life of North Uist in those times:

TACK BY SIR DONALD MACDONALD OF SLEAT IN FAVOUR OF
NEIL MACLEAN OF BORERAY 1626.

Be it kend till all men be thir present letters Me, Sir Donald Macdonald
of Slaitt Knicht To have sett and in tak and assedatione lattin and be
the tenor hereof settis and in tak and assedatione for the maill and dewtie
underwrittin lattis to Neill Maclaine sone lauchfull to Donald Maclaine in
Ust for all the dayes of his lyf-tyme and after his deceise to his nearest
and lauchful airis and assigneis quhatsumever for all the dayes space
. yeiris and terms of twentie ane yeiris of all and haill my aucht pennyland
of Burray and ane pennyland in Solas with partes, pendicles and
pertinentis thereof, lyand in North Ust, within the Lordship of the Iyles
and Shereffdome of Innernes, togiddir with the teynd scheaves and uthir
teynds, baith personage and vicarage of the lands above writtin with the
pertinentis, Togidder also with the office of baillerie of the Loches of North
Ust the sd Neill his duteis thereof quhilk sall begvn at the terme of
Whitsonday nixt immedetlie following the deceis of the said Donald
Macleane quhilk sall happin at the plesur of God, and fra thyns furth to
endure, and the saids lands with the teynds thereof and office of bailiarie
of the saids loches to be peaceablie bruikit joyit and possest be the said
Neill and his forsaidis, as the saids landis and utheris for saidis Iyes in
the lenth and breadth with howsis, biggingis, mossis, mures, fields,
pasturage, leasses, commoun pasture frie ische and entrie and with all
and sundrie uses commodities, friedomes, easements, liberties
priveledges, and righteous pertinentis quhatsumever perteining thairto'
and the same are presentlie possest and bruikit be the said Donald
Maclaine, freelie, quietlie, weill and in peace, but ony revocatione
obstacle, impediment, or agane calling quhatsumever Pay and therefor
yeirlie the said Neill during all the dayes of his lyfetime, and after his
deceis his airis and assigneis or charmerlane or factor in our names during
the said space the sowme of Forty punds monie of this realrne with ten
bollis bere of the countrie mett and ten merkes of teynd dewtie togidder
also with the Kingis Majesties Maills and taxationes yeirlie at Mertinmas
in Winter beginning the first yeiris payment thereof at the feist of
Mertinmas after the deceis of his said father and suae furth to continue
during the haill yeiris tyme and space of this present tak, and also the
said Neill and his forsaids do and service to me baith by sea and land
according to use and want, and answer unto my courts and keep and his
Majties peace as becomes, and quhilk he is subject and obleist be dewtie
to doe. And I forsuith the said Sir Donald my airis and assigneis this
pnt tack and assedatione in all and be all thingis as is above exprest during
the space foresaid sall warrand acquyet and defend to the said Neill and
his foresaidis against all deidlee as law will, but fraud or gyl provydmg
always that this present warrandice of the teyndis of the said lands sall
only be extendit during the space and yeiris that I sall have right to the
samyn teyndis standing in the persone of me and my foresaids sua that
gif the richt of the said teyndis sall expire befor the outrunning of the
present tak in that caice I sail not be subject in warrandice of the said
teyndis thereof, and for the mair securitie I and als the said Neill in
tacking of his obleisment to me in manner above writtin are content and
consentis thir presents be insert and registrat in the buiks of Counsell and
sessione or Sheriff-court buiks of Inverness to have the strenth of ane
decreit of ather of the judges thereof that excells on horning on ane
simple charge of fyftene dayes allanerlie and uthers neidful maybe direct
in forme as effeiris and constitutes Mr James Nisbett Advocat our lawfull
procurator promittem de rato. In witnes whereof written be Johne
Gilbert Servitor to Rot Kirkwood Wryter to his Majesties Signet I and
als the said Neill has subt thir pnts with our hands at Edr the seventene
days of Merche the yeir of God jm vie and twentie six yeiris. Before thir
witness Alexander Rae Measone, Neil Macffingon messrs with diverse
utheris.

SIR. DONALD MAC DONALD OF SLEAT
NEILL MCFFINGON MESSRE Witness
ALE RAE MEASOUN Witness

The tacks of the early years of the 17th century were often for more
lengthened periods. Sometimes they were for three lives and three
nineteens, and this was the most favoured type of tack among the chiefs
and gentry of the Isles, and of this class was the 1712 lease granted on
13th August, 1712, by Sir Donald Macdonald, fourth Baronet of Sleat,
to Archibald MacLean, ninth of Boreray, "for certain gratitude and
pleasure and good deeds paid and done." To this lease Sir Alexander
Macdonald, seventh Baronet, in 1734, added a fourth life (Clan Donald,
Vol. Ill, p. 135).


The following reference is made to this tack in the Old Statistical
Account, in 1794. "A league to the northarrd of North Uist lies Boreray,
a fertile island, a mile and a half long and half a mile broad. It is
presently possessed by a gentleman of the name of MacLean, whose
predecessors have been in possession of it for several generations back,
one of whom, for services done to the family of Macdonald, obtained, for
the small yearly rent of £12 Sterling, a very long lease of it, 57 years of
which are to run after the present possessor's demise" (Old Statistical
Account, Vol. XIII, pp. 303-4).

Although we have given the full text of the 1626 lease, the terms of
the lease of 1712 are of sufficient material difference and interest to justify
a reproduction of it also, and this we do from a certified copy, extracted
in 1790 from "the records of his Majesty's General Register House," by
Alexander Menzies, "one of the Principall Clerks of Session having
Commission for that Effect from the Lord Clerk register."

At EDINBURGH the Sixth day of October One thousand seven hundred
and twenty two years In presence of the Lords of Councill and Session
Compeared Messrs Mathew McKell and Alexander Stevenson Advocates
and Procurators for the parties after named and designed and Gave in the
Tack under written desiring the same might be insert, and registrate in
their Lops Books in manner and to the effect therein mentioned which
desire the saids Lords found reasonable and ordained the same to be done
Accordingly whereof the tenor follows BE IT KNOWN to all men by their
present Letters me Sir Donald McDonald of Sleat Knight Baronet heretable
proprietor of the Lands and others underwritten for certain Gratitudes and
pleasures and good Deeds payet and Done to me by Archibald McLean of
Barorary and for diverse other respectes Onerous Causes and considera-
tions moving me hereto THEREFORE to have sett in rentall Tack and
assedation letten and by thir presents Settes in rentall tack and assedation
Letts for the maile farme and Duty underwritten to the said Archibald
MacLean for all the days of his own lifetime and to his assigneys and sub-
tenants of no higher degree than himself during the said space and after
his decease to his heirs male which failling to his heire male next of lynn
duely served and retoured as to him for all Days space and years of his
lifetime and to his assigneys and Subtenants during the said space and
after the decease of said heir to that heir his heir male which failling as
said is and his assigneys and Subtenants for all the Days of his lifetime
Together also for the Space of three nineteen years next and Immediately
following the Expiration of the said liferents to their succeeding successors
fynally one after another ALL and Haill the Eight penny Lands of Baroray
and the penny Lands of Sollos witli the Island of Lingay adjacent thereto
AND ALL and Haill the Lands of Meikle and Little Grimsayes with the Isle
called Island Yirr and all the other Smaller Islands belonging thereto and
as presently possessed by the said Archibald MacLean with all and Sundry
houses biggings mosses muirs meadows Sheallings pasturages annexis
connexis parts pendicles and pertinents thereof as well by sea as by Land
not named as named together also with the Just and equall half of the
multure and Dutys of the miln of Lochgarine all lying within the Barony
of Northeust and Sheriffdome of Inverness together also with the office of
Balliary of the haill Loches of North euist And also the equall half of the
ammerciaments of Court of the tenements and servants of the said
Archibald McLean and his forsaids dwelling upon the said Lands Together
also with the thrie Shearing Days work yearly in harvest and three days
of threshing in winter of each one of my Tennants of my twenty penny
Lands of Sand lying within the said Barrony during the haill space
respectively above Specified. And the entry of the above Archibald
Macklean and his foresaids, is hereby Declared to begin after the
expiration of the old former right and tack Granted by the deceast Sir
Donald Mackdonald of Sleat my Great grandfather to the deceast Neil
MacLean of Barroray dated the (seventeenth) day of (March 1626) years
in his option of the date of thir presents the one but prejudice to the other
and so furth to Continue the possession of the said Lands offices and others
above specified to the peaceable bruiked joyed occupied laboured intro-
mitted with used and disponed upon by the said Archibald MacLean and
his foresaids and the said multure and Services to be received and Intro-
mitted with by them yearly during the space of the liferents above
specified and the Continuation of the space and years of three ninteen
years following after the foresaid lifetimes expiration And ay and while
the said Spaces and terms be fully and compleatly expired and runn by
all rights and marches of the said Lands Isles and others above mentioned
as the same lyes in length and Breadth in houses biggings mosses muirs
pasturage Commontys with free ish and entry and all and Sundry other
Commoditys liberties freedoms and righteous pertinents whatsomever
pertaining and belonging to the said Lands isles offices and others above
written freely quietly well and peace but any revocation or again Calling
whatsoever. And I the said Sir Donald McDonald for me my heirs and
successors do hereby Confirm Ratify and approve the foresaid Old former
Tack in the haill heads articles and Clause thereof during the haill space
therein Contained. And it is hereby declared that the renewing of the
former and Continuation of this Present Tack or the accepting of double
rights and Entry thereto or possession thereupon Shall in noways inferr
any Innovation or confussion of rights but that it shall be lawfull and
Leisome to the said Archibald McLean and his foresaids Linally and
Successively one after another to bruik and possess the said Lands Isles
Offices and others above specified by either of the said rights either
conjunctly or severally and to asure their possessions to either of them
the one but prejudice of the other at their option And I bind and oblige
me and my foresaids to warrand acquitt and Defend their presents in the
haill heads and articles respectively above specified Sicklike and as freely
in all and by all things as is above exprest and that at all hands and against
all deadly as law will For the which Cause The said Archibald MacLean
Binds and obliges him and his heirs and successors to Content and pay to
me the said Sir Donald or my heirs or Assigneys yearly the sum of fiftysix
pounds scots money, ten Bolls bear seed of the country meatt and seven
bolls and three merks money foresaid of tiends And that at the terms of
payment underwritten vizt. The silver Duty at the feast and term of
Martinmas and the said ten Bolls bear seed and the Seven Bolls and three
merks tiends betwixt the terms of Christenmass and Candlemass and
thereafter and so forth yearly to Continue during the haill Space
respectively above Specified together with the Kings maile due for the
said lands above written, and to relieve me and my foresaids of all
taxations public burdens and Impositions Imposed or to be Imposed upon
the said Lands during the said haill space And sicklike the said Archibald
McLean and his foresaids giving to me and my foresaids Service both by
sea. and Land Conform to use and wont and he and his foresaids bound to
answer to the Courts to be holden by me or my successors or our Deputts
and keeping his majestys peace as becomes And it is hereby Declared
that the foresaid seven Bolls and three merks of tiends payable yearly by
the said Archibald McLean and his foresaids is in full Satisfaction of all
and what others I could seek or crave of him or his foersaids do hereby
authorize and Impower the said Archibald McLean and his foresaids to
exact and uptake from their subtenants of the saids Lands the personage
or viccarage tiends or otherwayes as they think and I oblige me and my
foresaids never to quarrell or Impung the same And finally I oblige me
and my foresaids to extend their presents ay and while the said Archibald
McLean and his foresaids find themselves fully and sufficiently secured of
and Concerning all and Sundry the premisses And for more Security I
am Content and Consent thir presents be insert and registred in the books
of Councill and Session or any others Indicatore books Competent that
the strength of ane diet of either the Judges thereof be Interponed thereto
And letters of horning and other Executions necessary may pass hereupon
inform as effiers and Constitutes Messrs Mathew McKell and Alexander
Stevenson, advocates my Prors In witness whereof written by Daniel
Mackinnon writter in Sleat I have subscribed thir presents, AT
ARMIDALE, the thirteen day of August One Thousand Seven Hundred and
twelve years Before these witnesses David Ross my servitor and the said
Daniel McKinnon,

DAVID Ross, Witness
DA MACKINNON, Witness.
Signed D. MACKDONALD,
ARCHD McLEAN.

These two Boreray leases are a fair example, not only of the quaint
phraseology used in legal documents three or four centuries ago, but also
of the curious indifference shown towards a uniformity in orthography.
This is especially noticeable in the various modes of spelling the surname
of the same person or family. In this connection it will be observed that
the names of the two principals to these two deeds alone, diversify-
Macdonald is spelled in three different ways, while MacLean is written in
no less than five forms.

The Boreray Tack was the most extensive in North Uist, but the
various farms and pendicles were far apart. It extended in cumulo to a
total bounded area of approximately 8000 acres, detailed in round figures
as follows:--
Boreray and Lingay Islands, including foreshore, &c.-
.Land, 629.068 acres; water, 35.828; foreshore,
184.013 ... ... ... ... ... 849 acres
Peighinn Boreray ... ... ... ... ... 551 ,,


. Old Solas and Havisgeary ... ... ... ... 1000 acres
Grimsay with islands attached (comprising the farm of
Kallin, the townships of Gearadubh, Ardna-
struban, Rhudubh, Sgotpheighinn, Ceannairidh,
and islands) ... ... ... ... ... 4540 ,,
Claddach Carinish, Coilternish, Eilean-a-Ghiorr and
Eilean Leathann, &c. ... ... ... ... 1060 ,,
Total ... ... 8000 ,,

Sollas and Havisgeary were subsequently occupied separately by a
branch of the family up to about 1798, when the Sollas main branch of
Boreray seems to have disappeared from North Uist so far as can be
traced.

The MacLeans of Boreray had two principal residences-one at
Boreray, the site of which is to be seen a little to the north of an ancient
burial-ground known as Cladh-na-Manach. The late Dr Erskine
Beveridge, of Vallay, says of it at page 54 of North Uist: "The site of
the mansion-house and garden occupied by the MacLean family is still
shown immediately to the North of Cladh-na-Manach." At an earlier
period there was a Fort at the South-West end of the island, known as
"An Caisteil," the Castle, situated on a knoll known as " Cnoc-a'-
Chaisteil." Dr Beveridge refers to this site also in his book, at page 226,
as follows: " Cnoc-a'-Chaisteil, or 'hillock of the Castle' upon the
island of Boreray, about twenty yards from its south-west shore, seems to
have been occupied by a promontory-fort of the simpler type so common
throughout the Western Isles. This site has evidently served as a quarry,
with the result that no remains are traceable except the indistinct
foundations of a wall apparently 4 feet thick, enclosing a somewhat
circular space about 60 feet in diameter. Massive rock shows within its
centre slightly above the general surface."

MacLean's other residence was at Seanabhaile, Kallin, Grimsay,
situated midway between Kallin Bay and Rudha Mhicheil. The house at
Seanabhaile was about two hundred years ago replaced by one built at
Kallin Bay.

In the time of the MacLeans of Boreray there was a landing jetty
built of massive stone blocks and slabs at the north end of Traigh-na-luib,
a sandy beach on the east-side of Boreray, but it was only serviceable at
full, or half, tide. When the tides were unsuitable the ferry-boats
grounded, a long way out from the shore, so that passengers and goods
had to be carried ashore on the backs of waders, or sometimes by cart.
After the MacLean family removed from Boreray to Drimnin, an Estate
in Morven, purchased about 1810 by John MacLean, thirteenth of
Boreray, from Alexander Macdonald, tenth of Glenalladale, the jetty was
allowed to fall into a state of hopeless disrepair. The stones, hurled out
of position during violent storms, not having been replaced at once, got
scattered by the devastating onslaught of the steep Atlantic billows
charging in from Caolis Spúr, and disappeared in a very short time in the
constantly swirling sands. There has thus been no proper landing slip in
Boreray for many years, and the Islanders have had to ship and land at
various points according to weather and tidal conditions. There is,
however, an excellent anchorage at the neighbouring island of Lingay,
where boats up to eighty tons, or so, find safe harbourage from all east
and south winds, and partially from the west, but if the wind is from a
northerly, or a north westerly, direction the anchorage is unsafe even in
calm weather, owing to the heavy swell coming in from the Atlantic, and
if at the same time there is anything of a breeze blowing it is untenable.
It is here that the kelp vessels loaded the kelp produced by the Islanders,
who ferried it with small boats-and arduous work it was.

Not far from this anchorage lay a small sandy islet called '' Eilean-
nan-Uan," that is "lambs island." It was reputed to have had good
rich grazing, and was used as a park for lambs, after they were weaned.
One night, during a storm of unprecedented violence, accompanied by an
abnormally high tide, it was completely swept away, the only evidence of
its ever having existed being a sandbank, still known as " Oitir-nan-Uan."
It may have been, and probably was, the destructive storm recorded in,
or about, 1540. Several such hurricanes which washed away much of
the sandy belt stretching along the western seaboard of the Outer Hebrides
are recorded, and following these the valued rental of North Uist was
officially reduced-probably of other Hebridean Estates as well. One
such catastrophy occurred about 1540, and the reduction of rental by two
or three merklands as a result is given in the Exchequer Rolls, Vol. XVII,
p. 557, under date 3 August, 1542 (North Uist, p. vi).

Under a Land Settlement Scheme of the Department of Agriculture
for Scotland, in 1922, the people of Boreray with the exception of one
family renounced their holdings and migrated to various localities on the
adjoining farms of Newton, Clachan, Cheesebay, and Blaiseval, on the
main island of North Uist; so that where there were in our own time
thirty, or so, families in fairly comfortable circumstances, there remains
to-day but one resident tenant, and he, it is interesting to note, is a
MacLean of the old stock.

In the centre of Boreray there is a loch called Lochmòr extending,
according to the survey of 1878, to over thirty-four acres. The level of
this loch is kept down by drainage through a lengthy, well built, stone
culvert of sufficient dimensions to permit of a man of average size to creep
through. This drain runs westwards beneath a great bank of heavy
shingle rolled up by the mighty waves of the Atlantic in the course of
centuries. The outlet discharges into a rift in a rocky bight on the west
side of the island. Owing to the liability of the outlet to get choked up
bv heavy casts of seaweed,- chiefly Laminaria digitata and Stenophila,
which are difficult to handle - during Spring tides and storms, the labour
of keeping it clear and free running proved too heavy a tax on the reduced
man power of the island community, so that some of the crofts were liable
to flooding. Martin Martin, who visited Boreray in 1697, in his
Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, first published in 1703, says
with reference to this outlet, at page 68 : "In the middle of this Island,
there is a. fresh water Lake, well stock'd with very big Eels, some of them
as long as Cod, or Ling-fish; there is a passage under the Stony Ground,
which is between the Sea and the Lake, through which it's suppos'd Eels
come in with the Spring Tides; one of the Inhabitants called Mick-Vanish,
i.e. Monk's son, had the curiosity to creep naked through this passage."

With regard to the neighbouring island of Lingay, Martin writes:
"It is singular in respect of all the Lands of Uist and the other Islands
that surround it, for they are all composed of Sand, and this on the
contrary, is altogether Moss covered with Heath, affording five Peats in
depth, and is very serviceable and useful, furnishing the Island Boreray
&c. with Plenty of good Fuel: This Island was held as Consecrated for
several Ages, in so much that the Natives would not then presume to cut
any Fuel in it." There was consecrated ground in Boreray also, on its
side nearest to Lingay, and in that area there was an ancient burial ground
called Cladh-na-Manach, the Monks burial ground. Of it Martin says,
at page 68: " The Burial place near the houses, is called the Monk's
Field, for all the Monks that dyed in the Islands that lye Northward from
Egg, were buried in this little Plot, each Grave hath a Stone at both ends,
some of which are 3 and others 4 Foot high. There are big Stones
without the Burial place even with the Ground, several of them have little
Vacuities in them as if made by Art; the Tradition is that these vacuities
were dug for receiving the Monks Knees when they prayed upon 'em."
In this burial ground were interred, according to tradition, the bodies
of a large number of Spaniards who were drowned when their ship, one
of the Great Armada scattered by Drake and the elements, in 1588, was
wrecked. We are told that the ship had got separated from a consort
fugitive during a north easterly gale among the Harris islands. Striking
a reef near Pabbay the ship was badly damaged, and driving before the
storm towards the Sound of Boreray, in a sinking condition, it foundered
off the Point of Vosinish, at the west end of Bernera. The wreck was
gradually swallowed up in the shifting sands, the poop and most of the
deck works and spars, &c., came ashore at a Bay known ever since as
"Port-an-Long " (Ship's Bay), east of Rudha-na-h' Iulain, at Suénish,
opposite Vosinish. For centuries the resting place of the hull, from which
a luxuriant crop of seaweed grew, was clearly outlined against the white
sand, in which it lay embedded, and is in fact still discernible at low
Spring tides. This shipwreck no doubt accounts for the presence of
Spanish coins found at various times at Boreray, Caolis Bhailemhicphaill,
and Bernera.

MacLean of Boreray occupied a high position among the leading
families of the Hebrides and West Highlands, and was entitled to keep
a ten oared birlinn, or galley, as a mark of his rank. This large galley
was docked for safety in a wonderful natural harbour, west of Rudha
Mhicheil, near his residence at Kallin, Grimsay, known to this day as
" Bagh-na-deich ramhich," i.e., " Bay of the ten oared." It is a
beautiful creek, so well sheltered and screened that the galley must have
been almost entirely hid from sea and land. To the east of this creek,
it may be noted, there is - near the tip of the promontory of Rudha
Mhicheil - the site, with some of the masonry still to be seen, of a very
old Chapel called Teampull-nan-Ceall, dedicated to St Michael, hence
the name of the promontory. This Chapel has been minutely described,
and discussed at length, by Captain F. W. L. Thomas, R.N., in
Archceologia Scotica, Volume V, page 244; by Dr Alexander Carmichael
in the Proceedings of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, Volume VIII,
p. 276; and by Dr Erskine Beveridge in his book, North Uist, pp. 279-280.
The old burial-ground of the MacLeans of Boreray is at Hamaran,
on the east side of the headland of Ardabhorrain, and the enclosed tomb
there is known as " Caibal Bhoiraidh." The last of the family to be
buried therein was John MacLean, thirteenth of Boreray, who died on the
3rd April, 1821, at Drimnin, Morven, whose remains were interred there
with those of his ancestors. A memorial tablet was erected in the tomb
in 1865, by his eldest son, Donald, fourteenth of Boreray, the inscription
on which is as follows :-

''IN MEMORY OF
JOHN MACLEAN, ESQRE
OF BORERAY
WHO DIED ON THE 3RD DAY OF APRIL, 1821,
IN THE 63RD YEAR OF HIS AGE,
AND WHOSE REMAINS WERE LAID
IN THIS PLACE WITH THOSE
OF HIS ANCESTORS."