Kilbeg Village Master Plan

Construction work began this week on the first planned village for over 100 years on the Isle of Skye. A project initiated by the Clan Donald Lands Trust, the 21st century Highland village known as Kilbeg is to be located on the Sleat Peninsula, and will be centered around the existing world-class Gaelic University Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

Kilbeg Village is a 40 acre site situated within the estate of Clan Donald Lands Trust on the southern end of the Isle of Skye, and incorporates a mix of housing, commercial, educational and leisure development. Community, energy sustainability and heritage components were a large factor in the planning stages, with the resulting master plan outlining a desire to create a village with a strong sense of place and local community.

The development will add to the hugely significant impact which Sabhal Mòr has had on the economic and social development of this formerly ‘fragile area’ which, against all trends, has seen its population double over recent years. In May 2013 Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced £1.908m of capital funding was allocated to the project through the ERDF European Structural Funds Programme, completing the £6.7m Phase 1 funding stage.

Speaking on behalf of the Scottish Government which has strongly backed the initiative, First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP, said yesterday: “It’s fantastic that Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is now in a position to take this exciting step in what is a visionary project. Investment in projects like Kilbeg is absolutely key for stimulating economic growth throughout Scotland. It’s vital we support opportunities that help create new jobs and apprenticeships, places which, at the same time, support the development and improvement of our rural communities.”

“Sabhal Mòr Ostaig makes an important contribution to the area beyond its obvious tuition and promotion of Gaelic. Kilbeg will future-proof the university and, along with the local community, create the first new village to be built on the island in more than 100 years”.

“As many Gaels will attest, Gaelic is more than a language. It is an integral part of the identity and heritage of the Highlands and Islands, and thanks to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, in this anniversary year, Gaelic is as current and relevant today as it was 40, even 400, years ago.”

Work Begins at Kilbeg Village. Photo courtesy of Island News and Advertiser.

Phase 1 will see the building of a new Academic, Research, Knowledge Transfer and Enterprise building to house key college staff. This will allow for the conservation and future redevelopment of the iconic and historic Steading Building, creating a new bespoke conferencing and events facility, a key part of the College’s own estate development strategy. Future phases of the wider Master plan over a 10-15 year time-frame provide for a range of housing, retail and enterprise units, a small hotel and sports and recreation facilities for Sabhal Mòr and the wider community.

Spearheaded by the Clan Donalds Land Trust, the registered charity aims to promote an understanding of the history and traditions of Clan Donald and the Lordship of the Isles. It operates Clan Donald Skye Visitor Centre situated within its 20,000 acre estate – a central feature of the Centre being the Museum of the Isles. The Trust also maintains the remains of Armadale Castle with its historic, landscaped Gardens, the Home Farm, ten Crofting Townships, and commercial and natural woodlands within the estate. In advancing its mission, the Trust also provides important economic benefits to the region as both a major employer and popular visitor attraction.

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Ellice McDonald Jr, CBE.

t is with great sadness that we announce the death of Ellice McDonald, Jr., CBE, a central figure and past High Commissioner of Clan Donald USA. McDonald spent a lifetime involved in the clan society and received many awards and honours for his work, including the title of CBE. He was also chiefly involved in the establishment of the Clan Donald World Centre on Skye. He died peacefully at his home Invergarry in Delaware on 10 June 2013. He was 100 years old.

Born in New York City on 22 May 1913, McDonald was the son of Canadian physician Dr. Ellice McDonald and portrait artist Ann Heebner McDonald. He was the grandson of Archibald McDonald of Glencoe, who was the last of the chief factors of the Hudson Bay Company. McDonald received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Strathmore College, and in January 1941 he volunteered for United States Army, serving as a commissioned officer in the Pacific Theatre.

McDonald was appointed High Commissioner of Clan Donald USA in July 1976, serving in that capacity until 1983. During this time he spent a great deal of energy and money reinvigorating and reorganising the society. He incorporated Clan Donald-USA, Inc. and divided the country into 13 regions, appointing regional and state commissioners. The magazine, “By Sea By Land,” was published and regional and state newsletters were distributed. Today, CDUSA is thriving and has more than 4,000 families. An authoritative history of the clan was published by Donald J. McDonald in 1978, with much of the books success owing to Ellice, who ensured that every Clan Donald association had a copy.

McDonald also established the Glencoe Foundation as a private charitable foundation which made contributions to Scottish organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland, the Royal Caledonian Schools in Bushey and the Clan Donald Lands Trust on Skye. Macdonald became a trustee of the latter in 1970 and he, alongside his wife Rosa, took a great interest in helping out this organisation which still exists today.

Soon after becoming commissioner McDonald also established the Clan Donald Foundation, dedicated to promoting the customs, traditions and heritage of the Scottish people. The foundation became the foremost Clan organization in the United States with several thousand members and approximately 95 commissioners in every State including Alaska and Hawaii. On 13 December 1995, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on McDonald the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). On 18 June 1992, a similar honour was bestowed upon his wife, Rosa. They are the only husband and wife in the North American Continent to have received this honour. McDonald was the guest of honor of the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville, North Carolina. It is believed he is the first American to have been so honored.

2002 saw the opening of the newly built ‘Museum of the Isles’ at the Clan Donald Lands Trust on Skye. It hosts extensive archives and valuable artefacts, with the bulk of the funding coming from the Glencoe Foundation Inc. – backed by Ellice and Rosa McDonald. In 2004 McDonald was awarded the Tartan Day Award, which acknowledged his outstanding services to Scotland. In making the announcement, Robert Murdoch, national chairman of Tartan Day said: “I was extremely pleased to hear that the selection committee for the second annual Tartan Day Award has determined the recipient will be Ellice McDonald, Jr., CBE. Tartan Day as we celebrate it is now eight years old, but Ellice McDonald, through his creation and support of the Clan Donald Centre on Skye, has been upholding Scottish traditions for years… His tireless activities in that regard have benefited Scots and Scottish-Americans worldwide.”

Ellice first met his wife, Rosa (deceased), in 1930 when he was sixteen, and they married in 1954. They shared a lifelong passion for cats and dogs and they adopted countless numbers of strays and rescue pets who happily shared their animal “bed and breakfast” with the occasional pure bred German Shepherd or Golden Retriever. In 1978, McDonald also established and became president of the Gurkha Welfare Trust Foundation (U.S.A.) which cooperated closely with the Canadian Gurkha Appeal.

His family want to express their gratitude to the staff and nurses who took such good care of Ellice in his final years. The interment will be private. The family suggests gifts to Faithful Friends Animal Society, 12 Germay Drive, Wilmington, DE 19804. A guestbook can be signed by clicking here.

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Both sides realised that this could not go on. and so some attempt was made to broker a peace between the two warring clans. Unfortunately this would end up making matters a whole lot worse!

Around 1600 a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ style romance blossomed between the Margaret, sister of the chief of the MacLeods and Donald Gorm Mor MacDonald the son of the MacDonald chief. surely such a match would see an end to war between the clans? err not exactly!

It was tradition in the highlands that a form of marriage contract called ‘hand fasting’ could be entered into. This contract was in all respects similar to marriage except that it could have certain ‘conditions’ that could be agreed beforehand, in this instance that Margaret would produce a male heir. Unfortunately for Margaret and Donald a son was not forthcoming and to make matters worse Margaret somehow managed to loose sight in one eye during the first year of the handfasting.

Donald was now intent on ending his contract with Margaret and so his father decided to send her home to Skye. Unfortunately the old chief had never forgotten the old feud and could not resist the opportunity to stir things up again. Margaret was landed back on skye and sent to Dunvegan sitting backwards on a one eyed horse, accompanied by a one eyed servant and a one eyed dog. This had the desired effect of enraging Rory, the MacLeod chief and war was back on again.

Trinity Temple, North Uist

Rory sent his cousin, Donald Glas MacLeod along with a party of 40 men over to the island of North Uist to exact revenge and raid the land taking any livestock they could lay hands on. The locals had been warned of the approaching MacLeods and had gathered up any goods they had and stored them at the Trinity Temple and Carinish. The Macleods soon found out and headed there, breaking the sanctity of the temple in doing so. The MacLeods now camped out there were were surprised by twelve MacDonalds led by Donald MacIain ‘ic Sheumais (Donald, son of John, son of James) of Clan Ranald. Clearly outnumbering the MacDonalds the MacLeod men pursued them but this had been a carefully planned ambush drawing them into open ground. A fierce battle ensued which by all accounts lasted most of the day. At one point the leaders of both forces faced each other and all other fighting stopped as Donald Glas and Donald MacIan traded sword blows, neither giving an inch of ground. This fight carried on for some time, many MacLeods had already been killed and those observing this titan battle were mostly Macdonalds. On seeing that their leader was gradually loosing ground to MacLeod some of them rushed in to assist. MacLeod was said to have killed two of them instantly but another landed a sword blow which mortally wounded him.

Donald MacIan survived the engagement but had received an arrow in the foot during the battle and his foster mother removed the arrow, tradition has it that she sang a song to drown out his cries of pain, the translation from the Gaelic was:

Son in Iain, my Darling
Soon you heard the wailing
You saved the shore on the paling day
You struck terror into the seed of the stallion (Macleod)
The seed of the white faced lame mare

The result was a victory for the MacDonalds but at a high cost and with the entire party of MacLeods wiped out the bodies littered the small field, the nearby ‘Feith na Fala’ or ‘Ditch of Blood’ attests to this.

The Ditch of Blood

This has been said to be the last battle fought in Scotland using only traditional weapons (swords and arrows) but it wasn’t the end of the feud, later that year the MacDonalds headed for Skye. They raided the north of the island, driving cattle down towards Glen Brittle. The Macleods who had been busy attempting to get support from Campbell of Argyll against the MacDonalds were surprised but pursued their enemy to Coire Na Creiche. Rory MacLeod’s brother Alastair led the attack on the MacDonalds and this battle lasted for a day and well into the night. Alas it did not go well for the MacLeods who were defeated once again by the MacDonalds with 30 MacLeods including Alastair being taken prisoner.

For Scotland’s Privy council though this had gone too far and they decided to intervene. Both leaders were ordered to surrender; MacDonald to Gordon of Huntly and MacLeod to Campbell of Argyll. Both sides agreed to release their prisoners and call an end to all hostility. Peace between the clans was celebrated with a party at Dunvegan castle that lasted 3 weeks and since then (more or less) The MacLeods and MacDonalds have lived together peacefully!

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The clan elders and chiefs in an attempt to prevent a feud breaking out, held council to determine the manner in which to appease the MacNicols. In true Clan style the decision agreed upon was that the “meanest” of Clan Nicol would behead Macleod of Raasay.

The man chosen for this task was Lomach, a lowly maker of Pannier baskets, he carried out his task and cut off the head of the Laird of Raasay.

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Knock Castle

Knock Castle is also known as Caisteal Camus, it is 3.5 miles north of Armadale on the Isle of Skye.  It was held by the MacLeods in the fifteenth century, but later passed to the MacDonalds.  Knock Castle became the key stronghold for the Lords of the Isles – The MacDonalds.  Some say that if it wasn’t for the carelessness of the warden who held it for the MacLeods and allowed himself to be suprised, the MacDonalds would have never set foot in Skye.  When the Lords of the Isles eventually left Knock Castle for Dunscaith it became the fortress of the Barons of Sleat and stood seige from the MacLeods at the end of the fifteenth century.  On this occassion it was defended, and most bravely, by a woman, ‘Mary of the Castle’.  The story of how she came to be in charge is a mystery, but most of the MacDonald women were competent fighters so this is not completely out of the ordinary.  Stories of Mary’s courage and skill are still told to this day.  It was under the shelter of her shield that the clan had time to gather and to arm.

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Castle Maol

Kylekin is a small promontory that juts out of the east end of Skye and is crowned by the ruins of Castle Maol. The main wall of the ruin is an impressive eleven feet thick, but ended up defeated by the great storm of 1948. On Febuary 1st 1948, the main wall of Castle Maol cracked from top to bottom. But the castle still stands.

It was originally built by ‘Saucy Mary’, a Norwegian princess, wife of a MacDonald of the time, who used the castle to extract toll from every ship that passed through the Kyles. It is said she had a chain across from the castle to the mainland shore. This would have been some chain! Later, Castle Maol came into the possession of the MacKinnons of Strath.

Castle Maol

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Pabay is a small island just off Skye. On Pabay are the ruins of a small chapel, built originally by St. Columba’s monks. After the chapel fell into disuse and the monks left, it became a refuge for outlaws ‘broken men’ and robbers. They caused much trouble on the main island of Skye. Legend has it this bunch of criminals met their end in a very unusual way. They had, of course many enemies and their chief decided to rid himself of them all with the help of the Devil. The band made up a huge fire and roasted three cats alive chanting the appropriate spells, an infallible way of raising the Evil One if you get the spells right. It was told that several minor demons appeared, but the robber chief insisted that he would only deal with the Devil himself.

Eventually Satan rose from the earth and asked their will. The robber chief told the Devil to kill two men whom the chief feared. The Devil responded “The price of two lives is two souls”. This worried the gang and an argument began. Now, the chief had been known to boast that if he could only get swords that would not melt, he would be able to conquer Hell and capture Satan himself. The Devil reminded him of this and accepted his challenge, offering to kill all his enemies if he won the battle. The Devil was to fight the band for their souls ‘here on the shore where swords do not melt.’ The robber chief was so arrogant that he agreed. A fearfull battle ensued, the Devil and his legions overcoming all the bandits who were armed with claymores or broadswords but failed to harm the chief, whose sword had a cross hilt. Suddenly a great black cat jumped from nowhere onto the chief’s sword arm, causing him to drop his blade. He was never seen again.

The blackened stones where the evil fire was lit, on the beach near Ardnish can still be seen, proof to the truth of this tale.

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Last weekend saw an ambitious project to cover the Skye Bridge in knitting!! This was part of Highland Homecoming.

The Skye Bridge links the Isle of Skye with the mainland in the West Highlands of Scotland.

The aim was to link this (rather large!) piece of guerrilla knitting with Highland Homecoming 2009, a celebration of Scotland’s great contribution to the world.

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