6th Clan Lamont General Meeting

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6th Clan Lamont General Meeting

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A lecture delivered in Edinburgh at the sixth General Meeting of the Clan Lamont Society, on 3rd March, 1902 by Sir Norman Lamont, 17th & last Laird of Knockdow

When, on 22nd February, 1897, I delivered to you my first lecture on the History of our Clan, I gave you that account of the MacGregor incident, which is told by James Grant in his well-known novel “Rob Roby,” and seemingly taken by him from that in Keltie’s “History of the Scottish Highlands.” I knew that a version irreconcilably different from these was to be found in Hugh MacDonald’s “Days at the Coast,” in its turn presumably derived from the “New Statistical Account,” published in 1845, but I did not know that the ultimate source from which both Keltie’s and the “Statistical” versions are apparently derived is “a letter, dated 30th Dec., 1817, written by a very worthy and well-informed Highland clergyman, then upwards of 80 years of age,” and published in the “Scots Magazine” for 1818. Reference to this has shown me that the authors of all the four works mentioned above permitted themselves very great latitude in the matter of variation from the original. But as the points of difference are not without interest or importance, and as some oaf you may not have been present at our 1897 meeting, I may perhaps as well read the entire letter from the “Scots Magazine.”

“SCOTS MAGAZINE,” 1818, II., 132-4

“I know not if ever you have heard the following traditional story of a chieftain of the MacGregors residing at the time on his freehold in Glenorchy. His son had gone in the shooting season with a party of young associates to the moors in the braes of the country. They met with a young gentleman of the name of Lamont, from Cowal, who, attended by a servant, was going to Fort William. They all went to the kind of inn that was in the place, and took a refreshment together, in the course of which, at the close of the day, a trifling dispute arose betwixt Lamont and a young MacGregor. Dirks were drawn, and before friends could interfere,

MACGREGOR FELL MORTALLY WOUNDED

“In the confusion Lamont escaped, and, though pursued, under the cover of night got securely to the house of MacGregor, which happened to be the first habitation which met his eye at the dawn of morning. The chieftain had got up and was standing at the door. ‘Save my life,’ said the stranger, ‘for men are in pursuit of me to take it away.’ ‘Whoever you are,’ says MacGregor, ‘here you are safe.’ Lamont was but just brought to an inner apartment, and introduced to the family, when a loud inquiry was made at the door, if a stranger had entered the house. ‘He has,’ says MacGregor, ‘and what is your business with him?’ ‘In a scuffle,’ cried the pursuers, ‘he has killed your son; deliver him up that we may instantly revenge the deed.’ MacGregor’s lady and his two daughters filled the house with their cries and lamentations. ‘Be quiet,’ says the chief, with his eyes streaming with tears, ‘and let no man presume to touch the young, for he has MacGregor’s word and honour for his safety, and as God lives, he shall be safe and secure whilst in my house!’

“In a little, after Lamont had experienced the most kind and hospitable treatment, the chieftain accompanied him, with twelve men under arms, to Inveraray, and having landed him in safety on the other side of Lochfyne, took him by the hand and thus addressed him – ‘Lamont, now you are safe; no longer can I, or will I, protect you; keep out of the way of my clan. May God forgive and bless you.’

“This happened some short time before the severe act of proscription against the Clan MacGregor in 1633, when, to the discredit of justice, a weak Government sacrificed a whole people for the atrocities of a few. MacGregor lost his property, and was

HUNTED FOR HIS LIFE

in consequence of this iniquitous Act. He took shelter in the house of this very Lamont noted for his urbanity, and his deep contrition for the misfortune of his younger years; and who by every act of kindness to his venerable guest, and some branches of his family, revered the Providence which had thus put it in his power to repay to the family of his benefactor in some measure, the loss he had occasioned them in the death of a son.”

You will have noted that while Grant particularizes the MacGregor father and son, as Alastair of Glenstrae, and his son Evan, and Lamont, as the “young Laird of Lamont,” no such identification is attempted in this letter. But the most important differences are that while Grant and Keltie place the tragic event shortly before the Battle of Glenfruin (1602), and state that MacGregor though he was sheltered for a time at Toward, was eventually captured and hanged at Edinburgh on 20th January, 1604 (which is, of course, true of Glenstrae), this letter places the event as shortly before 1633. Hugh MacDonald following the “Statistical Account,” ventures on “Glenstrae,” but avoids dates altogether, and adds that “Old MacGregor never afterwards left the shelter of that hospitable roof (Toward), until he was carried thence to the neighbouring burying-ground. For years he

LIVED THE GUEST OF LAMONT

forgiving the injury he had received at his hands, while the repentant host not only rejoiced in the absolution thus received, but in the power which he possessed, of in some degree repaying the kindness and protection he had formerly experienced at the hands of his venerable guest. On the lands of Toward… now in other hands than those of the Lamonts… there are still to be seen a few faint vestiges of an ancient chapel, which in its day was dedicated to the service of the Virgin Mary. The edifice was originally surrounded by a tiny field of graves. All traces of this have nearly passed away. It is a quiet, a lovely, and a secluded spot… In this green nook are laid the bones of old Glenstrae, and until lately… we know not h how it is now… the old people of the district could point out the very grave.” The conclusion which we arrive at is this, that if MacGregor was Alastair Roy of Glenstrae, he certainly did not die at Toward; while if we accept local tradition to the effect that MacGregor did die at Toward, and that he was interred in the little burial ground there, we must leave his identity an open question while looking for him among, probably, the members of the

OUTLAWED GLENSTRAE FAMILY

Certainly the authority of the Highland minister, who was eighty years old in 1818, and born therefore about 1738, should be preferred regarding this matter which he places about 1630, only a century before his own birth, to that of those born a century later, who place the incident thirty years earlier. At any rate, the little graveyard of St. Mary’s is, or rather was until lately, an actual fact, but situated upon that portion of the lands of Toward still in the hands of the Lamonts – the farm of Towardnuilt -- just above the brae in Colonel Wadling’s feu. Unfortunately its sanctity did not preserve it from the leveling tendencies of the day, and it underwent the same fate as the traces of the ancient burial-place of Kilmichael, near Ardyne, which were obliterated about thirty years ago. These were very far from being the only two places of sepulture in the district, and in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities for 1858 there is an interesting contribution on some stone cists found in several different places, both at Ardyne and Toward, which mentions the frequency of the occurrence of tumuli in the parishes of Dunoon and Inverchaolain. The writer goes on to say “Traditions, which speak of sanquinary conflicts between the contending Houses of Lamont and Lochow may find a verification in the discovery of 100 human skulls near the foundation of the ancient Parish Church, but the presence of a flint weapon with the cist, etc., points to a very remote period, perhaps the early centuries of the Christian era.” It would be impossible to tell whether Dunoon or Inverchaolain Church is her referred to, were it not for a casual reference, in the “Statistical Account” of the Parish of Inverchaolain, to the fact that when the foundations of the present Church at Inverchaolain were being dug in 1812, upon the site of an older Church built in 1745, “several dozens of human skulls were found, and near them a few bones of very large size.” It may not be out of place to mention that a still earlier place of worship had occupied the same site, dating from about the time of the Reformation, but the original Church of Pre-Reformation times was situated about 200 yards above the present one, on the side of the hill. Another spot in Cowal which is

HALLOWED GROUND

to all Lamonts is the field called Auchenrath (the Field of the Fort), adjoining the site of the ancient Caledonian Fort, or “Cnoc nan Fiontan” (The Fenians’ Knoll), on the hillside above the Point of Strone, between Loch Long and the Holy Loch. It is 353 feet above the sea, and the neighborhood is known to have been the scene of a sangauinary conflict between the Campbells and the Lamonts (Proc. Soc. Ant., Scot., 1888-9, p. 106.) a very interesting relic connected with our Clan is that known as

THE LAMON BROOCH, OR BALLOCHYLE BROOCH

and it is much to be regretted that either the original or a copy was not on view alongside the very beautiful replica of the Lorne Brooch in the recent Exhibition in Glasgow. The following description of the brooch is taken from the Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Volume I., page 170 (1853), where you will find an excellent engraving of the brooch – “Notice of an ancient Celtic Brooch, the property of William Rose Campbell, 28th Regiment, Madras Native Infantry, Esq., of Ballochyl (Holy Loch, Cowall), Argyllshire. This large and beautiful ancient brooch has long been in the possession of the Ballochyle family, and according to family tradition, was originally acquired at a remote period, on occasion of the marriage of the Laird of Ballochyle with the daughter of Lamont of Lamont. Even to a late period it had been used as a talisman or charm against witchcraft or disease, both for man and cattle, being dipped into the potion prepared for the sick. The brooch is silver-gilt, set with a rock crystal in the centre, and bearing the inscription around it, somewhat rudely cut, in Roman characters: -- *DE X SERVE AND HAIF THE X HEVIN X BABAIF. It measures 5 ½ inches in the greatest diameter, and appears to belong to the latter part of the sixteenth century. The initials M.C., and also a shield bearing the gyronny of the Campbells in its first and fourth quarerings, the second and third being blank, are twice repeated in its ornamental border, and a stamp, probably of the assay-master, a shield with the Roman letters VS interlaced, is also repeated twice on the back and twice on front.”

Anything connected with the ill-fated

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS,

Has a mournful attraction for every true Scotsman. I mentioned in my first lecture that Her Highness had dined at Toward Castle with Sir John Lamont, X. of Inveryne, on 29th July, 1573, during her tour of the West Highlands. This occasion she marked by planting a tree, which lived until early in the nineteenth century. Soon after the acquisition of the Toward Estate by Lord Provost Finlay, Queen Mary’s tree either fell or was cut down. A wooden crown was made from its timber, and presented by Mr. Finlay to the then Duke of Hamilton. It now belongs to the present Duke, and may be seen at Hamilton Palace. Another relic of the olden time, and one which has attained to wider celebrity than the brooch, is

THE LAMONT HARP

I referred very briefly to its existence in my first lecture, but I take the following careful and accurate description from the Proceedings of the “Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,” Volume II., New Series 1881. “Notice of the Two Ancient Harps,” – “The two harps were in Edinburgh in 1805. They were sent by General Robertson of Lude, at the request of the Highland Society, and examined by a sub-Committee appointed for the purpose. They were described, drawn, engraved (one of them at least was strung and played on), and a book was edited by desire, and under patronage of the Society, by Mr. John Gunn, and published by Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and John Murray, London, in 1807. There is an amount of confusion and error observable in this book which is to be regretted, as the warranty of its origin and the assumption of careful detail have misled subsequent writers, but the engravings and descriptions suffice to prove that these are the identical instruments produced and inspected in Edinburgh in 1805, and that natural decay has not sensibly altered their appearance in the last seventy-five years, during which they have been preserved in the families of Lude and Dalguise, their existence forgotten by the general public and almost lost sight of even by antiquaries. Their present condition at their great age a indicates the value attributed to them as heirlooms by their owners, and those retainers of their owners who have had charge of them. The traditions relative to both these harps were given by General Robertson in his letters to the Highland Society. Unfortunately the originals of these letters cannot now be found, and we have only the version given by Mr. Gunn, which, however, having been published in 1807, while it could have been contradicted or amended by General Roberston (who lived until January, 1820), or the sub-Committee of the Highland Society, or others interested, may now be taken as authentic in its main particulars.

“THE FAMILY TREASURES OF LUDE

Allege that for several centuries past the large of these two harps has been known as the “Clarsach Lumanach,” or the Lamont Harp, and that it was brought from Argyllshire by a daughter of the Lamont family on her marriage with Robertson of Lude in the year 1464. It is said to be the older as well as the larger of the two, but that may merely arise from its known traditional history from an earlier date, although the structure and workmanship are thought by some to show the greater age. If the probably quiet place it was likely to be valued and cared for there, also that the repairs appear to be of very old date, then the Clarsach Lumanach may have already, before 1464, been an old knocked-about, battered, broken and mended instrument with a pre-traditional story we can now never hope to hear. It may be observed that it is a plain substantial instrument, made more for use than ornament, rather fitted for the wandering minstrel than for noble or royal hands.

“The following description may be taken as accurate; For the sake of brevity the sounding board or body of the harp or com is simply called the box. The upper arm or cross-tree or harmonic curve or corr is named the comb, and the fore-arm or pillar, or lamhehrann is termed the bow. The extreme length of the Lamont Harp is 38 inches and the extreme width from front to back 18 ½ inches. The box, which is hollowed out of one piece of wood, is 30 inches in length by 4 inches in breadth at the top, and 17 at the bottom, the depth of the sides throughout being 4 inches in breadth, with a swell of the front from sides and ends to the centre, of 1 inch under the projecting band through which the thirty-two string-holes are pierced. The string-holes have each an ornamental mounting of brass of peculiar form, all of the same pattern, except those of the three upper and two lower holes, which are horse-shoe shape, terminating in quatrefoils. There are four sound-holes, or 1 1/3rd inches in diameter in front, and the original back is gone, having been replaced by a new one.” Both these harps are now permanently exhibited at the National Museum of Antiquities, in Queen Street, Edinburgh, and well repay a visit of inspection.

It can hardly have failed to strike anyone who has, however superficially, attempted research into the history of our Clan, that there is an extraordinary absence of letters of historic interest, or, indeed, of any letters whatsoever. All seem to have been destroyed. There are, however, a very few exceptions, and the following is one of the utmost interest and importance. It is taken from the Nisbet MSS. Preserved in the Advocate’s Library Edinburgh (34-3-5), in the handwriting of Alexander Nisbet, the famous Herald: --

BOURDON OF FEDDAL.

“A missive letter by the Laird of Lamont to Bourdon of Feddal about their genealogical descent; the principal is in the Lion’s Office, dates 4th November, 1699:

“HONOUARED COUSIN, -- I received yours, and I am satisfied to find that ancient inclination in you that was esteemed amongst all nations, even in the Jewish families, and as I hate ridiculous vanitie, so I love that men class themselves as far as writ or tradition can bring them; and as to my family I must deal with both, and to my best knowledge it is the methode that all Scotland must us that is ancient, and most of all the Highlanders (who, if extant) are the ablest in the Kingdom, as you may discerne by our tongue, spoken in the land before the English tongue encroached, and do you see by names of places to this day all over the Kingdome, though something changed, yet the derivation holds to me knowing in both speeches; your relation to this house cannot keep you ignorant of ane late calamatie in Montrose’s Wars and that our houses being plundered and fired, our writs behoved to be wronged. Before that time, our house of Toward was burnt by the great Mac Donald, when Argyll married Lamont’s daughter, because he took Argyll’s part against Mac Donald, and so suffered, by which our evidents are lost, yet some shadows of our antiqutie remain by marriages with Argyll, Castles (Cassillis?), MacDonald, Semple, their daughters, and with several other honourable families. Our descent is from Ireland, a son of the house of O’Neil, who had patronymics before surnames. Our

FIRST PREDECESSOR

Was MacClamine, and in time Scotified to Lamont, Lamount, or Larmond, as you will find in the old books of Heraldrie in the Lion’s Office, and our ancient armorial bearing was relative to the name La Mond, i.e., the Globe of the World, or Globe Imperial, in ane blue field, which my predecessors of late hath changed to a white lion, being ignorant of Heraldrie, and fearing affinity with the Kings of Ireland, unless they were concerned with the lion, which I would have altered, and taken my honourable globe, but the Lamonts of France and England carried the lion before my time, so that I had no will to differ in coat armour with them, lest a denial in after ages. Now to prove my ancient descent from O’Neil, and that older than modestie will allow or my equals will be willing to grant me, I prefer it to the old records that is extant in the College of Peale, in the Island of Man, or the old tradition of Ireland that is extant in the hands of Esquire Cormick O’Neil, the best antiquarie in Ireland, by whose help Sir George MacKenzie wrote the race of the Kings of Scotland.

“Now, Cousin, for your family, I am so well versed in it, that to my sad experience I want much land by it, and the progress of a plea in my hand with the Lairds of Kames Ballentines till this day, and but lately determined in my favour within this last three years; which please began as follows: -- The Governor of Scotland who went under the name of Robert the Third, the second of the Stewarts, dwelt in the Castle of Bute, our house of Toward being opposite thereto. The Laird of Kames, the Laird of Houstoun, and Fleming of Wigton being over in Towartland hunting (who then belonged to the Court), committed some misdemeanour, and gave offence to the Laird of Lamond, who stirred up his four sons (the oldest being happily at Court.) These four sons killed the foresaid Lairds, upon which our familie was rent, and our

LANDS GIVEN IN REQUITAL

of their blood, whose successors obtained new charters from the King of our lands; the most part of which lands my predecessors since recovered, and their charters are now in my hands narrating their names and the cause of the King’s grant. The four brethren were forced to flee and to change their names forever for the aforesaid slaughter; your predecessor going to the countrie where you now live, in a mean condition by occasion of the disasture of the familie; having nothing in his hand but a foursquare staff, in old Highlands called Bourdonich, with which he fought gallantlie for Perth’s predecessor, then Laird of a place called Stobhall, so your surname began, as my father told me truly, and protested to me his father told him the same, and this part I think behoved to come from your predecessors, but the rest I have all the papers lying by me. Your other brother took the name of Lamb, as being nearest to his own name of Lamont, of whom I met several in England as respective (?respectful) as anie Lamont would be, whom I thought had known nothing of it. The third brother went to Paisley, and was with the Abbot thereof, who asked his name, and said “I am a landless man.” “It shall not be so longer,” said the Abbot, “if you will serve me,” and so gave him a small piece of land, and I spoke with the grandchild of him that last enjoyed that land about fortie years ago. I know a worthie man still of that name, minister of Blantyre, who is a lover of you all. The fourth brother was the origin of

THE MACTOURNORS OF LUSS

Who wrought at that employment in that place only to hide himself from his powerful enemies, which is acknowledged by all the countrie.

“The Earl of Strathmore’s predecessor came to the house of Lamond long before yours. He killed the great MacDonald, for which he changed his name, and took a new one from our ensign the Lion. That MacDonald was his mother’s brother. On my conscience I am as near the truth in this relation as I can be, and leave out manie things which old men believes, which I have not meddled with.

“I am, they say, the thirty-third Laird of Lamont; fourteen I can instruct, and the rest is by tradition. If you make use of the descent in the book of Heraldrie which is now writing, I shall be content you contain me there conformed to this information, and if the author take it. I will stand to all that is in this, and possiblie he will insert more unatruths or he finish the book. Call for Peter Blair, who will lay out all the expenses necessary. Now my love to your old father. When you come to me you shall see all my papers, and shall have welcome. – I rest, your loving cousin,

(Signed) J. Lamont”

“I (‘I’ here is, of course, Alexander Nisbet, himself) had another account of the origin of the family of Bourdon of Feddal by a letter from Mr. Harrie Bourdon, thus: --

“The first of the name of Bourdon lived in the Isle of Skye, and after King Edgar, the 4th son of Malcolm Canmore, beat Donald the Usurper, who did fly to the Isle of Skye, and was there taken and brought to Edgar, who, asking who did take him, was answered “Sholt ferr le burden dou,” for which he had considerable lands there given him and retained the name always. The family long after falling to a daughter who was heiress, she was married to one of Lamont’s sons, who took on his wife’s name. He coming down to Perthshire met with Drummond of Stobhall, whom he assisted in some quarrel against some of his neighbours, for which he did procuir a remission to him and did gift him some lands in Perthshire, which they retain yet, and selling his Highland interest, did make a purchase there, but in Queen Marie’s time, for assisting her, was forfaulted, but with great difficulty a part of future still remains with them.”

For acquaintance with two other ancient and interesting letters I am indebted to the research of our treasurer, Mr. Wm. Lamont, C.A., who found them in Chambers’ Edinburgh Journals of 14th October, 1843. They are prefaced by an editorial not: -- “The two following letters, which we term characteristic, because they embody the old spirit of clanship and family connection once prevalent amongst the Highlanders, and still not extinct, have been placed in our hands for publication. They derive some additional interest from the writer of the first having been grandfather to an eminent scientific man of the last century, Dr. Black, Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh University, and the author of the “Theory of Latent Heat.”

(Addressed) To The Laird of Lamont

Nether Cowhall, N.B.

Belfast, August 19th, 1723

“HONOURED Sir, -- I being descended from the ancient name of Black, from Scotland for some ages, but my father and many relations removed by death, and to other countries, God is please yet to continue me a survivor although very infirm, and about seventy-six years of age.

“I have been an inhabitant of this place for about 60 years, except some intervals when I went abroad to France, Holland, and the West Indies, etc., all which time I have been exercised in merchandising. I was comfortably married to one of the name of Eccles, by whom I have five sons and two daughters yet alive, all the former brought up in France and merchandising. One of them settled a factor, and married in Bordeaux above twenty-eight years, and hath a family of either children; another is honoured to be King George’s Consul in Cadiz, in Spain, where he enjoyed both honours and riches, have a younger brother, a considerable factor with him for a companion; another was brought up at the College in Glasgow, now abroad; and the fifth with me and one daughter; the other well married here to a merchant; and we all understanding that we have an interest by alliance in your honourable family, are very desirous, at home or abroad, to demonstrate our dutiful respects to any concerned. My son, who is His Majesty’s Consul, entreats the favour of you to know the original that the Black hath in the honourable family of the ancient family of Lamont, and likewise your coat-of-arms which pray afford me by the impression of your seal within a letter, for which I and mine shall remain most thankful. In the interim, pray pardon this question, and upon any occasion command, Honourable sir, your obliged, most humble servant,

(Signed) John Black.”

(Addressed) Mr. J. Black, merchant, Belfast.

“Sir, -- I received yours of the date August 19th, which afforded me a good deal of satisfaction to find that neither absence for a long time from the native country of your forefathers nor the difference between your surname and mine, which is only in sound, hath made you forget the family and stock of people you are truly descended from.

“I am very well pleased Providence has been so kind to yourself and your children as to spare you till you have seen the most of them well provided, and the rest, I hope, in a fair way of being so. You tell me your son who has the honour of being His Majesty King George’s Consul at Cadiz, wants to know when the Blacks descended from the family I represent, and how they came to have their name changed from Lamont to that under which they now go; in compliance to which reasonable request, please take an account of both as follows: -- Lamont had a son about 400 or 500 years ago whose hair, as we have it handed down by tradition, was very black, on which account he was called a Ghiolle dugh, which is in English the Black Lad; his son, again was called Mac a Ghoille dugh, in English, the Black Lad’s son, and so was his posterity ever since called with us, of whom there is a pretty good number in Cowhall, and in other parts of the Highlands; but such of them as went to the Lowlands, England, Ireland, or other Kingdoms called themselves Blacks, being a literal translation of dugh into English, and this branch of the Lamont were so very zealous and careful to preserve its memory, that about 300 or 400 years ago, when it was represented by a man of vast profuseness and extravagance, who had spent the whole interest to one rood of land, they cast him overboard of a boat when he was drinking, and just as he was glorying in his former follies, and promising himself to make an end of that little that remained; this they did lest there should be no memory left of the family they were descended from, and immediately went to the Isle of Man, where the heir was, carried him home, and with their help, together with such others of his friends and well-wishers as were in the country, dispossessed a son of Argyll’s, who had taken possession of his estate, so that I stand very much obliged to my friends, the Blacks.

“It only remains now that I give you an account of my coat-of-arms, which is a white lion rampant in a green field; our supporters are two wild men. As for a crest, none with us is allowed that piece of honour but nobility. The motto is – ‘Ne Parcas nec Spernas.’

“I want a seal for my arms at present, having, before I received your letter, complimented a friend at a distance with it, but the first time I go to Edinburgh I shall cause cut one, and send it to you.

“I shall not trouble you further now, but conclude with my best wishes to yourself and children, assuring you that none can rejoice more at their prosperity and preferment than, Sir, your very affectionate friend,

(Signed) L. Lamont.

Kilferran, 19th September, 1723”

I am not aware that there is any warrant for the statement that a crest was an honour allowed to none but nobility; and there is a mistake in the blazon of the coat-of-arms, which, of course, should read “a white lion” on a blue, not on a “green” field. But more disquieting and more difficult to comprehend is the fact that in the case of neither of those letters does the initial in the signature of the writer correspond with the first letter of the Christian name of the Chief at the time. The 1699 letter is signed “J. Lamont,” though the then Chief was Archibald Lamont of that Ilk. Similarly, the 1728 epistle is signed “L. Lamont,” though Dugald Lamont of Stilaig had some years previously succeeded his cousin, Archibald, in the Barony of Inveryne, and Chiefship of the Clan. Yet both letters are obviously written by a Chief, or by a man who believed himself, and was believed by his correspondent, to be such; both bear every possible internal evidence of authenticity. What is the solution of the problem? I frankly confess that it is beyond me, and I commend its investigation to the industry of other sennachies of our Clan.

In the seventh decade of the eighteenth century as animated correspondence was carried on between my ancestor, Alexander Lamont, XI, of Knockdow (who was also minister of Kilfinan)), and the Rev. Dugald Allan, minister of Inverchaolain. In addition to this glebe the minister of Inverchaolain was entitled to a servitude of eight cows’ grass upon the lands of Stronyaraig, and this seems to have been an ever-fruitful source of discord between the Laird and the Minister. Mr. Allan’s letters are not extant, but the following except from on of Knockdow’s replies, is enough to prove that Mr. Allan had a considerable command of the King’s English: --

To The Rev. Dugald Allan, minister of Inverchaolain.

“R. D. B. –

“I received yours of January 10th, and must say I never expected to have such a letter from you, or any man, as I am not conscious that I deserve the odious character you are pleased to give me, nor do I know the man to whom I could allow myself to write in such a strain.

“You have been obliging enough in the course of correspondence to call me a tyrant, an oppressor, a dissembler, and to crown all, a pirate. I am at a loss to imagine what end you propose by such unprovoked and scandalous treatment. If you think to frighten me out my property by your uncommon scurrility and abuse you are highly mistaken, and I am certain that every impartial person will say that the method you have taken is not the most promising for ending matters in an amiable way. I have frequently told you that I often desired Mr. Harkness to give you peaceable possession of the number of cows you have a right to, and I shall tell him the same when I see him, but I am resolved that you shall not keep either a horse, a stirk, or a calf upon Stronyerraig more than I am burdened with, and I hope you must either make my charter or use and wont the rule. You talk of applying to law for redress; I have no objection to it, and the sooner it is done the better, for I plainly see that nothing else will satisfy you, but I have reason to believe that you will be disappointed in your expectations, and that you will not fare better than you did in your former attempts to distress my predecessor. As I have now told you my mind at large upon this unlucky subject, and as I expect no answer to it in writing, neither do I incline to have any conversation upon it for the reasons above mentioned. I am very sorry matters have come to such a length between us, but it seems you have mistaken your man, and so have I, and it confirms me in the belief of the common proverb that no man can be known till there is business to do with him. I am obliged to you for your good wishes to me and mine, but I can scarcely think you can wish well to such a wretch as you represent me. Presenting you with the compliments of the season. I am, R.D.B., your affectionate brother and humble servant,

(Signed) Alex. Lamont.

“Kilfinan, 21st February, 1766

If these two reverend Fathers of the Church displayed the fire and eloquence in the pulpit that their epistolary styles would lead one to expect, they must both have been very popular and convincing preachers, and doubtless plucked many “brands from the burning.”

One more letter I have received permission to read to you; quite a modern one, and written to me by a lady member of our Society (who wishes to remain anonymous), in answer of our distinguished clansmen, Col. the Hon. Daniel Scott Lamont. of New York, the letter is so interesting in itself and so many of our members claim kinship with Col. Lamont, that no apology is needed for reading the letter entire: --

To Mr. Norman Lamont, yr. of Knockdow.

October 20th, 1898.

“Dear Sire, -- In reply to your letter of enquiry we give a short sketch of the history of John Lamont, who was a paternal great-grandfather of Colonel Daniel Lamont, lately War Secretary in the United States.

“He lived somewhere about Toward or Ardyne and was twice married. First to a cousin of his own, name unknown to us, by whom he had a son named Neil, and a daughter who died in infancy, and was buried with her mother in Inverchaolain Churchyard.

“Secondly, to Catherine Buchanan, who was a descendant of George Buchanan, the historian, by whom he had five sons and two daughters. At the time of, or shortly after, his second marriage, they removed to Hafton, which place he and a brother of his, named Neil, took together, and were joint possessors of stock.

“They lived there as peaceful tenants for a considerable time, but about the year 1802, they were ruthlessly ejected from their homes. They had become Baptists through the preaching of an evangelist named Donald Mac Arthur. The clergy, being jealous of the work of the preacher, became angry, and rose in arms against him and his followers, especially those who harboured him. They were denounced as heretics, disturbers of the peace, etc.

“A petition was then got up against these Liberty-of. Conscience people, which was signed by all the Lairds I the district, except Lamont of Knockdow, who said that he would not lift his hand against them. That document which may still be in existence, was used against them in turning them out of their homes. Campbell of South Hall was considered, at he time, to be the arch-persecutor.

“Neil, John’s brother and partner, being ill at the time of removal, could not be removed from the place, but was turned into the barn, where he died, almost in the hands of his tormentors. He was an exceptionally fine man. A murmur was scarcely ever heard to fall from the lips of those who suffered most – they were happy, contented, and industrious. John, with his family, removed to Port Bannatyne, where he took out a fen, and built a house, which he occupied the next year after leaving Hafton. The upper storey, or garret, as it was called, of his house, he seated with forms, and put a pulpit in it similar to the one in Edinburgh in which John Knox preached. Here in this church in his own house, John Lamont and his friends worshipped God together, without requiring to wait till the tide would give them a footing on the seashore, as had previously been the case.

“John and his wife Catherine are buried in Inverchaolain Churchyard. Daniel, Colonel Lamont’s grandfather, was their youngest son; he was nine years of age when they left Hafton.

I am, dear sir, faithfully yours,……”

My attention has very often been drawn to the curious mention of Knockdow in the best of all Sir Walter Scott’s novels: -- “The Heart of Midlothian.” It occurs in the authors note on

TOLLING TO SERVICE IN SCOTLAND.”

“In the old days of Scotland, when persons of property (unless they happened to be non-jurors) were as regular as their inferiors in attendance on parochial worship, there was a kind of etiquette, in waiting till the patron or acknowledged great man of the parish should make his appearance. This ceremonial was so sacred in the eyes of a parish beadle in the Isle of Bute, that the kirk bell being out of order, he is said to have mounted the steeple every Sunday to imitate with his voice the successive summonses which its mouth of metal used to send forth. The first part of the imitative harmony was simply the repetition of the words, Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell, two or three times in a manner as much resembling the sound as throat of flesh could imitate throat of iron. Bellum! Bellum! was sounded forth in a more urgent manner; but he never sent forth the third and conclusive peal, the varied tone of which is called in Scotland the ringing-in, until the two principal heritors of the parish approached, when the chime ran thus: -- Bellum, Bellellum. Bernera and Knockdow’s coming! (bis.) Thereby intimating that service was instantly to proceed.”

There are in the Outer Hebrides no less than three different islets named Bernera, but it is no more clear why the Laird of any one of these fragments of “Ultima Thule” should be in the habit of attending divine service in Rothesay, than there is reason why the Laird of Knockdow should desert the parish kirk of Inverchaolain at this own park gate – even upon the extravagant hypothesis that he and Bernera were rival candidates for the suffrages of Buteshire at some hitherto unrecorded election. A very much up-to-date version of the story is now current in Cowal, giving, instead of “Bernera and Knockdow’s coming,” “Knockdow and Kirkman Finlay’s coming.” This version stands the fire of criticism even less than the Bernera legend, as Mr. Kirkman Finlay did not acquire Castle Toward, or live in that neighborhood, till many years after the publication of “Heart of Midlothian.” I think all critics are now agreed that Sir Walter for once must have made a mistake, and that if the story is to be told in the future, it must be located elsewhere than in Bute or dramatis personae provided for it other than the Lairds of Knockdow and Bernera, or even the late Mr. Kirkman Finlay.

Hamlet.

At one of our former meetings Mr. Robert Lamond called attention to the occurrence of the name “Lamond” in “Hamlet” Act IV., Scene VII. You remember the passage: --

KING Two months since,
Here was a gentleman of Normandy: --
I’ve seen myself, and served against, the French,
And they can well on horseback; but this gallant
Had witchcraft in’t; he grew unto his seat,
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,
As had he been incorpsed and demi-natured
With the brave beast; so far he topped my
Thought
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks,
Came short of what he did.
LAERTES A Norman was’t?
KING A Norman.
LAERTES Upon my life, Lamond.
KING The very same.
LAERTES I know him well; he is the brooch indeed,
And gem of all the nation.
KING He made confession of you,
And gave you such a masterly report
For art and exercise in your defence
And for your rapier most especial
That he cried out ‘twould be a sight indeed
If one could match you; the scrimers of
their nation,
He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye,
If you opposed them. Sir, this report of his
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy
That he could nothing do but wish and beg
Your sudden coming o’er to play with him.

The edition of “Hamlet” in the Clarendon Press Series, Oxford, 1887, edited by Clark & Wright, has the following note on the above passage: -- “Lamond, written in the folios ‘Lamond,’ in the quartos “Lamord.’ The name appears to be altogether fictitious.” This wonderful remark is a striking instance of the intelligence and sagacity of the average Shakespearian commentator, and forcibly reminds one of the comment of another annotator on the famous line in “As you Like it”: --

“Books in the running brooks,
Sermens in stones, and good in everything.”

Note – “Evidently an error has crept in here; should we not read – “Stones in the running brooks, Sermons in books?”!!!

Had Messrs. Clark and Wright been acquainted with Francisque-Michel’s invaluable work “Les Ecossais en France,” they would have known that, so far from the name Lamond being altogether fictitious, even in Shakespeare’s time, several of our clansmen had distinguished themselves in the French King’s service; that at least two had been officers in the Royal Bodyguard, and that in 1582 the King of France had intended to send one of them, “Le Sieur de Lamont,” over to intercede with the Queen of England and King James VI, for Mary Queen of Scots. Now, even though these Lamonts were certainly not “Normans,” and possibly not celebrated horsemen, yet it is by no means inconceivable that Shakespeare knew a good deal more than some of his commentators would give him credit for.

Professor John Young.

I cannot refrain from a short notice of that singularly attractive character, Mr. John Young, who, though not actually of our Clan, was connected with it through his marriage in 1780 to Jean, second daughter of Colin Lamont, IX. of Knockdow. Mr. Young was Professor of Greek in Glasgow University from 1774 to his death in 1820, and is described by a very competent judge, the author of that delightful book, “Peter’s Letters to His Kinsfolk” (1819, Volume III., p. 180) as “the man of highest reputation among the whole body.”

Mr. W. Innes Addison was kind enough to draw my attention to the following eulogistic and amusing account of Professor Young in Strang’s “Glasgow and Its Clubs” (p. 198) – “John Young was one of the most celebrated Greek scholars and critics that ever occupied the Chair of the University… None of his many pupils can ever forget the enthusiasm with which he descanted on a figure of Homer, or on the power of the Greek language in that poem, to produce, by mere sound, the meaning wished to be conveyed; or the delight with which he translated an ode of Anacreon, or a dialogue of Lucian. He was best known by the students under the sobriquet of ‘Cocky Bung,’ his father having been a cooper. He was a great admirer of the stage, and a devoted supporter of Edmund Kean, like many other of the professors at that period.”

In the reprint of Jones’ Glasgow Directory of 1787, we read that “while in theatre one night, Professor Young became so absorbed by witnessing Kean’s ‘Shylock,’ that he also commenced to act the part in dumb-show to the amusement of the audience; and a witty ex-Provost of Glasgow made note of the circumstance in the following stanz: --

“On Glasgow Thespian boards yestreen,
The very Jew I’ve surely seen,
That Shakespeare painted; played by Kean,
While plaudits loudly rung;
But what was all his acting fine
Or Shakespeare’s Comedy Divine,
To the diverting pantomime
Displayed by Cocky Bung!”

Speaking of Professor Young and his teaching leads me to remark that Glasgow University has for four centuries been the Alma Mater of a succession of Lamonts. Its “Records” were published about 1840 by the Maitland Club, and from these I learn the following – In 1529, Nigel Lamont, Rector of Craignish, was admitted a member of the University, under the Rectorship of Mr. Adam Colquhoun. In 1628, James Lamont, eldest son of the Laird of Inveryne, was enrolled a student, and two years later his father, Sir Coill Lamont, who represented Argyllshire in Parliament, gave a contribution of 80 merks towards the Library and fabric of the College, and object to which James himself gave 20 merks in 1636, when he had succeeded his father. In 1642, we find one Allan Lamont taking his degree. In 1657 and 1676 respectively, Archibald and Dugal Lamont, successively 15th and 16th Chiefs of the Clan, were students at the College. In 1681, John Lamont of Kilfinan, natural son of the above Archibald, was a student there. Nine years later we find him an Ensign in the Earl of Argyll’s Regiment of Foot, with which he served for several years in Flanders. In 1722 his son, Archibald Lamont, afterwards of that Ilk, was a Glasgow student and so, about the same time, was on Colin Lamont, whom I have not identified. In 1755 two of Archibald’s sons, Archibald and Norman, became students at the University, and were both nominated Snell Exhibitioners to Balliol College, Oxford. Archibald afterwards served in the Black Watch, the 87th Foot, the Royal English Fusiliers, the 37th Foot, and the Royal American Regiment, while Norman was one of those distinguished soldier-Lamonts, whose career I outlined in my last lecture.

Passing from the subject of Glasgow University, two other Army Lamonts seem to demand mention, partly because I know so little about them! Perhaps, however, some members of the Society may be able to enlighten me. One of these is Norman Lamont, fourth son of Captain Norman Lamont of Monydrain, M.P. He was born in 1825, left Scotland for Canada in 1846, held an appointment in the Royal Engineers in Quebec in 1848, and in Montreal in 1849. He resigned that appointment by a letter dated “New York, 20th October, 1849,” and has not since been heard of. I have taken the above information from a notice which appeared in “The Times” of January 23td, 18e92, to the effect that Mrs. Josephine Lamont, sister-in-law to Norman, was claiming certain sums as his next-of-kin, under the “Presumption of Life Limitation (Scotland) Act, 1891.” I believe, however, that no trace ahs ever been discovered of our missing clansman; in fact, it is almost impossible that the mystery of his total disappearance should ever now be solved.

The other Lamont, whom I cannot “place,” is named Hafed. He was gazetted Ensign in the 3rd West India Regiment on 23rd November, 1851, and Lieutenant on 23rd November, 1852. He served at the siege and fall of Sebastopol from 20th August,1855, and at the attack on 8th September; for which he received medal and clasp. His name appears in the Army list for 1858, but not later; and I should be grateful to any member who can give me information as to the subsequent history of this clansman with the strange name.

It is sometimes said that the object of a lecturer should be, less to inform, than so to deal with his subject, as to incite his audience to inform themselves by further study of it. If this object can be attained by pointing out numerous problems urgently demanding solution, you will admit that I have performed my part; and I should feel more than repaid for any time and trouble I have given to the preparation of my lecture, if I should succeed in inducing even one of you to spend a little of your leisure in the investigation of the history, so little known, and yet so well worth knowing, of that Clan to which we are all so proud to belong.

Linked to John Black
Norman Lamont

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