Post by Elly on Aug 20, 2005 19:08:07 GMT 10
Lost village uncovered in forest
DAVID ROSS, Highland Correspondent
OVERLOOKING the remains of a long-lost Highland village, Councillor Bill Clark poured a glass of whisky into the ground.
"What we do today," he said, "will help to ensure the people who lived in this magnificent glen will never be forgotten."
Those people were the residents of Daingean, a village in the clan lands of MacDonnell of Glengarry, which was all but emptied of inhabitants 200 years ago during the early Highland Clearances.
Then it was forgotten.
It was only in 1999 that the settlement overlooking Loch Garry, west of Loch Oich and the Great Glen, was rediscovered among 80ft spruce trees.
Yesterday, a "Daingean Trail" was unveiled amid an onslaught of midges, providing visitors with a new link to this elusive part of Scottish history.
Daingean means fort in Gaelic. Although there is no surviving evidence of such a structure, there is still plenty of evidence of human habitation.
The new trail takes the visitor round a settlement of six houses, a barn, a sheep fank and corn kiln that would have supported 20 to 30 people. It is thought that the original settlement would have been much bigger and embraced several hundred people. The village was dealt its first blow in 1785, when sheep were introduced to the area by the landowner MacDonnell of Glengarry. The population was scythed when some 55 households in Glengarry were given eviction notices, six of them in Daingean.
Many emigrated and settled in Glengarry County in Ontario. A few shepherds and gamkeepers lived on in the village for about another 100 years until they, too, drifted away, leaving the village's fate to the forces of nature.
Ardochy estate, as it became, was broken up and sold off in the 1940s. The land was acquired by the Forestry Commission, which proceeded to establish Glengarry forest, and over the years the remains of the village buildings were hidden from view as the trees grew and as moss, lichens, grass, spruce needles and other forest litter gradually swallowed them up.
Daingean lay forgotten in the forest for half a century until Allan MacKenzie, a forester, went in to survey the woodland in 1999 to plan its harvesting and replanting programme.
He said: "Nobody mentioned it to me. Anyone in the Forestry Commission who would have known about it had long since gone. No-one had been in there for decades.
"Suddenly this building appeared in front of me, all covered in moss. The atmosphere generated by this witness to a bygone era in the silence and semi-darkness of the forest was amazing. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Then over time we found more buildings and ruins."
Local people would have once known about the village but would have found it increasingly difficult to pinpoint its exact whereabouts. Even nineteenth-century maps were of little use. The village was so small it didn't appear on them, although the general area of 20 or so square miles was always referred to as Daingean.
Following its rediscovery, the Forestry Commission decided to protect the remains from further damage and not to replant trees on the site. Thanks to growing local interest, it was decided that a heritage trail should be established so visitors could learn something about the lifestyle of the eighteenth-century Gaels who had lived there.
Kirsty Barr, the commission's community ranger, praised the support of local residents. She said: "The local community raised 80% of the funds, including generous support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and volunteers from the local community did much of the work and wrote the interpretation material".
DAVID ROSS, Highland Correspondent
OVERLOOKING the remains of a long-lost Highland village, Councillor Bill Clark poured a glass of whisky into the ground.
"What we do today," he said, "will help to ensure the people who lived in this magnificent glen will never be forgotten."
Those people were the residents of Daingean, a village in the clan lands of MacDonnell of Glengarry, which was all but emptied of inhabitants 200 years ago during the early Highland Clearances.
Then it was forgotten.
It was only in 1999 that the settlement overlooking Loch Garry, west of Loch Oich and the Great Glen, was rediscovered among 80ft spruce trees.
Yesterday, a "Daingean Trail" was unveiled amid an onslaught of midges, providing visitors with a new link to this elusive part of Scottish history.
Daingean means fort in Gaelic. Although there is no surviving evidence of such a structure, there is still plenty of evidence of human habitation.
The new trail takes the visitor round a settlement of six houses, a barn, a sheep fank and corn kiln that would have supported 20 to 30 people. It is thought that the original settlement would have been much bigger and embraced several hundred people. The village was dealt its first blow in 1785, when sheep were introduced to the area by the landowner MacDonnell of Glengarry. The population was scythed when some 55 households in Glengarry were given eviction notices, six of them in Daingean.
Many emigrated and settled in Glengarry County in Ontario. A few shepherds and gamkeepers lived on in the village for about another 100 years until they, too, drifted away, leaving the village's fate to the forces of nature.
Ardochy estate, as it became, was broken up and sold off in the 1940s. The land was acquired by the Forestry Commission, which proceeded to establish Glengarry forest, and over the years the remains of the village buildings were hidden from view as the trees grew and as moss, lichens, grass, spruce needles and other forest litter gradually swallowed them up.
Daingean lay forgotten in the forest for half a century until Allan MacKenzie, a forester, went in to survey the woodland in 1999 to plan its harvesting and replanting programme.
He said: "Nobody mentioned it to me. Anyone in the Forestry Commission who would have known about it had long since gone. No-one had been in there for decades.
"Suddenly this building appeared in front of me, all covered in moss. The atmosphere generated by this witness to a bygone era in the silence and semi-darkness of the forest was amazing. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Then over time we found more buildings and ruins."
Local people would have once known about the village but would have found it increasingly difficult to pinpoint its exact whereabouts. Even nineteenth-century maps were of little use. The village was so small it didn't appear on them, although the general area of 20 or so square miles was always referred to as Daingean.
Following its rediscovery, the Forestry Commission decided to protect the remains from further damage and not to replant trees on the site. Thanks to growing local interest, it was decided that a heritage trail should be established so visitors could learn something about the lifestyle of the eighteenth-century Gaels who had lived there.
Kirsty Barr, the commission's community ranger, praised the support of local residents. She said: "The local community raised 80% of the funds, including generous support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and volunteers from the local community did much of the work and wrote the interpretation material".
