Donald MacLeod was born at Rossal, Strathnaver, the son of
William MacLeod, a farmer and stonemason under whom he also served his apprenticeship.
Donald was about twenty years of age when Rossal was cleared. At 11 o'clock that night he
climbed a hill and counted:
250 blazing houses. Many of the owners were my relatives
and all of whom I personally knew; but whose present condition, whether in or out of the
flames, I could not tell. The fire lasted six days, till the whole of the dwellings were
reduced to ashes or smoking ruins. During one of those days a boat lost her way in the
dense smoke as she approached the shore; but at night she was enabled to reach a landing
place by the light of the flames.
The family were later removed to Strathy Point, and Donald
had to move again at the insistence of Sellar's successor. He moved southward, keeping as
long as he could within Sutherland, but finally went to Edinburgh where he found access to
the press.
Donald MacLeod was a born journalist; however, was unable to
get his writings published. In his memory, his notes, and his correspondence with
Highlanders whom he dared not name, he stored a great arsenal of ammunition. By 1840
public opinion began to change, and the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle published 21 of his
letters which he later expanded into his "History of the Destitution of
Sutherlandshire."
From then on, he wrote and wrote of the removals and
persecutions in all parts of the Highlands -=- always returning to the events of his
people, to Bliadhna an Losgaidh, the Year of the Burnings, when Patrick Sellar came to
Strathnaver.
Memorial to Donald MacLeod: Click to enlarge
[jpeg:10K]
A Memorial Cairn to Donald MacLeod is by the roadside in Strathnaver. Behind it, across
the River Naver, is the village of Rossal, preserved as it was following the clearances.
(Look for green fields.) Other villages cleared at that time are now covered by trees, a
reforestation project in recent years. The sheep are still there.
Such an `agitator' was not likely to receive much
encouragement in the city of "law and order". Although his writings were rarely
subjective, his own suffering was great. He was hounded by the Stafford agents and the
persecution of his wife reduced her to incurable madness.
Donald MacLeod and his family went to Woodstock, Ontario
(Canada) where he ended his days. In the end, he became an exile like his kin and friends.
After a visit to Dunrobin Castle, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe
(author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin") wrote "Sunny Memories" of
Sutherlandshire. Donald MacLeod in Woodstock wrote his refutation, "Gloomy
Memories" which was published in Toronto in 1857.
Donald MacLeod was courageous and incorruptible, and his
writing was never dull. No one who reads "Gloomy Memories" and considers the
author's environments and opportunities, can fail to observe the marked ability with which
he states his facts, and the firmness displayed at a time when his sentiments could find
but little support and scanty approval.
Despite the attempts of Mrs. Beecher Stowe, Commissioner
James Loch, M.P. and many others to whitewash the Sutherland escutcheon, and the various
efforts of the Sellar family to vindicate the memory of their father, the statements made
by Donald MacLeod have never been overturned or refuted -=- indeed they have in these
latter days been fully substantiated.
Copyright (C) Janet MacKay; 1985
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