大象传媒

O chionn beagan mh矛osan bha mi ann an Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain. Tha sin ann an Cinn T矛re. 鈥橲 e Campbel-town a tha air ann am Beurla. Ri taobh an ionaid-choimhearsnachd anns a鈥� bhaile, tha carragh-cuimhne. Tha e do dh鈥橴illeam MacFhionghain, no Sir Uilleam MacFhionghain.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Beagan seachdainean an d猫idh fhuair mi gr猫im air leabhar. 鈥橲 e an 聽聽聽聽聽t-ainm air an leabhar 鈥淜eil School 鈥� a History鈥�. 鈥橲 e fear 脿 Barraigh 鈥� Ruairidh MacAsgaill 鈥� a sgr矛obh e. Bha esan na sgoilear aig Keil School anns na tritheadan.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 D猫 an ceangal a tha ann eadar an leabhar agus an carragh-cuimhne? Uill, thug Uilleam MacFhionghain t貌rr airgid seachad. Leis an airgead, chaidh an sgoil a chur air chois. Ach c貌 bha ann an Uilleam MacFhionghain?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Rugadh e ann an ochd ceud deug, fichead 鈥檚 a tr矛 (1823) ann an Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain. Bha e ag obair ann am b霉th anns a鈥� bhaile. Cha do ch貌rd e ris cus.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nuair a bha e fichead 鈥檚 a ceithir, dh鈥檉halbh e do na h-Inns-eachan. Chuir e fh猫in is caraid companaidh malairt air chois ann an Calcutta. Bha oifisean aca ann an Calcutta is Glaschu.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bha Uilleam gu math soirbh-eachail. Bha na longan aige a鈥� dol gu Singapore agus Persia. Bha soithich-ean-sm霉ide aige, seach soithichean-se貌laidh. Ann an ochd ceud deug, seas-gad 鈥檚 a dh脿 (1862), fhuair a鈥� chomp-anaidh aige ainm 霉r 鈥� The British India Steam Navigation Company.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bha 霉idh aig Uilleam cuideachd ann an taobh sear Afraga. Chuir e companaidh 霉r air chois 鈥� The Imperial British East Africa Company. Bha a鈥� chompanaidh a鈥� riaghladh sg矛re mh貌r ann an Afraga an Ear. Cheannaich Riaghaltas Bhreatainn an d霉thaich sin bhon chompanaidh. Chruthaich iad British East Africa.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bha Uilleam taiceil don Eaglais Shaoir. Thug e taic-airgid don Eaglais. Bha iad a鈥� cur miseanaraidhean a dh鈥橝fraga. Bha e e貌lach air an luchd-rannsachaidh, Livingstone is Stanley. Bha beachd math aig Stanley air.

A few months ago I was in Campbeltown. That鈥檚 in Kintyre. It鈥檚 called Campbeltown in English. Next to the community centre in the town, there is a memorial/monument. It is to William MacKinnon, or Sir William MacKinnon.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A few weeks after that, I got hold of a book. The name of the book is 鈥淜eilSchool 鈥� a History鈥�. It鈥檚 a man from Barra 鈥� Roddy MacAskill 鈥� that wrote it. He was a pupil at Keil School in the thirties.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What is the link between the book and the memorial? Well, William MacKinnon gave away a lot of money. With the money, the school was established. But who was William MacKinnon?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 He was born in 1823 in Campbeltown. He was working in a shop in the town. He didn鈥檛 enjoy it all that much.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When he was twenty-four, he went to India. He and a friend set up a company in Calcutta. They had offices in Calcutta and Glasgow.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 William was very success-ful. His ships went to Singapore and Persia. He had steam vessels, rather than sailing vessels. In 1862, his company got a new name 鈥� The British India Steam Navigation Company.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 William was also interested in East Africa. He set up a new company 鈥� The Imperial British East Africa Company. Tha company was governing a large area in East Africa. The British Government bought that country from the company. They created British East Africa.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 William was supportive of the Free Church. He gave financial assistance to the Church. They were sending missionaries to Africa. He knew the explorers, Livingstone and Stanley. Stanley had a good opinion of him.