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Ghluais an t-Urr. Dòmhnall MacCaluim gu coitheanal ùr ann an Tiriodh. Dh’fheuch Diùc Earra-Ghàidheal, an t-uachdaran, ri stad a chur air. Ach cha deach leis.

Bha droch bhàillidhean air a bhith ann an Tiriodh. Bha Iain Caimbeul, ‘Am Bàillidh Mòr’ ann. Chuir esan mòran daoine a-mach às na taighean aca. Bha e air a leantainn le fear eile dhen aon seòrsa, Eòghann MacDiarmaid.

Ghabh cuid de chroitearan tuathanas thairis ann an Tiriodh. Chaidh saighdearan-mara a chur don eilean. Ghèill na croitearan do na saighdearan. An dèidh cùis-chùirte, chaidh feadhainn dhiubh a chur don phrìosan.

Bha an t-eilean air bhoil nuair a chaidh Dòmhnall MacCaluim ann. Cha robh aige ri daoine a phiobrachadh gus an còraichean a sheasamh. Bha na sgilean aige air an cur gu feum ann an strì laghail.

Cha robh e anns an eilean fada. Ach bha na Tiristich cho toilichte leis ’s gun do chuir iad carragh-cuimhne an-àirde dha. Canaidh iad ‘Tùr MhicCaluim’ ris.

Ann an ochd ceud deug, ochdad ’s a naoi (1889), ghluais Dòmhnall a-rithist – gu coitheanal ann an Leòdhas. Bha sin ann an sgìre nan Loch far an robh Frìth na Pàirce. Bha an sgìre ainmeil airson ‘Creach Mhòr nam Fiadh’ dà bhliadhna roimhe. Bha na croitearan air fèidh a mharbhadh mar phàirt de dh’iomairt an aghaidh droch uachdranas.

Cha robh Dòmhnall a-nise cho buileach radaigeach ’s dòcha. Ach lean e air le bhith a’ toirt taic do Lìog an Fhearainn. Sheas e an aghaidh beachd a’ Mhorair Leverhulme, ‘Bodach an t-Siabainn’. Bha esan ag iarraidh crathadh a thoirt air cleachdadh an fhearainn ann an Leòdhas. Bha Dòmhnall cuideachd an sàs ann an sgeamaichean a chuir mòran fhear òga à Leòdhas gu ruige Patagonia. Bha iad ri cìobaireachd an sin.

Ghluais Dòmhnall don Eilean Sgitheanach nuair a leig e dheth a dhreuchd mar mhinistear. Ann an naoi ceud deug, fichead ’s a sia (1926), trì bliadhna mus do chaochail e, dh’fhosgail e carragh-cuimhne ann an Glaschu. Bha e do ghaisgeach eile a bha an sàs ann an strì an fhearainn. B’ esan Dòmhnall MacRath, am maighstir-sgoile ann am Bail’ Ailein aig àm Creach Mhòr nam Fiadh. Bheir sinn sùil air Dòmhnall MacRath an-ath-sheachdain.

The Rev. Donald MacCallum moved to a new congregation in Tiree. The Duke of Argyll, the landlord, tried to stop him. But he didn’t succeed.

There had been bad factors in Tiree. John Campbell, ‘Am Bàillidh Mòr’, was there. He put many people out of their homes. He was followed by another of the same ilk, Hugh MacDiarmid.

Some crofters took over a farm on Tiree. Marines were sent to the island. The crofters yielded to the marines. After a court case, some of them were sent to prison.

The island was in a state of ferment when Donald MacCallum went there. He didn’t have to incite people to stand up for their rights. His skills were put to use in a legal tussle.

He wasn’t on the island long. But the Tiree folk were so pleased with him that they erected a memorial cairn to him. They call it ‘MacCallum’s Tower’.

In 1889, Donald moved again – to a congregation in Lewis. That was in the Lochs district where the Park Deer Forest was. The area was famous for ‘The Park Deer Raid’ two years before. The crofters had killed deer as part of a campaign against bad landlordism.

Donald wasn’t now perhaps quite so radical. But he continued to support the Land League. He stood against the opinion of Lord Leverhulme ‘The Soap Man’. He was wanting to shake up land use in Lewis.

Donald was also involved in schemes that sent many young men from Lewis to Patagonia. They were involved in shepherding there.

Donald moved to Skye when he retired as a minister. In 1926, three years before he died, he unveiled a memorial in Glasgow. It was for another hero who was involved in the land struggle. He was Donald MacRae, the schoolmaster in Balallan at the time of the Park Deer Raid. We’ll look at Donald MacRae next week.