The Seven men of Knoydart

ON TOUR - I was sitting in the bright and cheerful Old Forge pub in Inverie, Scotland when an elderly chap with a Terrier enrolled me in conversation.

It was a beautifully bright bluesky lunchtime in April and I had taken refuge from the sunshine outside to water my panting black labrador. He and I were both grateful to find the pub in this uniquely isolated community in the Scottish Highlands.

I sat with my cool pint of Thistley Cross cider and chewed the fat with my new companion.

"I've been here since April 1967" he told me. "I'd been working for a company selling asbestos about 30 miles outside of London". " But people didn't want to use it and so I lost my job. I was sitting down eating my sandwiches at lunch thinking what was I going to do. And I got another job just like that as an outdoor instructor in Wales. From there I travelled to Scotland and once I saw it, I was hooked"

I totally understood. I would have abandoned my life as a twenty something too to live here. It's heaven to those of us who need wild country to breathe and feel alive.

"This is a community-owned and run pub. We bought it a few years ago and it does very well indeed," he told me.

It certainly was a delightful pub. The Old Forge is actually the remotest pub on the Uk mainland. Modern decor inside, with plenty of natural wood features including gorgeous tables carved and shaped by a local craftsman. It felt slightly Scandinavian to me; a style I enjoy and admire.

The staff were welcoming and friendly and they stood behind a bar featuring wooden plaques depicting the names of all those who had donated cash to buy the pub from an overseas investor who previously kept unbalanced opening hours.

The ales and cider were all locally brewed too. Some from the Isle of Eigg brewery (a neighbouring isle) and some from Knoydart's own brewery a stones throw from the pub, brewed in a building that used to be the chapel. Beer is a religion to some, so it seemed fitting.

My new friend explained that Knoydart brewery features an ale named Seven men.

This is a nod to the seven courageous war heroes who returned from fighting in WW2 to claim land in Inverie from an incumbent English aristocrat.

The seven men: Henry MacAskill, Archie MacDonald, Archie MacDougall, Jack MacHardy, Duncan McPhail, Sandy Macphee and William Quinnall.

Whilst 'Homes for heroes' featured prominently in the UK psychie at the time, it appears the steward of this countryside, who had clearly benefitted from the dreadful Highland clearances of the 18th century (when all inhabitants were forced to Canada), was not as charitable.

" Lord Brocket the landowner was not a nice man", my friend explained.

Inverie being the remotest mainland community in the Uk. Realistically the only way to reach it is by boat and the very efficient ferry from Mallaig seven miles away, operates regularly when weather permits.

Even being a remote spot, I was able to 'Google' Lord Brocket and what my new chum had described bore out on the pages I read.

"Nazi sympathiser" "Fascist activities""English Aristocrat" "Highland clearance". I was getting the distinct impression that he was probably not the sort of person to ask to spare some land for those who had defeated a fascist dictator.

Knoydart was not always uninhabited before the Highland clearance it was home to many families especially the Macdonalds.

During September 1853 the Government transport ship Sillery anchored at Isleornsay, across the Sound of Sleat from Knoydart, ready to take 332 of the Knoydart inhabitants away to Canada.

According to Scottish history, post WW2 the group of seven war veterans staked out sixty five acres of arable land each on the Knoydart estate to protest against its stewardship by the English aristocrat.

In the centre of the street in Inverie outside the village hall, there stands a monument to these men, commemorating their actions.

I guess we all love the underdog and many would wish that the seven men had been able to reclaim a lifestyle post war in their ancestral home.

Unfortunately the seven men were not able to reclaim their heritage and the influence of the powerful, landowner prevailed.

Lord Brocket won a court order to evict the seven men, but their actions have created a huge sense of pride in Inverie and beyond.

The plaque on the memorial states: 

Justice!

In 1948 near this cairn the Seven Men of Knoydart staked claims to secure a place to live and work.

For over a century Highlanders had been forced to use land raids to gain a foothold where their forebears lived. Their struggle should inspire each new generation of Scots to gain such rights by just laws.

History will judge harshly the oppressive laws that have led to the virtual extinction of a unique culture from this beautiful place.

It does appear that the community of Knoydart and the surrounding Isle of Eigg owe a great deal to this enduring egalitarian spirit of land belonging to communities.

On my brief trip I watched as local people busied themselves carrying out jobs to benefit not just themselves but their community as a whole.

The young Mother who was busy collecting her son for some fresh air exercise, then latterly delivering post to the harbour in a Royal Mail van. 

I'm told that in close knit communities such as this, everyone has more than one role and they do it for the benefit of all. It's a place where you can rely on other people. It's an idyllic lifestyle and I admire them all enormously.