Glen Cannich

Glen Cannich (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Chanaich) is a long glen and Strath in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland and through which runs the River Cannich. Once densely populated before being largely emptied by both voluntary emigration and the Highland Clearances following the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Glen, which was formerly the property of Clan Chisholm, has played an important role in the history of Scottish Gaelic literature, Scottish traditional music, and in the history, martyrology, and hymnography of the Catholic Church in Scotland. A minor public road runs up Glen Cannich from Cannich as far as the Mullardoch dam. Other than water capture for the Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme, the major land uses in the glen are commercial forestry and deer stalking.^[1]

Emerging from the reservoir of Loch Mullardoch, the River Cannich flows east to merge with the River Affric at the village of Cannich, their combined waters forming the River Glass.

Downstream of Loch Mullardoch are the smaller natural lochs of Loch a' Bhana, Loch Sealbhanach, Loch Carrie and Loch Craskie through each of which the river flows. Other lochs within the Cannich catchment include (from west to east) Loch an Fraoich-choire, Coire Lochan, Loch a' Choire Dhomhain, Loch a' Choire Bhig, Loch Tuill Bhearnach and Lochan a' Mhill Dhuibh. Within the narrow confines of the eastern end of the glen the river plunges over two waterfalls; Eas Maol Mhairi and Eas an Fhithich. Innumerable burns drain the mountain slopes to the north and south of the river, the largest of which are the Abhainn a' Choilich and Abhainn Sithidh which arise on the eastern slopes of the peak of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan.

In addition to its importance to Scottish Gaelic literature and Scottish traditional music, Glen Cannich is also an important location to the history of the Hiberno-Scottish mission, the Celtic Church, and the Catholic Church in Scotland.

The now ruined Celtic Church monastery and Christian pilgrimage site of (Scottish Gaelic: Kilbeathan) at (Scottish Gaelic: Clachan Comar) beside the holy well known as (Scottish Gaelic: Sputan Bhain), is alleged to have been founded by St Baithéne mac Brénaind, the second Abbot of Iona Abbey, kinsman of St Columba, and missionary, who is said locally to have spearheaded the Christianisation of Strathglass.^[2][3] Beauly Priory, a 13th-century Valliscaulian monastery located in near Beauly, is alleged in some sources to have received its name from Mary, Queen of Scots.

Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the Chiefs of Clan Chisholm and Clan Fraser of Lovat chose, despite official denials, to illegally grant religious toleration to their clansmen.^[4] Until the Suppression of the Jesuits in the late 18th-century, the large Catholic population in Glen Cannich and the surrounding region was covertly looked after by underground priests of the Society of Jesus.^[5]

Between 1735 and 1746, the Glen was the home and base of operations for three outlawed Roman Catholic priests of the Society of Jesus; Frs. Charles (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Teàrlach, an t-Athair Teàrlach Mac Fhearchair) and John Farquharson (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Iain,^[6] an-tAthair Iain Mac Fhearchair) and future Catholic martyr Fr. Alexander Cameron (Scottish Gaelic: Maighstir Sandaidh, an t-Athair Alasdair Camshròn).^[7]

According to Colin Chisholm and Dom Odo Blundell of Fort Augustus Abbey, the three priests' residence and secret Mass house was inside a cave known as (Scottish Gaelic: Glaic na h'eirbhe,^[8][9] lit. "the hollow of the hard-life")^[10][11] which was located underneath the cliff of a big boulder at Brae of Craskie, near Beauly (Scottish Gaelic: A' Mhanachainn) in Glen Cannich.^[12][13]

According to Monsignor Thomas Wynne, "It was in the nature of a summer sheiling, a command center for monitoring the traditional activities of cattle reivers; as such it combined a civilising role with the building up of a Catholic mission outside Cameron territory in a way which must have reassured Lochiel on both counts."^[14]

This secret dwelling remained the centre of the Catholic mission in the region at the time, where Fr. Cameron and the two Farquarson brothers secretly ministered to the local Catholics and secretly visited the covert "Mass houses" at Fasnakyle, Crochail, and Strathfarrar (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Farair).^[15][6] The entrance to the cave, according to historian John Watts, was so well hidden that the three priests successfully eluded, "all attempts of the local garrison to find them."^[16]

Whenever it was not possible for the three priests to safely leave the cave, their parishioners would come to the cave at Brae of Craskie for Mass, the sacraments, and, especially, for the illegal Catholic baptisms of their children. A natural cup stone known as (Scottish Gaelic: Clach a Bhaistidh) was used by the three priests as a baptismal font.^[17]

According to Colin Chisholm, the cup stone had been used for performing baptisms, "from time immemorial".^[18] This may mean that, similarly to what was common practice at the time among persecuted Catholic Gaels in Ireland,^[19] the natural cup stone had been brought to the cave from the ruins of a local church or monastery dating from before the Scottish Reformation, such as Clachan Comar or Beauly Priory.

According to the local oral tradition, either Fr John or Charles Farquharson was interrupted by a detachment of red-coats while offering mass at Clachan Comar following the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Although the mark of an officer's sabre is still visible at the site, the Jesuit is said to have fled the scene and managed to escape unharmed.^[20][21]

Furthermore, the Bullaun, or natural cup stone, known as (Scottish Gaelic: Clach a Bhaistidh) and used by the three Jesuits to perform secret Catholic baptisms in the cave at Glen Cannich, was removed from the Cave, "in order to protect it from damage", by Black Watch Regiment Captain Archibald Macrae Chisholm and placed upon a stone column,^[22][23] where it is now venerated as a relic by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen at St Mary and St. Bean's Roman Catholic Church at Marydale, Beauly, Glen Cannich.^[24] Despite the depopulation of much of the countryside of Glen Cannich, Glen Strathfarrar, and Strathglass by both voluntary emigration and the 1801-1855 mass estate clearances ordered by Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat and Mrs. William Chisholm of Chisholm,^[25] construction of the church building commenced following Catholic Emancipation in 1829. The church was completed in 1866 and solemnly consecrated in 1868.^[26]

After belatedly coming into possession of the Glen in 1826, Mrs. William Chisholm of Chisholm first waited until 1830 for the remaining leases to expire and then summoned every male who held land there to a meeting at the inn at Cannich. Upon arrival, they were informed by the estate factor that their farms had all been secretly let to sheep farmers from the Scottish Lowlands and that all present and their families must leave Glen Cannich with no negotiation or appeal. Upon hearing the news, Thomas Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat, offered them highly favourable terms to resettle on his own estate at Strathfarrar. Even though it meant relocating his existing tenants in the region, Lord Lovat's offer was accepted and the former Glen Cannich tenants' new leases began on Whitsunday, 1831.^[27]

Writing in 1883, Alexander Mackenzie explained the evicted population of the Glen had been solidly part of the upper middle class and further wrote, "To give the reader an idea of the class of men who occupied this district, it may be stated that of the descendants of those who lived in Glen Cannich, at one time thickly populated in the Strath, but now a perfect wilderness - there lived in the present generation, no less than three colonels, one major, three captains, three lieutenants, seven ensigns, one bishop, and fifteen priests."^[28] Writing in 1885, folklorist and local historian Colin Chisholm of Lietry, who had attended the 1830 meeting at the Cannich inn,^[29] further recalled that, before the local Highland Clearances, the population of Glen Cannich was noted, "for happy tenantry and famous deer-stalkers."^[30]

Despite mockery of local concerns by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, rising waters caused by the Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme following the Second World War ultimately led to still further depopulation.

Frs John and Charles Farquharson's Jesuit colleague, Fr Alexander Cameron (1701-1746), who had shared the cave dwelling and apostolate to Clans Fraser and Chisholm and who Lord Lovat described in a letter to his elder brother, Donald Cameron of Lochiel, as having broken his health by doing the priestly work of ten men,^[31] has been actively promoted since 2020 by the Knights of St Columba for canonization as a Roman Catholic saint and martyr.^[32]

Currently, the ruined Celtic Church monastery at Clachan Comar is considered an important local heritage monument and is looked after by local historical preservationists. Depending on the availability of priests, outdoor masses are offered annually on the site. Furthermore, efforts are currently being discussed of building a roof upon the former monastery chapel.^[33][34]

In local Scottish folklore, Fr. John Farquharson remains a popular folk hero. He is said to have once had a face to face confrontation with the Devil upon Cannich Bridge and to have forced his opponent to dive into the River Cannich with a hissing sound.^[6]

• Rt.-Rev. William Fraser (c. 1779–1851), first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Halifax and then the first Bishop of the Diocese of Arichat. Folk hero in both Scottish and Canadian folklore.
• Colin Chisholm of Lietry, former hereditary Tacksman of Lietry, British Army officer, and Victorian era folklore collector and Celticist. Decades after being evicted from Glen Cannich by Mrs William Chisholm of Chisholm in 1830, Chisholm sought to collect, publish, and accordingly preserve for the future as much from the local oral tradition as he could salvage, both from local informants and from his many correspondents throughout the global Scottish diaspora,^{[35][36][37][38]} despite the overwhelming obstacles of the depopulation of the region through voluntary emigration and the many other mass estate clearances throughout the region.^[39] Colin Chisholm's testimony about these same estate clearances before the Napier Commission remains a highly important primary source about local history. Furthermore, multiple hymns and prayers in verse collected and published by Colin Chisholm were later included, according to John Lorne Campbell, in Fr Allan MacDonald's 1893 Gaelic-language hymnal for the Catholic Church in Scotland.^[40]

• Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland. Volume I: The Central Highlands, Sands & Co., 21 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, 15 King Street, London.
• Colin Chisholm (1885), Unpublished Old Gaelic Songs with Illustrative Traditions, Printed at the Courier Office, Inverness.
• Robert Forbes (1895), The Lyon in Mourning: Or a Collection of Speeches, Letters, Journals Etc., Relative to the Affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Volume I, Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society.
• Thomas Wynne (2011), The Forgotten Cameron of the '45: The Life and Times of Alexander Cameron S.J, Print Smith, Fort William, Scotland

• "Simon, Lord Lovat's Warning", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, November 1881, pp. 49-52.
• "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7 1882, pp. 141-146.
• "A Highland Mission: Strathglass, 1671-1777", by Very Rev. Alexander Canon Mac William, Volume XXIV, Innes Review, pp. 75-102.
• "The Conversion of Alexander Cameron", by Thomas Wynne, Volume XLV, Innes Review, Autumn 1994, pp. 178-187.

• Images of Glen Cannich on Geograph website
• Clachan Comair Burial Ground, Strathglass Heritage Trail.

57°20′N 4°57′W / 57.34°N 4.95°W / 57.34; -4.95