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Forest Heritage Scotland webpage - Cnoc na Dubh Leitre
Date 2009
Event ID 588126
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/588126
The website text produced for Cnoc nam Dubh Leitre webpages on the Forest Heritage Scotland website (www.forestheritagescotland.com).
Introduction: Fairground attraction
Druim Tighe Mhic Gille Chattan was once the location for fairs on the Isle of Mull in the 18th and early 19th century.
At the fairground site, traders came from all over Mull and the surrounding islands, to sell their cattle and horses.
The week-long cattle fairs happened twice a year, in May and October, while the horse fair was in August. John Ramsay of Ocheryre, on attending the fair in the late 18th century, described it as "the most considerable in the West Highlands".
If you walk through the forest clearing today, it is difficult to imagine the busy fairground "Druim Tighe" once was.
If you look closely, however, you will begin to see the remains of rectangular foundations built from turf. These foundations indicate the locations of the tents, probably made from blankets, of those who came to sell their cattle or horses. There may have been over fifty tents here during the fair.
People story: Something to beef about
The cattle trade on Mull existed as early as the 16th century.
The records of Mary, Queen of Scots' Council included complaints from the people of Argyll about the theft of their cattle. They believed the thieves sold their cattle in the Lowland markets.
There was plenty of rich grassland on Mull its neighbouring islands, Coll and Tiree. While most farmers needed cattle to provide milk and meat for themselves, they could also keep extra cattle to sell.
By the time of the Mull fairs in the 18th century, the transport of cattle from the Highlands south to the Lowlands and England a thriving business. The cattle were transported by boat and foot. This was called droving and the men who did it were called drovers.
The fairground at Cnoc nam Dubh Leitre is one of the places where drovers came to buy cattle.
From here, local tradition tells us that they shipped the cattle from Grass Point, at the mouth of Loch Don, to the Bay of Barr nam Boc on the small island of Kerrera.
The drovers then made the cattle swim across the narrow channel of water to the mainland and Oban. This was only the start of their long journey south!
