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Forest Heritage Scotland web pages - Corrychurrachan
Date 2009
Event ID 588131
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/588131
The website text produced for Corrychurrachan webpages on the Forest Heritage Scotland website (www.forestheritagescotland.com).
Introduction: Lost to the fairy folk?
Hidden in Glenrigh Forest, in the hills above Loch Linnhe, stand the remains of a community long gone.
Historical records tell us that people were living here as early as 1522. When or why people abandoned the settlement is a mystery but maps show it was empty by the mid 1800s.
Local legends recount a tale about a postman who bad fairies attempted to kidnap, near Corrychurrachan. Fortunately, good fairies rescued him at the last minute. It is highly unlikely however that the people who lived in Corrychurrachan went "away with the fairies".
In the early 1800s, many people left farming settlements for various reasons. Explore some of the other abandoned settlements on our website to find out what these reasons could be. Why do you think the people left here?
People Story: The Bishop's journey in the wild Highlands
In 1770, Bishop Forbes travelled to Corrychurrachan by horse and carriage.
The road was not built for this mode of transport; most people used carts, rode on horses or walked. Several locals came to the roadside to stare at this unusual sight. Finally the carriage got stuck on a narrow cliff track. It could not turn around so it had to be lifted and turned by hand.
On arriving in Corrychurrachan on horseback their host Donald Cameron gave Bishop Forbes and his wife a tour of his home.
"....you are in the wild Highlands, where you know we are reckoned Great Thieves, and yet I have, as you will observe, no Lock or Bolt on the outer Door of my House..."
Donald Cameron to Mrs Forbes, quoted by W. T. Kilgour (1908) in [i]"Lochaber in war and peace"[/i].
Donald Cameron was the factor for Corrychurrachan. His job was to collect rents for the landlord and keep an eye on the tenants on the landlord's behalf.
The bishop tells us that Donald was famous for a cannonball wounding him at the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745, where he fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Records show that he and two of his tenants, Sarah and John McKenzie, paid a price for their involvement in the rebellion. The king's forces taxed them; they took sheep, horses, cows and even furniture.
