Mull, Druim Tighe Mhic Gille Chattan
Fair (18th Century)
Site Name Mull, Druim Tighe Mhic Gille Chattan
Classification Fair (18th Century)
Canmore ID 22043
Site Number NM44NE 5
NGR NM 4889 4558
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22043
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilninian And Kilmore
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NM44NE 5 c.489 454.
NM 489 454. Fair-ground, Druim Tighe Mhic Ghille Chattain: A remarkable series of structures is situated on open moorland at a height of 90m OD, immediately NE of a flat-topped rock outcrop which forms a conspicuous landmark at the watershed of the road from Dervaig to Aros. In an area measuring about 150m from N to S about 80m transversely, no fewer than fifty turf-walled buildings are distributed in two main groups (see plan); the smaller occupies ground sloping NE from the rock outcrop already mentioned, while the remainder are dispersed over the summit of a low knoll separated by marshy ground from the smaller group.
The structures are of a consistent and distinctive plan-form, a typical example comprising a rectangle 6.1m in length by 2.7m over turf side-walls 0.6m in thickness. In many cases one end-wall is represented by a substantial mound of turf and stone, sometimes with internal facing-stones in situ, while the other end is left open to provide an entrance. The narrow internal space thus formed is further diminished by a central bench or ridge of turf about 0.3m thick and running the entire length of the building. Despite the fragile nature of the building material, the turf in most cases surviving to a height of only about 0.2m, thirty-six of the structures identified conform to this type. The only variation is in length, one exceptional building having overall dimensions of 12m by 3m. Eight other structures differ only in having both ends closed, the entrance, where identifiable, being towards the end of one side-wall. Several of the remaining buildings on the site probably had internal benches which can no longer be distinguished.
This site, which is still known locally by the poly-syllabic place-name given above (information from Mr K Way, Tenga), meaning 'ridge of the house of the son of Gille Chatain', lies on the farm of Tenga, in the 18th and 19th centuries a property of the Dukes of Argyll. 'Druim Tighe' was identified in 1891 as the former site of the principal fairs and markets of Mull, which had been held there for centuries until within living memory, and the name 'Drimtavickillichattan' appears in the lists of fairs published in Scottish almanacs in the first quarter of the 19th century. The precise date when the site was abandoned is unknown; in 1823 and subsequent years the location is given simply as 'Mull'. By 1843 the fair was established at Fishnish.
The fairs were held in mid-May and mid-October for cattle and in mid-August for horses, the latter occasion being singled out by John Ramsay of Ochertyre, writing towards the end of the 18th century, as 'the most considerable (fair) in the West Highlands'. He notes that the fair lasts a week; people who came from a distance had to sleep in tents or temporary huts. The extant buildings are evidently the footings of these tents or huts, the superstructures perhaps being of blankets, as at other Highland fairgrounds. Although some may have been used as taverns, their principal function was to provide shelter at night, and the central benches probably served as beds raised above the mossy ground.
P A Macnab 1970; RCAHMS 1980, visited 1973.
As described. Name confirmed.
Visited by OS (RD) 13 May 1972.
Area ploughed and afforested. No remains seen.
Information from OS May 1985.
Publication Account (2009)
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!
