When seeking one’s ancestors, the search is often as interesting as the discovery. Therefore, every few posts, I will diverge from our ancestors’ stories, to tell of the cultural or geographic context in their lives. This background look will be about Dunskeig Hill—a feature that had a great impact on Clachan residents over the centuries.
In 2011, my brother Keith and I travelled to Clachan for a self-directed family history tour. We followed in Frank Darroch’s footsteps (as have many Darroch descendants), and climbed Dunskeig Hill. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we broke a sweat as we climbed. When we reached the top, a cool breeze from the Atlantic balanced the warmth. I realized this hill had similar qualities: the warmth and solace from its pleasant surroundings, plus a chill from the past threat of invasion and war.
Keith Robertson on the side of Dunskeig Hill, with Loch Tarbert’s entrance in the background.
In the Iron-Age, about two thousand years ago, the Picts built two stone forts on top of the hill. That would have been no small feat to transport the rock, for the hill rises 179 meters above the sea. This vantage point made a perfect defense, for it overlooks Loch Tarbert’s narrow entrance to inland Scotland.
The first fort was over 4000 square meters (larger than a football field). Archaeologists are intrigued by the vitrified stone, which requires a temperature of over 1000˚C to fuse the rocks. They debate whether the Picts had the technology to vitrify the stone by design, or whether the forts were set on fire in an act of destruction.
Frank’s red book mentioned a man who grew up on Dunskeig farm. This local gent said Dunskeig meant “hill of mockery.” Dun comes from the Scottish Gaelic word dùn, referring to an ancient fort, typically built on a hill, and from sgeig, which means to mock, deride or ridicule. The Picts felt secure enough in their fort to taunt those who tried to attack them.
A Common Foxglove stands in contrast to the stones of the fort on Dunskeig Hill.
In 1615, the hill played a preparatory role in a battle between Scotland’s two most powerful clans: the Campbells and Macdonalds. They brought their 450-year conflict to Argyll, where the Macdonalds gathered “one thousand men at Dunskeig Hill, by Clachan” in preparation to battle the Campbells. Mulmorich Darroch had been called to serve in the Kilcalmonell parish just the year previous, so he was there to personally witness this gathering. The battle itself concluded on nearby Islay, with the Campbells as the victors.
At the top of the hill, Keith and I found the two iron-age forts as expected. An unexpected find, however, was a memorial to a 33-year-old military pilot who died in 1988.
The plaque for the young pilot describes Dunskeig as “this place he loved.”
The young pilot would not be unique in his love of Dunskeig. It has obviously been a refuge of peace, comfort, and inspiration for many over the years.
Dunskeig would have had a similar effect on the Darroch family. For generations, Archie's ancestors had lived in its protective shadow. He and Mary Milloy raised their children there and eventually moved to its very foot at Dunskeig Farm. No wonder he felt an affinity to it. Two hundred years later, his descendants do, too.
References:
Definition of Dunskeig from https://wikivividly.com/wiki/Dun_Skeig, retrieved June 5, 2018.
All photos by Doug Robertson, 2011.
Cuthbert Bede, Argyll's Highlands: or MacCailein Mor and the Lords of Lorne; with Traditionary Tales and Legends of the County of Argyll and the Campbells and Macdonalds, 1902, 85. This same author had earlier stated there were "ten thousand" men (“Clan Donald’s Last Struggle,” The Old Tower, April 1, 1878, 35).
In comparing the two sources, it is likely the 1902 publication is more accurate. It is more recent, had another editor review it, and is more logical in considering the logistics of getting 10,000 men on Dunskeig Hill.