Ceardannan
The Summer Walkers
Overscaig in a Blizzard
‘It’s wild mountain country to the west of Loch Shin and we went out into the wind. At Fiag Bridge it started to snow. It was so cold no-one could sit for a rest in the cart, we had to keep moving – the old man was getting on and I was just seven or eight. Michie was leading the horse, Granda holding on to the back of the cart and me walking behind him, holding his coat. I remember our fronts plastered thick with snow. We got to Overscaig – that’s about eight miles. We uncoupled the horse and brought it round by the cart with its back to the wind and mother scraped the snow as fast as she could, so we could heave up a lean-to against the back end of the cart.
Arriving at Achfary
Two days we were stuck at Overscaig, then we went on to Achfary – we knew we’d get help there. We were in quite a bad way – so when I saw the flag flying up over the castle, I shouted to Grandad, “The flag is up!” and he said “It’ll be alright now”. The flag meant the Westminsters were in residence. And before the tent was up Hughie Morrison, the chauffeur, came down to the camp in a Rolls-Royce with a box full of dry clothes and food! And we asked how he knew what was needed and he said that the Duchess had seen us come into the campsite and asked who we were. “I told her”, he said “It must be Mary Stewart and Blind Ailidh Dall, and she said ‘I’ll make up a box – and you take it down when you’re passing.’” “And in ten minutes the box was there by the front door and Hughie brought it down straight away. There were even chocolates in it. That was the kind of people they were. The Achfary kitchen was ordered never to refuse food to the Travelling People. There was a French chef who would heap up our baskets full with delicacies. Coming back in the autumn I’ve seen our carts leave Achfary with the venison tied on with ropes. So much.’[1]
Essie Stewart
[1] Page 12 – Quoted by Timothy Neat in his book ‘The Summer Walkers’, published by Canongate, Edinburgh – 2002.
The Achfary Horses
‘We got a lot of horses from the Duchess of Westminster at Achfary. They had horses up on the hill just running wild. She’d Alec Ross out to bring the horses down to a big fank where we’d take our luck with four or five – some young mares, but mostly stallions, young colts, because up on the hill, at eighteen months or two years, they’d be mounting the mares and serving them and the Duchess wanted rid of them – she didn’t want inbreeding in her stock. She was a good woman to us like.
The Traveller men would go down to the fank and look them over. We’d lean over the wall and watch them round: then we’d lay nooses down, and whip them tight like a lasso – capture each horse by a front leg. Then we’d take them by the nose and put a bag over their heads; after that we’d get a halter and a rope on. “A devil rope”, we used to call it, one man on either side. It would soon slip tight down round the nose, to close the nostrils. The horse would kick and rear but soon get winded. As it got weaker, we’d slacken the rope. That was it! After a few days they’d be calm enough to be tethered behind the cart and on we’d go.’[1]
Gordon Stewart
[1] Page 95 Quoted by Timothy Neat in his important book ‘The Summer Walkers’, published by Canongate, Edinburgh – 2002.
