Speymouth

The main part of the early part of this history take place in the “North East” of Scotland in the area known as Moray.

“The North-East,” in Scotland, is not just a geographical expression; though the main reason for the region’s distinctive identity is clear from the merest glance at a map. This great hump of land, bounded by coast- lines running east-to-west and north-east to south-west and on the interior by mountain ranges, forms a natural territorial unit which has become home to one of the strongest and best-preserved regional cultures in Scotland.  After the reformation there was even a distinction in its religious beliefs compared with that of the Highlands.

Although it is clearly part of the north of Scotland, it is not part of the Highlands but in an area known as the Northern Lowlands. The people living there were not part of the traditional clan system.

To the west, the region meets the Cairngorm Mountains, and to the South the Mounth. Until the dawn of turnpikes implemented by General Wade, these two vast highland ranges were a imposing barrier to communication between the North-East and the rest of Scotland. Until the 18th century, Aberdeen, had more frequent and regular contact with Northern Europe, the Baltic and Scandinavia than with other towns in Scotland.

Moray and Speymouth have been inhabited for since Neolithic times and the whole of the North East of Scotland including this area is littered with Pictish remains, the kingdom that simply disappeared.

One battle in particular may have led to a repopulation by other families (¹).

In the year 1160, near the mouth of the same river, and on the moor between Speymouth and Urquhart, as is supposed, a rebellion of a still more serious aspect was quelled, by a victory gained by Malcolm IV. over the people of Murray, when the whole army of the rebels was cut to pieces; after which the chief families of the province, and all who were concerned in the rebellion, (as being, according to Buchanan, a people of a turbulent disposition,) were removed and dispersed through various parts of the kingdom, and others, from different places, were transplanted into Murray in their room.

Moray is a fertile plain that is geographically defined as south of the Moray Forth and north of the River Spey.   Although not part of the Highlands this is a remote area. Historically it was geographically isolated. There were few roads. Even in 1740 it took Simon Fraser 11 days to go from Inverness to Edinburgh, Scotland this was after General Wades improvements to the road system. In rural areas the transportation would have been even worse. So as a results we are talking about a society where the population was very sparse and dispersed between the different settlements in the region where local transport was difficult. Within the parish of Speymouth there was no leading town, the cathedral city of Elgin lies 9 miles to the West.

This was a land that was relatively rich and had supported arable farming and communities for many centuries. As a result in the 17th century there were already well established groupings and farms.

The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland dated 1654 names Moray as Moravia and clearly shows the main burghs and villages including Dipple (Dippill), Essil, Garmouth (Germach) and Redhall (Reed-hall). It also identifies the Gordon Estate as an enclosed area.

The parish of Speymouth was formed in 1731 by the union of two smaller parishes, Dipple and Essil.  At various time the parish priest of Germach (now Garmouth) formed part of the parish. There is very little mention of the parishes much before the mid 1700’s. The earliest mention is in a charter by Bishop Bricius somewhere between 1205 and 1215.

17th Century

In 1667 The Cess Rolls⁠(²) show the following areas within the parish of Essil and their taxable value:

Owner	Area
Archibold Geddes	Essle
Archibold Geddes	More Stynie
J Stewart & J Hamilton	Couts
Laird of Innes	Corskie
Laird of Innes	Redhall
Laird of Innes	Croft (Crofts of Dipple)
Laird of Innes	Milltown & Beathill
Laird of Innes	Mill of Craigie
Laird of Innes	Balnacoul

Land owners in Essil 1667

Dipple was simply lumped together as being under the Laird of Innes.  There was no obvious centre of population in Dipple⁠ (³) and although there was a church, the people probably came from the surrounding area to church rather than living in the immediate vicinity.

In 1610 His Grace the Duke of Gordon paid Feu Duties to the Bishopric of £24 11s 4d. At some between 1621 had already passed to the Innes. The transaction probably took place when Charles I took the rights away from the church and used them to settle a debt :

“To explain this, observe, that King Charles I. being indebted £7,000 Sterling, to James Livingston of the Bed-Chamber, granted him in 1642, a gift of the rents and profits of the Bishopric of Moray, and others, for payment, with power to sell and dispone the same. Mr Livingston, in 1647, conveyed his right to John, Earl of Crawford, Treasurer, who, by his disposition, of date, June 9th 1648 sold the Teind Fishing of Spey to Sir Robert Innes of Innes, for £800 Scots, with the burden of £200 to the Minister of Essil.”

In 1655 Marie Hay spouse to Alexander Innes sold the estate to Sir Robert Innes. He in turn sold it to John Innes in 1659 and in 1669 it was passed to his son Robert Innes. In about 1672 Sir John Innes built the mansion house at Dipple.

In 1684 William Duff who was subsequently known as Duff of Dipple then bought Dipple.

18th Century

On the 14th July 1731 a Decree was made by the Commissioners for the Plantations of Kirks, in the Court of Session (Edinburgh), to unite the parishes of Dipple and Essil and take in part of Garmouth for Kirk purposes. Up until this time Garmouth had been part of the neighbouring parish of Urquhart.

The reasons for this seem to be twofold. The first is a case of 18th century cost cutting exercise by the Kirk. The parishes of Dipple and Essil were small and the resulting rentals from the land small. The stipends that were therefore collected to support the Kirk and the ministers were not sufficient.

The second reason was that the growing population of Garmouth, had to travel quite some distance to be able to go to their parish kirk in Urquhart about a 5 mile walk. The new church in Stynie is one 2,5 miles from the centre of Garmouth.

As a result a new Kirk was built at Stynie in 1733, the architect being one James Ogilvie of Pittinscar (Pittensair, St Andrews Lhanbryde in the neighbouring parish) was “’Architect and Undertaker for the mason-work’, he and the minister having ‘contrived’ the building between them.” The Kirk was and is still know as the Red Kirk because of the red harling that can be seen on the outside of the building. Harling is a plastering using a lime render and small stones over the stonework to protect it from weather. In the process it is possible, as was the case here to add colour to the plaster mix. The use of specifically red harling seems to be unique and not very puritan.

The financing for the Kirk came from Duff of Braco and the Gordon family (being Catholics, this must have stuck in their throat). Duff had to build the Manse although the Gordon’s had to pay £88 14s 5d towards it and they also had to pay £20 0s 0d towards the Kirk itself. Duff also had to supply the Glebe or Church land used to support the Minister – this was to be as large as the combined Glebes of Essil and Dipple. The Minister was supposed to collect the stipends of both Essil and Dipple and in addition £200 of fishing rights to the Spey.

Curiously enough Stynie was also the scene of Papist “activity” where James Wilson, of Nether Stynie, James Patterson of Cowiemuir, Andrew Taylor, Kenner, Alexander Hay from Nether Dalachy, James Taylor and two women all being Patrick Taylor’s children and servants were observed to have been practicing the Catholic faith.

Once the Kirk on Speymouth had been built the kirks in Dipple and Essil were abandoned although their graveyards were still used. In fact in 1751 a new shovel was bought for the gravedigger in Dipple – it cost £1 a remarkable sum of money that would be worth almost £140 in 2014!

Even though the kirk in Dipple was not in use there was still a superstition that the corpse needed to be taken around a small house that existed at the style of the churchyard.(⁴) This building was known as the House of the Holy Ghost. Eventually the building disappeared in the same fashion as the kirk and the superstition disappeared.

“At the Church Yard Style there stood a small house, commonly called the House of the Holy Ghost, around which, sunways, the people made a tour with the Corps at Burials, and could not be restrained from this superstition until the walls were quite erased of late”.

The ownership seems not have changed much in the period. The different taxes of the time, raised by governments fighting wars, show a similar pattern. One such tax was The Hearth Tax was levied from 1691 – 1695 and was based on the number of hearths for both landowners and tenants. It was however very difficult to collect. The 1692 results show ownership in the following hands:

Parish	Person	Amount
Bellie	Duke of Gordon	£63 0s 0d
Urquhart	Lord of Innes	£80 0s 0d
Urquhart	John Farquharsone of Burns|	£5 0s 0d
Urquhart	Mark Mavirtheze	£15 0s 0d
Urquhart	Lordship of Urquhart	£40 0s 0d
Urquhart	Commisary Stewart	£10 0s 0d
Essle	Archibold Geddes of Essil	£30 0s 0d
Essle	Cumming of Inchbare	£11 0s 0d

In 1770 leases for Dipple were recorded and exist in the records of the Gordon family. The tenants were:

Name	Place	Years of lease
Euphemia Loggie(5)	Dipple	19 from1752
William Loggie	Greens of Dipple	(Kirk Elder)
James Begg	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
James Brown	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
William Findlay	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
Thomas Gillice	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
William Innes	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
Walter Newlands	Crofts of Dipple	17 from 1755
William Simpson	Hatton of Dipple	19 from 1756
Robert Innes	Hatton of Dipple	19 from 1756
James Knight	Dipple	19 from 1756
James Hutcheon	Westerton
Charles Mair	Hatton of Dipple	19 from 1756
William Miln	Westerton	19 from 1756
Robert Brown	Hatton of Dipple	17 from 1758
Alexander Brebner	Dipple	19 years 1761
James Burges	Dipple	19 years 1761
Patrick Taylor	Dipple	19 years 1761
William Anderson	Dipple	24 from 1763
William Burges	Dipple	9 from 1765

Land Tax registers in 1771 show a very similar ownership and it is not until 1779 for the Inhabited House Tax do we see the additions of more names:

Parish	Person
Urquhart	Capt. John Innes of Leuchars
Urquhart	Earl of Fife, Innes House
Urquhart	Mr William Gordon, Minister
Speymouth	Mr Thomas Gordon, Minister
Speymouth	William Falconer
Garmouth	Mr Shand
Garmouth	James Allan, Merchant

In the Windows Tax (for houses with 7 or more windows) returns for 1774 we have the following:

Parish	Person
Urquhart	Alexander Todd
Urquhart	Earl of Fife Innes House
Urquhart	Mr William Gordon, Minister
Urquhart	John Innes of Leucahr
Speymouth	Mr Thomas Gordon, Minister
Speymouth	Harry Gordon, Boat of Bogg
Speymouth	John Shand, Garmouth
Speymouth	James Allan, Merchant, Garmouth
Speymouth	Mrs Stevenson
Speymouth	Patrick Morrison
Speymouth	William Wilson, Fisherman, Garmouth

In 1795 the Statistical Account of Scotland for Speymouth (⁶) was published. This is a unique view of the parish by the Minister the Rev. James Gillan. Clearly it is one to interpetation but does give an insight inot the state of the Parish at this time.

The account says that:

• about 1/3 of the parish is cultivated
• 530 acres of pasture
• 300 acres of woodland
• 50 acres of moss
• 110 acres of beach and pebbles
• 1/2 the parish is moorland

The Minister suggests that the land should be improved by cultivating part of the moorland by adding lime. The moss is almost gone and the addition of trees to the landascape is seen as essential for tinder. Whether this is in line with the thoughts of the Duke of Gordon who owns the woods is another matter. The most used fuel is the turf form the moors. however in Garmouth there is some coal that comes in from Sunderland.

The buildings are made form stone that is quarried from the banks of the Spey. This is red in colour and can be identified on the maps as the Red Quarry and Redhall (where many Loggie’s lived) is close by. Unfortunately it is not good stones and it has to be quarried from some depth to be able to used in construction.

The biggest ailment in the parish is rheumatism probably from the damp. Having said this the parish fairs well with the weather and at times the farms actually fear drought. He records 1782 as a year of excessive rains in the rest of Scotland the local farmers made a more profit than usual due to high crop prices.

The population at the time was 1347 made up of 655 (48%) males and 692 females. The age distribution was:

There is a useful footnote that talks to the parish registers for the earlier years. In 1736 there were 994 people living in the parish. The proportion of children was 16% much lower than in 1795 (22%) – probably to due to higher infant mortality.

There are further notes to suggest that 1740 – 1742 there were hard times in the parish. In 1749 there was a crop failure – to the point that the Synod appointed a fast in November of that year – little rough on those that were already hungry.

The religious divide was clear:

• 5 Epsicopalians
• 40 Roman Catholics
• 1302 Established Church

There were also 12 Englishmen and 2 Irishmen living in the parish. The former were probably related to the Boatbuilding activity in Garmouth.

The occupations show a divided economy:

Rural (124)

• 71 farmers
• 45 salmon fishers
• 8 ferrymen

Services (47)

• 8 weavers
• 7 tailors
• 6 shopkeepers
• 5 inn and ale house keepers
• 5 blacksmiths
• 3 coopers
• 3 corn millers
• 10 joiners
• undisclosed number of servants, cottagers, day labourers, carriers etc.

Shipbuilding (82)

• 32 ships carpenters and blockmakers (⁷)
• 20 sawyers
• 30 seamen

The shipbuilding activity took place in Garmouth (and Kingston) and that village had a population of 620 inhabitants (46% of the whole parish). This shows just how dispersed the agricultural activity was.

Clearly the Minister likes his flock describing them as honest, peaceful, hard working and charitable. The are to his eyes larger than other Scots he knows and hardy. He describes them as happy with their lot and suggests that this is due to the landlord, the Duke of Gordon.

There were 194 horses in the parish – the better farmers had large horses two of which could draw plough. The majority however were smaller but sturdy. Oxen were also used to draw ploughs sometimes mixed with horses, two of each. There were about 140 carts of one horse draught.

There were 3 corn mills. All the lands and the tenants had to use one of the three mills as well as help out with any work that was necessary including work on the dams fro the mill pools and the transport of millstones. The Minister suggests that rents should raised rather than insisting on a high multure (grain or flour due to a miller in return for grinding corn – sometimes known as muicture and pronounced “mooter”). The other term of this type of payment was much more old named Thirlage and had it roots in the Scots feudal system. It included the acts shown here of maintenance and the carrying of the millstones. Thirlage was repealed in 1779 (⁸) some 15 years before the report but clearly it was still very much in use in Speymouth. By obliging the tenants to use the mill, maintain as well as pay the multure of one part in eleven of the corn ground (in the case of Speymouth) mills that were not economically viable could be maintained. Furthermore by weighing the corn it could then be taxed.

In Sinclairs General report (⁹) of 1814 we can read even at this date some of the very high rates:

Adstriction to mill, so far as it goes, is, like tythe, a tax upon gross produce, and gives the same obstruction to land improvement. The rate of adstriction, both as to the quantity of produce over which it extends, and the proportional part of that quantity which it claims, is various, in various parts of the country. The lowest quantity of adstriction extends to all the oatmeal used in the family of the farmer, a quantity not susceptible of very accurate definition. That quantity the privileged mill has the exclusive privilege of manufacturing, and is entitled to a twenty-fifth part, (the lowest proportion generally accompanying the most confined extent), as multure, or price of the manufacturing, instead of a thirty-second part, which is esteemed the ordinary market rate. The exclusive privilege is sometimes found to expend to all the growing corns, seed and horse corn only excepted; and under such extension, the proportion exigible as multure reaches sometimes to the tenth part.

From his we can see that the rate could have been 1/10th instead of 1/11th. There is no mention of whether oats were milled here. It is possible that they were milled at source.

The poor were sustained by donations through the kirk. There were about 40 people on the poor list at any one time. The funding cam from the kirk (20 pounds) including mortcloth (funeral pall) dues, L4 3s 4d from Duff.

Earnings show the temporary nature of the work:

• ploughman or servant £3 10s 4d / half year
• second rate servant or a lad (who could manage horses of about 17 to 20 years old) £2 – L3 / half year
• female servant on a farm 20s / half year (between 30 – 50% of the male equivalent)
• male harvest hand £1 5s
• female harvest hand £16s (62% of the make wage)
• male day labourer 9d / day or 6d / day with food for 9 months of the year and then in the winter months 5d with two meals a day
• a female would be paid 3d a day plus food (there is no mention of the winter
• male day labourer during harvest time 1s / day or 10d plus two meals
• a female day labourer on the same regime would be paid 7d plus two meal during the harvest.

An analysis of these rates is in the Economy Section.

The Minister then takes the opportunity to raise the issue of a bridge over the Spey at the Boat 0′ Bog. Clearly this is a major issue as there is no tother bridge for some considerable distance. This became the object of a falmouth song known as the Bridge of Bog or the Bridge of Spey and was published in approximately 1786 – some time before the publication of the book. He puts forward the arguments that it would make life easier for the people and increase trade as well as the potential for helping the authorities:

“At present, a flood in Spey may very materially affect the administration of justice, by flopping the judges in going on the circuit to Inverness, or in returning from thence to Aberdeen : Or the troops may, by the fame cause, be retarded in their march to or from Fort George, or the other forts, in the North, or from the country on the one fide of the Spey to the other ; and cafes may occur, in which this may be of very bad consequence to the peace of the country, to the protection of the subjects, and to other purposes of good government.”

Remembering that Culloden was just 50 years before and that the memory was still very vidid his approach could be considered to be valid.

As it was Spey Bridge, opened in 1804, was built by George Burn. It was a three-arch bridge, an oculus above each quarter. The Muckle Spate, a flash flood in 1829, washed away the two western arches, which were then replaced by a single timber arch, designed by Archibald Simpson. This was later replaced in 1852 by a cast-iron version.

A the time of writing the fees for crossing the river were:

• 1/2d for a person
• 2d for a man and horse
• 2d for a horse and cart
• 2s 6d for a chaise and pair (¹⁰)

All of the fees were raised when the river was in flood – if you dared to cross. There was a further ferry at the mouth of the Spey close to Kingston.

The language spoken was English, as opposed to Gaelic (although the Minister uses the term “Erse” which comes from the Erische or Irish. He says it is not spoken within 20 miles of the parish although it could well have been more until the foothills of the Cairngorms already within the Highland line. He does note that English is spoken with a strong “Scotch” accent. This refers to Doric – see the section on language.

There is some reference to the fact the private whisky stills are no longer in production however that there was a history of smuggling and therefore its consumption was common and widespread. After the Union in 1707 this was the case all over Scotland and there was little stigma attached to it. Although most tax laws were harmonised across both countries after the Union, Scotland was given a reprieve for the Malt Tax which was raised to pay for the war against France (War of Spanish Succession 1702 – 1713). However after the war Parliament passed a Malt Tax in 1725 which forced most of Scotland’s distillation underground or the legal businesses went out of business. At one point, it was estimated that over half of Scotland’s whisky output was illegal. By 1777, there were eight licensed distilleries none of them in Speymouth despite its nearness to the river.

Much later in about 1868 Morayshire ¹¹ the description of the main properties give us a hint of what they may have been like earlier. “Persons” relates to the people who authorised the entry not the tenant or owner.

Place	Persons	Description
Redhall	James Logie Tenant	A commodious farm-steading and dwelling-house, with out-houses attached, the property of his Grace the Duke of Richmond. It was formerly the residence of a branch of the family of Innes, baronets, of Coxton.
	Mr James Taylor
	Speyside Guide
Redhall Cottage	Mr James Taylor Tenant	A dwelling-house, with out-houses and garden attached, the property of his Grace the Duke of Richmond.
	Mr. Peter Williamson
	Mr. James Logie
Burnside of Dipple	Mr J.Bruce Tenant	A large and commodious farm-steading and dwelling house slated and in good repair; property of His Grace the Duke of Richmond.
	Mr J. Roy Sweethome
	Mr A. Paterson Bridge of Spey
Eastertown	Mr J.Bruce Tenant	A crofters dwelling house with offices Attached; property of his Grace the Duke of Richmond
	Mr J. Roy Sweethome
	Mr A. Paterson Bridge of Spey
Bow Bank	Mr J.Bruce Tenant	A Steep slope partly in this parish and partly in the parish of Rothes it is entirely Situated on the lands of his Grace the Duke of Richmond
	Mr J. Roy Sweethome
	Mr A. Paterson Bridge of Spey
Newtown	Mr Alexander Alland	A passable farm Steading with offices & Gardens attached; the property of the DuKe of Richmond
	Mr George Geddis
Bride's Cairn	Mr Alexander Alland	A Small Cairn - immediately North of Newton farm - erected to the memory of an unhappy bride who was drowned in crossing the Spey preparatory to celebrating her nuptials in Garmouth. Hence the name.
	Mr George Geddis
Thunder Slack	Mr Alexander Alland	A narrow Slack on the public road leading from Mosstodloch to Garmouth.
	Mr George Geddis
Manse	Revd. Reverend John Cushnie Resident	A Mansion house, the residence of the Parish Minister, having outhouses and Glebe attached it is the property of the heritors.
	Mr. Alexander Watt Stynie
	Mr. James Logie Redhall
Stynie	Mr. Alexander Watt Tenant	A large and Commodious farm-Steading and dwelling house with offices attached the property of his Grace the DuKe of Richmond
	Mr James Logie
	Mr James Taylor
Lower Stynie	Mr. Alexander Watt	A Commodious farm-Steading with outhouses attached the property of his Grace the DuKe of Richmond
	Mr. James Logie
	Mr. James Taylor

1. “A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland | British History Online.” 2014. 6 Apr. 2015 <http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/scotland> ↩
2. Valuation book of John Ogilvie, Collector of the Cess showing the Value of Rent of the Shire of Moray, Commissioners at Forres on 30th May 1667.  The word Cess comes from Assessment. ↩
3. The Lands and People of Moray Part 15, Bruce B Bishop, FSA Scot. ↩
4. Shaw. L. History of the Province of Moray, 1775. republished 1882, Gordonstoun School Archives. ↩
5. Curiously this person does not appear in the Loggie family tree. It may not be complete coincidence that her name s the same as the possible mother of John Logie the first member of the family identified living in Logie Almond, Perth almost 200 years earlier. ↩
6. Sinclair, John, ed. The Statistical Account of Scotland. Vol. 14. 374. Print.(fn) ↩
7. probably laid the blocks for laying of a ship’s keel in shipbuilding ↩
8. Ferguson, Robert (2005). A Miller’s Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill. ISBN 0-9550935-0-3. ↩
9. Sinclair, Sir John, bart. General Report of the agricultural state and political circumstances of Scotland: drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement. 5 vols. Edinb., 1814. ↩
10. a light open horse-drawn carriage, esp. one with two wheels designed for two passengers ↩
11. Morayshire OS Name Books, 1868-1871, Morayshire, volume 19 ↩