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Before the advent of Fort George in
the 1750's the parish of Ardersier was sparsely populated. In
an ecclesiastical and, to a certain extent, a temporal sense,
it was orientated seawards, which was not surprising as large
areas of swamp and morass restricted travel to the South.
From 1227 to 1773 it lay in the Diocese of Ross, before being
transferred to the Presbytery of Nairn, when a new clay walled
Kirk and manse were built at Kirkton.
Until the arrival of the military engineers there wee fishing
stells at the Ness of Ardersier, and ferries plied the mile of
the mile of open water to Chanory Ness. The ferries, apparently
enjoyed royal patronage, for there is frequently- quoted reference
to King James IV which records that, when on a pilgrimage to Tain
in 1508 he paid "To the freiris of Ardosier, 13 shillings
for the crossing."
Local charters and deeds of the period also indicate that this
was a royal route-way to the North.
During the 17th. Century Hew Campbell of Calder (sic)
exported his bere grain through the "port and shoars of Ardersier."
On January 14 1673 Sir Hew sold 300 bolls to Robert Lermonth,
a baille of Edinburgh, for £1,200 Scots. The same vessels
brought in cargoes of lime.
Years later, in 1820, contracts of tender placed in the Inverness
Courier by the factor of the Earl of Moray itemised the movement
of timber, pit props, coals and lime from the shore near Connage.
The sandstone walls and bastions of Fort George proclaim the enduring,
strategic significance that the Knights Templar, and later the
Knights of St. John acquired land in the parish.
For several centuries they owned most of the best quality of south
- facing land between Dalyiards, near to the site of modern Viewhill,
and the Baddock.
Dalyiards is shown on Timothy Pont's map of 1595 and, according
to James Tolmie, the early 19th. Century surgeon, the
ruins of a large building could still be seen there in 1600. Perhaps
this was the Templar's Preceptory.
During the 16th and 17th Centuries most
of the land in the parish was purchased by the Campbells of Cawdor.
In1557 David, Bishop of Ross, gave the lands and barony of Ardersier
to his brother Robert Leslie who in turn, sold them in 1574 to
Sir John Campbell of Cawdor (sic) for 12,500 merks. The temple
lands were purchased from Thomas Rolloch, the Earl of Melrose
in 1626.
The modern village of Ardersier lies in two parishes. The narrow
strip of land on which Stewart-town was built belonged to the
Earl of Moray and fell within the parish of Petty.
Across the road, the householders of Cambeltown worshiped in the
church of Ardersier.
The small burn that drove the mill at Connage and entered the
sea by the present Ship Inn was the boundary between the two communities.
Stewart-town is not shown on Thomas Winter's map of 1760 but,
by 1808George Brown, surveyor to the Earl of Moray, records 21
stone or clay houses nine gardens and six portions of arable croft
land. At the time of the first national census in 1841, the number
of houses had risen to 34.
During the first decade of the 19th century most of
these houses were occupied by fisherfolk but as the years passed
by, ex-soldiers and tradesmen came to live there.
Innitially there were the Rosses, Mains and Ralphs, and later
came the Davidsons and Smiths, but by 1870 the Johnstones were
the dominant fisher family.
The fishers were closely related, as can be seen from the parish
records of the period. In 1806 William Main, who lived at number
18, was the grandson of Mrs. Ralph at number 21. Donald Main,
who lived at number 13, was married to Christy Ross and Thomas
Ross in number 17 was married to Margaret Main.
In 1844 the croft land, which is now built over, was worked by
three men - Hugh Jack the cooper, at number 8, Duncan Fraser the
carpenter and his next door neighbour, and 76 year old Alex Hay,
the former shore waiter (watchman or customs officer).
For over 40 years William Tomlie sold his liquor from what is
now the Ship In. Next door Mrs. Patience kept a boarding house.
Beyond the Black Vennel at number 5, Hugh Munro who rests in Kirkton
Churchyard plied his trade as a blacksmith, and at number 14 Robert
Forsyth the school-master lived with his elderly aunt. He too
rests at Kirkton.
The late 18th century development of Campbeltown as
a service and residential area for Fort George is reflected architecturally
by the regular housing on each side of the High Street.
The mixture of two story frontages, gable ends, diminutive attic
windows, pie-end dormers and ashlar margins combine to make it
potentially one of the most attractive villages in the North.
Today all the houses (bar one) are roofed with slates, but the
presence of "thackstanes" on chimney stacks betrays
an earlier use of thatch.
The Scottish development Department has quite rightly listed 20
of these buildings, together with Ardersier Mains and it's early
18th. century doocot.
At the time of the 18th century census, 24 Campbeltown
men descried themselves as fishermen. The Rev. John Matheson,
the minister, considers the fishers, to be "a correct and
orderly set of people, seldom outraging the moral duties and possessing
the necessities of life in abundance," but added, "they
do not appreciate the advantages of an education".
Twenty-six men were army pensioners and seven women reported themselves
to be army wives. "This class,"the minister notes, "though
there are many notable exceptions, is rather improvident and intemperate".
Over 120 men and women were employed on the nearby farms, either
as labourers or servants, and most of the trades were represented.