port henderson : past & present - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

(owned by Duncan MacPherson of croft 4). The Estate lent some money to the owners of the ‘Maid’
boats so that these could be bought. Later the money was paid back. (Ring netting was made illegal in
July 1851 but was never entirely suppressed).
An article (see p. 95) from an interview in
Maighdean Bhan
1981 gives information about the Port Henderson
boats. A boat called the ‘Queen Mary’ was once a
clipper of the race and may have been built in
about 1917 (this boat can also be seen outside
Gairloch Heritage Museum and information states
that it was built at Alligin in 1910). When
Commander Rudd of Ardnamurchan, who owned
Shieldaig Lodge Hotel, used to hold races in
Gairloch, Kitta Mackenzie's father skippered the
‘Queen Mary’ along with the old man that owned her (a Mr. Kenneth MacKenzie of Isle Horrisdale).
Once when the race was on Kitta and her cousin, Becca Macaulay, had been kept in school while the
other pupils went with their headmaster to watch the race. However, the girls took a short cut and
reached Carr Point in time to see the boat coming around the buoy. In about 1918 the ‘Queen Mary’
was fitted with a motor but she was never used for the local community to go to church or to a funeral
or for the sacraments (but see p. 96). The boat ‘Welcome Home’ was the first to be fitted with a motor.
She was an east coast Zulu. Her registration number was 132UL. The ‘Mermaid’ was number 2UL
(both were Ullapool registrations). Hector’s father, who lived in croft 6, owned the ‘Village Maid’.
This boat, the ‘Welcome Home’ and the ‘Mermaid’ took people to and from church but, it seems that
this only occurred once a motor had been installed. The ‘Village Maid’ had her sail behind the mast
which was awkward because the sailors had to move when the boat moved about. When motors were
installed the sails were folded and the mast was set in a crutch. A 1316 Kelvin engine from Burges
Lands and Co. Glasgow was used. ‘Welcome Home’ was the first to get an engine and the ‘Mermaid’
was next.
Fishing information from a resident of South Erradale
Hector Mackenzie worked for a winter on the Maighdean Bhan,
‘Fair Maid’. Before the second world war most of the local boats were
smaller, 25 to 30 feet in length. There were four Port Henderson boats
moored in Badachro because of its sheltered harbour. Port Henderson
was very much a fishing village with crofting as a reluctant secondary
occupation. ‘Village Maid’ was owned by Donald MacKenzie of croft
6. ‘Mermaid’ was owned by MacKenzie brothers and MacPherson of croft 4. Donald MacPherson of croft 4 then
went on to own Maighdean Bhan which is the Gaelic for ‘mermaid’ or ‘fair maid’. ‘Baden Powell’ was owned by
22
'Fair Maid'