Angus of the Hills (c.1809-c.1854) - BiblicalStudies.org.uk

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98 DOUGLAS W. B. SOMERSET take her hand in his, and looking up in her face, say, “Angus, now, since he knew the Lord Jesus, never goes into a passion nor tears his clothes off”; while thus speaking, his face assumed a peculiarly sweet expression other-world like, and the want of intellectual expression gave place to the bright glow of spiritual feeling, which quite charmed the observer. In church he never misconducted himself, except in one respect. Whenever a text was made use of or referred to which was an especial favourite with him he would laugh. His seat in the old Free Church at Tobermory was in the gallery, and so situated that by a peculiar effort to lean forward, and by twisting his head round, he could get a sight of the minister’s wife, and he would not be content till he could convince himself, by the evidence of sight, that she was sympathising with him in his pleasure. The whole movement was so peculiar that it made it difficult for her to control her amusement, especially as she so well knew what his favourite texts were, and when she could expect the demands upon her sympathy made in Angus’ curious fashion, and with a face brimming over with the joy of intense satisfaction. 31 In May 1855 Peter Maclean became Free Church minister of Stornoway, so it is not likely that Peggie McKenzie and Angus attended any Tobermory communions after that of December 1854. The charge remained vacant until 1857 when Christopher Munro, later of Strathy, became minister. 5. Death and burial Angus’ death almost certainly took place during the 1850s. Principal Macleod says that “his life on earth was not very long” and that he died “about forty years” before January 1898 when Macleod was writing. If we 31 Sunday at Home, p. 70. Mrs Maclean was evidently a remarkable woman. Here is a description of her from her Stornoway days: “Miss Flora Campbell of Langarmull had a noble face, and reigned in the manse with genial royalty. She would be a princess in any circle. There was something in her bearing that commanded respect, and in her kindliness that evoked affection. She lives in boyhood’s memory as our Stornoway Queen Victoria. In my young days she wore a bonnet of the coalscuttle type with bows of heliotrope in front. It framed a face with shining eyes, firm lips, and a broad chin,” Macfarlane, Apostles, pp. 68-9 (in 1990s reprint).
ANGUS OF THE HILLS 99 followed Mrs Bishop, we would place his death after 1860, but we are inclined to think that it was considerably before this. Peter Maclean moved to Stornoway in May 1855, as we have mentioned, and so attached was Angus to Peter Maclean, and to his wife in particular, that one feels, had Angus been alive, that there would have been anecdotes dating from the Stornoway period. In the absence of these, it seems probable that Angus was dead before Maclean left Tobermory. Furthermore, Mrs Bishop states that Angus was on his way back to Lewis when he died, and gives the impression that it was from Tobermory that he was returning. If so, then December 1854 gives an approximate latest date for Angus’ death. A later date would slightly ease the difficulty over the photograph (see Section 6) but would raise the difficulty of a lack of reminiscences for this period of Angus’ life. Indeed, every anecdote about Angus that can be dated comes from before 1850: the only things that definitely postdate 1850 are his acquaintance with Mrs Bishop and his photograph. Angus died in Uig, Skye, and was buried in the old graveyard next to the River Conan. On Sabbath 13th October 1877 the River Conan flooded in what was one of the most dramatic flash floods in recent British history. The road-bridge, the Uig Lodge, and most of the old graveyard, were swept away. Here is an account of the devastation by Alexander Ross, Provost of Inverness, presented to the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club in December of that year: A short way down, we suddenly emerged on the plain of the Bay of Uig and here the full fury of the floods could be realised. Directly above us on the right were the remains of a sandy-looking bank, which, on closer inspection, proved to be the portion remaining of the old burying-ground, in parts of which we could detect pieces of the coffins; and in the bed of the burn lay a tombstone, and beside it a coffin, the body partially revealed by the damage the coffin had sustained in its fall. I learned that only one-fourth of the buryingground is left, the remainder having, with all the bodies, been carried out to sea. Close by the graveyard stood the bridge leading the public road across to Kilmuir. This bridge was swept away by the rush of water through the ravine, and with it about 100 feet of embankment and now exhibits a gap of about 200 feet wide. At this point the full destructive effect of the floods can best be seen. The waters rose till they filled the archway, and then
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Angus of the Hills (c.1809-c.1854) - BiblicalStudies.org.uk

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