Columnist Liza details her music project on jailed hero crofters of 1891

One of the projects I’ve been thrilled to be part of over this last year is Spirit: 360, an arm of the Spirit Of The Highlands initiative, and which has commissioned over 60 artistes across diverse artforms to create new work.

Highland Place Partnership and Creative Scotland Place Partnership have supported a creative commissioning programme with an incredibly wide geographic and thematic spread. At a time in the pandemic when most creative artistes had very little work, it was a very welcome paid opportunity.

It is also running alongside the refurbishment of Inverness Castle, where some of the resulting works might find a future home, in addition to the online digital platform that has just gone live, showcasing all the artistes’ work.

I was fortunate enough to secure a commission for my proposed work, which was three pieces of music based on the story of Isle of Lewis landless cottars and crofters, who in 1891 were arrested and tried for trespassing (on village lands from which their forefathers had been forcibly evicted).

Found guilty in Stornoway Sheriff Court, the men were sent to Inverness to be jailed in the castle prison for 14 days. On release, they were met by cheering crowds and swept through the streets of the town in a carriage – hailed as heroes for standing up to landowner Lady Matheson who had refused to give up one inch of her 42,000 Lewis acres.

Treated to a hearty breakfast in the old Royal Hotel on Academy Street (opposite the railway station) and celebrated with speeches by land reform councillors and town dignitaries, they then boarded the train to Kyle and onwards to Lewis.

It’s been such a privilege to spend time researching the story, composing the music, recording it, and telling that story. One of the ‘raided’ villages was Orinsay, which many will know from the famous song Lovely Stornoway, but the other settlement was the less well-known Steimreway.

Working with photographs kindly loaned by Pairc Historical Society, it felt profoundly poignant seeing the ruins of Steimreway homes (pictured), to which the landless men had returned to try and eke out a livelihood for their families. It remains a deserted village and some of those images can be viewed alongside the music.

A brief little-known moment in the history of Inverness castle but one which, through the tenacity of those men, contributed to crofting reform, and one which I hope my pieces of music may help share a little more widely.

There are so many diverse and wonderful artworks to explore on the Spirit: 360 website, a treasure trove of riches in art, music, photography, crafts, heritage, history and more – reflecting the Spirit Of The Highlands in so many ways.

So please do dip into it if you get a moment.

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