Barbara "An Carrannach"

Barbara MacLeod nee MacNair
An Carrannach

We can have a special person in our lives from the moment we are born who give us such wisdom, guidance and kindness that it fills our whole life. For me that person was my Dear Grandmother the late Barbara MacLeod, nee MacNair (1903-1993). "Barbara An Carrannach".  I would like to share some fond memories and stories from her life.

Barbara MacLeod, nee MacNair, was the third of five daughters born to Alexander MacNair (Lochcarron 1871-1911), and Mary MacKay (16 South Shawbost 1875-1953). Alexander and Mary MacNair were married in Shawbost in 1898. They had met in Stornoway, where Alexander was employed as a master joiner, noted for his skill in the construction of staircases. In late years of the 1890s he was working on the large houses which were being developed for the growing number of middle-class citizens in the town of Stornoway. He learnt his trade in Inverness, where his apprenticeship had been funded by his grandmother, and he was probably still employed by one of the Inverness building companies which were active all over the Highlands and Islands.

The young MacNairs had their first marital home, a flat in "The Granite Buildings", on Cromwell Street, overlooking the inner harbour in Stornoway. This was where their first daughter, Mary, was born in 1899, before they moved to South Shawbost, where the remaining four daughters would be born. These were Kate (1901), Annie (1906), and Alexina (1909).

Barbara, my grandmother, was born 14th July 1903.  

Though life presented many challenges and sadness Barbara was indeed a naturally happy and cheerful person, surrounded by a loving and supportive extended family in South Shawbost. She often spoke of enjoying her childhood and attending school.

At the age of eight, Barbara’s father left to take a job with the Canadian Pacific Railway, the intention being that her mother and the family would join with him in Canada sometime soon after. In later life, she would trace out the very last steps that her father took as he left their home at 17A South Shawbost and climbed on to a cart to leave for Canada. She never saw him again. So strong was this memory that in later life, she could almost still see the footprints in the soil, a vivid memory that she passed on to me. In 1911 or 1912, they sadly received the news of his passing. He left five daughters, the youngest about a year old, in the care of their mother, Mary.

On leaving school at the age of 14, Barbara entered domestic service. First with the family of the doctor in Carloway, then as the maid and companion to the wife of the Arnish Lighthouse Keeper, who had just lost her only child. Barbara received excellent commendations from both of these jobs and went into domestic service in Edinburgh. After that, she returned to Lewis and joined a team of Herring Girls, which took her to places as far apart as Lerwick and Great Yarmouth. She was clearly a typical hard working and diligent young woman. Many people would refer to her striking good looks, and fine features, particularly her beautiful bright blue eyes, and thick auburn hair.

In the early 1920s, she met Kenneth MacLeod (Coinneach, Calum, Dhomhnaill,'ic Mhurchaidh) of 50 North Shawbost. They were married in the Shawbost Free Church of Scotland on 16^th April 1926.

Kenneth studied science and engineering in Glasgow, and had become a teacher. After their marriage, Kenneth was posted to Bayhead School in North Uist. There the young couple began a family, welcoming five daughters and one son (who died in infancy).

They were:
Mary Edith and Peggy Ann were twins, born on 25th January 1927.
Annie Mary was born on 25th February 1928
Malcolm Murdo was born on 5th May 1929, but died on 16th January 1930
Malcolmina (Mina) was born on 12th October 1931
Barbara Ena (Barbara Bheag) was born on 17th July 1937
None of these five daughters are now left alive.

The first five children were born in North Uist; Barbara Bheag was born in Totton, near Southampton, where Kenneth held a teaching post from about 1932.

The Second World War saw Kenneth and Barbara keeping a welcoming home to the many service men who came to call during their brief spells of leave. Here, on the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, a traditional Hebridean home was kept – for instance, Kenneth would read the books twice a day each day. An outstanding example of this hospitality was shown early in June 1940, in the aftermath of the evacuations from Dunkirk. The family awoke one morning to find a group of sailors asleep on the grass outside the house. Without batting an eyelid, Barbara invited them in, killed a chicken or two and proceeded to make a pot of soup. The sailors’ tunics were soaked and encrusted with salt from the sea, from where they had been rescued. In later years, many of these men recalled the kindness of the Macleods. Sadly, others never returned from war service.

In November 1940, their home in Totton was damaged during a bombing raid. Whilst Kenneth stayed behind to oversee repairs, Barbara and her family returned to Lewis until the house was habitable again. Kenneth was a Local Defence Volunteer, latterly in the Home Guard.

In July 1947, Kenneth Macleod passed away, following a period of ill health, at the age of 54.

In 1950, our widowed granny had decided to move back to Lewis, from Southampton, with her five daughters. Barbara wished to be as close to her own family as possible and the Swedish-style timber houses at Heather Hill in Barvas, supplied by Ross and Cromarty County Council, were the closest available at the time to her beloved Shawbost. There, at number 18, Barbara loved to welcome friends, relatives and neighbours, a house filled with kindness and hospitality.

Sometime in the early 1950s, she took in her elderly bachelor uncle, Donald MacKay (16 South Shawbost, (1882-1958)), to care for him. Donald was a true old soldier, a veteran of the Boer War. He was by all accounts something of character who spoke his mind and she gave him respect and kindness.

At this point, I would like to say that it is a great honour and privilege to be able to introduce myself as a grandson of Barbara "An Carrannach", indeed a truly lovely lady and beautiful person in every way.

I have many wonderful memories of moments spent with her, from my earliest childhood, through every stage of my life until we lost her just four days after her ninetieth birthday in 1993. That was nearly thirty-two years ago when I was thirty-two years old, and I still miss her. Barbara Charrannaich was a wise and kind person, a life-long Christian of strong faith, having become a member of the Free Church of Scotland at the age of eighteen. She was a great support to all her family.

She was always there to help my parents, my three brothers and I. We were close in ages and first lived in a small house in Lower Sandwick near Stornoway. She came to be with us very often through each week. She was like another mother, so much so, when we heard our own mother, her youngest daughter (Barbara Bheag) call her "Mum", it seemed natural for us to call her "Mum" also. This was something that gave her much delight and she told everyone why we called her "Mum". Sometimes she took us to stay with her, to give our mother a little rest. I loved to stay with her, I have clear memories of happily being left on my own with her in her welcoming home in Heather Hill, Loch Street, Lower Barvas. As a child I loved being there, the house had a good view southward across the two Barvas Rivers, to the Barvas Free Church and the village of Brue.

The living room was bright and warm. The County Council had a policy to install in each of the homes they provided cooking facilities hence the Raeburn stove, there was plentiful supply of peat to keep them burning. At the window, a gate legged table would be set ready, every afternoon and evening for visitors. There was always fresh baking and excellent cooking. But it had been the last of the houses to be finished, and as such certain essential features were missing such as the glass cover of the temperature gauge on the oven door. One of us little lads had naughtily twisted the needle of the dial too far and broken it. But our dear grandmother was lovingly patient and found an alternative means to establish the temperature of the oven.

Her gentle nature was exemplary and her sense of humour and fun an essential part of her character. Sometimes an amusing thought or memory would set her chuckling and she would always explain and share the laugh. The stories of her own childhood and youth revealed happy times of home-grown entertainment and fun with her peers. Her relatives and friends loved to remember innocent involvement in pranks long past and she was known to be effective in creating the fun and had a special ability to keep a straight face.

I loved her home in Barvas, where Gaelic was the language she would speak to us. Often while I was there as a child, she would prepare to take us on the bus to visit some of our many cousins in Shawbost. The phrase was "We'll just go up to Shawbost", which I thought a little odd as it was a journey south and going south was usually referred to as "down". Off we would go with all sorts of delights in her bags, a variety home baking, and her wonderful jams, especially rhubarb or blackcurrant. I learnt at a very young age that we had cousins in every part of Shawbost. In a sense we were going "home", and I loved it. I also saw at first-hand what a greatly loved and respected woman our granny "Mum" was. Though her life had been filled with hardship and sadness. She carried on strengthened by her faith and always finding the positive in everything. A beautiful smile or a hearty laugh were never far away

In the 1970s both our family and our grandmother moved house. In 1972, our family moved into a larger home in Stornoway, and in 1974, Barbara moved from Barvas to Stornoway, primarily to be closer to all her family. For me this meant I had daily contact with her, seeing her on the way home from school, as she actually lived only a few houses away. This reinforced our special bond and I got to know her very well. Over the following decade Barbara enjoyed a mostly independent life, but then her health began to become a concern and eventually she came to live with us. From the mid-1980s she became a most special and valued member of our household as we welcomed the next generation when Barbara became a much loved and pro-active Great-grandmother.

On the 18^th July 1993, Barbara Macleod nee Macnair passed away peacefully, after a rich and full life, at the blessed age of 90.