Duncan Black, born 1797, is Liam’s great, great, great, great, great grandfather, or for easier reference, his 5 x great grandfather. He was born and died in Port Appin, Argyll (or Argyleshire), just north of Oban on the western coast of Scotland. He was a crofter, a term for a farmer in a small landholding and also worked as an agricultural labourer.
Castle Stalker at Port Appin; James at Port Appin, September 2010.
Not much is yet known about his parents apart from their names – father John Black, a wood cutter and mother, Euphemia Black, whose maiden surname was Colquhoun. She must have been known as ‘Euphie’, as that is how she was named on son Duncan’s baptismal record. Duncan married Mary McKay on the 19th December 1824 at the age of 27 in the Parish of Lismore, Appin & Duror, Argyll.
They had at least five children including John, Archibald (Liam’s 4 x g grandfather), George, Duncan, and Mary Black. Duncan was the last of the ancestral line of Blacks to have lived his life out in Port Appin. Archibald moved to Aberdeen as a young man to work in a chemical works and married there, without returning to Port Appin to live.
Duncan lived to the age of 76, dying on 21 March 1873. His wife Mary had died in 1869, aged 70. In Duncan’s lifetime, from the early 19th century, Scotland experienced the “clearing” of the highlands, the removal of tenanted farmers in preference for the widespread grazing of sheep. Lismore was particularly badly affected by this. But in Port Appin, Duncan seems to have been able to maintain his occupation of crofter and labourer, at least from the census of 1841 where he is the head of the household working as a labourer, to the census of 1871 where he is still the head of the household working as labourer and crofter.
Nowadays, Port Appin relies on tourism, fish farming, quarrying and forestry. On the day we visited Port Appin it was a bright sunny day, made even better by a very pleasant lunch at the PierHouse Hotel, before moving on to Oban. A ferry was leaving regularly to take the occasional passenger the short distance across the water to the island of Lismore. Lismore, according to the gift shop assistant, had plenty of Blacks. We’ll have to include it in a return visit.
Of course, Duncan is only one of Liam’s 64 great, great, great, great, great grandparents! More about some of the others in the Black family later …
PS Castle Stalker – the current structure was built circa 1440 but it’s famous for being in the final scenes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
PierHouse Hotel and view from its restaurant at Port Appin; view to the island of Lismore from Port Appin
Duncan Black and family – two generations down, and one up. Family details current as of September 2014.
black2buchanan 