A look back on a bygone era as Royal Mail celebrates 500 years
THIS year Royal Mail celebrates its 500th anniversary.
Although it was to be many years after 1516, when King Henry VIII appointed Brian Tuke first Master of the Posts, that a formal postal network was established in Argyll, the event gives an opportunity to have a glance at the early workings of one of the country’s oldest public services in the area which everone now takes for granted.
Passing messages to and from a remote and often hostile countryside in days gone was slow and generally left to trusted runners and boatmen, except when signalling by fire - something ably demonstrated on the evening of June 4, 2012 when 4,200 individual beacons connected the whole of the British Isles in celebration of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Numbered among these was a string of lights starting from a beacon on a knoll above Drimnin House to Mull, Ardnamurchan and Barra.
In the 1800s the mail for Morvern came once a week from Oban via Kerrera, Grasspoint and Balmeanach - now Fishnish - on Mull.
The few letters that found their way into the parish were mainly addressed to the minister and one or two landowners. This arrangement continued until 1864 when the railway from the south was extended to Kingussie and Fort William became the head office for Morvern.
The mail was taken over the Corran Ferry to a small sorting office at Inversanda at the entrance to Glen Tarbert, where it was handed over by the Strontian postman to Archie Maclachlan who carried it to Kingairloch where he arrived every alternate morning at 4am.
There he was relieved of the Morvern letters by Hector Currie (Eachan Posta) who was due at Lochaline six hours later.
After the mail was sorted at Kiel, Lochaline, the Drimnin postman set off for Bunavullin, a distance of 10 miles, delivering letters en route and not returning until midnight.
On the morning of alternate days, Hector Currie retraced his steps to Kingairloch making the return journeys on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
This arrangement lasted until 1880 and the opening of the Callander to Oban railway line making Oban the chief office for the surrounding districts. From there David MacBrayne’s boats carried the mail to Tobermory and intermediate ports along the Sound of Mull.
In that bygone era no vans, bicycles or other wheeled vehicles were provided for the postmen - all they needed were stout legs, strong shoulders and a healthy constitution.
Hector Currie was well endowed with these and no matter how boisterous the weather, he never failed in his duties. At that time the parcel post did not exist, nevertheless many a tea-pot, ornament or hat was smuggled into the mail bag and safely delivered to a shepherd’s wife far up a glen unknown to the officials at the general postal headquarters in St Martins-legrand, London.
For more than 60 years Hector’s familiar figure, obliging manner and ready wit made him a favourite with everyone. When he retired a pension was mentioned but it was only thanks to the intervention of Alexander Craig- Sellar MP, son of Patrick Sellar of Ardtornish and Sutherland, that the Lords of the Treasury recognised their responsibility to a faithful servant with a long and honourable record to his credit, by awarding him a weekly allowance.
At his farewell party it was calculated that Hector had walked an estimated 112,000 miles on foot and without a break. What a record!
Morvern can lay claim to having had one of the most unusual post offices in Great Britain. Although not officially recognised, there was a large boulder on the side of the old bridal-path between Mungosdail and Barr with a natural cavity closed up by a nicely fitting stone. Until about 1899, when any letters for Barr and neighbouring places came to Drimnin Post Office, they were carried by the nearest shepherd or crofter to this convenient office in the rock. Here they were left perhaps for days until someone might pass and feel inclined to deliver them to their destination. The arrangement appears to have worked well and as far as can be ascertained no missive was ever lost, stolen or damaged.
It is worth mentioning that for many years all the Morvern postmasters were Camerons.
The conditions of service applying to the recruitment of postmasters were very strict. It goes without saying that they had to be of unimpeachable character and required a written reference from the parish minister or a justice of the peace and the slightest misconduct could result in instant dismissal. There were certain rules on which the postal authorities were particularly strict.
One of these was a ban on postmasters having anything to do with alcohol and even extended to grocers and storekeepers who ran sub post offices as part of their business.
If they acquired a licence to sell grog and failed to obtain permission from the Post Office beforehand, they were liable to instant dismissal on being found out.
How times have changed as most post offices these days are to be found inside licensed premises.
Iain Thornber iain.thornber@btinternet.com