Esther's Portgower Story

The view most of us get of Portgower is from a car seat when we pass it by on our way north or south – giving little attention to its history or past occupants.  The village of Portgower was one of the areas researched as part of the Timespan project called ‘The Streets Where We Live: A Family History Perspective’, supported by Museums Galleries Scotland.  The research was undertaken by local resident Esther McDonald, who lately delivered a talk about her home village to a packed house in Timespan.  Esther has been researching the area where she lives for a few years now and has amassed a considerable knowledge of the village spanning the last 200 years.

Esther McDonald looking at an old map of Loth Parish

The talk started with Esther showing a photograph of ‘Scarf Rock’, a fallen rock stack, just off Portgower.  The rock was covered in ‘Scarfs’ (or Cormorants), hence the name.  The presence of numerous cist burials show that the area was occupied from at least the Iron Age (3500 years ago).  Esther recalled the story when one of these cists was unearthed during ploughing and its remains, along with a rounded flint knife, was donated to the Scottish Museum of Antiquities by her father, JOF Mackay in 1960.

A map dated 1773 by John Kirk showed that the land on which Portgower was later built formed part of Middle Garty.  Esther explained that the village had been created by the landowners, the Countess and Marquis of Sutherland, as part of their improvements over the wider district.  In 1815, Portgower has 18 named tenants whose rental amounted to £34/9/2.  By 1819 a street of fisherman’s houses had been built (known as High Street).  In 1831 an advertisement in an Inverness newspaper was encouraging fishermen to come and live at Portgower from across the Firth, providing them with land for growing potatoes, ground for a garden, the rights to obtain mussels from Little Ferry and money towards a boat.  Several boats were registered from Portgower, which had an inlet and harbour for landing boats.  Unlike the other crofts in the area, the land for the fishermen was often separate from their house and garden.

Esther’s story progressed a little further when she referred to the 1st Ordnance Survey map dated c1873, which showed a school in High Street (also known as Pokey Row) and another school near the bottom of Portgower Brae, as well as the Portgower Inn and the White Well.  The 2^nd edition map dated c1907 showed that both had closed and a new school had opened in 1892 in Portgower.  The road opposite became known as School Street.

Esther then went on to inform the audience about the Portgower Inn where her mother, Catherine Mackay, currently resides.  The heraldic datestone on the front of the inn shows that the inn was built in 1813.  It was first leased to John Matheson, storekeeper, Helmsdale in 1814, who also had the lease of the Inn Farm and the hill grazing of Badstor.  It was then leased to John Thomson in 1830 and Adam Mackay in 1847.  A rare ‘Spirit Book’ in the family’s possession records the spirits bought by the inn and where they came from, e.g. Clynelish, Leith and Pultney, as well as inspections by the customs and excise.  The Inn had a bakehouse and shop attached, as well as a coach house and stables, still standing today.

Some of the photos showed that many of the houses in Portgower originally had thatched roofs.  Some of these buildings were later heightened and slate roofs added.  Some barns were built on the downward slope nestling into the hillside.  High street was demolished in the 1960s and new Council houses were built, collectively called Brae Head Terrace.  Esther showed an amusing photograph of Fraser Mackay with a monkey pictured at the top of portgower Brae, as well as photos of the heavy snow drifts during the 1940s and 50s and past residents, e.g. Johnnie Miller (Moley), James Sutherland (Barney) and Johnnie Melville, to name but a few.

Portgower was a vibrant crofting community that had strong links to the Highland Land League movement in the area.  A local crofter called JT Murray gave evidence to the Napier Commission at the Helmsdale sitting in 1883, which helped crofters to gain some rights over their land.  The day to day work included feeding and watering sheep, cows, pigs and horses – dipping and clipping sheep – cultivating the ground to grow crops for animals and humans alike! Esther explained that her family has been crofters down the generations which continues to the present day with Esther and her sister Claire, as well as other branches of the family. The war dead are commemorated on the Loth War Memorial which is currently situated in the new Loth Cemetery.

The hall at Porgower was built in 1930 by local workmen and residents and has played a vital role in village life over the years, e.g. Burns Nights, dances, fund-raising during war time, children and senior citizen parties.  The current renovations of the hall are nearly finished and it won’t be long before more memorable events will be held there.

Esther’s research has comprised looking through the Sutherland Estate Papers, talking to Donald Bruce, Dina Calder, Catherine Mackay, as well as a wealth of documents held within her own family archive.

A display of street albums, photographs and artwork by the pupils from Helmsdale Primary School will be on display in Timespan from end of April.  Timespan would be delighted to hear from anyone with more information on any of the streets in Helmsdale and the houses in Portgower – all photos will be scanned and returned within a few days.  For more information please e-mail: archive@timespan.org.uk