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THEKINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN & NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETYMAGAZINENo 1April 1977THE MAGAZINEofThe Kintyre Antiquarian & Natural History Society.President: A. I. B. Stewart, O.B.E., B.L.NUMBER ONE SPRING1977CONTENTSForeword & Introduction :Duncan Colville, Life PresidentA.I.B. Stewart, O.B.E., B.L., President............ 2Editorial ...............................................3History of the SocietyHector L. MacKenzie, M.A........................... 4The Jet NecklaceFrances Hood.......................................6LargieJ.R. Maxwell-Macdonald, J.P........................7The North Carolina ConnectionAngus MacVicar, M.A................................9Sika Deer in KintyreT.W.G. Coulson, B.Sc, F.I.F.......................13Excavations at Balloch HillfortE.J.Peltenburg, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. Scot..........16Kintyre in OntarioEfric Wotherspoon.................................18Mary : A Hundred & Fifty Years AgoMargaret MacDougall, M.A...........................22William MacTaggartIsabella Dunnett...................................24EDITOR : M. G. Hunter, M.A., B.Sc. COVER : J. Hex.ARTICLES & LETTERS to POSTAL REQUESTS for MEMBERSHIPMrs. M. G. Hunter, and copies of MAGAZINE toMerkland, Mr. A. McNair,Southend, Campbeltown. 47 Limecraigs, Campbeltown.1Page 2F0REWORD by Duncan Colville, Life President.
 
As a founder member and the first Honorary Secretary of the original KintyreAntiquarian Society, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the publication of thismagazine. I am sure it will meet a long felt want, and I wish it every success inthe future.INTRODUCTION by A. I. B. Stewart, President.In an age when scholarship is at a discount and change is regarded by many assynonymous with improvement, it seems to me that it becomes all the more importantto look over our shoulders at the lives and achievements of our ancestors, foronly by understanding the past can we prepare for the future.This publication is an effort by the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural HistorySociety to give some permanence to the work done by our members in recording ourpast history and the natural features of our beautiful environment.Page 3EDITORIALFor over half a century The Kintyre Antiquarian Society as it originally was hasheld meetings where talks on all aspects of life in Kintyre were given. Inaddition many of these lectures were published, but are now out of print. TheSociety's Library contains a large collection of books and manuscripts relating toKintyre. Recently a sub-committee of the Society was formed to go into thequestion of making new and old material available to its members and others. ThisMagazine, which it is hoped to publish twice a year, is the result.In this, our first number, we have included a variety of articles, touching ontopics of interest to members. Much interest has always been shown by thedescendants of Kintyre emigrants in this district, and perhaps this periodicalwill appeal to them also. In our limited space we have been unable to touch on allthe many facets of the work of the Society, but we hope to repair some of ouromissions in succeeding Issues. Meantime perhaps some of our readers will beinspired to send contributions for other numbers. These could be anecdotes as wellas full length articles. We aim to record the present before it becomes past andforgotten.The Editor thanks the members of the sub-committee and in particular the Chairman,who has shared the editorial task; all who have contributed; the Editor of "TheKist" of The Natural History & Archaeological Society of Mid Argyll, without whosehelp this Magazine would not have got going; and the Editor of "The Glynns" of TheGlens of Antrim Historical Society for understanding and encouragement.And lastly, we thank our subscribers, and hope that they will bear with ouromissions and errors, and that they will enjoy reading our Magazine.Page 4A SHORT HISTORY OF KINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETYHector L. MacKenzieOn 14th June, 1921, the then Macdonald of Largie (father of the present Laird) andSheriff J. MacMaster Campbell issued a circular letter convening a meeting in theArgyll Arms Hotel on 21st June, relative to the proposed formation of a societyfor the study of the Archaeology, History and Antiquities of Kintyre, and thepreservation of the older records of the district.
 
The gentlemen convened were Col. Charles Mactaggart, Col. George Rome, Dean ofGuild MacArthur, ex-Provost James Lothian, Dr.J. P. Brown, Rev. C. McEachern, Rev.A. MacKenzie, Messrs. T. Galloway, Latimer Maclnnes, D. MacKinlay, and DuncanColville. Of these founder members only one is still with us - the venerable Mr.Duncan Colville, Life President of our Society, now in his 93rd year. At the firstA.G.M., two ladies, Miss Moira Campbell, only recently deceased, and the late Mrs.Archd. Stewart, mother of our President, were admitted to membership.Right away in its first year, the society inaugurated what was to become a regularfeature, an annual outing to some place or places of archaeological Interest. Thefirst was to Largie and Clachan districts, followed by lunch at the Temperance Innat Clachan, and by tea at Largie Castle.Mr. Duncan Colville was appointed first Hon. Secretary and Treasurer. Largie wasthe first President, but he died in his first year of office and was succeeded bySheriff J. MacMaster Campbell, who remained President until his death in 1939.In April 1932, was admitted to membership the Rev. Father Webb, who, when he diedin 1974, bequeathed a generous legacy to the Society, as well as all hisantiquarian, historical and archaeological papers, which are currently beingedited by Dr. Eric Cregeen.The meetings of the Society were suspended In 1940 "until," as the minute says,"the war is over." The4Page 5first meeting after the war was on 19th October, 1946, but the Society did notregain its vigour for some time. Two members, however, were very active and allenquiries relating to the antiquities of Kintyre were referred to them. Mr.Colville and Father Webb were both active archaeologists, and continued to furtherthe aims of the Society. Father Webb, for example, took advantage of theexcavations made in preparing the ground for pre-fabricated houses at the Caltonsite in 1947. More than 400 flints were found, and other relics, which constitute,as one authority has said, "the earliest unambiguous remains of man in Scotland.""The dwellers in these 'prefabs' wrote Father Webb in characteristic fashion, "hadthe honour of living upon the occupation site and working stance of the firsthuman inhabitants of Scotland at a remove of something like 8,000 years."In 1962, Mr. Frank Bigwood, a master at the Grammar School, excavated a fort atKildalloig. This highly commendable piece of amateur excavation was carried outwith the ready assistance of the School and of our Society, and the results can beseen, fully detailed and documented, in the local museum.In 1969 the Secretaryship was taken over by Mrs. Margaret Macaulay. Regularmeetings were held and the membership took a great leap forward. It was decided in1970 to widen the aims of the Society, and its title was changed to "The KintyreAntiquarian and Natural History Society." Mrs. Macaulay, unfortunately, had toleave Kintyre in 1970, and the Secretaryship was taken over by Mrs. ElfricWotherspoon, who still holds that office and whose unobtrusive management keepsthe society together.In its fifty-five years of life, the society has provided a focal point for thepeople of Kintyre who have an interest in the history of their district. It hasnourished this interest for over two generations, and hopes to enlist the furthersupport of all Kintyre people who realise that the present is a product of the
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