View source for Morar

{{about|a village on the west coast of Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name                     = Morar
| gaelic_name                       = Mòrar
| static_image_name                 = Our Lady of Perpetual Succour & St Cumin, Morar.jpg
| static_image_caption              = Our Lady of Perpetual Succour & St Cumin, Morar
| country                           = Scotland
| os_grid_reference                 = NM677929
| map_type                          = Lochaber
| coordinates                       = {{coord|56.969457|-5.82157|display=inline,title}}
| population                        = 257
| population_ref                    = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highland.gov.uk/plintra/iandr/cen/sz/morar.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041221000352/http://www.highland.gov.uk/plintra/iandr/cen/sz/morar.htm |archive-date=21 December 2004 |title=2001 Census profile for Morar |publisher=The Highland Council}}</ref>
| edinburgh_distance_mi             =
| london_distance_mi                = 532
| post_town                         = Mallaig
| postcode_area                     = PH
| postcode_district                 = PH40
| dial_code                         = 01687 462
| constituency_westminster          = 
| constituency_westminster1         = 
| constituency_westminster2         = 
| civil_parish                      = 
| unitary_scotland                  = [[Highland (council area)|Highland]]
| lieutenancy_scotland              = 
| constituency_scottish_parliament  = 
| constituency_scottish_parliament1 = 
| constituency_scottish_parliament2 = 
| website                           =  
}}
'''Morar''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɔər|ər}}; {{langx|gd|Mòrar}}) is a small village on the west coast of [[The Rough Bounds]] of [[Scotland]], {{convert|3|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} south of [[Mallaig]]. The name Morar is also applied to the northern part of the peninsula containing the village, though [[North Morar]] is more usual (the region to the south west of [[Loch Morar]] is known as [[Arisaig]], rather than ''South Morar''). The coastline of the area forms part of the [[Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan National Scenic Area]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Countryside/Heritage/Areas/maps|title=National Scenic Areas - Maps|publisher=SNH|date=2010-12-20|access-date=2018-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140337/http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Countryside/Heritage/Areas/maps|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/protected-areas/national-designations/national-scenic-areas/|title=National Scenic Areas|publisher=Scottish Natural Heritage|access-date=2018-05-14}}</ref>

Morar has a [[Morar railway station|railway station]] on the [[West Highland Line]] and is by-passed by the [[A830 road|A830]], part of the [[Road to the Isles]], between [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]] and [[Mallaig]]. The village was formed of the farms and crofts of Bourblach, Beoraid Beg and Beoraid Mor with the modern village growing up around the railway station of Morar during the 20th century. The 1911 census suggests that the village name was not yet in regular use at the time, as only the old settlement names are used in it.

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2024}}
===Early history===
[[File:View from Druim a' Chuirn ridge - geograph.org.uk - 855761.jpg|thumb|left|Loch Morar, and North Morar, with Loch Nevis in the distance, and [[Knoydart]] and [[Skye]] beyond that]]
Following raids by [[Vikings]], the district of Morar became part of the [[Kingdom of the Isles]], a Norwegian dependency. In practice though, by the mid 12th century, the kingdom was divided; the portion containing Morar was known as ''[[Garmoran]]'', and ruled by the [[Clann Ruaidhri|MacRory]]. Following the 1266 [[Treaty of Perth]], Garmoran became a Scottish crown dependency - the ''Lordship of Garmoran'' - still ruled by the MacRory, until the sole MacRory heir was [[Amy of Garmoran]].

Most of the remainder of the Kingdom of the Isles had become the ''[[Lordship of the Isles]]'', ruled by the [[Clan Donald|MacDonald]]s, whose leader, [[John of Islay]], married Amy. After the birth of three sons, he divorced Amy and married the king's niece, in return for a substantial [[dowry]]. As part of the arrangement, John deprived his eldest son, [[Ranald MacDonald (founder of Clanranald)|Ranald]], of the ability to inherit the Lordship of the Isles, in favour of a son by his new wife; as compensation, he made Ranald the Lord of Garmoran.

[[File:Allt Camus nan Eun - geograph.org.uk - 130694.jpg|thumb|The northern slopes of Morar]]
However, at the end of the 14th century, on Ranald's death, his sons were still children, and Ranald's younger brother Godfrey took the opportunity to seize the Lordship of Garmoran. Furthermore, the [[Siol Murdoch|heirs of Ranald's other brother Murdoch]] now made their own claim. This led to a great deal of violent conflict involving Godfrey's family (the [[Siol Gorrie]]) and those of his brothers (which is not described in surviving records in much detail).

In 1427, frustrated with the level of violence generally in the highlands, together with the insurrection caused by [[Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany|his own cousin]], King [[James I of Scotland|James I]] demanded that highland magnates should attend a meeting at [[Inverness]]. On arrival, many of the leaders were seized and imprisoned. Alexander MacGorrie, son of Godfrey, was considered to be one of the two most reprehensible, and after a quick [[showtrial]], was immediately executed.<ref name="G65">{{Citation | author1=Gregory, Donald | title=History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, from A.D. 1493 to A.D. 1625, with a brief introductory sketch, from A.D. 80 to A.D. 1493 | year=1836 | publisher=Edinburgh, W. Tait | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaoHAAAAQAAJ | access-date=11 May 2012 }}, p. 65</ref> As Alexander had by now inherited Godfrey's [[de facto]] position as Lord of Garmoran, and in view of Ranald's heirs being no less responsible for the violence, King James declared the Lordship forfeit.

===Lairdship grants===
[[File:Loch Morar - geograph.org.uk - 1117928.jpg|thumb|left|Loch Morar]]
In 1469, James' grandson ([[James III of Scotland|James III]]) granted [[Laird]]ship of the lands of Garmoran and Uist to [[John of Islay, Earl of Ross|John]], the Lord of the Isles. In turn, John passed it to his own half-brother, [[Hugh of Sleat]]; the grant to Hugh was confirmed by [[James IV of Scotland|the king]] in a 1493 charter. The violence that led to Alexander's execution had brought the Siol Gorrie to the brink of extinction, and after Alexander's death they played no further part in Morar's history.<ref name="G65"/>

Ranald's heirs ([[Clan Macdonald of Clanranald|Clan Ranald]]) disputed and fought against the charter. Following Hugh of Sleat's death, in 1498, and for reasons that are not remotely clear, his son John immediately resigned, transferring all authority to the king. In 1539 the king granted Morar to the [[Clan MacDonell of Glengarry|MacDonells of Glengarry]], a group who claimed descent from Ranald's son Donald.

[[File:Tarbet and adjoining hills, Loch Nevis - geograph.org.uk - 1567537.jpg|thumb|Morar from the North]]
Over the course of the 16th century, following an inheritance dispute over the lands of [[clan MacDonald of Lochalsh|MacDonalds of Lochalsh]], there were several violent encounters between the MacDonells and the [[Clan Mackenzie|MacKenzies]]. At the end of the century, the MacKenzies now sought to complain about MacDonell behaviour in court, but the MacDonell leadership wouldn't turn up, so in 1602, the MacKenzies laid waste to Morar as punishment. This led to the MacDonells waging battle against the MacKenzies in the [[Battle of Morar]].

===Later history===
[[File:Loch Morar.jpg|thumb|left|The more shallow end of [[Loch Morar]], with islands in view.]]
The surrounding region is important to the history of the once strictly illegal and underground [[Catholic Church in Scotland]]. Eilean Bàn in Loch Morar was briefly the location of a clandestine Catholic [[seminary]] until the [[Jacobite rising of 1715]] forced its closure and eventual reopening at [[Scalan]] in [[Glenlivet]].<ref> Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 88-89.</ref> 

After the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746, [[Royal Navy]] crews under the command of Captain John Fergussone of {{HMS|Furnace|1740|6}} and Captain Duff of {{HMS|Terror|1741|6}} portaged overland seeking to capture local [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]] veterans who were suspected of meeting together upon the island chapel in [[Loch Morar]] on 8 June 1746. Although the  Jacobite leaders managed to escape the island in time, the crew of HMS ''Furnace'' continued searching in caves surrounding the Loch and eventually succeeded in capturing [[Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat|Lord Lovat]].<ref> Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 95-99.</ref> Bishop [[Hugh MacDonald (vicar apostolic of the Highland District)|Hugh MacDonald]], the underground [[Vicar General]] of the Highland District, remained in hiding locally until he managed to escape to France.<ref> Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 95-99.</ref> 

In early to mid July 1746, [[Roman Catholic priest]] and former Jacobite Army [[non-combatant]] [[military chaplain]] Fr. [[Alexander Cameron (priest)|Alexander Cameron]] was captured by a posse of Redcoats commanded by Captain McNiel while similarly hiding near Morar and was handed over to Captain John Fergussone and held as a prisoner aboard HMS ''Furnace''.<ref>Terry, Albemarle Papers, 407-8.</ref> After "he bore all kinds of insults and cruelty with unconquerable patience and Christian fortitude",<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacWilliam|first=A. S.|title=A Highland mission: Strathglass, 1671-1777|publisher=IR xxiv|year=1973|isbn=|location=|pages=75–102}}</ref> Fr. Cameron died of torture and the many hardships of his imprisonment on 19 October 1746, while aboard the [[prison hulk]] HMS ''Furnace'', which was anchored in the [[Thames River]].<ref> Thomas Wynne (2011), ''The Forgotten Cameron of the '45: The Life and Times of Alexander Cameron S.J'', Print Smith, [[Fort William, Scotland]]. pp. 68-94.</ref> His cause for Roman Catholic Sainthood is now being advanced by the [[Knights of St Columba]]'s Council at the [[University of Glasgow]].<ref>{{Cite web| last = Pearce| first = Joseph| author-link = Joseph Pearce |title=Flower of Scotland | url=https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/flower-of-scotland|date=18 May 2024|website=Crisis Magazine|quote=with the hope that he will become a great saint for Scotland and that our nation will merit from his intercession}}</ref>

[[File:Ruin at Brinacory - geograph.org.uk - 34929.jpg|thumb|left|An abandoned house on Morar]]
During the subsequent [[Highland Clearances]], many local residents emigrated to [[Canada]].<ref name=pc>{{cite book |title=The People's Clearance: Highland Emigration to British North America, 1770-1815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akEtTJNF7DAC&pg=PA74 |year=1982 |publisher=University of Manitoba Press |isbn=978-0-88755-382-0 |page=74}}</ref> Boats left in 1790,<ref name=pc/> 1802,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=J.K. |last2=Wilson |first2=Bruce G. |title=Historical Essays on Upper Canada: New Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asyduxzal4gC&pg=PA172 |year=1989 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-7354-3 |page=172}}</ref> and 1826,<ref>{{cite book |last=Campey |first=Lucille H. |title=After the Hector: The Scottish Pioneers of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 1773-1852 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcucbvRuozUC&pg=PA118 |year=2007 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-55002-770-9 |page=118}}</ref> carrying local [[Gaels]] to [[Quebec]], [[Glengarry County, Ontario|Glengarry County]], [[Ontario]], and the [[Strait of Canso]] in [[Nova Scotia]] respectively. In [[Scottish Gaelic literature]] and that of [[Canadian Gaelic]], poet [[Anna NicGillìosa]] (1759-1847) emigrated from Morar in 1786 and eventually settled in [[Glengarry County, Ontario]], and a poem in praise of her new home there survives. Following her death there, NicGillìosa was buried beside St Raphael's Church in [[South Glengarry]].<ref name="Aidan Doyle 2020 Pages 14-16">Edited by Natasha Sumner and [[Aidan Doyle]] (2020), ''North American Gaels: Speech, Song, and Story in the Diaspora'', [[McGill–Queen's University Press]]. Pages 14-16.</ref><ref> {{cite book |last=Newton |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Newton (Gaelic scholar) |date=2015 |title={{lang|gd|Seanchaidh na Coille|italic=no}}/Memory-Keeper of the Forest: Anthology of Scottish Gaelic Literature of Canada |publisher=Cape Breton University Press |isbn=978-1-77206-016-4}} pp. 129-132, 522-523.</ref>

In 1917, Dom Odo Blundell of [[Fort Augustus Abbey]] wrote, "At Morar chapel-house is preserved a set of green vestments, with red and white intermingled, bearing the date 1745. It still has its original lining; there is also an altar front to match it. These were probably brought over from France by the adherents of Prince Charlie, and must have been part of the furnishings of the chapel on the island, though it is not known how they were saved when the building was ransacked and burned in 1746. The same remarks apply to the old chalice, which bears the inscription, ''Ad usum Pr Fr Vincenti Mariani, Missri Scot. Ord. Praedic. Anno 1658''. This chalice, which is of silver, is very small indeed; it has its paten to match. Unfortunately, we have no further information regarding this early missioner. In the list of priests for 1668 it is stated that there were three [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] on this mission. Father Vincent was apparently one of these; the others being Father George Fanning &ndash; long in the Isle of [[Barra]] and [[Patrick Primrose|Father Primrose]] &ndash; who died in prison in 1671."<ref> Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, p. 114.</ref> 

The local population long remained Catholic and it was often said in the 1890s, "There was never a ministers sermon said in this country until the railway came."<ref> Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, p. 116.</ref> 

Many houses in the area were covertly used as [[List of SOE establishments|training schools]] for [[Special Operations Executive]] operatives preparing for missions behind enemy lines during [[World War II]].<ref>Commando Country, Stuart Allan, National Museums Scotland 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-905267-14-9}}</ref>  The Land, Sea and Islands Centre<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arisaigcentre.co.uk/ |title=Land, Sea & Islands Centre, Arisaig |publisher=Arisaigcentre.co.uk |access-date=2012-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814022658/http://www.arisaigcentre.co.uk/ |archive-date=14 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Arisaig has a display on the connection between SOE and the area and has published a book on the subject.<ref>Special Operations Executive: Para-Military Training in Scotland during World War 2, David M Harrison, Land Sea and Islands Centre, Arisaig</ref>

[[File:The Sands at Morar - geograph.org.uk - 68412.jpg|thumb|The sands at Morar]]
In addition to being where Fr. [[Alexander Cameron (priest)|Alexander Cameron]] was captured by the redcoats in 1746,<ref>Terry, Albemarle Papers, 407-8.</ref> Morar Beach has also served as a location in the 1983 film ''[[Local Hero (1983 film)|Local Hero]]''. It was also used for filming the scene in ''[[Highlander (film)|Highlander]]'' (1986), when Ramirez ([[Sean Connery]]) and Connor MacLeod ([[Christopher Lambert]]) race along the beach. In the 1995 movie, ''[[Rob Roy (1995 film)|Rob Roy]]'' Morar was used to film the location for [[Rob Roy MacGregor]]'s [[thatching|thatched]] [[blackhouse]].<ref name="gfs"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://static.visitscotland.com/pdf/highlands-movie-map.pdf |title=The Highlands and Skye Movie Map |publisher=Visit Scotland |year=2016}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair]] (c.1698&ndash;1770), an officer and Gaelic tutor to [[Prince Charles Edward Stuart]] during the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]] and poet who wrote many immortal works of [[Scottish Gaelic literature]], spent the last years of his life near Morar as the local [[Tacksman]] of [[Clan MacDonald of Clanranald]]. After moving permanently to the area, the poet, a recent convert from [[Protestantism]] to the still illegal and underground  [[Catholic Church in Scotland]], composed a poem in praise of Bishop [[Hugh MacDonald (vicar apostolic of the Highland District)|Hugh MacDonald]], the [[Roman Catholic priest|priests]], and students at the clandestine [[Lismore Seminary#History|Buorblach Seminary]].
* Rt.-Rev. [[Angus Bernard MacEachern]] (1759&ndash;1835), later the first Bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown]], studied for the priesthood during that same era at [[Lismore Seminary#History|Buorblach Seminary]].
* [[BBC]] [[weather forecaster]] [[Carol Kirkwood]] (b.1962), is a native of Morar.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk/information/info_interview_kirkwood.htm |title=Interview with Carol Kirkwood|publisher=[[Girl Guides Association]] |access-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012042654/http://www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk/information/info_interview_kirkwood.htm |archive-date=12 October 2007}}</ref>
*Fr. [[Alexander Macdonell (bishop of Kingston)|Alexander Macdonnell]] (1762&ndash;1840), a descendant of [[Clan MacDonald of Glengarry]], received his educated at the clandestine [[Lismore Seminary#History|Buorblach Seminary]], before continuing his priestly training in [[Spain]] at the [[Royal Scots College]] in [[Valladolid]]. After his ordination, Fr. Macdonnell went on to become the first Roman Catholic [[military chaplain]] in post-Reformation [[British military history]]<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle=Alexander Macdonell|first=D. R.|last= Macdonald|volume=9}}</ref> and the first Bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston, Canada|Diocese of Kingston]], in the [[Canadian Gaelic]]-speaking immigrant community of [[Glengarry County, Ontario]].
* Morar was a favourite winter travel destination of the noted English composer, Sir [[Arnold Bax]] (1883–1953), during the 1930s. He worked on his [[Symphony No. 3 (Bax)|Third Symphony]] and each subsequent symphony during his visits to the Station Hotel there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lambert|first=Anthony|title=The 50 Greatest Train Journeys of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7YLDAAAQBAJ&dq=Arnold%20Bax%20Morar&pg=PT29|year=2015|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=9781785780653}}</ref>
* Morar was, for many years, the home of Cyril Kenneth Bird, better known as [[Fougasse (cartoonist)|Fougasse]], who was a cartoonist for [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'']] magazine and served as its editor for four years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst1941.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525201946/https://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst1941.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live |title=Morar |work=Gazetteer for Scotland |year=2021}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
*The area is famous for its beaches, known as the "White Sands of Morar": one, which featured prominently in the film ''[[Local Hero (1983 film)|Local Hero]]'',<ref name="gfs">{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst12644.html|title=Morar: Overview|work=Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=28 August 2018}}</ref> as well as in ''[[Breaking the Waves]]'', is a few miles south of the village. Nearby [[Loch Morar]] is the deepest freshwater body in the [[British Isles]] at {{convert|1020|ft|m}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nature.scot/landscapes-and-habitats/habitat-types/lochs-rivers-and-wetlands/freshwater-lochs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525072723/https://www.nature.scot/landscapes-and-habitats/habitat-types/lochs-rivers-and-wetlands/freshwater-lochs |archive-date=25 May 2023 |url-status=live |title==Freshwater Lochs |publisher=NatureScot}}</ref> and is linked to the sea by the short [[River Morar]].

==See also==
*[[Loch Morar]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100311024842/http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/movIes/fwaves.html Breaking the Waves filming locations]{{SPS|date=August 2016}}
* [http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/movies/flocalhero.html Local Hero filming locations]{{SPS|date=August 2016}}
* [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Mallaig_Extension_Railway/frame.htm West Highland Railway Mallaig Extension]

{{Scottish provinces|minor}}
{{Lochaber}}

[[Category:Populated places in Lochaber]]
[[Category:National scenic areas of Scotland]]