The bike at Blairglass

I have been visiting this abandoned farmhouse, Blairglass in the Gairn Shiel area for nearly 10 years now and it never ceases to amaze to me that this old bike is still there and, incredibly, still leaning upright against the wall, despite all that the Cairngorm winters throw at it.

I can't find any information about Blairglass farmhouse and farm, which surprises me as it was an extensive and substantial farm. The last occupants had some of their belongings dumped near the house.

Why?

Who lived here and why did they leave?

Who owned the bike against the wall?

Blairglass farmhouse has a modern door on it and is locked, suggesting that maybe it is still used for shooting parties to have somewhere to go for a dram and food.

In the summer, someone puts up many beehives nearby. I wonder if there was always bees kept at Blairglass?

If only that bike could talk!

Remicras settlement and the Macdonalds

At the settlement of Remicras (or Riemicras as I’ve seen in an other book) you can see ruins of longhouses and later ruins of a farmhouse and U shaped steading. There is a kiln and a grain mill with the remains of the mill dam. The wee stone bridge across the stream in still in situ. The lade was well engineered and would have taken considerable effort to construct. The whole area seems to have benefited from a substantial investment to construct these buildings that replace the earlier buildings. This was the home to the Macdonald’s who claimed to be descended from the third son of John, Lord of the Isles. Legend has it that they got their property from the Earl of Mar after the battle of Harlaw (1411) when Macdonald was taken prisoner. The residents of this Macdonald ‘kingdom’ were tenants, many with the same surname. The land was sold to Invercauld in 1822 but there were still Macdonalds there until 1880 when most had left to make way for more profitable sheep. Most would have gone to cities to find work but many would have tried their luck abroad in America, Canada or New Zealand.