Chapter II
Jura
Page 3
According to legend, the first Buie to own land in Colonsay was rewarded these properties when he saved McNeill of Colonsay from drowning. After McNeill visited a ladyfriend in Islay, he tried to swim his horse across the sound to Jura, but floundered and Buie of Jura came to his aid. Eachan Buidhe na Faidh, or Hector Buie of the deer, was the earliest known Buie from Jura to live on Colonsay. Numerous Buies are present in the parish records of Colonsay and in the 1841 census. Also the census mentioned several families on the nearby island of Oronsay.Another wave of desolation struck Jura during the Revolution of 1688 when the Presbyterians suffered religious persecutions. Gilbert Clark, returning to Jura from Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, remarked "but three smokes in all Jura could be seen". Clark's wife had been killed. He resettled in Jura and his grandson, Alexander Clark who married Flora McLean, migrated to North Carolina.For reasons stated in the next chapter, emigration began in 1736, thus starting a steady depopulation of Jura and its neighbor islands which has continued to the present day. It should be noted that the movement to America and, to a lesser extent, Canada, began a full nine years before the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, therefore, in the majority of cases the people left not because of political retribution or military defeat.In 1745, Charles Edwart Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed in Scotland in an effort to regain the British throne for the Stuarts. After gathering recruits from the Highland clans, Prince Charlie invaded England and almost succeeded; however, he eventually was forced to withdraw back to Scotland. On April 16, 1746, the English army under the Duke of Cumberland defeated the Scots at Culloden Moor. Prince Charles fled the country aided by a spirited young lady named Flora McDonald who disguised the prince as her maid. The result of the Jacobite defeat was the official disintegration of the clan system by the British government. All weapons were confiscated. Also, the wearing of the Highland garb was prohibited. The role of the chief changed from land-overseer to landlord and his lieutenants, the tacksmen, were required to now pay full rent. To the poor farmer rents were oppressively high. For the remainder of the Eighteenth Century, depression and famine swept Scotland including Jura.Probably no Jura Buies were present at Culloden. Jura was Campbell territory and the Campbells opposed the Stuart's attempt. Of the list of prisoners taken at Culloden, no Buies from Jura were present, although several were from Aberdeen and the Buie stronghold at Banff. Perhaps, too, the Jura families had seen too many of their number slaughtered in the clan wars, and decided to avoid the conflict. However, they were affected by the Jacobite defeat since they suffered the economic: depression that followed. In 1792, Thomas Pennant toured Jura and wrote "The very old clan names are the Macilvuys and Macraines." The Macilvuys were the Buies in Pennant's anglicized form.Further misery was applied during the Clearances. The estate proprietors found it economically advantageous to turn their farms into grazing lands for sheep or stalking fields for the deer. Rents were raised so high that the tenants could not afford them. Or, leases were not renewed. The financial and social gaps between the rich and poor widened. A devastating famine struck the islands in 1836. As a result, and also because of the economic plight, many families left for Canada in the following years. Included in the emigrants were Buies from mainly Colonsay and Islay. Between 1831 and 1951, the population of Jura, Colonsay, and Oronsay dropped from 2213 to 496. Today, there are only about 250 persons living on Jura. The majority are employed on Jura's four large estates as farm workers, gamekeepers, gardeners, and tradesmen. Rev. Donald Budge wrote in 1950 "The people of Jura including the Buies, are intelligent, healthy and good to look at; they are hospit-able and generous, and the greatest pity is that there are so few of them."At this time, there are no Buies on Colonsay or Islay. The last male represent-ative of the family on Colonsay, Murdoch Buie, died about 1950. The last female Buies were married to McAllisters; therefore, the name on Colonsay is extinct.Many of the islanders have gone to mainland Scotland and England. Frequently these Buies visit Jura. Others, being excellent seamen, scattered to the seas and distant lands such as Australia. Alexander Lamont of Edinburgh, Scotland, a sailor and descendent of the Jura Buies, once stated that in travels all over the world, he never met a Buie who did not trace back origins to Islay or Jura.There are two families presently living on Jura with the name Buie. The minister Rev. Peter Youngson, describes them "Dougaid Buie of Craighouse is a man of about 55 and also an elder of the Kirk and my session clerk. He is a joiner to trade and descended from a long line of joiners and boatbuilders. He has a clear connection with.the Largiebreac families. Dougie has a son, Duncan, aged about 30, living in Jura, Alexander "Sandy" Buie of Knockchrome, aged about 73, is a crofter and elder of the Kirk. Sandy has two daughters, one of whom is married and lives here and is carrying on the croft. Descended from at least six generations of Buies in his own community, Alexander Buie is a wise and deep man with a rich vocabulary in English and Gaelic ."