RELIGION. 527 



bygone times are not wholly extinct, striking instances of 

 which occasionally come to light. 



The Morisons of Ness were notable figures in the Church 

 during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; so, too, 

 were the Macaulays of Uig. The first Protestant minister 

 of Barvas (formerly Ness and Cladich) of whom there is 

 any record, was Murdoch McHuiston, or McHoustoun,who 

 was inducted in, or before, 1642. He was succeeded by 

 Donald Morison, who was transferred toUi in 1649, succeed- 

 ing Farquhar Clerk, who was inducted before 26th May, 

 1642. Subsequently, Donald Morison appears to have been 

 re-transferred to Barvas, where he died in 1699 in his 

 8oth year. Of his seven sons, no fewer than six became 

 ministers, the seventh being a surgeon. He was succeeded 

 at Barvas by his son, Allan, formerly of South Uist. Donald 

 Morison was bred an Episcopalian, but conformed to Presby- 

 terianism. He was succeeded at Stornoway (parish of Ui) 

 by his son Kenneth, who also became a Presbyterian. It 

 may well be believed that the simplicity of the Episcopal 

 service in Lewis was such, that the change to Presby- 

 terianism did not involve any radical alteration in the 

 form of worship. Kenneth Morison was a remarkable man, 

 well fitted to cope with the difficulties which surrounded 

 the Protestant clergy at that time. So high did religious 

 feeling run between the Protestants and the Roman 

 Catholics, that Morison was accustomed to carry a sword 

 by his side, when he walked from his manse to the church 

 in Stornoway ; and the church door was guarded by two 

 men with drawn swords. The Earl of Seaforth's uncle, 

 John Mackenzie of Kildun, was the leader of the Catholics, 



! and the muscular Christianity of Kenneth Morison so 

 exasperated him, that he endeavoured to have the minister 



I seized at night and carried to his house at Aignish. But 

 Morison was on his guard, and defeated the plot by the 



i simple process of making the messengers drunk, and send- 

 ing them bound to their master's house, where their pitiful 



' plight told its own tale. This practical rebuke by the 



, minister had its due effect upon Kildun, who became 



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