18 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIFE [oh. ii. 
Stornoway to Harris, where MacGillivray’s uncle 
lived. 
MacGillivray’s uncle was “ tacksman ” of North- 
town, a farm of considerable extent, with numerous 
crofter and cottar dependants on it. These contri¬ 
buted the whole of the manual labour which was 
required for the working of the farm—as was the 
case with all the other Harris “tacksmen.” The 
uncle, then considerably advanced in age, had 
recently married Mary M'Caskill of North Harris; 
and Marion, a sister of hers, was at that time 
resident with them. Young MacGillivray soon got 
into a very friendly relationship with Marion, which 
giadually deepened into an affectionate attachment, 
and eventually led to marriage. 
The social life of Harris at that time appears to 
have been of a peculiarly interesting character. 
The greater part of the island was let by the 
proprietor in large farms to “ tacksmen,” as the 
lessees were designated. These “tacksmen 5 " 
appear to have been a well-educated class, then 
peculiar to Harris, superior to the ordinary High¬ 
land farmer of the period, being “gentlemen 55 
according to the old Statistical Account of Scotland, 
having had their origin in a kind of family relation¬ 
ship with Macleod, the proprietor to whom they 
looked up as their chief. 
These tacksmen and their families, as appears 
from MacGillivray’s journal, had much pleasant 
intercourse among themselves, frequent visits being 
interchanged by the members of the different 
