| "I grew up
during World War I. I was going to school in the early part of the War,
but the emphasis was not on education but on the military and looking
forward to the time when we would be eighteen and join up. The War ended
before we came of age and there was no further need for the military.
The Militia was discontinued and the Naval Reserve would not accept
recruits for a long time. It was through those channels that most
Lewismen went to the mainland for the first time and, after serving
their time, they were in a better position to join the labour force.
The post-war generation did not have this outlet. British industry had
not yet recovered from the effect of the War, and any openings were
reserved for the ex-servicemen. For us, emigration was inevitable.
Canada was the first to open the door in a way we could afford. We had
little choice. "I
was twenty-one years old when I went on board the S.S. Metagama,
anchored outside Stornoway Bay on the 23rd of April 1923 - a day that
always remains fresh in my memory. Were we homesick? A stronger word
would be more suitable! It was the kind of homesickness you could feel.
A boy told me he was so blind with his tears that he could not see. We
sailed north, and around the Butt of Lewis. There was deep silence among
the three hundred Lewismen on board as our beloved Island faded in the
distance with those whom we loved standing on its shores. For many, it
was a last glimpse. Our destination was Toronto; there we parted. Life
on the Canadian farm was quiet and simple. In many ways it was much like
our own: there was no crime; Sabbath was kept; it was against the law to
work on Sunday; shops were closed; many went to Church; no professional
sport was allowed on Sunday (Sunday's law has since changed); no
discrimination; food was plentiful. I was used to work, but it was work
from morn’ till dusk and wages were low. It was work, eat and sleep.
Soon we drifted away when other work became available. We were lonely
and homesick. Two of us found work with a fishing company but this was
seasonal as the lakes freeze in the winter. One Sunday we had nowhere to
go but to sit on the bank of Lake Eyrie looking into space, the
seashore at Knockaird passing in review. I thought singing a Gaelic
Psalm would be in order. Psalm 137: "Aig struthaibh coimheach
Bhabiloin shuidh sinn gu brònach bochd" etc. It was not long before
the mournful wail of my friend rose above the highest note.
"In time, however, I
began to like Canada. I learned a new skill, driving a car. At the
fishery, some trucking was involved, taking fish to market. Driving a
truck was a step forward from the horse and cart, and I felt very
important driving a load of fish to market. My boss loaned me an old car
he wasn't using. I drove this car in my spare time, including running
errands for him. I was beginning to fit in with the American way of
life. I remained two years with this company.
|
In the meantime, large numbers of fresh immigrants from Lewis began
arriving in Detroit, both men and women, and the desire to meet with
them grew very strong. When I had time off, I visited Detroit and
met some of my old friends. Work was plentiful, with higher wages
than in Canada. I decided to enter the United States and applied for
permanent residence. When that was granted, I found employment with
General Motors Corporation. There I enrolled in a trade school two
evenings a week. Soon I bought my first car. I was very happy, and
the desire to return to my homeland grew less and less. |
|
|
RIGHT:
Relatives and friends pack the quayside at Stornoway as the Metagama
departs |
"The Depression in the
1930s interrupted my plans. The car industry closed and we had to find
work elsewhere. At this time, many returned to the homeland. There was a
Niseach superintendent (John Thomson from Habost) with a construction
company in New York and I was advised to go there. I met him, and he put
me to work at once. There were casualties on the job and part of my work
was to carry away the injured and dead. Seeing a man getting killed was
something new for me and made me sick. Some advised me to take whisky,
but that only made me feel worse. I don't think I would have made a good
soldier. The following year, conditions improved and I returned to
Detroit. I joined the auto industry with another company. It was time
now to settle down. I was married in 1935 to Annie Murray and the first
of our three children was born the following year.
"The Great Depression was
not over and work was scarce, but that only brought us closer together.
There was a large Lewis colony there and we had taken root. We were no
longer from Ness or Point etc., but we were as one village, with one
common bond. Fate brought us here, and we were different. When one found
work he would at once recommend a fellow Lewisman for the first opening.
This worked so well both on land and sea that there was very little
unemployment among us. We blended in very well with the American worker
and made very close friends. But socially, we kept our Lewis identity.
Nearly all of us married Lewis girls. We now had our own home, Ceilidh
was the evening pastime, with Gaelic songs being sung and stories told.
The dessert was always a cup of tea and scones. If we had differences
among ourselves, pity the outsider who would interfere.
"Many of the Lewismen
held responsible jobs both on land and sea. Ness was well represented
among the captains and officers who served on the Great Lakes and on
salt water, and also among those who studied for the ministry and served
as pastors both in Canada and the United States. At this time,
ministers from Lewis were coming to Canada for short visits and some of
them came to Detroit and held Gaelic services. Those services were well
attended. The singing of the Gaelic Psalms and precenting the line was
sweet music to us, and many eyes could be seen wet with tears. This was
the beginning of the Presbyterian Free Church in Detroit, where
we have worshipped since 1952. Our first pastor was the Rev. Murdo
MacRitchie, who served the congregation for fourteen years and was then
transferred to the Stornoway congregation.
"As I was growing older,
the desire to see my native Island was also growing and the time came
when I had to go. In August 1957 I boarded a plane in Detroit, and in
nine hours I was in Prestwick. Thirty-four years had passed and what a
change! It took eleven days to cross the Atlantic when I came over in
1923. I had also changed. I was coming back an alien but to me, I was
coming home. My cousin in Grangemouth met me in Glasgow, but I did not
recognise her, as I did not recognise much of the landscape I
remembered. I spent a few days in Glasgow, Grangemouth and Edinburgh and
then proceeded to Stornoway. Ness had changed. Hardly any of the old
houses remained and many of the old friends were no more. The old hearth
was gone where we sat in a circle around the open fire, telling and
listening to our favourite stories. But the seashore was the same,
untouched by the hands of man. Its cool breezes were swirling around my
favourite rocks, working in unison with the sound of the waves, dashing
against the familiar cliffs with the same warm touch as if saying,
"Welcome home!" My reply was "Thank you, but I was here many times in my
dreams."
"The days of old to
mind I called, and oft did think upon the times and ages that are part
full many years agone." Psalm 77.
"I spent two happy months
with my father and sisters, seeing old friends and making new ones, and
I visited many parts of the Island. I was delighted to meet those I knew
in America who had returned to settle in Lewis and it was like meeting
old friends from home.But my holiday passed too quickly and, again, it
was time to part. The tears flowed as I said goodbye to my aged father,
knowing we would not meet again in this world. (He passed away the
following year). I was again homesick leaving, but this time it was
different than that day in April of 1923. I was eager to get back to my
own family. My roots were now in America.
"When I retired I
returned once again to Ness. In 1969 Annie and I went home together. My
wife is from Skigersta. This time I rented a car and saw more of the
island. I enjoyed driving to Stornoway. Time had again taken its toll;
nearly all of the old friends were gone. We were home about two months.
The weather was cold and damp, but the warm welcome we always got made
up for it.
"I am now in my declining
years but I am healthy and active in church affairs and gardening. Our
son's home is twenty miles from our apartment in the city. It is out in
the country on five acres of land, where I spend the warm days of summer
in the solitude of the country, just the way I started life so many,
many miles away - growing potatoes and vegetables. I didn't acquire
wealth, but we are comfortable and were never in need. God was good to
us. I had wealth other than money; my Christian upbringing and Lewis
heritage was a stronghold in the day of trouble and a deterrent against
the evil we were exposed to." |
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