Morvern Lines: 15 December 2016

I am often asked what is the point of history and why does it matter what happened
long ago? The answer is history is inescapable and far from being a 'dead' subject, it
connects things through time and encourages people to take a long view, or, as
Winston Churchill once famously said, 'The farther backward you can look, the
farther forward you are likely to see'.
History has made us what we are. The decisions and actions of our ancestors have
shaped the land and locality we live in. Whatever you look at it has roots in history.
Have you ever wondered why we eat with knives and forks but some other cultures
use chopsticks? History will tell you; it is being made every day.
I am a great believer in hands-on-history. Not long ago the past was something that
came down to us by word of mouth or through reading dusty text books and acres of
dull script. These days, when most people can't recall what they did the day before,
let alone remember what their grandparents told them about their grandparents
because it isn't on Facebook or Twitter, we need physical reminders to touch the
past, see it, scent it, hear it or hold it in our hands.
The best example I know of is a story told to me by the late Lord Macleod of Fiunary
(1895-1991) about his first memory of the Island of Iona. "When I was a boy of nine
we went over to Iona. My father said, 'I want you to talk to Mrs MacCormick - she is
85 years old, and I think you should shake hands with her.' So I shook hands with
her, a little embarrassed. My father said, 'Now I'll tell you why. When she was nine
years old she shook hands with a Mrs Campbell, who was then 85 years of age, and
Mrs Campbell, when she was nine, stood on this jetty and watched the ship going
down the Sound of Iona carrying Prince Charles Edward Stewart back to France
after Culloden. Now that', he said 85 years later, 'was a wonderful education in
history - two handshakes away from Bonnie Prince Charlie.'
I had a similar experience on Lismore in June 1992 when I was invited to the
anniversary celebrations to commemorate the 1,400 year of the death of St Moluag,
the first Bishop of Argyll. A service, led by one of his successors, the Right Rev
George Henderson, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, was held in the old cathedral
(Parish Church) and attended by local folk and Church of Scotland and Episcopalian
clergy, some of whom had travelled a great distance to be present. Central to the
unique event was Alastair Livingstone (1914-2008) carrying St Moluag's ancient
pastoral staff, called the Bachuil Mor from Latin baculum (staff) and Gaelic mor (big).
St Moluag was an Irish monk who left the Abbey of Bangor in 562 AD to create a
Celtic monastery on Lismore. When he died thirty years later his ornate staff was
kept on the island and held in great veneration. Today the staff, which rests in an
illuminated recess specially created for it in Bachuil House, is a plain curved
blackthorn stick, 34" long, slightly turned up at one end, containing a number of small
bronze tacks or headless nails still holding little pieces of an inner bronze sheath.
The staff became so important in the following centuries as a relic that guardians, or
keepers, were appointed to take care of it. When St Moluag died his descendents,
called 'Coarbs', became hereditary Keepers of the Bachuil Mor and were rewarded
with a feudal barony confirmed in 1544 by Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll.

'From time when the memory of man runneth not to the contrary', Alastair
Livingstone's family fulfilled that role and still hold the title, Baron of the Bachuil, 'by
the Grace of God'.
With all this in mind it was with reverence and respect that I took St Moluag's staff in
my hands from Alastair Livingstone in Bachuil House on the 25th of June 1992. It
was awesome to think that when the mighty Roman Empire was crumbling, when the
Prophet Mohammed was a boy, when King Harold fell at Hastings, when Bruce had
the brooch of Lorn ripped from his shoulders at the Battle of Brander, this holy staff
was 'working its magic' on Lismore.
According to local tradition St Moluag's staff had miraculous powers. It has been
claimed that where it was present, it ensured safety at sea, truth on land, a
safeguard against disease, and, as long as its keepers honoured the hereditary trust
placed in them, if taken, away or stolen, it would always find its way back to Lismore.
A few weeks ago Bachuil House was advertised for sale in the Oban Times, giving
rise to concern in the local community that the Bachuil Mor might leave Lismore
forever. Of all the miracles attributed to the staff there is surely none more hoped for
now than its ability to return to the place where it undoubtedly belongs should it be
necessary.
Iain Thornber
iain.thornber@btinternet.com