59575: Murdo Macleod

Murdo (c1784-1863) was a son of Malcolm Macleod and  Margaret Macleod, Geshader. The family had been evicted from Scaliscro. He was one of the Uig soldiers who fought with the 78th during the Napoleonic Wars and lost his sight at Rosetta in the conflict at El Hammed. He later received a pension, which enabled him to take a large holding at 13 Crowlista.

Murdo’s first wife was Catherine Macleod, Kneep with whom he had five children. He later married Janet Matheson, 3 Aird, Uig with whom he had another six children.

Murdo was said to have been a deeply religious man who wrote verse, of which the following survives:

Aig el Hamed bhruchd na naimhdean oirnn mar muir lan,

‘S gur iomadh gille uasal bha mar uan air a’ phlat

At El Hamed the enemy poured on us like a tide

And many a noble lad as like a lamb on a bed of straw.