by
John Dye
Transcribed
handwritten material from the office of the Procurator Fiscal
of Tobermory, currently held in the Argyll Archive at Lochgilphead.
These
notes are taken from recorded statements made at the time of the
death of Duncan Cameron, killed by a rock-fall in the Strontian
lead mine in 1851.
They
are divided by Chapters and sub-edited headings for ease of reference.
Set out below are the dramatis personae and, set out overleaf
are the Chapter Headings.
The
working conditions at the time and, the accounts of the fatal
episode recall a very hard way of life in the mid-nineteenth century.
This
was the time when poverty and starvation from the potato blight
in the Western Highlands was at its height.
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The document
is quite long, and is broken up into ten chapters: click
here to go to the chapter index. Each chapter has links to the
following one.
DRAMATIS
PERSONAE
| Duncan
Cameron |
Member
of a blasting party killed by a rockfall |
| Alexander
Lowrie |
Working
with him when he died |
| Alexander
McMaster |
First
shift in blasting party, who had gone home |
| Alexander
McPhee |
First
shift in blasting party, who had gone home |
| Duncan
MacPherson |
In
the next gallery when the stone fell |
| John
Cameron |
The
carter who bore the injured Lowrie home |
| James
Floyd |
Superintendent
of mine, responsible for safety |
| Donald
Cameron |
Woodman
of the pit and sub-inspector under Floyd James Barrat Manager of mine
and shareholder |
| Sir
James Riddell |
Landowner
and shareholder in mine |
Other parts
were played by Hugh Macphee and Hugh MacPherson who were with Alexander
Lowrie when he looked at the job originally, Alexander McMaster, who along
with Donald McMaster, Archibald McMaster and Hugh McMaster were part of
Cameron's woodman's team.
Doyle and
Burns lived at the Irish house where John Cameron lit his pipe just before
he heard the news and, James McMaster Boy went with Doyle to fetch out
Cameron's body. Dr Reid attended Alexander Lowrie at home afterwards
Dugald McPherson Tailor told Alexander McMaster that Duncan Cameron was
dead.
John Archibald
and Angus McMaster were part of the squad hired to clear rubbish at Bellsgrove
middle level of Strontian Mine and open up access to the vein where Duncan
Cameron met his death
Wm Robertson
JP took the depositions
CHAPTER
ONE
ALEXANDER LOWRIE, A MINER WORKING ALONGSIDE DUNCAN
CAMERON, WHO WAS KILLED, GIVES EVIDENCE
CHAPTER
TWO
ALEXANDER MCMASTER, ANOTHER MINER IN THE PIECE WORK
GANG, WHO WAS NOT ON SHIFT AT THE TIME, GIVES EVIDENCE
CHAPTER
THREE
ALEXANDER MACPHEE, THE THIRD SURVIVOR IN THE PIECE
WORK GANG, WHO WAS NOT ON SHIFT AT THE TIME, GIVES EVIDENCE
CHAPTER
FOUR
JOHN CAMERON, HAVING FINISHED HIS EARLY SHIFT, WAS
OUTSIDE THE MINE ENTRANCE WHEN DUNCAN CAMERON WAS KILLED
CHAPTER
FIVE
DUNCAN MACPHERSON, WHO WAS WORKING CLOSE TO CAMERON
AND LOWRIE WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED, GIVES EVIDENCE
CHAPTER
SIX
THE EVIDENCE OF DONALD MCMASTER, WHO WAS EMPLOYED
TO ERECT A STOOL AND REMOVE THE MIDDLINGS WHERE DUNCAN CAMERON WAS WORKING
WHEN HE DIED
CHAPTER
SEVEN
JAMES BARRAT, MANAGER OF THE MINES AT STRONTIAN,
GIVES HIS EVIDENCE
CHAPTER
EIGHT
HUGH MACMASTER SAYS HE FOUND THE LOOSE STONE AND
REPORTED IT TO THE WOODMAN, WHO WANTED IT REMOVED, BUT WAS OVERRULED
CHAPTER
NINE
DONALD CAMERON, "WOODMAN" OF THE MINE,
TELLS OF THE EVENTS BEFORE THE ROCKFALL AND OF HIS REACTIONS AFTERWARDS
CHAPTER
TEN
RANDOM NOTES RE-EXAMINING EVIDENCE
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