Balnakeil Old Cemetery, Durness; John Gunn, Land Steward of Durness
a delightful place to visit
a delightful place to visit
The above is a postcard from around the 1960s.
Balnakeil cemetery
The Balnakeil Old Cemetery at Durness holds Gunn graves and also the grave of the Gaelic poet Rob Dunn (and other people are buried there, of course). It certainly holds the grave of John Gunn, Land Steward of Durness and his family. He descends from the Mackeamish / MacHamish line. My own records have many of his descendants alive in the 1970s. The key point is that his family is well known; it's just another reminder that there are many who can readily show descent from 'Gunn Chiefs'.
The memorial to John Gunn, Land Steward, Durness, his wife Catherine Gunn and other members of his family.
His daughter Williamina Gunn b. 1859 - d. 1950, married George Campbell b.c. 1860 - d. 1925 and with children John, Alexander and Margaret.
Balnakill ... In the churchyard Rob Donn lies buried, and I know a man who once ''rose'' from the poet's grave in a white shirt and sonorous Gaelic, calling down doom upon certain worthy but sceptical gentlemen whose quaking legs just managed to take them hurriedly through the gloom of the night from the ''haunted'' spot. Rob was a skilled poet and a fine poet, with a turn for satire that was swift and penetrating...
Page 173, Neil M. Gunn Highland Pack, Faber and Faber 1949.
Page 173, Neil M. Gunn Highland Pack, Faber and Faber 1949.