Rum, Stornoway and the Lash

The Naval press-gang in the Outer Hebrides during the Napoleonic Wars.

Mar 28, 2026

English Version

The press-gang existed because at times of war, there were never enough men to man the ships of the Navy. And so, the Navy took people by force. It was “second only to African slavery in the number of forced workers it ensnared.” (Brunsman, 2013).

It affected communities the length and breadth of Britain, especially during the Napoleonic Wars:

The press net was cast wider and wider, until at length… practically every class of the population of these islands was subjected to its merciless inroads. (Hutchinson, 1914)

But as the Impressment service especially needed men who were used to the sea - island and coastal communities were especially affected,

The Western Isles were one of the places where ‘the Press’ took place. There are references to it in oral tradition, from Ness to Tiree, and also in documents such as those in the National Archives, where sailors from Stornoway are named.

Impressment was a crown prerogative, it’s documented back to Medieval times. According to Finlay (2022), the legal basis rested on “crown prerogative, parliamentary statute, and the common law… an ancient, legal, prerogative of the crown, coeval with our constitution, as being necessary for its defence.”

The livelihoods of the islands were closely tied to the sea, and that meant the Navy’s Impressment Service had a particular impact on the Western Isles. We can look at an account of the parish of Lochs in Lewis to see how dependent such a place was on occupations connected to the sea.

The whole amount of the population in this parish is 1768 persons, of which number, 845 are males, and 923 are females…The number of families is 306. Most of the inhabitants are fishers and netmakers. There are 38 kelp-makers, 76 weavers of coarse cloth, (and) 2 boat-carpenters. (Simson, 1797)

There would have been a particular impact, then, on the economy of these districts when they were losing men who were working in these trades.

According to Macdonald (1978), life in the Navy was not attractive to the young lads of the island:

What they knew of the balaich-ghorma, the boys in blue, due to the press-gang system, abolished in 1812, they regarded with horror. Very few were prepared to enlist in a service where criminals abounded, conditions were harsh, food meagre, and floggings frequent. (Macdonald, 1978, p. 121)

According to Macdonald (1978), at the time of the Napoleonic War, around 500 people went to the Army and 80 to the Navy from the Isle of Lewis. That’s without counting those the press-gang took. And Seaforth’s press-gang was vicious.

The press-gang is remembered in the oral tradition of the Isle of Lewis. There are accounts of the press-gang taking islanders – up to 32 people on one occasion in Keose. It affected townships and settlement patterns. For example, it’s said that the village of Coll was moved inland from the coast because of the Press Gang. (Stiùbhart, 2026, pers. comm.)

Regarding the Navy’s press-gang, there is an account of an incident from Lochs in Lewis, which took place at Leac nan Gillean, in the bay of Swordale, Keose. According to oral tradition, 32 young men were seized after they had gone to the church there.

“… (the) young men were lured into a trap under false pretences by causing them to enter the old Parish Church building at Swordale where the hated press-gang were lying in wait for them, either within the Church or nearby, ready to pounce on them and carry them away and enlist them in one of the armed services, probably the Navy, seeing a warship was used.” (Macleod, n.d.)

The ship was hiding behind Eilean Thàbaidh at the mouth of Loch Erisort. It seems that a dozen returned, but twenty of them were never seen again.

There was another example of the press-gang taking people in Lewis when a press-gang appeared at Knockaird in Ness. All the healthy men between sixteen and thirty years of age were taken away:

… in spite of the repeated attempts by their women-folk to free them, attempts which were foiled by bayonets being held at their breasts. These “volunteers” were marched across the moors by Muirneag (mountain) to Stornoway, from where they were immediately shipped to the mainland. Years later, the sole survivor of these Balaich a’ Chruic Aird, Lads of Knockaird, John MacDonald, Iain Buidhe, returned, to find his old father had been evicted … He had to go and live on Cuile Toitair, south of Cellar Head, miles from any other habitation. (Macdonald, 1978, p. 118)

It wasn’t just on the island itself that people were taken – the Press could take people and vessels in ports and cities too. Island people were also at sea on commercial vessels, both as fishermen and on cargo ships. There are several documents in the National Archives about sailors from Lewis who were taken in cities like Liverpool, where they were at sea on commercial vessels.

There is an account of one man, Murchadh Dòmhnallach (Murdoch McDonald) from Lewis, who was taken while he was warping a vessel out of Belfast. The sailor wouldn’t answer any questions put to him, saying he only spoke Gaelic.

Richard Williams, Belfast. Reports that Murdoch McDonald who was impressed by Lieutenant Howden, was caught warping a sloop down the Channel. Murdoch McDonald is about 22 years of age, 5ft 6in tall, a stout well-formed young man. The master of another sloop claimed that McDonald was his apprentice but had no indentures to show for him. McDonald would not answer any questions as he only spoke Gaelic and was from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. (The National Archives, ADM 1/2697/71, fols. 190–191)

The Press also affected vessels that were out of Stornoway.

Letter dated 21 May, 1808 from Colin McEver, Liverpool, to the Admiralty. Seeks the discharge of his apprentice Collin Murray, who was impressed and sent aboard HMS Princess shortly after his vessel the Sir Sydney Smith of Stornoway arrived in Liverpool to take on cargo for Sweden. (The National Archives, ADM 1/2173/63, fols. 419–420)

These sources give us a glimpse of the impact the Navy’s Impressment Service had on the Western Isles. Because people’s livelihoods depended so much on work connected to the sea, the Press had a huge impact on the islands by taking people into the Service against their will. By taking men who worked at the fishing and on the kelp, it had a damaging effect on the employment and livelihoods of the people. But it wasn’t just that – impressment was terrible in every way, taking people’s freedom and making them fight and die in distant lands.

Gaelic version

‘S e na h-Eileannan an Iar aon de na h-àiteachan far an robh ‘am Press’ a’ gabhail àite. Tha iomraidhean mu dheidhinn ann am beul-aithris, agus cuideachd ann an sgrìobhainnean leithid na National Archives. Ann an seo, tha seòladairean à Steòrnabhadh air an ainmeachadh.

‘S e ‘crown prerogative’ a bh’ ann – a rèir Finlay (2022), bha bun-stèidh laghail na cùise stèidhichte air “crown prerogative, parliamentary statute, and the common law… an ancient, legal, prerogative of the crown, coeval with our constitution, as being necessary for its defence.”

Bha beo-shlàint nan eileannan ceangailte gu dlùth ris a’ mhuir, agus bha sin a’ ciallachadh gun robh Seirbheis Impressment an Nèibhidh a’ toirt buaidh shònraichte air na h-eileannan. Gu h-àraidh leis gun robh an Nèibhidh a’ sireadh dhaoine a bha cleachte ris a’ mhuir.

Faodaidh sinn coimhead air iomradh air sgìre nan Lochan ann an Leòdhas a dh’fhaicinn mar a bha leithid a dh’àite a’ crochadh air dreuchdan a bha ceangailte ris a’ mhuir.

The whole amount of the population in this parish is 1768 persons, of which number, 845 are males, and 923 are females…The number of families is 306. Most of the inhabitants are fishers and netmakers. There are 38 kelp-makers, 76 weavers of coarse cloth, (and) 2 boat-carpenters. (Simson, 1797)

Bhiodh buaidh shònraichte ma-thà, a thaobh eaconomaidh nan sgìrean nuair a bhiodh iad a’ call fireannaich a bh’ anns na h-obraichean seo.

A rèir Macdonald (1978), cha robh beatha anns an Nèibhidh tarraingeach dha balaich òga an eilein:

What they knew of the balaich-ghorma, the boys in blue, due to the press-gang system, abolished in 1812, they regarded with horror. Very few were prepared to enlist in a service where criminals abounded, conditions were harsh, food meagre, and floggings frequent. (Macdonald, 1978, p. 121)

A rèir Macdonald (1978), aig àm Cogadh Napoleon, chaidh timcheall air 500 neach dhan Arm agus 80 dhan Nèibhidh. Tha sin gun chunntadh na dh’fhalbh am press-gang leis.

Tha cuimhne air am Press-gang ann am beul-aithris Eilean Leòdhais. Tha iomraidhean ann mu dheidhinn am press-gang a falbh le eileanaich – suas gu 32 neach, aon turas ann an Ceòs. Thug e buaidh air bailtean is iomairean. Mar eiseimplair, thathas ag ràdh gun deach baile Chuil a ghluasad a-steach bhon chosta air sgàths am Press Gang. (Stiùbhart, 2026, pers. comm.)

A thaobh press-gang an Nèibhidh, tha iomradh air tachartas (Macleod, n.d.) bho na Lochan ann an Leòdhas, a thachair aig Leac nan Gillean, ann am bàgh Shuairdail, Ceòs. A rèir beul-aithis, chaidh 32 fireannaich òga an glacadh agus iad air a dhol dhan eaglais an sin.

“… (the) young men were lured into a trap under false pretences by causing them to enter the old Parish Church building at Swordale where the hated press-gang were lying in wait for them, either within the Church or nearby, ready to pounce on them and carry them away and enlist them in one of the armed services, probably the Navy, seeing a warship was used.” (Macleod, n.d.)

Bha an t-soitheach a’ falachd air chùlaibh Eilean Thàbaidh aig beul Loch Eireasort. Tha coltach gun do thill dusan neach, ach chan fhacas a-rithist fichead dhiubh.

Bha eiseimplair eile dhen phress-gang a’ falbh le daoine ann Leòdhas nuair a nochd press-gang anns a’ Chnoc Àrd ann an Nis, Leòdhas. Chaidh na fireannaich a bha falainn eadar sia deug agus trichead bliadhna a dh’aois gu lèir a thoirt air falbh:

… in spite of the repeated attempts by their women-folk to free them, attempts which were foiled by bayonets being held at their breasts. These “volunteers” were marched across the moors by Muirneag (mountain) to Stornoway, from where they were immediately shipped to the mainland. Years later, the sole survivor of these Balaich a’ Chruic Aird, Lads of Knockaird, John MacDonald, Iain Buidhe, returned, to find his old father had been evicted … He had to go and live on Cuile Toitair, south of Cellar Head, miles from any other habitation. (Macdonald, 1978, p. 118)

Cha b’ ann dìreach air an eilean a bhathas a’ falbh le daoine – dh’fhaodadh am Press falbh le daoine agus soithichean anns na Puirt is bailtean mòra cuideachd. Bha muinntir an eilein aig muir cuideachd air soithichean coimearsalta, an dà chuid mar iasgairean agus air soithichean cargu. Tha grunn sgrìobhainnean anns na National Archives a-mach air seòladairean à Leòdhas air an togail ann am bailtean mòra leithid Liverpool, far an robh iad aig muir air soithichean choimearsalta.

Tha iomradh ann mu dheidhinn fear, Murchadh Dòmhnallach à Leòdhas a chaidh a thogail nuair a bha e a’ warpeadh soitheach a-mach à Beal Feirste. Chan eil an seòladair a’ freagairt cheistean sam bith a thathas a’ cur air, ag ràdh nach eil ach Gàidhlig aige.

Richard Williams, Belfast. Reports that Murdoch McDonald who was impressed by Lieutenant Howden, was caught warping a sloop down the Channel. Murdoch McDonald is about 22 years of age, 5ft 6in tall, a stout well-formed young man. The master of another sloop claimed that McDonald was his apprentice but had no indentures to show for him. McDonald would not answer any questions as he only spoke Gaelic and was from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. (The National Archives, ADM 1/2697/71, fols. 190–191)

Bha am Press cuideachd a’ toirt buaidh air soithichean a bha a-mach à Steòrnabhagh.

Letter dated 21 May, 1808 from Colin McEver, Liverpool, to the Admiralty. Seeks the discharge of his apprentice Collin Murray, who was impressed and sent aboard HMS Princess shortly after his vessel the Sir Sydney Smith of Stornoway arrived in Liverpool to take on cargo for Sweden. (The National Archives, ADM 1/2173/63, fols. 419–420)

Chìthear bho na tùsan seo sealladh air a’ bhuaidh a bha aig Seirbheis Impressment an Nèibhidh air na h-Eileannan an Iar. Seach gun robh beò-shlàinte nan daoine a’ crochadh cho mòr air obair ceangailte ris a’ mhuir, thug am Press buaidh mòr air na h-Eileannan le bhith a’ toirt dhaoine dhan t-Seirbheis an aghaidh an cuid toil. Le bhith a’ falbh le fireannaich a bha ag obair ag iasgach agus air a’ cheilp, thug e droch bhuaidh air cosnadh agus bith-bheò nan daoine. Ach chan e sin a-mhàin, ach cho olc ’s a bha Impressment sa h-uile dòigh, a’ falbh le saorsa dhaoine agus a’ toirt orra sabaid agus bàsachadh ann an tìrean cèin.

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