Lorna Jackson

University of Edinburgh

The Lochgilphead correspondent of the Oban Times , in reference to a non-sporting event in 1887 offered the comment "(organisers) regretted it did not receive that support from the gentry it had anticipated, although many contributed handsomely."1 This clearly indicates a particular attitude towards patronage as a social responsibility of the gentry in Victorian society, and may shed light on the persistence of class division in leisure activities.2 Tranter has highlighted the debate about overall trends in aristocratic and gentry patronage of sport over the course of the nineteenth century : was there decline or simply a redirection of support? He suggests that, if there was a decline in the flow of patronage from the landed elites, patrons may have come from other social groups.3 As a contribution to the debate, this paper examines the practice of patronage of sport in nineteenth century Argyllshire to identify the nature and origin of support, and to what extent this changed towards the end of the century.

The sources from which the evidence is drawn are principally the local newspapers published in Argyll from c1851 onwards, though these are more recognisable in news rather than journal format from 1855. One obvious caveat: not until late in the century did the term sport acquire its modern connotation. The earliest commentaries quite clearly distinguish "manly games" and "healthful recreations"4 from sport which is identified in terms of shooting bags, otter hunts and angling catches. Bede's Sports and pastimes at the Land's End of the Western Highlands was written to appeal to "the tourist in search of the picturesque or the sportsman in search of game."5 Speedy's book Sport in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland (published in Edinburgh by William Blackwood in 1884) con centrated on the hunting and fishing venues, especially the latter. There was little consistency in the way in which the major county newspaper, the Oban Times, used the term even by the 1890s.6 In this paper, sport is being used in its contemporary sense as a collective term for a range of physical recreations/ pursuits.

Even by the end of the nineteenth century, Argyll provided a very different context from that in which many studies of nineteenth century sport are located : one of the crofting counties; little industrialised; a population scattered by the geography of the land as well as by the economics of agricultural and land use practices; culturally relatively isolated by its position on the fringe of a Britain focusing on industrial development and Empire - yet a county where tourists had been an established phenomenon since the 1780s and where the local aristocracy could by 1873 leave their estates in mid-Argyll one morning and be in London by the next.7 Argyll was (and to an extent still is) a county where traditional landownership was strong ; so tight a grip did the Campbell clan have of land from the thirteenth century onwards that even in the nineteenth century there was a multitude of Campbell landowners at various relationship distances from the Duke of Argyll - and these tended to be distinguished by the title of their estate and sometimes that alone e.g. Kilberry, Inverneil, Dunstaffnage. The identification of the laird with his land was indicative of the continuity of cultural attitudes drawing on traditional Celtic family ties.

Patronage as a concept was clearly understood in nineteenth century Argyll, although its definition may be more contentious nowadays. Reports of events, and advertisements for them, clearly identified the patrons associated (this incidentally was just as true of the vast range of non-sporting activities/pursuits also identified in the columns of the local press), and often indicated whether the patronage was by name and subscription alone, or by presence and/or active participation. The sport which most often demonstrated the latter aspect was the sport of shinty - in 1866 the Argyllshire Herald published an account of the traditional New Year's Day match between Inveraray and Ardkinglas across the loch, when the Inveraray team included two sons of the Ducal house (Lord Walter and Lord Archibald) while Ardkinglas's team was headed by the young laird, G.R.Callendar. The better known report of the match of 1868, written by J.F.Campbell of Islay and initially published in the Glasgow Daily Herald of 6 January (later in shortened form in the Times of London and other papers, including the Oban Times ) contained many of the same elements and acknowledged the participation of (and injuries to!) the Argyll sons, as well as the presence of other family members.8 Other lairds' families participated in the New Year shinty matches - at Kilberry in mid-Argyll where the traditional Old New Year's Day was celebrated around the 13th of January, the laird was a passionate supporter and his young sons aged 12 and 11 were reported as "taking sides" in the match of 1875. In 1874 Captain Macneal of Ugadale was acknowledged as patron of the New Year's Day shinty match at Saltpans (now known as Machrihanish); in 1876 the lessee of Kilmachumaig estate "gave a grand shinty match at Bellanoch"; while in Mull Colonel Gardyne of Glenforsa was given the credit for "having revived" the Old New Year's Day shinty match at Salen and himself played regularly.9 Even as shinty became more organised in the 1880s and less associated with the New Year-time ritual, the role of patron still seemed to have been considered socially important to the developing clubs - in 1882 the Marquis of Breadalbane was to be patron of the Oban shinty association; in 1885 the Marquis of Lorne was reported as patron to the Inveraray club; and when Oban constituted its shinty club in 1892 the patrons were named as significant local landowners of the `county gentry' - Maclaine of Lochbuie, Mr J.Patten MacDougall of Gallanach and Mr H.L.MacDonald of Dunach. As a public relations coup well ahead of its time, the club also claimed as patron "Mr H.M.Stanley, the African explorer, currently a guest at Dunollie House". By the following year, the report of the Annual General Meeting made no mention of patrons, but acknowledged as "promoters" the Duke of Argyll, Mr Macfarlane the County M.P., Mr Birkmyre the Burghs M.P. and Mr H.M.Stanley.10

The other traditional physical competition known variously as land sports, Highland sports or by its modern designation of Highland Games, offered similar evidence of patronage by leadership, by prize money and by attendance. The earliest Argyllshire evidence on such sports is a handbill of 1842 which advertised (among other activities) games at Inveraray in October "under the patronage of their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Argyll" for which were offered "small prizes."11 A later Oban Times report from Inveraray of 1867 noted Highland Games (so described) being held on Christmas Day : on that occasion the 8th Duchess and her son Lord Archibald gave the prizes, and again the Ducal family were among the spectators.12 The elite Argyllshire Gathering's Highland Games held at Oban since its inauguration in 1873 attracted support from "the county" (the members of the landed gentry who were lairds on long-held family estates, and their relations) - both as stewards and in attendance, and subscribing prize money to competitors. Yet shortly before its inception, a letter in the Oban Times pointed out the reason that former games had been discontinued was "that it was found impossible to get together a sufficient number of influential gentlemen."13 These Games however were not typical of the many local, small-scale gatherings where the participants most commonly lived and worked on the estates of the laird/patron. Thus at Glen Caladh, near Tighnabruaich, G.R.Stephenson was patron to "land sports" in conjunction with a regatta; John Campbell of Kilberry was the patron of New Year Games in 1873 and recorded in his diary details of the events and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each. Then he and his brother picked sides for the game of shinty. J.C.Campbell of New Inverawe was patron at Cladich's annual Highland Sports in 1868; Colonel Gardyne on his estate in Glenforsa in Mull hosted sports annually through the 1870s; in 1875 there were Athletic Sports at Poltalloch near Lochgilphead to celebrate a wedding and prizes worth £15 were offered; while in 1885, John Lorne Stewart Esq was patron of the Coll Highland Games.14 The report on the revived Bonawe Highland Games of 1894 identified "Those who patronized the Games" - local estate owners and their parties, and other middle class families. In the same year the first annual Highland Games at Kingairloch was "under the patronage of" two gentlemen currently tenanting the two local estates and their shootings.15

Other Highland Games were linked with industrial developments, for example the Cullipool (Easdale) event held annually in connection with the slate workers; the Regatta and Land Sports inaugurated at Ballachulish by subscription by the slate workmen - although in later years it benefited from support by the local gentry16; or one-off events by railway workers such as the Connel Highland Sports of 1879 for Skyemen engaged on the railway who were leaving to go home for the herring fishing, and Highland Games at Bridge of Orchy by workmen on the Achallader section of the West Highland Railway.17 Prizes for these were apparently self-subscribed. Games were held under the auspices of societies - the Lorn Ossianic Society of Oban promoted Highland Games the day prior to the Argyllshire Gathering Games from 1873 until 1880 inclusive; Dunoon St Andrew Society ran annual New Year Day Sports starting in 1877; Campbeltown's Celtic Club ran their first Sports in 1889 on Glasgow Fair Saturday since another organisation had been running New Year Games since 1871.18

From the mid 1870s, there was a general increase in the incidence of Highland Games with two peak times in the year - at New Year or Old New Year, and a second peak around September/October. In many reports there was acknowledgement of the presence of local gentry, increasingly non-landowners but middle-class professionals; from the available evidence it appeared that by the mid-nineties the majority of established games did not identify the `county gentry' as patrons, but had local Committees to raise funds for prizes.

In a number of the local events, regattas were held simultaneously - Lochawe Boat Races at the time of the Highland Sports; Glen Caladh's regatta and Land Sports where the first event of 1868 was for "sailing boats engaged in the herring fishing". The report of the 1869 regatta noted "the aim is to improve the build and equipment of the herring fishing smacks of the Lochfyne district and substantial prizemoney of £30, £20 and £10 was awarded for the different classes of herring fishing smacks". This emphasis on improvement is unusual; more commonly the classification of boats was indicative of the social rank of the owner, as in the Port Ellen, Islay regatta of 1892, when the patron Mr Mackie of Lagavulin offered two £5 prizes - one competition was for yachts or decked boats, the other for open boats or fishing skiffs.19 There were other Regattas held, which like the Argyllshire Gathering itself were clearly for the `county gentry' and there the identification was of the office-bearers organising the races for high-class boats rather than a listing of patrons.

In the above instances, the patronage seemed to be from lairds to local workers; in another traditional sport of curling, the participants came from a different stratum in society - but still were seeking the patronage of name, money and less frequently participation. The Inveraray Curling Club recorded in its minutes book in 1856 a request to its President, James Robertson Esq., Chamberlain of Argyll, to request Her Grace the Duchess "to do them the honour of being nominated Patroness and the Marquis of Lorne the patron of the club". A reply duly came from Her Grace through the Chamberlain that she consents to the Patroness and the Marquis to Patron - and enclosed a subscription.20 In 1876, the club reported a competition for a silver medal, and the Duke of Argyll "who was on the ice for a short time" made the presentation. Similarly the Oban club in 1874 claimed Sir Donald Campbell of Dunstaffnage as their patron and reported his participation in a match. Twenty years on, Oban Curling Club's Annual General Meeting identified the patrons as Mr J Patten MacDougall of Gallanach and Major MacCaig, a burgh landowner.21 For other districts, the Tobermory club of Mull had as its patron Mr Allan of Aros, who had made available the land on which the curling pond was constructed, after traditional use of an estate loch proved erratic because of the weather; while on Lochaweside, William Muir Esq. of Innistrynich was patron in 1881.22 At Ballachulish the 1897 Annual General Meeting of the Ballachulish and Glencoe Curling Club "resolved to appoint Lord Strathcona of Glencoe and Sir John Gilmour Bart. of Monyvair and Lundi honorary Patrons of the club", and in 1898 Lady Beresford and Mrs Stuart of Dalness were noted as Patronesses. Lord Strathcona would appear to have lived up to expectations as Patron by "presenting a silver tankard to the Ballachulish and Glencoe Curling Club to be played for in Glencoe in annual competition with the Oban, Appin, Ardgour and Fort William Curling Clubs". The small club still had expectations of the local gentry in 1904 - Captain Drummond, President of the Club, sent 22/- (£1.10) towards the funds of the club and in 1905 enclosed "his own subscription and a donation of 10/- (50p) from Mrs Drummond". Campbeltown also had its Curling Club, but the only surviving records date from the end of the century when the membership records showed farmers, hotel keepers, masons, bankers, drapers, merchants, builders, distillery managers - but no mention of patrons.23 There is no archive evidence detailing the structures or the memberships of the other curling clubs existing in Argyllshire in the 1890s.

Cricket was another sport in which there was some evidence of patronage - the Largie Castle Cricket Club of the 1890s certainly drew support from Mrs MacDonald of Largie, for example in entertaining the visiting Campbeltown Cricket Club although there was no indication of the latter having patrons to reciprocate on the return visit. Inveraray Cricket Club had received similar support from the Duke hosting matches.24 Oban on its inauguration in 1874 specifically sought patronage by inviting N M MacDonald Esq of Dunach to become Honorary President. In accepting, Dunach sent a 5 guineas (£5.25) subscription. Carradale's cricket club of the 1860s was exclusive : under the captaincy of Colonel Buchanan the local laird, its membership was of gentlemen shooting on his estates. By contrast in Tarbert, it was the fishermen who were "anxious to establish a club".25 Towards the end of the century, while the clubs at Tarbert and Kilberry retained estate linkages with Stonefield and Kilberry respectively, some clubs appeared to become more open in their membership, as in Oban where matches of "Professions v Trades" and "Club v Printers" became established, and a club in Lochgilphead where the tradesmen formed a side against the fishermen.26

The Lochgilphead club was then actually a joint cricket and football club with Alexander Campbell of Auchendarroch as initial patron, and later Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch, M.P.27 Records survive of the now independent football club of 1906 which clearly distinguished the Honorary Presidents (two) and Presidents (two) from the nine local gentry who were to be written to for subscriptions. A later minute of 1911 recorded subscriptions totalling almost £5 from seven gentlemen (including their Member of Parliament who had an estate locally, and another whose location was given as Calcutta).28 The Committee men and the club players were clearly from local non-gentry families, and with annual memberships of 2/6 (13p) and Juniors 1/6 (8p), the club was targeting spectators among the working folk of the small town. Earlier in the century there was some evidence of the existence of a traditional football game - indeed the Argyllshire Roads Act of 1843 section 61 specified a "penalty of not more than 40/-" (£2) for anyone who "on any road, bridge or quay...shall play at shinty, football or any other game, to the annoyance of passengers."29 The game of football seemed to be associated with lairds' patronage in a number of localities : a New Year's Day match was played at Barcaldine near Oban in the late 1860s "since the Rev. Mr Cameron was laird"; at Kilberry on Old New Year's Day regularly to 1884 at least; at Strachur in 1878 "the ball being a New Year present from John Campbell Esq of Strachur"; and at Bonaw where the patron A A L Campbell of Lochnell gave a dinner for the club.30 By 1890 the modern game was burgeoning and the Argyllshire Football Association with its 11 member clubs applied for admission to the Scottish Football Association - and the President of the former was Colonel J W Malcolm yr of Poltalloch M.P., who presented a cup for football competition in the Argyllshire Gathering Games of that year. Connel Football Club had Campbell of Dunstaffnage as its President.31 So the traditional forms of association with the gentry were being carried through into the modern sport, although the titles of the role were different.

Of the other sports played in nineteenth century Argyllshire, bowling was common - but only in Oban was there clear evidence of a patron - Mr Mackay of Glengloy, a local landowner - being invited to open the season for play.32 Tennis and golf were developing in the last two decades, but generally resembled elite Regattas in that while prizes might be donated for competitions, the membership was such that "patronage" was not an appropriate concept. Glass ball shooting had a wide range of social groups participating - but in clearly defined classes, for example in 1881 the Lochgilphead club distinguished "Gamekeepers; amateurs with gun licences; all comers including fishermen." Prizes were originally silver cups or medals and there were commonly sweepstake competitions. This was another sport which grew in popularity after its first appearance, and by 1893 the Glencoe club was acknowledging the contributors of prizes - in addition to the Marquess of Breadalbane, Mrs Stuart of Dalness and other local estate holders, other prizes both in cash and in kind were acknowledged from local merchants and farmers.33 There was no evidence of patrons by that name being associated with this sport.

Rifle shooting was also a strong competitive element in the Volunteer movement - the local defence militia, which originated in 1859.34 In Argyll it was a widespread source of recreative sporting activity for the working male population. Prizes were most frequently subscribed for by the officers (who in the early years were uniformly from the gentry), for example a silver cup and money prizes to the winners in the Furnace detachment by their Captain, Lord Archibald Campbell yet the Lochgilphead detachment around the same time was competing for prizes of cash and kind (oranges, waterproof coat, paraffin lamp, bun and bottle of whisky for the Junior members; topcoat, leg of beef, port, gin and brandy for the more senior members).35 Oban had prizes contributed by officers and other friends of the corps; Ballachulish had a competition for Captain Philip's silver inkstand but also a competition for "prizes subscribed for by officers of the company, and ladies and gentlemen of the district".36 By the 1890s, it was becoming more common for contributions of goods to come from the local community, for example the Lochgilphead shooting prizes of the New Year competition for "money and articles presented by shopkeepers and others, there being over forty prizes"; or Tobermory's annual New Year's Day competition where the prizes included clothing, china, cutlery, paper for parlour hanging, and rabbits.37 Easdale's Wappinschaw at Old New Year was unusual in that although held under the auspices of the local Volunteer corps, it was open to all able to bear arms in the united parishes of Kilbrandon and Kilchattan. The report of the 1893 event listed the 60 prizes in kind, and identified who had donated what - the donors were the local business and professional classes rather than the `county gentry'.38

A similar change in the origins of prizes was evident in another kind of competition which is a very rural form of sport - ploughing matches held annually by local Agricultural or Farming or Ploughing societies. The earliest reports indicated clearly the elite status of the membership who subscribed for the cash prizes , for example in 1868 the gentlemen members of the Kintyre Agricultural Society "sat to dinner" in a local hotel after the competition was concluded39, but once again by 1893 the reports for the first time identify the donors of the range of prizes, and these are not the original patrons. At Oban the Lorn Agricultural Society acknowledged cash contributions from Corson the local auctioneer, a grocer, a commission agent, and several hotels - which presumably benefited from the attendance at the event.40

From the evidence found, there seem to be three general observations which can be offered on the practice of patronage in sport in nineteenth century Argyllshire:

1 There is a continuity with what Malcolmson described for pre-industrial times as the patronisation of traditional recreation by the gentry in a small-scale communal way of life.41 Well through the century, the `county gentry' or landed elite were still those whose status and financial support was being sought - and in many cases, the individual lairds gave support across a wide spread of recreational activities, not simply sports. It may be suggested that towards the end of the century, the lairds were re-trenching - giving support to their own elite activities (the Argyllshire Gathering, tennis, golf) and to purely local activities for their employees. Financial pressures on some of the landowners, resulting in estates being leased or sold, and absenteeism or death of traditional estate lairds, may have contributed to this decline in breadth of support. The broader area of patronage in sport, akin to sponsorship in its modern sense, was being sustained by the entrepreneurial and professional classes in the towns.

2 This continuity in the practice of patronage occurred in a societal context within which there had been tremendous change. Over the century, population movements, technological developments and consequent changes in traditional life patterns had made an impact on the cultural world of Argyll, albeit less so than in some other areas of Scotland. The persistence of patronage by the landed gentry may be interpreted as a continuity of the paternalism of a traditional Gaelic chieftain which was a responsibility still acknowledged by many estate owners in late nineteenth century Argyll.

3 The recipients of the patronage seemed to expect a response to requests, invitations etc. - whether this was only a financial response or a more visible manifestation by presence or participation seemed to vary from context to context. There are also indications of change over time : the role of patron became less uniformly significant across the county. Some sports were seeking "sponsorship" from a range of local donors, while it appears that in more remote areas and more traditional activities, the laird/patron tradition was still present. The cementing of social bonds between gentry and local populace which Hargreaves identified firmly as a pre-industrial manifestation42, appeared still to be operative here well through the century. This shared attitude was manifest in the sporting context just as much as in the non-sporting recreations of the community - in 1879, when the young men of Arisaig's Mutual Improvement and Temperance Association walked in procession to wish the Proprietor (the laird) the compliments of the season, they knew they would be "treated to dinner"43 - and indeed they were.

References

Bailey, Peter, Leisure and class in Victorian England (London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978)

Clarke, J and Critcher, Chas The devil makes work (London : Macmillan 1985)

Cunningham, Hugh, Leisure in the Industrial Revolution (London : Croom Helm, 1980)

Cunningham, Hugh, The Volunteer Force: a social and political history 1859-1908 (London: Croom Helm 1975)

Golby, J and Purdue A, The civilisation of the Crowd. Popular Culture in England 1750 - 1900 ( London : Batsford 1984)

Hargreaves, John, Sport, power and culture (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1986)

Malcolmson, Robert, Popular recreations in English society 1700 - 1850 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973)

Tranter, Neil Sport, economy and society in Britain 1750-1914 (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press 1998)

Notes

1 Oban Times 29/1/1887

2 See Bailey 1987; Cunningham 1980; Golby and Purdue 1984; Clarke and Critcher 1985.

3 Tranter, 1998, pp. 8-9

4 Argyllshire Herald 8/7/1859 and 24/6/1859

5 Argyllshire Herald 13/1/1866

6 Oban Times 19/10/1889; Oban Times 7/6/1890; Oban Times 7/7/1894

7 Kilberry diary November 3rd/4th 1873, Argyll and Bute archive (A&B) DR/14/2

8 Argyllshire Herald 13/1/1866; Papers of J F Campbell of Islay, National Library of Scotland Adv. MS.50.7.d; Oban Times 11/1/1868

9 Argyllshire Herald 17/1/1875; Argyllshire Herald 10/1/1874; Oban Times 8/1/1876; Oban Times 17/1/1874

10 Oban Times 23/9/1882; Oban Times 10/1/1885; Oban Times 27/8/1892; Oban Times 24/6/1893

11 I am grateful to Murdo MacDonald, Archivist to Argyll and Bute District Council, for drawing my attention to this.

12 Oban Times 28/12/1867

13 Oban Times 13/5/1871

14 Argyllshire Herald 15/8/1868; Argyllshire Herald 4/1/1873; A&B DR/14/2; Oban Times 12/9/1868; Oban Times passim; Oban Times 7/8/1875; Oban Times 28/2/1885

15 Oban Times 1/9/1894 and 13/10/1894

16 Oban Times 10/7/1869; Oban Times 28/8/1869

17 Oban Times 28/6/1879; Oban Times 2/5/1891

18 Oban Times passim; Argyllshire Standard 6/1/1877; Campbeltown Courier 20/7/1889; Argyllshire Herald 27/12/1873

19 Oban Times 12/9/1868; Oban Times 15/8/1868; Oban Times 4/9/1869; Oban Times 4/6/1892

20 A&B AGN 588

21 Oban Times 19/2/1876; Oban Times 21/11/1874 and 21/1/1875; Oban Times 13/10/1894

22 Oban Times 11/12/1875 and 19/2/1876; Oban Times 8/1/1881

23 A&B DR 1/2/6

24 Argyllshire Herald 5/3/1892; Argyllshire Herald 4/9/1863

25 Oban Times 4/4/1874; Oban Times 12/9/1868 and 28/8/1869; Oban Times 22/9/1883

26 Argyllshire Herald 25/6/1898; Oban Times 5/7/1890 and 7/6/1890; Oban Times 29/9/1888

27 Oban Times 10/9/1887; Oban Times 5/3/1892

28 A&B DR 1/12S/1

29 I am grateful to Murdo MacDonald, Archivist to Argyll and Bute District Council, for drawing my attention to this.

30 Oban Times 8/1/1870; Oban Times passim; Oban Times 5/1/1878; Oban Times 24/2/1883

31 Oban Times 11/10/1890; Oban Times 5/3/1892

32 Oban Times 24/6/1882

33 Oban Times 2/4/1881; Oban Times 4/2/1893

34 Cunningham, 1975,p.1 and pp.12-13

35 Oban Times 8/1/1870 and 23/1/1869

36 Oban Times 4/1/1873; Oban Times 18/10/1879; Oban Times 6/1/1888

37 Oban Times 10/1/1891; Oban Times 16/1/1892

38 Oban Times 28/1/1893

39 Argyllshire Herald 18/1/1868

40 Oban Times 18/2/1893

41 Malcolmson, 1973, pp.54-71

42 Hargreaves, 1986, p.19

43 Oban Times 11/1/1879