Hello fellow listers. Some of you may have seen posts from me on the Old Islay Facebook group. My mother was Mary MacKellar, Auchnaclach, and her parents were John MacKellar, originally from Kildalton, and Catherine Campbell, originally from Ayen. I think that, largely thanks to Roger McWee, I can trace both of my grandparents' paternal lines back beyond their arrival on Islay. By coincidence, both families arrived on Islay in the early 1840s, which I find a bit strange as I understand that this was a time when many families were leaving Islay, either through eviction or of their own accord. I doubt if I will get to the bottom of the reason why they both bucked the trend in this way, but I think it possible that their identities as Campbells or members of an associated sept might have something to do with it. Maybe the people already living on Islay were unable or unwilling to adjust to the changes being made by the Campbell laird and more compliant or receptive incomers were preferred? Anyway, on their arrival my Campbell ancestors appear to have had some association with Laoigan and Duisker before settling long-term at Ballachlaven. My MacKellar ancestors first lived at Kilbhraenan (just up from Daill) where they worked for the deeply unpopular under-factor Webster held responsible for many evictions in the course of turning the land over to sheep. They then moved to Torabus for a short time and then moved across to Kildalton, firstly to Tighnaspeur (Sky House) in the hills near Loch Uigeadail where the water for Ardbeg whisky comes from and then to Ardilistry and nearby Cnocrhaonastil. My grandfather became a shepherd at Proaig, from where he trekked across the hills to court my grandmother whose family by then lived at Ayen, a very short distance from their Ballachlaven roots. They moved away when they married, first to Glendaruel where my mother and some of her siblings were born and then to Ormsary where several more siblings were born, before moving back to Islay in about 1940 and taking the tenancy of Auchnaclach. When my grandfather died in 1974 the estate sold the house and outbuildings to Mundell's but allowed my uncle, Donald MacKellar Ballygrant, to continue to farm the land. His day job and house were on the Dunlossit Estate and he farmed part of the Islay Estate! After he died his son, my cousin John MacKellar, took on the land and still farms it today. I would still like to look into my grandparents' maternal lines, but I think that to avoid over-complicating this post I will post some queries on that front in a separate message in the near future. I would be pleased to hear from anyone with connections to my family, either by blood or by friendship, or to the places where they have lived. Best wishes John John Kemplen --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus