SSPCK School Report
Patrick Butter was commissioned by The Scottish Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) to inspect the society's schools in the Highlands and Islands and report on their condition as well as the religious character, teaching quality and salary of the teachers. Between 4 May and 11 Nov 1824, Butter, who was a Gaelic-speaking preacher, visited over a hundred schools and recorded his findings in this journal. His findings in Glenmoriston are shown below.
Glenmoriston 31 May 1824
There were 40 scholars here in winter, but there have been none for some weeks – the houses are in bad repair. The teacher in addition to his cours grass has a farm which occupies a pair of horses. Although Gaelic is the exclusive language of the district, it is superficially and imperfectly taught here. The school is not regularly visited by the presbytery, and although the teacher reads occasionally in the chapel when there is no sermon, (which is very often the case) there seems to be a great want of the genuine spirit and feeling of religion.
William Sinclair is 68 years of age and has been 44 years in the service of the Society. There are no scholars attending the female school at present, but a few attend in winter.
