Glenmoriston

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Merchard's Bell

Jimmy Warren interviewed by Calum MacLean in 1952. Taken from the website of The Calum Maclean Project, based at the department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. Original page here.

Well you see, it was never discovered. There were two men working in the hill in that dell, you know, and they were supposed to have taken the bell. And they left the district, and it was never found. Well strange to say, there was a smith and he was putting in his apprenticeship down at Forres. And he met this man, Garrow, at the railway station. And he says: “You belong to Glenmoriston.” He looked at his face. He says: “You belong,” he says. “Yes.” “Oh!” he says. “I knew your father very well he says. “I was working a long time up in Glenmoriston,” he says. “What’s your name?” “Garrow.” he says. Now the train was coming in and he couldn’t wait: “I’ll see you,” he says, “when I come back.” he says. And by the time he came back, the man was dead. Now he would probably have got a lot of information out of that man about the bell. Wasn’t it strange he had no time to speak to him at the time. “Oh!” said he, “I knew Glenmoriston well. I was working in the mill.” Well, these two men were supposed to have taken the bell away. Well, the old lady, old Mrs Grant of Glenmoriston, she dredged the river for miles trying to get the bell. But there was nothing left of the bell, but the shell at last. It was a thousand of years old. There was the three bells. I forget the other place. You’ll find it in “Urquhart and Glenmoriston” – where he left the other two bells.