THE LADIES ASSOCIATION SCHOOL 

Prior to the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872 which made education compulsory, various educational organisations had operated in Scotland. At that time there were two schools in Coll: one at Acha and a smaller one at Arnabosd.. These were General Assembly (Church) Schools but after the Act they were Board Schools.

In 1876 the Education Department circularised all the Highland schools for their views on instruction being conducted in Gaelic. The schools were run by local committees elected by ballot but they usually consisted of the more affluent members of the community - ministers, estate factors and well-to-do farmers. Hardly representative of the mass of the people. The Coll Board was not in favour of Gaelic tuition.

The ladies of the Free Church had been active in founding schools in deprived areas and in 1878 they settled a school at Sruthan in Bousd. These schools were manned by Gaelic speaking divinity students, many of whom later rose to eminence in the profession.

In 1888 the Department instructed the Coll Board to arrange for a new school to be built in Cornaig, so in May of that year three members of the Committee set out to look for a suitable site. They were the Rev Neil MacDougall, the Established Church Minister, Alexander Darroch, factor to the Coll Estate and Colin MacDougall, manager of Caolas.

They had passed Cornaig More when they became aware of a woman shouting from the top of a hill and then a response from a further hilltop. They could hear shouting and when they came within about 500 yards of Sruthan they were confronted by a group of about twenty men and boys, brandishing sticks and shouting threats. The leader. Alexander MacKinnon, ordered the members of the committee to turn back as they had no warrant to be there.

The people of the East End were satisfied with their school: it was a focal point in their lives; all their prayer meetings and religious services were held there. They feared that a Board School would threaten their way of life. Word of the visit must have leaked and they were on their guard.

The Rev. Roderick Ross, Minister of the Free Church and Angus MacFarlane, a crofter in Sorasdal. appeared on the scene and tried to mollify the angry men. The committee were thus able to continue with their survey, followed all the time with hostility until they left. The talk was all in Gaelic so Darroch understood little of it but the Minister MacDougall was greatly miscalled. No blows were struck, only shouts and threats.

The incident was reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Tobermory and a number of men appeared at the Sheriff Court there, charged with Mobbing and Rioting and Breach of the Peace. Some were admonished but five were fined 20/- each. A lot of money in those days for poor crofters. Unrest continued to the extent of questions to the Lord Advocate in Parliament House, Edinburgh. It looked as though the matter had been badly handled, not enough preliminary consultation and discussion.

Cornaig School was duly built and opened in June 1892. The 27 pupils from the old school were enrolled and a steady intake thereafter. The first schoolmaster was Robert MacTaggart, a Campbeltown man, fully certificated and with 20 years experience. His wife taught sewing and knitting to the girls. The H.M.I. Report of 1893 was very favourable.

 
Hector MacDougall from Eillearaig had his schooling in the old school at Sruthan. He recalled that the first subject every morning was a reading of a text from the Gaelic bible followed by translation exercises into English. He finished the last year of his education in the new school but there the pupils were punished if they were heard speaking Gaelic, even in the playground.

 
The infant in Mrs MacTaggart's arms is her first child, Margaret. She later came first in the whole of Argyll for a County Council Bursary. She graduated from Glasgow University and then taught in Glasgow schools. When the Coll Association was founded in Glasgow, she was secretary for many years.