The MacAskills
by Bill MacAskill
The end of 'Rhundunan'While events in Skye have no further relevance to the Assynt MacAskills, purely as a matter of interest, the Rhundunan MacAskills fared as follows. Kenneth was succeeded by his son Donald. He had run the farm jointly with his father since 1831 but in 1847 he emigrated to New Zealand. He bought some land from the Maoris in the district of Thames on North Island which he farmed with his youngest brother.
Donald's successor at Rhundunan was Hugh MacAskill who belonged to a different branch of the family. He was brought In 1850 Hugh left Talisker and went to live in Glenbrittle where his household consisted of a great many neices and nephews, 1 governess, 2 cooks, 1 chambermaid, 1 pantry maid, 1 tablemaid, 1 dairy maid, 1 gardener and the farm overseer. Rhundunan farm at this time extended to 37,500 acres and employed 70 men. The rent was £12,000 a year. Three years after his move to Glenbrittle Hugh surrendered the northern or Glenbrittle division of the farm to Donald C. Cameron who came from Argyllshire. He retained the southern or 'Rhundunan' division. Some years later there were further boundary changes in Cameron's favour so that towards the end of his life Hugh was farming only 5,500 acres and employing just 4 shepherds and 6 labourers.
Hugh MacAskill died in 1863 and he was the last of the MacAskills to hold the lands of On Hugh's death both divisions of the farm were taken by Donald Cameron who was to hold the tenancy for a further 20 years. The name 'Rhundunan' lingered on for many years but, with the link with the MacAskills now gone, the name 'Glenbrittle'came to be preferred as the title to the farm. (You can take a peek at a Map of Skye.)
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