Universal theme behind music inspired by Lewis land raiders

The oratorio “The Raiders” has been inspired by the story of the Reef Raiders who persistently sought to reclaim their crofting land in Uig from the grip of landlordism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, eventually winning security of tenure in 1921.

Howard Moody, a composer and conductor with extensive credentials, explained: “I’ve been in the Outer Hebrides on holiday three times in the past two years, with my wife. On one of these visits, we were driving though the village of Reef when I saw the Suileachan monument.

“We stopped to find out what it was about and when I read the plaque, I just thought – that’s the story. That’s my next piece”. The attraction lay not just in the story itself but also the global themes of dispossession and struggle that it represents.

Howard said: “Even though you know the piece you want to write, you’ve got to wait on the commission coming in. When I was approached by L’Orchestre National d’Auvergne to write an oratorio, I told them – I’ve got the story. They liked the idea and that was it.

“They have been working on it non-stop for six months. There will be a top flight professional orchestra and professional soloists. A choir from the region, Canto General Auvergne, will provide the chorus along with children from the community”.

Howard, who plans to attend the premiere, said: “The music and the lyrics of ‘The Raiders’ tell the story from the point of view of three generations. The Adult Chorus sing of being evicted and dispossessed. The two Solo Voices are from the only family who were left behind, forced to live without their community.

“It is the voice of the Children’s Chorus who sing of the power and the determination of the next generation to campaign for justice. They take it upon themselves to plan a raid that moves the sheep into the neighbouring village so that their cause is noticed and justice is done”.

Howard Moody has been composing and conducting for more than 30 years. He has written seven operas and numerous commissions including 12 works for London Symphony Orchestra and stage pieces for English National Opera. As a conductor, he has worked with many leading orchestras throughout Europe.

He says that titles for the five sections of “The Raiders” are taken from an early abolitionist pamphlet from Virginia that lists “the human qualities required to move from slavery to freedom” - Vision (the ability to see oneself as free); Determination (the will to persist); Discernment (finding a way to achieve it); Courage (inner strength and faith); and Transformation (the ability to reinvent).

The “Raiders” theme has strong resonance in rural France which has its own long history of conflict between landowners and small tenant farmers, with the “metayer” system roughly equivalent to crofting tenure. “It is a global theme which French audiences will have no difficulty in comprehending”, says Howard.

There is already interest in presenting the piece in other European cities where he has been involved in similar collaborations. “It might well travel”, he says.” In Europe, there are a lot of contacts between organisations that might be attracted to the piece. There is also potential for doing it on a smaller scale - but of course the obvious home for it is in Scotland”. In the past, he has worked extensively with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

“It would be very exciting to present it in Lewis, if that is possible”, said Howard. “That is where it really belongs. Maybe a project could be built around it, to involve local people”.

Donella Macdonald, who administered the Suileachan project on behalf of Bhaltos Community Trust said news of the composition and its impending premiere in France had “come out of the blue but if he was inspired to do it, then good and well”. There were many examples, she said, of monuments to past events generating interest and encouraging new ideas.

Norry Mackay, who was project manager for An Suileachan, said: “On behalf of the descendants of the Reef Raiders, I am delighted that Howard Moody has found inspiration in the history behind the Lewis Land Raids and in the unique testimonials at each site, which acknowledge the role of individual crofters. We all look forward to hearing a performance of his music in Lewis”.

An Suileachan, which was unveiled in 2013, is an impressive memorial designed by Will Maclean and Marian Leven, It was commissioned by the community-owned Bhaltos estate to reflect the struggle which took place over more than 70 years to recover the cleared land from successive proprietors.

The original evictions were carried out under the regime of Sir James Matheson in 1850, after three years of resistance by the crofting tenants. Twenty eight families were forcibly evicted with some of them removed to America. A year after Matheson’s Reef evictions, another 14 families were forcibly removed from the villages of Valtos and Kneep.

With the remaining population of Uig crowded into intolerable conditions, resistance mounted and in 1884, a force of up to 100 Marines was dispatched to Lewis. Eight men were taken to Edinburgh to face charges in the Court of Session and were summarily convicted. The following year, ten men and seven women were fined for “mobbing and rioting”.

The Matheson estate continued to resist calls for the villages to be returned to crofting tenure and Reef was raided in January 1914. When they defied interdicts to desist, 18 men were cited to appear at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and each was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment. The First World War intervened with most of these men going off to fight but the conflict revived after the war.

By this time the landlord was Lord Leverhulme, who was bitterly hostile to crofting tenure but offered the Uig farms as pawns in his resistance to breaking up the ones closer to Stornoway. Finally, in 1921, the 1700 acre Valtos peninsula was restored to crofting tenure and, in 1998, it came under community ownership through the goodwill of its then owner, James Gilchrist. This was the first community buy-out in Lewis.

Without the struggles commemorated by An Suileachan, there would be virtually no population in the peninsula today.

As it is, a few of the families who live there are direct descendants of “The Raiders” who will be celebrated, joyfully if unexpectedly, in Clermond-Ferrand’s Maison de Culture next Friday.