John Stuart McCaig - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Stuart McCaig was the second son of Malcom ^{[sicSic
Sic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...

]} McCaig (a farmer) and Margaret Stewart and was born at Clachan

Clachan

A clachan is a type of small traditional settlement common in Ireland and Scotland until the middle of the 20th century. It is usually defined as a small village lacking a church, post office, or other formal building. Their origin is unknown, but it is likely that they are of a very ancient...

, Isle of Lismore

Lismore, Scotland

Lismore is a partially Gaelic speaking island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a monastery founded by Saint Moluag and the seat of the Bishop of Argyll.-Geography:...

, Argyll, Scotland on 11 July 1823 and baptised at St Moluag's Cathedral, Lismore.

He died aged 78 from Angina Pectoris, on 29 June 1902 at John Square House, Oban, Argyll.

He is principally known for commissioning McCaig's Tower

McCaig's Tower

McCaig's Tower is a prominent folly on the hillside overlooking Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches .The structure was...

in Oban

Oban

Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...

for which he was also the architect. He had extensive dealings within the Oban surroundings including being the Gas Works Director and owning the Pier.

From the hustings for the 1885 Election.

ARGYLLSHIRE. Mr John Stewart McCaig, one of the candidates for the representation of the county, addressed a crowded meeting of the electors in the Argyll Hall, Tarbert
Tarbert, Argyll and Bute
Tarbert is a village in Scotland. It is built around East Loch Tarbert, an inlet of Loch Fyne, and extends over the isthmus which links the peninsula of Kintyre to Knapdale and West Loch Tarbert...

, on Monday afternoon. Mr John McLeod, ironmonger, was moved to the chair. Mr McCaig was very cordially received. After speaking of the extent and importance of the county, and saying that it was entitled to two members more, Mr McCaig said that he had been all his life a strong supporter of the historical Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

and progressive party, to which the nation was indebted for such beneficial measures as Free-trade, the repeal of the Corn-laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...

, and of the important measures on the heals of which the trade and commerce of the nation made such gigantic strides. He considered the Commission at present sitting on the depression of trade a delusion and a snare, by which the Tories tried to secure the votes of the new electorate. He afterwards referred at great length to the land question. He maintained that the Irish Land Act was the most liberal Land Act in Europe at the present day. He would advocate a complete reformation of the land laws, and would abolish the laws of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...

and entail
Fee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...

. Future settlement should be prohibited, and no landowner should be allowed to bond his property, so that the sale of land could be made easier and cheaper. He was in favour of fixity of tenure with improving covenants and compensation for improvements, and also of the appointment of arbiters for the fixing of fair rents for small holdings. The crofters should have power to sell the right of tenancy, with a pre-emption in favour of the landlord if he chose to exercise it. He would like farmers to have greater freedom of cultivation, the only condition being that they did not impoverish the land. He would favour the passing of a Land Purchase Bill, by which Government would advance money to tenants and crofters to enable them to become the owners of the soil they tilled. He was in favour of elective county boards, with powers to improve harbours and to look after the sanitary condition of villages and rural districts. He advocated a free breakfast table
Free Breakfast Table
The Free Breakfast Table was the demand of British working-class Liberalism from the 1860s to the early twentieth-century. It entailed abolishing duties on basic foodstuffs as these were indirect taxes and therefore regressive....

, the deficiency in the revenue to be made up by an increase of the Income tax. He would also support a bill for free education. In referring to fishing matters, he stated that he would support a measure for a weekly close time, and would give fishermen liberty to catch salmon in the open sea, the mouth of rivers excepted. In answer to questions, he said he was in favour of all convents being swept out of the county, but he was opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

. A vote of confidence in Mr McCaig was passed unanimously. Mr McCaig spoke partly in Gaelic and partly in English, and was frequently cheered. In the evening he addressed another large meeting in the Good Templars’ Hall.

See also