According to information given by the family of John Sutherland (in his obituary) his parents, John and Louisa Sutherland, lived at Hemfrys near Wick.
The same obituary says John and Louisa were crofters (farmers).
Because I live in Sydney Australia and have never visited Scotland, I rely on information from web searches and internet friends who have the local knowledge that I lack.
The Parish Church registers for Wick 1701-1854 which was examined for marriages and baptisms, shows this Sutherland family at Killimster, a small town about 8 kms from Wick.
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Today the road (B876) through Killimster branches off the main road (A99) from Wick, and passes through Reiss, North Killimster, Killimster then on through Kirk, Myrelandhorn, Hastigrow and Bower to the opposite coast at Castletown.
Killimster appears to be a very isolated area with a small cluster of buildings.
In 1998 The Scotland Natural Heritage organisation made a lump sum payment of ₤10,700 under the management agreement scheme to J. Steven for compensation for restriction on agricultural activities for a farm property of 87 hectares named ‘Hempriggs’ located in the area of Loch of Winless & Moss of Killimster [1]
I have wondered if Hemfrys may have been referring to Hempriggs, the Scottish pronunciation misspelled by the journalist taking the details for the John Sutherland obituary.
According to research by George Watson, Caithness illustrates in her placenames the interaction between Norse and Gaelic after the Viking invasions of the 9th century. For more than three centuries the Scandinavian influence persisted strongly. Even today the pure Norse origin are in daily use; a Caithnessian does not go to Wick but til Wick, and in the pronunciation of the preposition he is truer to his origins and therefore more correct than many English speakers would believe.
Norse placenames dominate the north east corner of the county, the coastal strip and the fertile river valleys. Gaelic names are ubiquitous in the vast moorland wilderness bordering Sutherland. Between these two extremes are found compound names with Norse roots and Gaelic affixes. The converse, of Gaelic roots with Norse additions, hardly occurs.
The origins [2] of Killimster were probably Cill an = church of the (Gaelic origin), bolstathr = home stead (Scandinavian origin).
A chapel dedicated to St Duthac exists on Killimster Moss. Last century the inhabitants of Mirelandhorn were in the habit of visiting this church on Christmas morning before sunrise and placing on a stone offerings of bread, cheese and a silver coin.
Folk etymology has now linked this name with Dr Richard Merchistoun the minister of Bower, who about 1630 visited Wick and in a fit of religious zeal pulled down the statue of St Fergus, the patron saint of the Burgh. This incensed the inhabitants who warned Dr Merchistoun that no good would come from his act. Next morning the minister was found drowned in Wick river. It was said that Fergus had been seen astride the body holding it down in the water. From this historical story it could be shown that Killimster means Kill-the-Minister! North and South Killummister, North and South Kilmister year circa 1557
The following is extracted from an article first published in the Caithness Field Club bulletin of October 1975:
THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL REMAINS OF WICK PARISH
L. J. Myatt
L. J. Myatt
The name Wick is Norse in origin, being derived from the Old Norse vik, meaning “a (little) bay”. In 1140 the name Vik appears and in 1455 Weke (Johnston 1892). By 1530 the spelling had changed to Wik and in 1561 to Weik. The present name Wick is recorded in 1630 and also appears on the map of Blaeu in 1642; (Innes 1841-45).
Within the parish are known the locations of six sites of the early church, one of which is at Killimster:
In the middle of the moss at Killiminster is the site of Kirk o’ Moss. It is situated on a slightly elevated grass covered piece of ground t hectares in extent in the midst of a large area of peat-covered moorland. Access to the site is difficult in wet weather because of the boggy nature of the ground but there is evidence of a low bank or causeway leading to it from the south. In dry weather it may also be approached from the east along the north side of the drainage channel.
A field sketch of the site is given in MacDonald & Laing (1967 –8) indicating the chapel and other groups of buildings or enclosures to the north and south of it.
The rectangular turf-covered outline of the chapel is still in evidence and appears to have had the approximate dimensions of 3m x 7.5m.
The dedication is to St. Duthac who is the patron saint of Tain, and who died in about 1065. Writing in 1726, Macfarlane (1, p.160), the Rev. James Oliphant, parish minister of Wick , says,
“from the town of Wick to the NW stands Killiminster at two miles distance, where of old stood the mansion house of the Bishops of Cathnesse. There is one remarkable story takes notice of by some of our historians that the last bishop who resided there was boil’d to death in a cauldron by the orders of the then Earle of Cathnesse, it stands upon the east side of the great flow moss two miles large in breadth and in the middle of it, there is a chapel called St. Dudoch’s Kirk by the commons, of very difficult access at any time of the year, by reason of the flow”.
There would appear to be some confusion here with the story of the burning of Bishop Adam at Halkirk.
In the New Statistical Account written in 1840 it is stated:-
“Till within a few years, it was customary for all the inhabitants of Mirelandhorn to visit the Kirk of Moss every Christmas before sunrise, placing on a stone, bread and cheese and a silver coin, which as they allege, disappeared in some mysterious way.”
This stone apparently used to stand in the middle of the Burn of Killiminster.
Traditionally the site is monastic and Macdonald & Laing (1967-8) confirm this possibility.
