History

There is no known pool specifically related to Mhailidh, from whom Polmaily Farm’s name originates. However the farm, like Loch Ness, is steeped in mythology and history, with legendary tales of the Fairies of the Glen.

Polmaily: home to ‘The Big Smith’

In the sixteenth century, Polmaily was home to a legendary hero, 'The Big Smith'. He and his seven sons were famous for their enormous strength and skill in their trade of armoury. No other Scottish weapons could compete with their swords, heated and shaped by heavy and rapid hammer blows: without the usual fire.

Allt a' Phuille

A dispute arose between the people of Glen Urquhart and the Frasers of the Aird. The Frasers pushed their boundary line forward towards the township of Achtemarak. The Smith and his sons approached the Frasers and asked them to return to their own country. On their refusal a fight broke out and several Frasers were killed, but the Urquhart people drove them back over their claimed boundary. This boundary is the Allt a' Phuille burn, or the Burn of the Pool (i.e. Polmaily), which runs to the west of the farm. To this day the burn is known as the dividing line between the 'Up the Gleners' and the 'Down the Gleners'.

Faery cattle

The Big Smith was also famed for animal husbandry: the herd of cattle at Polmaily was renown for their quality. But suddenly they became lean and malnourished overnight – and no treatments could help.

Tornashee, a neighbouring hill, was a favourite retreat of the Urquhart Fairies (Torr-na-sidhe: Hill of the Fairies). One was the Smith's fairy-love (leannan-sidhe). She confided to him that the fairies had stolen his beasts and replaced them with fairy-cattle (croth-sidhe). He hurried home for an axe to slay the changelings, but they slipped their halters and escaped. He managed to seize the last beast by the tail and was taken with them to a place near the neighbouring croft of Achnababan. A cairn opened and the cattle rushed in, revealing a chamber filled with precious stones. As they entered, they changed into fairies, who sought to console the Smith by offering him a treasure of his choice. Having been primed by his leannan-sidhe, he chose a shaggy little filly in a far corner, which he was given as long as he kept silent and only used her for ploughing. The Smith kept his promise and for many years the filly carried out marvellous work. She was a blessing to the Glen until the day the Smith tried to use her to pull a manure cart - on this day the filly's power left her forever.

Polmaily in the sixteenth century

In 1545 there was a great raid on the Glen where the spoil taken from the seven tenants of Polmaily (three being descendants of the Smith) and the neighbouring croft, Achnababan, consisted of:

 81 great cattle, 36 calves, 35 young cattle, 22 horses, 82 ewes, 10 gimmers and dinmonts, 62 lambs, 64 goats, 43 kids, 100 bolls of oats, 54 bolls of bear and furniture to the value of £26 13s 4d.

Polmaily in the seventeenth century

In 1786 Urquhart was granted a license to distil. Duncan Grant, Delshangie, gave the approval for Peter Mackay to erect a distillery at Polmaily. Although the whisky had a fine reputation, the distillery was short-lived due to cash flow problems. Tenants were anxious to sell their grain and promised to assist the distillery after the sale of grain, which did not materialise. The high cost of barley and low price of whisky, and the need for winter firewood when peat was not available meant that in 1789 the legal distillery operations were halted.

The first parochial school was founded in the parish in 1770 but at the beginning of the nineteenth century the schools established were insufficient to meet the educational needs for the Braes of Urquhart and side schools were erected, one of which was a school at Polmaily.

Polmaily in the eighteenth century

In 1763 tenants lived in turf-roofed houses with walls constructed from turf, timber and wickerwork. Lairds eventually prohibited the use of timber for walls, which resulted in the building of drystone walls four to five feet tall. These were then replaced by stone and lime walls and eventually slated roofs.

Polmaily in the nineteenth century

In 1853, John Charles, Earl of Seafield, started improvements to Urquhart Estate, which were continued by his two successors. Over the following 39 years the Seafields invested £104,432 12s 6d, which included slating the roofs at Polmaily.

The 1881 British census shows 22 people living at Polmaily. Mrs Donald Grant, her two sons and one daughter were all born in London. Others included a governess, a dairymaid, a female servant, a retired gardener and his wife, two further gardeners who were father and son, and the son’s wife and two children. There were also three farm servants, two single and one married with a family of six. The farm at this time consisted of 110 acres, 70 of which were arable.

Polmaily today

In 1947, the Forestry Commission bought Polmaily from the Seafield estate, and in the 1960s the Commission built Polmaily Cottage on the site of the original stone farmhouse.  The other buildings are assumed to be approximately 200 years old. Evidence of alterations made over the years has been observed in their renovation and tell tales can be seen in the recently 'picked and pointed' stonework.