Tam Fraser and the Muckle Spate of 1829

In August 1829 several days of heavy rain culminated in a sudden flood. Many families were left trapped in their homes by the flooding river.

One of those involved in the rescue effort was my great great great grandfather, Thomas (Tam) Fraser.

Thomas was born in 1797 in Resolis, Ross shire, but had crossed the Moray Firth and settled in Ardclach. He married a local girl, Margaret Davidson in 1826 and their first child, a daughter, Christian, was born in February 1829, by which time the family was living in Dyke.

A wall of water had swept down the river Findhorn, sweeping away the Bridge of Findhorn.  With roads flooded the only escape for some families was by boat.  The Smith family at Earnhill were rescued by a boat manned by Donald Munro, overseer, William Smith, a salmon fisher and my great great great grandfather Tam Fraser.  The boat was rowed over the submerged Island of Earnhill to John Smith’s house, where John Smith, his wife and mother in law were sheltering under the thatch of their flooded house. They had to drop into the water in order to escape into the boat through the windows.  The family was brought to safety and while Donald Munro remained, three other men, Sergeant John Grant, David Reat and Robert Dallas replaced William Smith and Tam Fraser in the boat for the rescue of a family of Kerrs at Stripeside.  The Kerrs had to abandon their home as it collapsed in the flood and were rescued from a neighbour’s roof.

Tam Fraser, William Smith and John Smith then took another turn in the boat. The rising river had cut off the home of a local boatman, Sandy Smith.  Smith was a common surname, and Sandy was known as “Funns” from the local pronunciation of “Whins”, his home being in an area thick with whin bushes.

By daybreak on the 4th August the water had risen to the top of the walls of Funns’ house and the family were feared drowned. However, an onlooker with a telescope spotted Funns, his wife and three children, a girl of 17, a boy of 12 and an infant, on a hillock some distance from the ruins of their home.  The ground was only a few feet square and standing in the shallow water around them were sheep, cattle and a horse. The water had risen so swiftly that, as they fled their home, Funns had had time to grab only one item; a bottle of whisky.

The rescue party set off, but their boat was swamped. A larger boat was nearby, and they waded shoulder deep to the larger boat. Once in were able to reach and secure the smaller boat.  The larger boat, however, was swamped as they attempted to row through a gap in a wall.  They then waded back to the first boat and boarded it but were caught in a current and the boat was lost. They caught some passing debris which carried them downriver to some alder trees, to which they clung. For two hours they held on, while friends and family, unable to reach then, looked on in horror. At last William Smith began to lose his grip but, to his astonishment as he slid into the water, his feet touched something. The small boat, completely submerged, had been carried to the same place as the men.  The trapped men managed to haul it to the surface, and climb in.    As they returned to safety  they picked up another standed person, Betty Findlay “the celebrated biscuit-baker”. The exhausted men were taken away to be revived with food and warmth and, no doubt, a good dram!

The boat was crewed with fresh men, and Funns and his family were rescued.

The flood affected 3000 people, many of whom were left homeless.  £1470 10s 1d was raised to help sustain them. The Committee managing the fund felt that something should be done to acknowledge the bravery of the rescuers. Rather than use money which had given for the destitute, they launched a fresh appeal, and  forty men, including Tam Fraser, were presented with silver medals. The committee decided that a medal was preferable to a present in money “which would be soon dissipated and forgotten.”

The medals depicted a view of the ruined bridge of Spey, with the recipient’s name engraved on the reverse.  The Committee hoped that each man and his descendants as a proof of his merit could “with honest pride” display each medal.

Tam subsequently had a further seven children; James Rose (1831);  John (1833);  William (1835); twins Elizabeth and Margaret (1837); Thomas (1839); and David (1841).  Margaret was my great-great grandmother.  Tam worked as a labourer for the latter part of his life. His wife died in 1866 and Tam died at the advanced age of 88 in 1884.  He is buried at Dyke.

The Committee’s hope that the medals should keep alive the tales of individual heroism was fulfilled. My late grandfather, John Taylor, recalled being shown the medal and hearing the story as a boy in the years just preceding the First World War.  I do not know where Tam’s medal is now, or even if it still exists, but I have passed on the tale of their great grandfather’s great grandfather and his bravery to my own children. 

Thomas Fraser’s gravestone at Dyke Cemetery.