A Life Of Soolivan

Based On The Recollections Of John MacLeod, Gael, Traveller, Rebel, Convict And Raconteur

Calum MacFhearghuis

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In 1889, Iain Tharmoid Uilleam of the Barantaich sept of the Lewis Macleods was born at No. 11 Port Mholair, a mile from the outmost headland of An Rubha, Lewis. In the rough, tough world of his teenage years, his prowess as a street-fighter earned him the nickname 'Soolivan' (after John L. Sullivan, World Heavyweight Champion). A born rebel, he railed against every kind of discipline and was always in and out of trouble. Completely unsuited to a settled existence, he sampled his first taste of freedom when he ran away to sea at the age of 16, and subsequently lived an itinerant life in many parts of the world: the Canadian prairies before the First World War, America during the Prohibition era (much of which he spent in prison), Australia during the Depression, as well as Patagonia, Fiji and Turkey. Ending up in the notorious Tuxpan Jail in Mexico, he was released only after the involvement of the British consul, and he returned to the family croft in Lewis, where he lived until his death, twenty years later, in 1956. During these years he frequently entertained visitors to the croft with stories of his adventures - his was a forthright, vernacular style of story-telling, humorous