When ironworks commenced at Letterewe in the parish of Gairloch, Englishmen were brought north to carry on the work there, and seeing that an English-speaking minister was needed to conduct services for them, Sir George Hay (later Earl of Kinnoull) invited Farquhar Macrae to become the vicar of Gairloch. A Gaelic-speaking pastor served the remaining parish, but Macrae also served the parish lying to the north of Loch Maree, then considered part of Lochbroom. During this time, he resided at Ardlair near which is a boulder called “the minister’s stone,” from which Rev. Macrae used to preach in English and Gaelic to those gathered around.
