Dr. Charles Ferguson of Lochcarron

By Margaret Ferguson

DR. C.D. FERGUSON

can be consulted

DAY AND NIGHT

about absolutely anything

concerning the

affairs and

welfare of

LOCHCARRON

- Text from a poster in the Ferguson Medical Centre, Lochcarron

Charles Donald Ferguson was born in 1905 in the township of Skinidin, Isle of Skye. He graduated from Glasgow University in 1930. After two years in a practice in Inverness, he moved to Lochcarron where he remained for the rest of his life. He died in December 1991 and is buried in Lochcarron graveyard.

The house that went with the practice was Dalchuirn House. It still stands down by the shore at the west end of the village. The doctor's surgery was in one of the large front rooms and the waiting room was the front hall. At a later stage a separate surgery and waiting room were built on to the side of the house. The area covered by the practice was huge. It still is! Shieldaig was included until years later too.

The easiest way of accessing a few households was by boat. There was no electricity or telephone or running hot water in the doctor's surgery - if the doctor was needed messages went by word of mouth, or loud whistles used across short stretches of water. Dr. Ferguson eventually successfully campaigned for an ambulance to be permanently stationed in the village.

Portrait of Doctor Charles Ferguson, taken in Glasgow, August 1939.

***

The National Health Service was not created until 1948. Before that, patients had to pay fees to the doctor. Dr. Ferguson realised that there were cases of real poverty in the Lochcarron district, as in other parts of the Highlands. He used to explain that he had always been willing, in extreme cases, to be "paid in teapots".  A household might be in a situation where no ready money for a fee was available  But within the home, there might be some quite valuable artefact or object, perhaps handed down in a family, or acquired in better times, and this would be proffered in lieu.

The nearest pharmacy was in Kyle of Lochalsh. Dr. Ferguson had to do his own dispensing, in a small room behind the surgery, as well as preparing many medicines himself. During the war there was a special ration of sugar to sweeten some of these remedies. The amount was often too large for requirements and  local ladies who kept chickens would offer to barter their own eggs if the doctor would pass them a bit of extra sugar to make jam! 

To further alleviate some local hardship Dr. Ferguson founded the Good Neighbours Association so that the community members could help each other by raising money to distribute free bags of coal and sacks of potatoes to those in real need. Sometimes what was needed was the gift of a pair of hand knitted socks. This association is still going strong today.

***

Dr. Ferguson did not learn to speak English until going to school aged five. For many years he spoke only his native language with many of his Gaelic speaking patients. During the Second World War he was part of the local Home Guard.

For many years he was one of the few people in the village to own a camera. Throughout his life he enjoyed taking photographs. He recorded for posterity events such as shinty matches, school childrens' sports days, etc. In 1992 before moving to Inverness, his widow Margaret handed over some of these photos and other interesting bits of paper to some of the local residents. It is possible that they are now stored by the local Heritage Society. Personal memorabilia has been passed to his nephew Neil Ferguson who lives on Skye, and to his niece Ann Gracie who also lives on Skye. 

Postcard of a clear summer's day in the small village of Lochcarron

For many years the ladies of the Women's Rural Institute kept the Santa Claus outfit clean and in good repair so that it could be donned by the doctor when school Christmas Party time arrived once more. At different times, he also served as a District Councillor for Ross-shire, and also as a Justice of the Peace.

Dr. Ferguson played golf although he always said that he was not very good at the game. He promoted both golf and shinty in the village and both these sports remain strong in the Lochcarron area. He enjoyed swimming and would often go before morning surgery, for a dip in the sea at a secluded spot just outside the village. He was a member of the Veteran Motorists Club!

***

Before it became recommended and fashionable to give birth in hospital in Inverness, Dr. Ferguson ushered all the babies into the world. Things have come full circle again with many mothers preferring a home birth. He retired from practice in 1995 at the age of seventy. During the last couple of years the number of patients was hugely increased by the influx of workers at the Kishorn yard where platforms for oil rigs were built.

Charlie did not live to see the bulldozers move in to prepare the ground for the construction of the new purpose built Medical Centre. But he was delighted when Dr. David Murray discussed the plans with him and asked if he would be agreeable to having it named after him. His widow Margaret opened the Ferguson Medical Centre in 1992.

In 1958 his name was put forward by the community and he was awarded an MBE for his contributions to life in Lochcarron.

***

Over the years, lots of stories of life and experiences in the doctor's practice were passed down through families, and became part of local folklore. A few found their way in to local papers, magazines, or memoirs written by others.

There is one tale which Dr. Ferguson often recounted himself. He got word early one evening to go to a household where a baby was due. It was one of those crofts accessible only by boat following a car journey. When the doctor arrived it was clear that the child was taking its time and might be a few hours before appearing. Dr. Ferguson decided to stay the night until the birth, rather than return home and back yet again. He always left word as to the location of a call. He knew that if some emergency arose in the village he could be summoned by a loud whistle - the kind used by policemen or railwaymen - across the short stretch of water.

After the birth in the early hours of the morning, by lamplight, the new father fetched a bottle and a small glass. A dram was offered to thank the doctor and toast the health of the new baby. Dr. Ferguson threw back his head and took a good mouthful. Except that it was not a whisky that passed over his throat, but seal oil, as used in the lamps. The young father, in the gloom, and the excitement, had got his bottles mixed up!

A photograph of Dr. Ferguson, in his heyday, hangs in the foyer of the Medical Centre. Alongside is a copy of a cartoon drawn and presented to the doctor by a Glasgow journalist up in the village on holiday. It depicts the doctor standing outside by the surgery door. There are two bells beside the door, labelled 'DAY and NIGHT'. On the wall is a large poster which reads -

DR. C.D. FERGUSON

can be consulted

DAY AND NIGHT

about absolutely anything

concerning the

affairs and

welfare of

LOCHCARRON

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