Tongue is situated in the heartland of the Clan MacKay that stretches from around Scourie on the west coast round to Melvich on the north coast. The name MacKay has its
origins in the Gaelic 'Macaoidh' which means 'son of Hugh' though a more exact translation would be 'son of fire'. Exactly who Hugh was is uncertain but he almost certainly
is derived from an ancient Royal House. The motto of the clan is 'Manu Forti' translating as 'with a strong hand'.
Around 1415 Angus Dubh (Black Angus) married the sister of the then Lord of the Isles. This marriage is an indication of the importance of the Clan. In times of strife
Black Angus was reputed to be able to call to arms around 4000 men from his own lands in Strathnaver. Life was not ever quiet for the MacKay's as they spent the next 4
centuries fighting off their neighbours the Earls of Sutherland. In 1628 Donald MacKay was elected to the peerage as Baron Reay, he served with honour under Charles I in
the civil war and afterwards settled in Holland. In Scotland the line passed from time to time from cousin to cousin when chiefs died without heirs. Eventually the MacKay's
lost their lands to the Sutherland's.
This was not due to
losing in battle but because the 9th Baron Reay had got heavily into debt with
the help of the Earl of Sutherland who
had made sure that MacKay lands were used for security against the debt. When
the 9th Baron Reay died without leaving heirs the Sutherland's acquired the
MacKay lands
in 1829.
Hotel History The Ben Loyal did not start out with any aspirations to be an hotel. In fact the original buildings provided for some of the needs of the local community. What is now the
staff cottage was once a post office, the beer cellar was one of the three local bakeries, this particular one being the only one on the north coast to use peat to bake the
bread, and finally what is now the lounge bar was a shop. From at least 1910 there was a corrugated iron building which sat alongside what was to become the hotel.
Once it had been a lodge on the side of one of the local lochs. It was transplanted into the village and in around 1906 became the bed and breakfast known as Kyle View.
We know this date both from the visitor's book of the period and when the building was demolished in 2000 the insulation consisted of magazines and periodicals from the
period! Over the years previous enterprising owners pulled the various buildings together and in the 1960's with the addition of the west wing the Ben Loyal Hotel was
completed.
Tongue is situated in the heartland of the Clan MacKay that stretches from around Scourie on the west coast round to Melvich on the north coast. The name MacKay has its
origins in the Gaelic 'Macaoidh' which means 'son of Hugh' though a more exact translation would be 'son of fire'. Exactly who Hugh was is uncertain but he almost certainly
is derived from an ancient Royal House. The motto of the clan is 'Manu Forti' translating as 'with a strong hand'.
The Ben Loyal did not start out with any aspirations to be an hotel. In fact the original buildings provided for some of the needs of the local community. What is now the
staff cottage was once a post office, the beer cellar was one of the three local bakeries, this particular one being the only one on the north coast to use peat to bake the
bread, and finally what is now the lounge bar was a shop. From at least 1910 there was a corrugated iron building which sat alongside what was to become the hotel.
Once it had been a lodge on the side of one of the local lochs. It was transplanted into the village and in around 1906 became the bed and breakfast known as Kyle View.
We know this date both from the visitor's book of the period and when the building was demolished in 2000 the insulation consisted of magazines and periodicals from the
period! Over the years previous enterprising owners pulled the various buildings together and in the 1960's with the addition of the west wing the Ben Loyal Hotel was
completed.
