This study examines the relationship between land, power, and cultural identity in the Uists, focusing on the mid-twentieth century when a proposed rocket range threatened the Gaelic culture. The Rev. John Morrison, a local priest, led a media campaign to protect the community’s heritage, also commissioning a sculpture of ‘Our Lady of the Isles’ and supporting wayside shrines as symbols of resistance. These monuments embody the community’s resilience and connection to their land, preserving their unique cultural identity amid external pressures. Morrison’s efforts reflect an interplay between land ownership, government intervention, and the shaping of cultural landscapes, with the monuments serving as enduring markers of the community’s past and aspirations for the future.

The Pontifical Scots College in Rome was founded in 1600 by Pope Clement VIII and still continues its work of training priests for the Catholic Church in Scotland. Paul Macpherson served as the Agent in Rome of the Scottish bishops from 1792 to 1798 and then again from 1800 to 1827. He was also the first Scottish secular priest to be College Rector. Macpherson returned in 1800 with the mission to recover and preserve the College for the work it eventually resumed in 1820. The episode has been treated in previous histories of the Scottish Mission and its Roman College; this article, based largely on draft (‘scroll’) letters of Macpherson in the Scots College archives (SCAR 28/1), gives a close account, from his own point of view, of the extreme difficulties and disappointments he had to face in his struggle to keep his beloved college in existence.