Thank you, ADP. I appreciate your considerate answer and your additional help supplying the Gaelic spelling of these placenames. [I blush to think of the blunders I make sometimes of even English spelling. When it comes to Gaelic -- yikes!] And of course you are right: my McPhee / MacLean ancestors were Roman Catholic, and I know it is almost impossible to get anything from those records, especially as early as 1820s. I am a little hopeful, however, that I might find some cemetery or burial records in South Uist that would indicate the possible parents for this couple who left at that early date. My Donald McPhee died 'over here' in 1878 at age 84 (b. 1794); his wife, Mary MacLean, gave birth to two children in Cape Breton: Donald John (1828) and Christy (1831), before she apparently died and Donald married again later in the 1830s. Possibly the Scottish naming pattern might indicate that Donald's father was a John McPhee in the area of (gulp!) Gearraidh Fliuch. So, my need is for suggestions and advice as to the chances for local Catholic burial records in South Uist. Again, thanks for your response to my initial inquiry.
Helen
