A major north road ground to a near halt yesterday as mourners gave a young man a traditional travellers send off.
Hundreds of people attended the funeral of 29-year-old John Stewart who died last week after a lifetime of health problems.
Mourners paid tribute to a man with a “great and mischievous” sense of humour at the funeral service, which was split between the family home in Contin and the cemetery at Urray Church, near Muir of Ord.
Mr Stewart, who was a member of a travelling family, died after fighting against blood diseases for most of his life.
He is survived by his mother Jeanie, brother Lindsay and sister Christine.
He was laid to rest next to his father, also named John and two late brothers Robert and Archie.
His coffin was taken in a horse drawn hearse from the family home at Craigdarroch in Contin to the cemetery at Urray.
The slow procession, which was followed by dozens of mourners in their own cars, took nearly an hour to cover the distance between the house and the cemetery, bringing the A835 Tore to Ullapool road to a crawl.
Mr Stewart died a few days short of his 30th birthday.
The coffin was draped in flags and shirts bearing the colours of Mr Stewart’s beloved Rangers football team while his coffin was also decorated with the badges of the Glasgow club.
The procession also included a small flat-bed truck carrying an array of floral tributes to Mr Stewart – some shaped like football shirts, others like vans and one striking tribute shaped like a mobile phone bearing Mr Stewart’s photograph.
A service was held in the open air at the front of the Stewart family home on the outskirts of Contin, led by the Rev Peter Robertson from Forres.
He told the large gathering that Mr Stewart had been a “bright child” but had been affected by health problems and was confined to a wheelchair at just 10-years-old.
He was a lifelong fan of Rangers and had once seen them live when they played at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Mr Robertson said: “John, although living with a difficult and frustrating illness, was always happy and had a great sense of humour.”
Mr Stewart’s uncle Donald Stewart afterwards thanked the large crowd of mourners for turning out.
He said: “He was very well liked, all across Scotland really.”
The hearse was brought north from Falkirk by McIndoe’s.
