On our upcoming cruise in June, one of the islands I hope we can land on is tiny Eilean Mòr, which lies a quarter-mile off the coast of Knapdale.
For such a small island (a half-mile long, a quarter-mile wide), it has a large history. There are three sites of interest: the chapel and grave of St Charmaig, the high-cross on the summit of the island, and St Charmaig's hermitage and cave (8th century).
The cave lies at the head of a gully - a dark slot marks its narrow entrance. More pit than cave, it extends ten feet into the rock of the cliff. Its floor lies at the bottom of a vertical drop, six-feet below the entrance. Tradition has it that there was once a passageway from the pit to St Charmaig's cell, some 25 feet to the south.
My only visit to the island was back in 2002. I wanted to see for myself if there was a passageway out of the pit. But I was alone at the time, and after slowly lowering myself about three feet down into the pit I changed my mind and climbed back out, as I did not think I'd be able to pull myself out if I dropped all the way in. I did set a camera up to record my descent - just in case I never got back out (see photo below).
 |
| As far as I got before climbing back out of the cave |
Below the cave stands the remnants of a dry-stone structure that may have been a beehive cell (with a passage into the pit) that was later altered into pilgrimage chapel for those visiting St Charmaig’s Cave.
 |
| Remnants of Cell and Chapel |
Eilean Mor is a fascinating island; one far off the beaten path; and I am looking forward to showing our guests on Hjalmar Bjorge St Charmaig's island hermitage in the sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment