She was More Than Merely Good Looking

One of the best week-long island visits I've made was to Eigg. My wife and I took a cottage in Cleadale, which is an excellent base for making long walks around the island. One of those walks was to Sgorr Sgaileach, at the northern tip of the island, and then down the east coast to Kildonan. 

Sgorr Sgaileach

From Sgorr Sgaileach I headed south down the coast. It was beautiful, but tiring terrain to cross; a series of ups and downs across slanting slopes. 

The east coast

A mile down the coast I came to the ruins of two stone houses; a little settlement known as the midway-shieling of Struidh (NM 496 889). In his book The Cruise of the Betsey (1869), Hugh Miller describes a walk down this coastline. And it was at Struidh that he had an encounter: 

"An island girl of eighteen, more than merely good looking, though much embrowned by the sun had come to the door to see who the unwonted visitors might be."

Unlike today, it seems tans were not appreciated back then. After enjoying a bowl of mingled milk and cream, Miller ends his description of the encounter with: "We bade farewell to the lonely shieling and the hospitable island girl."

Unfortunately there was not a 'more than merely good looking' island lass there to greet me, only a few shaggy sheep. But the surroundings made up for the missing hospitality (almost). Six hundred feet above the cottages the thin waterfall of the Allt na h-Airde Mheadhonaich misted down from the cliff-top. The resulting stream then flowed through the settlement: Struidh's one-time residents had fresh water at their doorsteps.

The Allt na h-Airde Mheadhonaich waterfall

The stream flowing through Struidh

As I walked on down the coast the land started to narrow; the cliff closing in on the right, the sea on the left. Hoping that the path shown on the map, that led up to Kildonan, was still there, I carried on. If not I'd have to backtrack four miles.

The shelf starts to narrow

And narrows even more

Fortunately the path to the top was still there, and an easy climb led to a pass called Bealach Clith.

The path through Bealach Clith

At this point I'd walked six miles; and the way back to the cottage in Cleadale involved another five miles of road walking. I was hoping to hitch a ride. But Eigg is such a quiet place that not a single car passed by, and so I had a peaceful and scenic walk back to Cleadale.

If you are looking for an amazing place to spend a week, you'd be hard pressed to find somewhere better than Eigg. And you'd also be hard pressed to find a better place to stay than the cottage we took for a week (Top House).

Top House

Massacre Cave - Eigg

If you like crawling into dark caves with even darker histories, then Uamh Fhraing is for you. The name has been translated as St Francis Cave, but it's usually called Massacre Cave. Sometime in the 16th century (some sources say 1577), about 400 residents of Eigg were smoke-smothered in the cave by the Macleods.

The cave can be reached by a one mile walk from the pier. The first time I crawled into the cave was in 1997, when I took MV Shearwater to Eigg from Arisaig. Most of the passengers were hillwalkers intent on bagging the Sguir. I was the only one who'd come to see the cave (which was fine by me). After walking a quarter-mile up the road from the jetty I crossed a stile and headed south across a stretch of boggy ground. After passing a derelict croft house, a turn to the southwest led to the bluffs above the shore. A trail down a ravine led to the shore, and after walking a little way to the east I found the small mouth of the cave.

The entrance was three feet high and two wide. Flashlight in hand I crawled inside. After a dozen feet the cave expanded enough for me to stand. I wished I'd brought a powerful lantern, for my small flashlight barely lit the way as I walked two hundred feet to the end of the cave.

The cave was full of bones for a long time after the massacre. The geologist Hugh Miller entered the cave in 1844 and wrote this about it in The Cruise of the Betsey (1869):

The floor, for about a hundred feet inwards from the narrow vestibule, resembles that of a charnel house…the skulls, with the exception of a few broken fragments, have disappeared…but enough remains to show that the hapless islanders died under the walls in families, each little group separated by a few feet from the others.

At some point the bones were gathered up and buried. But even so, in 1979 a skull was found here. Once you've found the tiny entrance to the cave, and crawled inside to see how large it is, you'll realize what a good refuge it had been. But not good enough on a winter's day four centuries ago, when footprints in the snow are said to have allowed the Macleods to find it. See this CANMORE page for more on Massacre Cave.

The Carved Stones of Eigg - 3

Eigg's most interesting carved stone is an 8th (or 9th) century example of recycling. The cross, which was found at Kildonnan in two pieces, has been put back together with concrete. One side is carved with an elaborate ringed cross, topped with the letters 'IHU  XPI', a Latin abbreviation for Jesus Christ (Oh Jesu, of Christ). But it is the other, and older side of the stone, that is really interesting. It depicts a mounted hunter with two dogs chasing what appears to be a lion, a boar and a deer - quite an assortment of animals. The scene is carved such that the stone was intended to be oriented the long way (as shown in the second photo). Perhaps the stone was a shrine to an early ruler of Eigg, which was later reused to make an ornate cross.

Sadly, as you can see in the photos, the side with the hunting scene is severely eroded. You can see a better image of it on this RCAHMS page. You can also see it on the Eigg History Society website (they use the hunter depicted on the left side of the stone for their logo). If this stone interests you, a complete description can be found in this article in Medieval Archaeology.

The Carved Stones of Eigg - 2

You will find several interesting carved stones in the ruin of Kildonnan church. One is a beautiful 8th century cross stone; four equal arms with barred ends contained within a recessed circle.

The cross and the Sheela (or is she an angel?)

Behind the cross, and mounted in her own little house on the church wall, is the Kildonnan figure. As her hands are posed across her lap, some think she may be a sheela-na-gig. But others call her an angel, for what appear to be large wings on each side of her head. But the 'wings' could be depictions of either large ears, or a good head of hair. See the 'Kildonan' page on sheilanagig.org for more on this mysterious figure.

The Kildonnan figure - is she a Sheela?

On the side of the church is the 16th century tomb of the piper Raghnall Mac Ailein Oig, which is marked by an elaborately carved Clanranald shield (see photo below). I have seen similar carved shields at Kilmory Church in Arisaig, and the Kildonnan museum in South Uist. The Uist stone has an interesting history. In 1990 it was stolen from its location in Howmore. Then, in 1995, when an apartment in London was being cleaned out after its tenant died, the stone was found. In 1999 it was returned to S. Uist, where it is now safely held at the museum. (See this link for a photo of the Howmore stone.) Next time we'll visit the Kildonnan cross-shrine; the most intriguing carved stone on Eigg.

Clanranald Shield at Kildonnan

The Carved Stones of Eigg - 1

There are some remarkable carved stones on the island of Eigg. Most are thought to have originated in Kildonnan, a monastery founded by St Donnan in the 7th century. The only building on the site today is a church that dates to the 16th century, but remnants of the original monastery have been uncovered under the turf between the shore and the church.

Mounted on a pedestal in a field next to the roofless church is an ornately carved shaft of a cross. The cross, of the Iona type, is thought to date to the late 14th century, and is carved from Loch Sween schist, so perhaps it was carved on the mainland near Kilmory Knap, and then shipped to Eigg. 

The cross shaft at Kildonnan

As you can see in the photo, at some point in the last 500 years the cross must have fallen, as the cross-head has broken off. Unfortunately it's gone missing; either lost or taken by thieves. Today you will find an unrelated cross-head propped up against the cross-pedestal. I read somewhere that it was intended as a replacement head, and is a copy of the top of Prior Colin's Cross on Oronsay.

Eigg cross shaft with the stand-in head on the ground

The crucifixion scene on the face of the stand-in head has been heavily worn by the elements and is barely discernible. However, the beautiful carving on the reverse side is still in good shape.

Reverse side of the Eigg stand-in

The cross slab also graces the cover of the 1927 edition of Kenneth Macleod's The Road to the Isles. (Macleod was born on Eigg.)

There is not much information on the headless shaft. It's not mentioned in Romilly Allen's Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, and the only thing TS Muir has to say of it in his Ecclesiological Notes on the Islands of Scotland is: ...within it (the chapel) is a slab covered with folaige. That description was from 1856, so it was at some point after that that the slab was erected on a pedestal outside the church. The next photo is a side-by-side comparison of the Oronsay cross and the replacement head. They do look similar. See this RCAHMS page for more on Kildonnan, and be sure to see this Eigg History Society page for a information on excavation work that has uncovered some of the old monastery, and includes a drawing of what it may have looked like.

Eigg stand-in (left) and the Oronsay Cross (right)

St Donnan's - Eigg

It seems so long ago, but it's been only seven years since my wife and I spent a week on Eigg. Our cottage, Top House, was in Cleadale, and just below it was the church of St Donnan. The church is still in use, but unfortunately there was no Mass the week we were there. However the church remains open at all times, and so we were able to go in. 

St Donnan's at Cleadale - Laig Bay (left) and Rum (right)

Standing next to the church is the sadly dilapidated rectory. Most of its windows are missing, its floors have collapsed, and hundreds of birds nest inside. 

The derelict rectory and church of St Donnan's (Cleadale)

As described on this Buildings at Risk page the rectory's fate is probably to be demolished, as it is too far gone to be saved.  See this RCAHMS page of more on St Donnan's Church.

Inside St Donnan's

Down to Upper Grulin - Eigg

My first visit to Eigg was an all-too-short day trip from Arisaig in 1997 (see book 1, chapter 25). My main goal was to crawl into Massacre Cave, and if time allowed I was going to ascend to the top of the Sgurr. I did explore the cave, but a short way up the south side of the Sgurr I ran out of time, and had to turn back. Along the way I met some walkers who had ascended the Sgurr the usual way (from the northwest), and had descended the southern side. It sounded like a wonderful hike, and one I promised myself I'd do someday.

It wasn't until 2007 that I had the chance to make good on that promise. One day, during a week's stay on Eigg that year, I climbed the Sgurr the usual way, and then spent some time (between hail storms) enjoying the view from the top. When it was time to descend I walked west along the precipitous cliffs on the south side of the Sgurr until I found a heather-cloaked ravine that looked safe to descend. On the shore below I could see the ruins of Upper Grulin, a village that had been cleared in 1853. 

Upper Grulin seen from the Sgurr

Once down in the lost village I searched for Tobar nam Ban-naomha, the well of the holy women. I'd read about the well in Alastair McIntosh's excellent book Soil and Soul which is about, among other things, the struggle for the community buyout on Eigg. I searched for quite a while, but I could not find the well. 

Ruins of Upper Grulin

Looking back to the Sgurr from Grulin

Set near the ruins, and with a fresh coat of white paint, the old Shepherd's house at Grulin looked to be a wonderful place to stay. It was available for rent when I was there, but I can not find it listed on the current Eigg accommodation website. For the description of what a week on Eigg is like, and the hike over the Sgurr to Grulin, see book 1, chapter 26.

Grulin Bothy

Amy of Muck

Both times I've been to Muck I was adopted by Amy. The last time, in 2009, she went with me all the way from Port Mor to the MacEwan graves at the northwest tip of the island. The folks in the Tea Room in Port Mor told me she regularly adopts a day-tripper. Here are a few photos from my day with Amy in 2009.

MacEwen graves - Horse Island in the distance

Amy of Muck

On the road with Amy - Eigg in the distance

Amy leads me past the Muck horses

Amy on the road at Gallanach

Muck View

Another highlight of staying on Eigg is the opportunity to easily get over to Muck for a few hours. This is a view of Port Mor, where the ferries arrive on Muck. In the outer harbour the relatively new Calmac RO/RO dock can be seen, and in the inner harbour you can see the old pier where the boat from Arisaig still lands.

As I hiked around Muck I was escorted at times by two ponies who had the run of the island. After seeing me off they happily trotted away (second photo). 

Port Mor - Isle of Muck

Muck Ponies

A Rum Sunset

One of the many highlights of staying on Eigg are the sunsets over Rum. This photo was taken in Cleadale as the sun descended between the peaks of Askival and Hallival.  At sunrise the next morning we awoke to see those same peaks dusted with a fine layer of fresh snow.

A Rum Sunset - seen from Eigg

Cave View - 1

It is always great fun to find a cave on the islands, crawl in, and take a photo looking back to the light of day. This one is from inside the infamous Massacre Cave on Eigg. Next time we'll visit nearby Cathedral Cave.

The Sands Sing

Name that Tune - A short walk on Camus Sgiotaig, the Singing Sands of Eigg.