Cille Chrìosd - Baile-na-Cille

The photo is of the burial ground of St Christopher’s at Baile-na-Cille on Lewis. The dedication to St Christopher is odd for a Hebridean island, so it's more than likely that the Christopher dedication is a corruption of the Gaelic name Cille Chriosd (Christ's Church). This old burial ground was once the site of a chapel, and the centre of an area of sanctuary.

Cille Chriosd - Suainabhal and Uig Lodge in the distance

The photo was taken from the hillside north of the burial ground and near the site of a blackhouse that, local tradition says, was the birthplace of Coinneach Odhar (the Brahan Seer). There are three interesting stories about Cille Chriosd that I've come across over the years.

The first one is told in Bill Lawson's Lewis: The West Coast in History and Legend. The Brahan Seer's mother was spinning wool late one evening near Cille Chriosd when she saw several graves open up, and spitits rise from them and fly away. Later she saw all but one of them return to their graves. To block the last ghost from returning she laid her distaff across the grave. The ghost turned out to be the daughter of the king of Norway, and she pleaded with the Seer's mother to remove the staff. In return for removing it the ghost told her where she could find a stone of vision. The Seer's mother told her son where to find the stone, and Coinneach went on to make many prophecies.

The second story is from Donald MacDonald's Tales and Traditions of the Lewis, and associates the burial ground with the builders of stone circles.

The conical mound wherein are buried the bodies of many Uig people holds a mysterious and sacred association still for those who come near it. For at least a thousand years they have gazed with reverential awe at this site, and before that there was a pagan temple. There is a legend that the mound was first built up by one called Elidhean, who carried the soil (with panniers) on two white horses, from a hill in the vicinity which still bears his name, “Cnoc Elidhean”. Some people say that the builders were the same Mediterranean incomers who built another conical mound like it on Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, and set up the standing stones which rouse in us feelings of awe and wonder.

The third tale is one of revenge carried out on the threshold of the sanctuary of Cille Chriosd. It is told in W C Mackenzie’s book The Western Isles, in a chapter called The Adventures of John Roy Macaulay. It recounts how the sons of MacLeod of Pabbay Mor murdered the family of John Roy Macaulay, following a dispute over the ownership of a cow. Thirteen-year-old John Roy was away at the time, living with his foster-father. MacLeod of Lewis, not happy with the Pabbay MacLeods, ordered that they take John Roy into their custody with a promise to keep him safe.

But his period of safekeeping was not to last long. On a snowy day the MacLeods took him on a hunting trip, and at Tota Choinnich, an old shelter south of Kinlochresort, they tied him to rocks in the snow and left him to the elements.

Ruin of Tota Choinnich

John Roy’s foster-father had a premonition something was wrong and was able to rescue him. Several years later John Roy had his revenge, when he pursued the eldest son of MacLeod of Pabay to the shores of Uig Bay, killing him just before he could reach the sanctuary of Cille Chriosd.

I have spent many nights just a stones throw from the burial ground of Cille Chriosd, for right next to it is the Balnacille Guest House, one of the best in the islands. Fortunately I never saw any spirits rising from the graves, but I did see several amazing sunsets. For more on Cille Chrìosd take a look at this Uig Historical Society page.

Cille Chriosd and Bailenacille Guest House

Cara's Chapel of St Fionnlugh

My favorite island souvenirs are the little history books about an island that I find on the island. One of these was The Antiquities of Gigha, by the Rev. RSG Anderson. The book has been very popular. Originally published in 1936, a second edition came out three years later. The copy I bought on Gigha in 1992 is a reprint published in 1978.

I had come to Gigha back then to see if I could find someone to take me to the tiny isle of Cara, which lies a half-mile off the south tip of Gigha. I mainly wanted to sit in Cara's famous Brownie's Chair, but Anderson's little history book also led me to spend some time taking a close look at another of Cara's attractions: the chapel of St Fionnlugh; also referred to in a 17th century document as Cella Sanctissimae Trinitas - the Cell of the Holy Trinity.

The Chapel

The 6th century St Fionnlugh (the fair-haired hero), that the Cara chapel is dedicated to, was associated with a monastery on Eilean Mor, an island in Loch Finnlagan, 20 miles to the northwest on Islay. Saint Fionnlugh was a contemporary of St Columba, and is said to have saved Columba from a spear-wielding assassin on the island of Hinba. Fionnlugh is also known as the Hermit Saint of Islay, and so perhaps when he needed a break from the hustle and bustle of Islay he escaped for a little contemplative R&R on Cara.

Cara House and the Chapel seen from the south

In the 18th century the chapel was used as a kitchen for Cara House, which is only 20 feet away. The house itself dates to the 1730s, and many of the missing stones from the chapel probably form some of the substance of the house.

Cara House and the Chapel seen from the north

Cara is a beautiful name for an island. But it may not have a beautiful derivation. Alasdair Alpin Macgregor, in his Skye and the Inner Hebrides, says the name means corpse, and its profile seen from the mainland does resemble a prone body. Along those lines, TS Muir, writing in 1885, says the locals called it Dead Man Island. But I prefer a different derivation, one I found in a book on place names that says Cara means 'Dear One'. Another similar definition comes from Dwelly's Gaelic Dictonary, which lists Càra as a Gaelic word for friend. 

If you ever get the chance to go to Cara take it. I found it to be, like its name, a friendly island that likes to be visited.

Cara (looking slightly corpse-ish) seen from Gigha

The boatman awaits - Gigha seen from Cara

Pabay Mor - Loch Roag

Pabay Mor, in Loch Roag, was one of my first Island 'Consolation Prizes'. But it would be hard to find a better one. It was the year 2000, and I had tried to get out to the Flannans with Seatrek. But they had more lucrative business opportunities going on, and so my 'penciled in' Flannan trip was cancelled. But they did offer to drop myself, two friends, and Freddie (a Baile-na-Cille dog) off on the island of Pabay Mor.

Briomanish Village - Pabay Mor

Pabay was cleared of its people around 1820. It was briefly re-settled in 1840, but was cleared again in 1849. The village consists of about seven old houses and a kiln. Four of the houses still have roofs and are occasionally occupied.

In the distance in the next photo you can see the township of Valtos on mainland Lewis. The Valtos crofters have the right to graze their sheep on Pabay.

Pabay was a MacLeod island until 1800, and prior to that the Pabay MacLeods held a lot of territory in the Uig area. The following abridged excerpt from chapter 17 of book 2 tells how the Pabay Macleods lost control of their land on mainland Lewis.

In the fifteenth century the sons of MacLeod of Pabay Mor murdered the family of John Roy Macaulay, following a dispute over the ownership of a cow. Thirteen-year-old John Roy was away at the time, living with his foster-father in Mealista, on the west coast of Lewis. MacLeod of Lewis, not happy with the behavior of the Pabay MacLeods, ordered that in recompense they take young John Roy into their custody with a promise to keep him safe.

But John Roy's period of safekeeping did not last long. On a snowy November day the MacLeods took him on a hunting trip, and at Kenneth’s hut (NB 112 164), an old shelter near Kinresort, he was tied to rocks in the snow and left to the elements.

The ruin of Kenneth's Hut

John Roy’s foster-father had a premonition something was amiss. He hiked to Kenneth’s hut and found the near-dead boy. After resuscitating him with some warm milk, he carried him over seven miles of hills and bog to Mealista. Several years later John Roy would have his revenge when he pursued the eldest son of MacLeod to the shores of Uig Bay, killing him just before he could reach the sanctuary of St Christopher’s chapel. MacLeod of Lewis, in compensation for all John Roy had suffered, granted him some of the lands of Uig that belonged to the Pabay MacLeods. 

The most historical structure on Pabay is Teampall Pheadair, St Peter's Chapel. It dates to at least the 1500s, and lies above a beautiful white-sand beach a half-mile north of the village. 

St Peter's Church and beach

As you can see in the next photo there's not much left of St Peter's. A note on the CANMORE page for the church suggests it may have been bombarded by canon fire during the Scottish Crown's campaign against the MacLeods of Lewis in 1506.

What's left of St Peter's

At the north end of Pabay you will find a giant lobster pond. Lobsters caught at sea in creels were held here until market prices in England merited shipping them south. 

Lobster Pond and Freddie of Bailenacille

I have been fortunate to have spent many hours on Pabay in 2000, and again during a visit in 2011. I look forward to possibly returning again during our Hjalmar Bjorge cruise this May.

Chapel Factory - Nave Island

It is astounding to think that someone would desecrate a 13th century chapel ruin by turning it into a factory, but that's what happen on tiny Nave Island off the northwest corner of Islay. The chapel dates to the 13th century, and there was a monastery on the island before that - remnants of which can be seen scattered about the hillside above the chapel.

The vandalization occurred in the 1780s, at the height the kelp boom. The kelp had to be dried before being sold (for soap and glass making), and so a drying furnace was built inside Nave Chapel. It looks quite bizarre, a centuries old chapel with a 25-foot-high chimney. The kelp industry collapsed in the 1820s, but Nave Chapel and its chimney remain a landmark for all ships passing to the north of Islay. 

TS Muir visited Nave in 1853, but there is only a brief mention of it in his Ecclesiological Notes on Some of the Islands of Scotland:

Neimh or Neave - In it there is a chapel, which till quite lately, when it was extensively mutilated by kelp burners, was nearly entire.

I don't think Nave sees many visitors, and the 11 of us on Elizabeth G had the island all to ourselves for a few hours. After taking far too many photos of the strange chapel/factory, I spent the rest of the time watching, and being watched, by the hundreds of seals that call the island home.

It is likely that the monastery on Nave was associated with the one at Cill Naoimh on Islay, less than three miles to the south. Cill Naoimh itself may have been associated with a hermitage hidden on the Islay coast, just four miles to the west. And so this corner of Islay, on a direct route from Ireland to Oransay and Iona, was very busy in the early days of Hebridean Christianity.

See the April 4, 2014 post for photos of Cill Naoimh, and the three posts starting on April 7, 2013 for a description of a visit to its hermitage. For more on Nave Chapel see this CANMORE page .

Inside Nave Chapel

On Roads to the Isles - 4

Another road to the isles is the long drive to Tayvallich, where you can catch the passenger ferry to Jura. But before going to Jura you should drive another five miles beyond Tayvallich to the end of the B8095, where you'll find Cill mo-Charmaig, better known as Keills Chapel.

The chapel has been re-roofed, and inside you will find an assortment of West Highland tombstones and crosses, including the beautiful Cross of Keills. When the cross was moved inside the chapel a replica was mounted outside the chapel on the original site of the cross. 

Keills Chapel and replica cross

Tombstones inside the chapel

The jewel of the collection of stones is the 7th (or 8th) century Cross of Keills, which was moved into the chapel about 35 years ago.

The Cross of Keills

The chapel is dedicated to St Charmaig, who is though to have worked in the area in the early 7th century. He had a hermitage on Eilean Mor Mhic O'Charmaig, one of the MacCormaig Isles, three miles south of the chapel. See the January 29, 2014 post for a description of a visit to Eilean Mor.

Replica cross - MacCormaig isles in the distance

See this RCAHMS page for more on the chapel of Cill mo-Charmaig, and this RCAHMS page for photos of the cross before it was moved inside.

On Roads to the Isles - 3

A visit to the 12th century Kilmory Knap Chapel is a long detour off the road to Crinan and the isles, but it's worth it. To get to it from Daltote (see March 15th post), continue south on the single track for another seven miles. 

Kilmory Knap Chapel

Like many of the 'mory' place-name dedications, Kilmory Chapel is dedicated to St Mealrubha. St Mealrubha founded a monastery at Applecross around the year 673, which is where he died at the age of 80 in the year 722. During those years his work took him all along the west coast of Scotland and the isles as far north as Lewis, and so the church he established at Kilmory Knap predates the chapel ruin you see today by nearly 500 years. Places dedicated to Mealrubha abound and, to me, the most interesting is little Isle Maree in Loch Maree. (See the June 24, 2014 post for a visit to Isle Maree.) 

Inside Kilmory Chapel you will find an amazing assortment of carved West Highland tombstones and crosses. 

The most impressive stone is the 15th century MacMillan Cross, dedicated to Alexander MacMillan, the keeper of nearby Castle Sween. One side of the cross depicts the crucification, the other a deer hunting scene with dogs (the huntsman on the cross may be Alexander MacMillan). The cross stood outside the chapel on a pedestal for 500 years or so, until being moved inside in 1981.

The MacMillian Cross

From Kilmory there is an amazing view west to Jura and the MacCormaig isles. On the largest of the Macormaig's is the chapel and cave of St Charmaig (see book 2, chapter 4). It was the road to those isles that first took me to Kilmory.

Jura and the MacCormaig Isles

The MacCormaig Isles

A mile beyond Kilmory you will reach the end of the public road, and the start of the private track to Ellary. Although the road is private, you can still walk it. A treasure lies down this road, for hidden in the forest is the ancient burial ground of Cladh a' Bhile, where you'll find an incredible assortment of carved cross-stones and some more recent graves. When I visited the burial ground it did not even occur to me that I'd need to ask permission. I just went there (it was hard to find, as it's in heavy woodland about 300 meters off the track). Since then I've learned that all who do ask permission to see this historic site are turned away, including someone who just wanted to take a photo of a tombstone in the burial ground as part of the War Graves photographic project. Although they eventually managed to get one (see this War Graves page).

See this Historic Scotland page for more information on Kilmory.

Teampull Easaigh - Ensay Chapel

Ensay chapel, also known as Christ Church, is an interesting little building. What you see today mostly originated in the 16th century, but bits of it are thought to date to the 11th century.

Christ Church - Isle of Ensay

The chapel, which is dedicated to St Columba, sits in a beautiful site above a small beach on the sheltered east side of Ensay. Also standing here are Ensay House, which dates to the 18th century, and a standing stone which can just be seen atop the knoll at the right side of the next photo.

From left to right - Ensay House, chapel, and standing stone (atop the knoll at right)

The Ensay Stone

When I visited Ensay the first thing I went to see was the little church. Its massive oak door was locked, and so I went over to Ensay House and asked if I could get the key. They invited me in, and I waited in the kitchen while they searched for it. With the key happily in hand I returned to the church. But even after unlocking the door I could not get it to open. The base of the door was swollen, and it did not want to budge. I gently pushed for a few minutes, and was about to give up when it finally opened.

The stubborn door - finally opened

The inside of the church was beautiful. The chapel had been misused as a barn at some point, but was restored in 1910. That restoration is commemorated in a stone plaque mounted above the door (you can just see the bottom of the plaque in the previous photo). According to a another plaque mounted on one of the inside walls another restoration occurred in 1971 (next photo).

Plaque for 1971 restoration

On the floor was something quite interesting, a stone piscina.

Piscina

In 1931 the chapel was bequeathed to the Episcopal Bishop of Argyll and the Islands on the condition that at least two services be held each year. I do not know if they've kept that up, but there is a service held here every June - near St Columba's Day, which is June 9 - by members of Harris Christ Church, which lies off the A859, four miles south of Tarbert. See this Scottish Episcopal Church page and this Isle Of Harris Page for more on the beautiful little church of Ensay.

The altar

Cille Mhic Eoghainn - Kilvickeon

In the Mull area there are two church and burial grounds known as Cille Mhic Eoghainn (Kilvickeon). They are dedicated to St Ernan, who was the son of St Eoghan, a nephew of St Columba. 

One of the Kilvickeons is on the south coast of Ulva, and to see it requires a long walk (see book 1, chapter 14). The other lies in a remote location on the Ross of Mull. But, that said, you can drive to it. As you travel west on the A849 turn left onto the Scoor road (just past Bunnessen School). After a mile the single track becomes unpaved. Carry on for another half mile, turn right, and after another mile you will reach a parking area at Kilvickeon.

Kilvickeon - Loch Assapol in the distance

I wanted to see the Mull Kilvickeon for two reasons. The first is that mounted on the wall of the 12th century church is one of the rare Scottish Sheela-na-gigs. The Sheelanagig.org site is a great reference for info on Sheelas, and they have a page on the Kilvickeon Sheela. Also see this Mull Historical Society page for information on Kilvickeon.

The second reason I wanted to go there is that the church is the starting point for two wonderful walks. One is a half-mile jaunt to see the beaches to the south (see last photo). The other walk is a four-mile round trip journey to the ghost village of Shiaba. It is one of the best hikes on Mull, and the subject of the next post.

Kilvickeon Church - both gable ends are gone

Kilvickeon Church - The Sheela-na-gig is set into the wall above, and to the left, of the doorway

This photo gives you an idea of how small the Sheela actually is

The Sheela

The beach below Kilvickeon

St Kenneth's Chapel - Mull

Since it is very much off the beaten path, I do not think that St Kenneth's Chapel, also known as Caibel Mheamhair (the Chapel of Remembrance), at Laggan on Mull sees many visitors. But it should be seen, for it lies in a beautiful spot just above Loch Buie. Portions of the building date to between the 12th and 15th centuries, and in 1864 it was converted into a mausoleum for the Maclaines of Loch Buie. 

Chapel of St Kenneth - Laggan

I wanted to see the chapel due to its association with St Kenneth; the same saint who established a monastery on the island of Inchkenneth, twelve miles to the northwest. So when the opportunity arose to go ashore at Lochbuie during a Hebridean cruise, I made a two mile round-trip walk to the chapel. The chapel/mausoleum is in very good shape, having been extensively refurbished in 1972. Interred here are several Maclaine chiefs; most commemorated with simple memorials; although the memorial for Murdoch Maclain (The 21st chief:1791-1844) is quite extensive. 

Memorial to Murdoch Maclaine (21st Chief)

A good source for stories about the Macleans and Maclaines of Mull is Thomas Hannan's The Beautiful Island of Mull (1926). In it I learned about another Murdoch Maclaine, the 22nd chief (see last photo). When he died in 1909, a steamer full of dignitaries set out from Oban to attend the funeral but, as Hannan describes below, they did not make it:

Murdoch Gillian Maclaine, who served in the Carabineers, and some experience of the Franco-German War in 1870-1871 as correspondent of The Times with the German Army. He did a great deal to develop his estate by turning it into a fine sporting estate... His funeral was a thoroughly Highland ceremony, carried out in one of those intense sea-fogs which occasionally shroud the island. A steamer had set out from Oban with a great company of Chiefs and others from the mainland, but it was not able to enter the loch (Lochbuie). Those on board were able to hear the wailing of the pipes as they played the lament, but the steamer had to return without its passengers taking part in the funeral service.

It must of been quite eerie, hearing the pipes echo across the sea from a fog shrouded chapel on a remote headland of Mull. For more info on St Kenneth's Chapel see this RCHAMS Link.

Memorial to Murdoch Maclaine (22nd Chief)

Cairnaburg Chapel

During a trip to Staffa, the boat I was on passed through the narrow channel between the islands of Cairn na Burgh Mor and Cairn a Burgh Beg. Standing atop Cairn na Burgh Mor were two ruins; one was a low rectangular structure known as the Barracks, and the other, a much more intriguing structure, a 15th century chapel. As the boat continued on its way back to Ulva Ferry I promised myself that someday I'd find a way to get ashore on the tiny Cairnaburgs.

There were (and still are) no regular boat trips to the Cairnburgs. If you want to get ashore your options are either to sign up for a cruise that visits that part of the Hebrides, or to pay (a lot) for a charter day-trip. I have tried both methods. On a cruise in the area on Halmar Bjorge, the wind and sea were a bit agitated, and we were unable to land. But I did manage to get ashore to see the chapel by arranging a day-trip from Tobermory on one of the Sea-Life RIBs. Here are a few up-close photos of the chapel, and for a complete description of that visit to both of the Cairnaburgs see book 1, chapter 18.

Sea-Life RIB off Cairn a Burgh Beg

Cairn a Burgh Mor chapel

Chapel seen from the interior of the island

East gable and the altar

The Altar