The Adventures of Hjalmar Bjorge - Season 5, Episode 3

The Continuing Adventures of Hjalmar Bjorge
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Scarp to the Monachs

Exploring the Isles of the West Cruise    April 18-May 2, 2022

After our wedding surprise in the Sound of Scarp, we set off for the Flannans. They lie 20 miles west of Lewis, and are home to a large gannetry. There had been a monastic hermitage there 1200 years ago, and its three beehive cells are in remarkably good shape. 

We motored into the sheltered bay below the lighthouse island. The tide was low, and we could see that the landing platform, and the stairs that ascend the island from it, were high above the waterline. It can be dangerous to get ashore here, and people have been injured in the attempt. On our 2019 trip we were able to land, but only after setting a rope so we could pull ourselves up to the beginning of the stairs. We did not have the crew complement to set a rope this time, so were unable to land. See this post for photos of the visit in 2019: https://marccalhoun.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-adventures-of-hjalmar-bjorge-season_12.html.

Charlie then took us on a tour around to the infamous West Landing, where the three keepers were washed away. Depending on the swell, landing here can be easier than the east side. But the problem is that a large section of the steps that ascend the cliff have washed away, so without ropes there is no way to ascend.

A look to the skyline above the landing showed two of the island's beehive cells, once home to monks, now home to puffins. The second photo below was taken in 2019, and shows the largest cell, a three-chambered oratory.

We then headed further west to take a look at the Roareim Gannetry. On the way we encountered a pod of white-sided Atlantic dolphins, including a stunning albino dolphin. Truly amazing!

Just off the Roareim Arch we came to a stop to admire the gannets filling the sky. It was raining guano, and a few of us took direct hits. (No matter how much I tried, I could not wash the gannet pooh stain out of my black coat until after I got home and put it through the wash twice). 

After a leisurely tour around the Flannans we turned south to make the five-hour journey down to the low-lying Monach Isles. We made an easy beach landing on Ceann Iar, the second largest of the island group. A sandbar once connected the Monachs to North Uist, but it was washed away during a storm in 1697.

We wandered across the primrose-dotted island to its small shieling village, then made our way to the summit trig-pillar. At 50 feet above sea-level it was not much of a climb.

We were unfortunate with the tide. When it's low you can cross over to the main island with its abandoned settlement, including a small museum in the old school. The following photo shows the flooded crossing.

I took a group photo at the trig pillar, then we returned to the ship. As we did there was some suspense in the air. Would we make it to Mingulay the next day - another 50 miles to the south - before the weather changed?

The Lonely Sailor of Ceann Iar

A lonely cairn lies on the western tip of Ceann Iar of the Monach Isles. It marks a grave that is occasionally visited by day-trippers during the spring and summer. But most of them know nothing about the history of the man who's buried in this lonely spot.

A metal plaque embedded in the cairn reads:

LIEUTENANT RNR 

W.A. MC NEILL

HMS LAURENTIC
25TH JANUARY 1917

Lieutenant William McNeill died when his ship, HMS Laurentic, hit mines off the coast of Donegal, 150 miles due south of the Monachs. Some of the story of Lt McNeill, and a drawing of the Laurentic, can be found at this link. More of the lieutenant's story came to light last week when I was contacted by a relative of William McNeill who lives in British Columbia. Here is the information he provided. 

* * *

Lt. W.A. McNeill was born on April 14, 1881 in the Free Church Manse, in Holm parish, Orkney Islands, Scotland. He was the eighth child of sixteen born to Rev. D. McNeill, MD and his wife. William or “Willie” as he was referred to by his family and friends, always had a love for the sea and ships and had to be a sailor.

Shortly after completing high school, around 1900, he went to sea with the merchant navy. In the early years of his career, he attained his Master’s Certificate and became a ship’s officer. He served as an officer on RMS Lusitania for a period shortly before she was sunk on May 7, 1915.

Lt. McNeill was a senior officer on HMS Laurentic when she struck two German mines and sank off Lough Swilly, Northern Ireland on January 25, 1917. Lt. McNeill was one of more than 350 men that were lost.

After a period of time, Lt. McNeill’s body washed up on the shore of Ceann Iar of the Monach Isles, some 150 miles from where he had perished. It is said that the fisherman who found him exclaimed “a McNeill has come home!” as the Outer Hebrides are the ancestral home of Clan McNeill. There is an unconfirmed story that, at roughly the same time, the body of a German submarine officer was washed ashore near the same place, and that the two bodies were buried side by side in two plain coffins made of wooden boxes. It is said that the locals remarked “We buried them together, for in death they were both the same.”

A few days after Lt. McNeill was lost, on January 31, 1917, his younger brother and closest sibling, Sgt. Patrick McNeill died of what was believed to be pneumonia. He had just returned to England after twenty months of combat in the trenches of France and claimed to have not had dry feet in over three weeks.

Lt. McNeill left behind a wife, 18 month old daughter, father and several siblings, one of which was a relatively well known Scottish author, F. Marion McNeill.

* * *

If you ever make it to the Monachs, be sure to walk to the west end of Ceann Iar. There, on a lonely point of land nearest to the island of Shillay, stop for a while and pay your respects to Lt William McNeill, a man who gave his life for his county 101 years ago this month.

A Visit to the Monachs

Early on May 23rd Hjalmar Bjorge motored out of Vatersay Bay and headed up and around the east coast of Barra. As we traversed the Sound of Barra we were rewarded with a close up view of Riever's Castle, which stands atop one of the the small Stack Islands next to Eriskay. The castle was the stronghold of the raider known as Reaubaidair Stache, the subject of the October 8, 2015 post.

Riever's Castle - 1

Riever's Castle - 2

After passing Eriskay we sailed 30 miles north to the Monach Islands; a small group of sandy isles that are one of my favourite places. The three main Monach isles are connected together at low tide and, as the tide was low, after landing on the beach of Ceann Iar we were able to walk over to Shivinish. Even though the tide was on the rise, Lynda made a run for it and continued on to wade across to the main island of Ceann Ear

Lynda running across the sands to Ceann Ear

Ceann Iar is a very special island to me, as it was the first truly remote Scottish island I ever visited. That was during a sailing trip to St Kilda nearly 20 years ago when, after setting sail from Berneray, we anchored at the Monachs before heading to out to Kilda (see chapter 14 of book 2). There are the ruins of three small settlements on Ceann Iar, which we visited as we wandered around the island.

Settlement ruins - Ceann Iar

Fulmars were nesting just about everywhere on the island, including in the old houses. At one point a nest was nearly stepped into while descending a sandbank. It was fortunate that the nest was not damaged, and also that I did not get hit with any fulmar vomit - as they like to spit their foul smelling stomach oil at anyone who threatens them.

Fulmars nesting in the sand

At the westernmost point of the island we came to a beautiful little beach with a good view over to the lighthouse island of Shillay, which was visited in the January 19, 2015 post.

Shillay view

West end beach

Standing above the beach at the west end is a tombstone of a sailor who washed ashore during WWI. Its metal plaque reads: 

LIEUTENANT RNR 

W.A. MC NEILL

HMS LAURENTIC

25TH JANUARY 1917

Lieutenant William McNeill was from Orkney, and died when the Laurentic hit a mine off the coast of Donegal, some 150 miles due south of the Monachs (see this link for more).

Gravesite - Lieutenant William McNeill

Grave of Lt William McNeill

We then explored the ruins of several dwellings as we meandered back to the main beach. We still had more time ashore, and so we settled in on the sand banks above the beach to watch the seals watch us; hundreds were in the water, waiting for us to leave their island.

We'd had a great day ashore, and once back aboard we had an excellent meal before settling in for the night. As we were eating several other ships came in to anchor, including a boat I've always wanted to sail on, MV Cuma, skippered by Murdo Macdonald.

MV Cuma

After a calm night we lifted anchor and motored around the west side of Shillay. (Aside from St Kilda, Shillay is the farthest west of the Western Islands). We then turned north to set a course to our next destination, the island of Scarp. After that, if conditions were good, we hoped to make a dash out to the Flannans.

West side of Shillay

Monach Mansion

On Ceann Iar of the Monach Islands there is a large, two-storey ruin made of the same red-bricks as the lighthouse on nearby Shillay. I've been unable to find much about it, other than it's usually described as a storehouse.

On my first visit to Ceann Iar, nearly 20 years ago, I did not have time to take a close look at the building. But during a visit in 2013 I had a lot of time on the island, and so I went over to see it. 

The building looked to be more than just a storehouse. Although the interior had collapsed, you could see that large fireplaces once warmed rooms on both the ground and first floor.

So in addition to being a storehouse, perhaps this once-grand building was an alternate accommodation for the keepers if they were stranded on Ceann Iar due to the weather. Or maybe it was a holiday-home of sorts if the keepers got tired of their quarters on tiny Shillay. If anyone knows please let me know.

The Monachs are one of my favourite island groups, mostly due to the vast number of seals that call them home. Here is the view I had while waiting to be picked up during that visit in 2013; over a hundred curious eyes wondering what I was up to (and wishing I'd leave so they could take back their beach). If you'd like to experience the Monachs consider joining us on the May 21st cruise.

The Monach Islands

There are still a few spots available for the May 21 cruise. If the weather and sea cooperate, one of our stops will be the Monach Islands. They lie five miles off the coast of North Uist, which they were once linked to by a sandbar. The sandbar was destroyed by a tsunami in 1607, but the three main islands of Ceann Iar, Shivinish, and Ceann Ear are still linked together at low tide.

The Monachs (The Monk's Isles) are also known as Heiskeir, and were once called Heisgeir nan Cailleach (Nun's rock), as there was said to be a nunnery on the east island in the 13th or 14th century. Small Shillay, the westernmost island, was said to have had a monastery. But if there was one, it would have been small, for the island is tiny (200 metres across).

After Kilda was evacuated in the 30s, the Monachs were the most westerly occupied part of Scotland for a while. They had a population of over 100 at one point, but were abandoned in 1947. The usual anchorage here is Croic Harbour, between Shivinish and Ceann Iar. Croic, per Dwelly's Gaelic dictionary, can mean 'abounding in cast seaweed', which it certainly is. Another definition I came across says that Croic simply means 'harbour'. I remember my first time anchoring there, watching the seals surf the tide as it rolled over the sandbar between Shivinish and Ceann Iar.

Looking across the sandbar to Shivinish from Ceann Iar

I'd been to the Monachs several times before I managed to set foot on Shillay. The landing there is more difficult, as the old lighthouse jetty is very exposed to the swell. Shillay lighthouse, said to be built on the site of the monk's beacon, started operating in 1864. It was decommissioned in 1942, and re-commissioned in 2008.

Ceann Ear (East End) has a freshwater loch, Loch nam Buadh (loch of the virtues). Named, perhaps, in honor of the nuns who once lived here. Next to the loch is the site of the village, with some 30 buildings, including a school, post office and church. A kilometre to the NE is Cladh na Bleide, an old burial ground, and the possible site of the nunnery.

The School

Mission Hall?

On my last visit to the  Monachs I managed to cross over to Shivinish from Ceann Iar just before the tide covered the sandbar. Someday, maybe this coming May if the tide is right, I hope to see if I can cross between all three islands. The Monachs are a special place, the abode of hundreds of seals and birds, only occasionally disrupted by the occasional boatload of appreciative island hoppers. There is not a lot of literature on the Monachs, but Alasdair Alpin Macgregor did dedicate a chapter to them in his book The Farthest Hebrides, which you can read here. If islands like these interest you, consider joining our cruise this May.

Looking to Shivinish from Ceann Iar as the tide rises

Shillay of the Monach Isles

I have a vivid memory of small Shillay of the Monach Isles. During a sailing trip to St Kilda in 1999, we had to make a quick escape from Kilda due to an incoming gale. And so we left Kilda in the late afternoon, and then flew with the wind to the Monachs. It was getting dark when we arrived, and I watched as the skipper, Donald Wilke, used two marker cairns on a small skerry near Shillay to navigate to a safe anchorage between Shillay and Ceann Iar. It was my first time sailing in the twilight, and I was amazed by Donald's skilled seamanship, as he kept the cairns aligned against the darkening horizon while we sailed through a skerry-studded sea, After dropping anchor he could finally relax, and made us big steaming cups of hot chocolate. It was a sail, and a night, to remember, and we stayed on deck until the tall tower of the lighthouse on Shillay was no longer visible in the darkness to the west.

I promised myself then that someday I'd return to see the lighthouse on Shillay, and touch the navigation cairns that had guided us to safety. It took 14 years, but I did make good on that promise. Below are a few photos from a visit to Shillay made on Hjalmar Bjorge in 2013. The tide was low, and so I was able to wade from Shillay over to the skerry to touch the navigation cairns I'd seen so long ago (last photo).

Approaching Shillay (2013) - the nav-cairns can be seen to the left

The landing place on Shillay - ship's dog Seven (aka Fatty) leading the way

Looking back to the lighthouse from the skerry of the cairns

The lighthouse and the temporary light that operated until 2008

One of the navigation cairns - Hjalmar Bjorge in the background