Islands in the Sound

Early on May 25 Hjalmar Bjorge weighed anchor and we left our calm anchorage off the island of Scarp. A course was set to the southeast, to visit two islands in the Sound of Harris. (One of my favourite books about these islands is Islands in the Sound, by Alison Johnson). The islands we hoped to visit were Pabbay and Boreray, I was not 100% certain we'd find any anchorages near those islands, as the sound is notoriously shallow. But our expert skipper, Mark Henrys, was able to find a place to drop the hook near Pabbay, and we were soon ashore. 

Pabbay

We made a tour of Baile na Cille, which had been the main settlement on Pabbay, centered around the ruin of Teampull Mhoire. The church dates to the 1500s, and replaced an earlier church dedicated to St Moluag.

Teampull Mhoire

The cross inside Teampull Mhore, with its worn arms and tilted head, is eerie, but beautiful. It is mentioned in a book about Pabbay written by Bill Lawson - The Teampull on the Isle of Pabbay (1994). In it he mentions the cross is referred to in A Song of Fear by the Pabbay bard Neil Morrison, as chrois Phapanaich (the Catholic cross). The song calls the ‘Priest’s Temple’ a fearful thing, and that its cross would frighten the very giants.

The cross that would frighten giants

In Baile Lingay, a village above the church, we found the ruin of a large grain drying kiln. Pabbay was known as the granary of Harris, but it also had a good number of its own people to support. In the nineteenth century the population exceeded 300. Most of them were evicted when the island was cleared for sheep in the 1840s. 

Kiln

Kiln in Baile Lingay

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and it was hard to leave Pabbay, but another island called; Boreray, which lay three miles away. Again, Mark was able to find a perfect anchorage in the shallow water off the south tip of Boreray, where we went ashore for a few hours of exploration.

Boreray Arrival

Boreray had a population of almost 200 in the 1840s, but by 1923 only one family remained. (Its current population is one.) Once ashore we made a circular walk around Loch Mor, which nearly divides the island in half.

Loch Mor

It was hard and slow going over the boulders that make up the large storm beach that divides Loch Mor from the sea.

Across the stone beach between Loch Mor and the sea

Loch Mor (right)

We then made our way to the main settlement site on the east side of the island, where I was saddened to see that the Boreray church, which dates to the 1880s, is in even sadder shape than when I visited in 2010. With the roof gone, it won't be long until the gables collapse.

Boreray Church - 2016

Boreray Church - 2010

South of the settlement, and above the beach where we landed, stood a large cluster of earthen mounds. They are known as Cladh na Mhanaich (The Monk's burial Ground). Per Martin Martin, writing in 1695, it is where all the monk's who worked north of Eigg were buried; a fascinating possibility, and it seems odd to me that there has never been any archaeological excavations here to determine exactly what lies inside these mysterious mounds.

Cladh na Mhanaich

Next to the Monk's Field lie the ruins of a large village, photographed by Erskine Beveridge in 1904 (second photo below).

Boreray Village - 2016

Boreray Village - 1904 (Photo: Erskine Beveridge)

Our time on Boreray was up, and we returned to Hjalmar Bjorge to spend the night. In the morning we set off east through the sound of Harris, passing Rodel and Scalpay as we made our way the 30 miles to the Shiants.

Rodel - church tower at centre

Scalpay

The sea and wind at the Shiants was from the north, which ruled out anchoring in the large bay between the islands. That was a disappointment, at it is the best place to see the hundreds of thousands of puffins that continually fly out to the Minch from their burrows on Garbh Eilean and Eilean Mhuire. And so we had to settle for an anchorage on the west side of the isthmus between Eilean Tighe and Garbh Eilean. As we anchored we watched a two-masted schooner try, and fail, to anchor on the east side.

The schooner attempting to anchor

After anchoring we loaded into the inflatable and went to see if we could get ashore. But the swell and tide were such that we could not find a safe place to land that would also be safe for an uplift later on. As we were looking for a landing I did get onto some rocks off Eilean Tighe, and managed to slowly get ashore near the house on Eilean Tighe. But it was far too slippy and unsafe, and so I was soon back aboard the inflatable. That attempt did allow me to set a record for what may be the shortest visit to the Shiants (three minutes). So we settled in for the night, hoping that conditions would calm overnight.

The next morning was calm and sunny, and so we motored around the giant basalt cliffs of garbh Eilean to drop anchor in the bay between the islands. 

Cliffs of Garbh Eilean

We were only a quarter mile from our last anchorage, on the other side of the isthmus, but what a difference it made. We were now in Puffin country, thousands soaring overhead and paddling on the sea. (See the September 21, 2013 post for a video of the puffin colony on Garbh Eilean.)

We all went ashore on Eilean Tighe to make a tour around the house (built for Compton Mackenzie) and the Iron Age farmstead above it.

Hiking up to the Iron Age farm

Iron Age farm (left)

While up on the summit of the island we saw the Hebridean Princess come into the bay. How dare they invade our private anchorage! But they stayed for only 20 minutes, time to give their passengers a brief taste of the puffins, before moving on.

The Hebridean Princess - now you see her...

Now you don't

While hiking around the island we saw quite a few rat traps, and occasionally we spotted some of the 'rat-hunters' staying on the island, as they walked around to check the traps. They had posted signs saying the Shiants are now thought to be rat-free, and we did not see any.

Hopefully...rat-free

Looking down to the isthmus between Garbh Eilean and Eilean Tighe

Under sunny skies we then raised anchor and set off for our final destination of the cruise: the Small Isles. I knew we'd have time to see Canna and Eigg, but what I did not know was that we'd set foot on all four of the Small Isles.

Pabbay & Vatersay Revisited

On May 21st the ship Hjalmar Bjorge left Oban. Aboard were Joey, Patricia, Janet, John, Francis, Elaine, Clare, Nigel, and myself. There were three crew; skipper Mark, his wife Anna, and Lynda the cook. It was my first cruise acting as a guide, and I was a uncertain as to how the next 10 days would go. But I was certain that the selection of islands we hoped to visit would offer some amazing experiences.

After a calm night at anchor in Tobermory Bay we set out the next morning to attempt to land on Pabbay, a deserted island south of Barra. Under partly sunny skies we approached Pabbay from the east, the white sand beach of Traigh Bhan glowing in occasional sunshine. In short order we were ashore, and made our way to the ruins of what had been Pabbay's only village.

Ashore on Pabbay

I'd only been to Pabbay once before, back in 2007 on the boat Boy James, skippered by Donald Macleod (see book 2, chapter 9). Aside from wanting to return to a beautiful and historic island, I wanted to see how they'd permanently mounted its amazing Pictish Symbol stone.

We all made our way across the sands to the village, which was last occupied in 1911. Its cluster of black houses have been drastically altered into sheep pens, and standing above them is the shell of Taigh nam Bochdan, the house of spectres. I will not recount the long, strange history of this haunted house, but you can find it in chapter 9 of book 2.

Taigh nam Bochdan

Next to the village is Pabbay's massive burial mound. There used to be a chapel on it, but there's no sign of it these days. At the base of the mound stands the symbol stone. When I saw it in 2007 it was lying prone, as if it had been tossed aside. But a few years ago they securely mounted it upright. I was happy to see they've done that, and that its carvings are no longer subject to direct rainfall and the feet of uncaring visitors.

Mark & Anna on the burial mound - symbol stone at base

Even though they did good work by mounting the stone upright, it is something that should have been done a very long time ago; for the mysterious Pictish symbols, the crescent/v-rod, and the lily, are so badly worn that there is not much left of them. The next photo shows the side of the stone with the symbols, but you can not see them. All that's visible is the Christian cross at the top, a later addition to the stone. For a better (and much older) photo see page 87 of book 2 (or this CANMORE page).

The worn symbol stone

After we explored the village I led a group over a grassy ridge to Dunan Ruadh, a broch ruin on the east coast of the island. The broch was in direct line-of-sight with Dun Sandray, a broch on the island of Sandray, three miles to the northeast. The brochs were located such that a fire beacon could easily relay news from island to island that unfriendly visitors were in the area.

Dunan Ruadh - Sandray in the distance

Dunan Ruadh

The climb over to Dunan Ruadh was hard going through the thick, tall grass that covers most of the island, which makes Pabbay one of the harder islands to explore on foot. After a few hours ashore we gathered back at the beach to board the inflatable and return to Hjalmar Bjorge. Pabbay was an excellent first island of the trip, and next up was nearby Sandray.

Pabbay anchorage

But when we went to take a look at the Sandray beach landing, it was too swelly, and so we made our way to anchor for the night in the east bay of Vatersay. There were only a few clouds in the sky, and as there were several hours of daylight left we went ashore for a walk.

East Bay - Vatersay

No visit to Vatersay is complete without seeing the Annie Jane memorial, and so we paid our respects to the site where over 300 people are buried who drowned when the immigrant ship Anne Jane ran aground in 1853. You can find a list of the victims here.

Annie Jane Monument

After over 150 years of blowing sand the words carved at the base of the monument are hard to read. Fortunately I copied them down when I first visited Vatersay in 1998:

ON 28th SEPR 1853 THE SHIP ANNIE JANE WITH EMIGRANTS 

FROM LIVERPOOL TO QUEBEC WAS TOTALLY WRECKED IN THIS BAY AND

THREEFOURTHS OF THE CREW AND PASSENGERS NUMBERING 

ABOUT 350 MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE DROWNED AND 

THEIR BODIES INTERRED HERE

AND THE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN IT   REV: XX 13

I've visited the monument many times over the years, but this time I noticed something different. In the sand next to the obelisk was a board with an old black & white drawing of a man; its title read: Jean Vernier (1822-1853). Reverend Jean Vernier was one of eight members of the French Canadian Missionary Society who were returning to Canada on the Annie Jane. The reverend, and four others of his group did not survive the shipwreck.

Jean Vernier (1822-1853)

On the walk back to the beach we met the woman who owns the old Vatersay school house, which is now one-half private residence, one half a self catering apartment. The woman's dog gave Nigel a good workout by playing fetch with him on the beach.

Fetch on the beach - old Vatersay schoolhouse in the distance (right)

In the morning we set out for our next destination - the Monach Isles. We did not know it at the time, but over the next 10 days we would be blessed with non-stop sunshine.

The Pabbay Stone

On our May 21 cruise one of the destinations (if the weather cooperates) will be Pabbay of the Barra Isles. I've only been to Pabbay once, back in 2007, when Donald MacLeod took me there on his boat Boy James (see book 2, chapter 9).

My primary reason to go there was to see the Pictish Symbol Stone, with its crescent and V-rod, and lily symbol. There are only six known symbol stones found in the islands, and this one was discovered by Father Allan MacDonald in 1889.

The stone was a sad sight when I saw it in 2007; lying prone at the base of the burial mound, looking discarded, heavily eroded, and subject to more wear and tear by falling rain and the careless feet of visitors. Since 2007 it's been set upright for protection, and I look forward to seeing how they've done it. Below are a few photos from 2007 and, if you'd like to see the stone, consider joining our cruise on May 21. For more on the symbol stone of Pabbay see page 299 of this link.

The Pabbay Symbol Stone - lying prone at lower right of the burial mound (2007)

Pabbay Stone - the carvings are hardly visible (blame the elements - and the photographer)

Drawing of the Pabbay Stone by J. Romilly Allen from the 1890s

Baile Lingay - Isle of Pabbay

I love walking across island terrain where the ground is covered by short grass, and slopes gradually to an azure sea. Even better is if the sky is as blue as the sea. I had that very experience on Pabbay, an island in the Sound of Harris, when I passed through Baile Lingay while making my way down from the summit of the island.

Baile Lingay

Baile Lingay

Baile Lingay was one of four townships on Pabbay. It was a substantial settlement; with over 40 buildings and four corn drying kilns. Skins with holes pierced in them were placed over the round, stone lined well in the kiln (see next photo). At the bottom of the well a flue led to a lower part of the building. A fire would be lit at the end of the flue, and warm air rising through the skin would dry the grain. Pabbay had plenty of grain, and so whisky-making was a regular pastime.

Lingay was last occupied in the late 1830s and early 1840s by a family of Macleods. They were coopers (barrel-makers) from Harris, and one wonders how many barrels of Pabbay hooch they got past the gaugers. The Macleods were replaced by sheep in 1843.

Kiln

Pabbay is a difficult island to reach. There are no regular boat trips, so I ended up chartering a small RIB from the Uist Outdoor Centre. Larger boats don't visit because the sea is shallow here, and it's difficult to anchor close. If the weather and sea cooperate, we hope to visit Pabbay during our 10-day cruise in May by anchoring a ways off, and making a long RIB run to the island. For more photos of Baile Lingay see this CANMORE page. And for more on the history of Pabbay see Bill Lawson's The Teampull on the Isle of Pabbay.

The Pabbay Tram

As I was wandering around Pabbay I came across this old wooden cart half buried in the turf above the shore. Its two iron wheels were rusted solid to a single axle, and I had no idea what it was. Any guesses?

Cart buried in the turf

Twenty minutes later, as I was searching for a way to get over to the nearby Roisinis headland, I noticed an odd slot in the bedrock leading down to the sea. On closer examination it was obviously man-made; a series of small steps hacked out of the rock. On each side of the steps there were grooves where wheels could roll. I then realized it was a tramway made for the cart I'd found in the turf; a way to get supplies up onto the island. An interesting find, and like nothing I've come across on any other Hebridean Isle.

Cart slot leading down to the sea

Taigh nam Bochdan - The House of Spectres - Pabbay

Here are two views of Taigh nam Bochdan, the House of Spectres, on the isle of Pabbay (near Barra). The first is looking down from the high ground to the north. To the left of the house you can see a cluster of overgrown black houses, and in front of them lies a large burial mound. With the low clouds shrouding the houses and burial ground it made for an eerie sight, especially given the strange history of the house. (See book 2, chapter 9 for the story of Taigh nam Bochdan.) The burial mound is home to one of the six Pictish Symbol Stones that have been found in the islands - there are over 200 of them on the mainland. See this link for a photo of the Pabbay symbol stone.

The second photo is looking down to the house from the high ground to the west. The Roisinis headland can be seen in the distance. I tried to get over to Roisinis, but a narrow slot of sea proved too much of an obstacle to cross. Although I failed to get across, in trying to do so I stumbled across something fascinating - which we'll see next time.