Garbh Eilean - Three Ways Up

There are several islands in the Hebrides with the name 'Garbh Eilean'; a name usually translated as 'rough island', referring to unequal and varying terrain. The Garbh Eilean of the Shiants certainly qualifies in that regard; it is a lumpy island, with shear cliffs rising to 400 feet.

Garbh Eilean - North Side

Garbh Eilean - East Side

Garbh Eilean - South Side

It can also be a 'rough' island to climb. There are three routes; two difficult, and one relatively easy. The primary way up is one of the difficult ones. It starts at the isthmus between Eilean Taighe and Garbh Eilean. Then, after climbing a short section of natural stairway, it zig-zags up another 50 feet before traversing west to the base of a steep, narrow gully. The gully takes you to the top of a 'false summit', from where it is an easy walk to the true top. 

The route is marked in the next photo. Where it disappears on the left is where it climbs up a steep gully hidden from view. This is the route the shepherds use.

The other difficult way up is from Airidhean a' Bhaig (bay of the sheiling), on the northeast tip of the island. I have only gone up this route once. It is very steep at the end, and there is no way I'd ever consider descending this way. The route is shown in white in the next photo.

The third way up is the easiest route, but it requires being landed at Annait, on the west side of the island. (Annait is the possible site of an early monastic settlement). If the sea and wind cooperate it is easy to land on a natural pier of a (mostly) level reef - seen at the lower right in the next photo.

As you walk up the glen you come to an interesting ruin. Nestled in nettles, it was a substantial building in its day; and perhaps the chapel that gave the place its name.

At the foot of the glen lies a complex assortment of structures, including a couple of Iron Age and medieval roundhouses. Unfortunately many of their stones were robbed to build a large sheep fank. 

From Annait it is a gentle climb up the grassy glen to the top of the island. Along the way you have to watch your step. If not you might step on something fuzzy and cute.

Baby bonxie

Top of Garbh Eilean

Top of Garbh Eilean - Eilean Taigh in the distance

At the top of the glen you come to the north cliff. The walk along the cliff edge is amazing. The first time I made it I was surprised when a large sea-eagle took off from the nearby grass. It flew just six-feet over me before soaring out to sea.

From the east end of the island the views open up across to Eilean Mhuire, and below to the beautiful ruin at Airidhean a' Bhaig - see the September 16, 2014 post for more on this fascinating spot.

Airidhean a' Bhaig

Eilean Mhuire

It is only once you reach the top of Garbh Eilean that you realize how big the island really is. Time ashore is often limited, so you may not have be able to make the complete two-mile circuit of the cliff-tops. But be sure to stand atop the north cliff, where you will see something fantastic: thousands and thousands of puffins soaring below you, flying from their burrows to the sea and back. And if you're very lucky, perhaps an eagle will come calling.

Eilean Mhuire of the Shiants

One of the many Islands I hope to return to in the next year or two is Eilean Mhuire of the Shiants.

Eilean Mhuire seen from Garbh Eilean

Of the three Shiant islands, Eilean Mhuire is probably the least visited. Most people are set ashore on the stone isthmus between Eilean Tighe and Garbh Eilean, and then make their way up onto Eilean Tighe. But to get onto Eilean Mhuire is a little more challenging. It requires being set ashore at the base of a small, rocky inlet. And if there is any swell, or wind, it can be a difficult landing.

If you do manage to get ashore, you then have to climb 160 feet up a steep hillside. When I made the climb in 2003, there was a handy rope dangling down the hill to grab hold of. (I do not know if the rope is still there.) It was worth the climb, for the top of the island is a beautiful, and relatively flat plateau, covered in verdant grass and dotted with a several ponds. 

For me, Eilean Mhuire has two attractive features: its massive colony of puffins, and the ruin of an old chapel. The name of the chapel, and the island, are usually said to refer to Mary. But I've always wondered if they actually refer to St Maelrubha. An old name for the Shiants is Na Eileanan Mòra: which usually translates to the Big Isles, and these islands are certainly not big. So it's possible the Eilean Mhuire name may be a corruption of 'Island Mor', and many 'Mòr' place names in the Hebrides are dedications to St Maelrubha.

Chapel Ruin - embedded in what may have been an old burial mound

Another clue that the dedication may be to Maelrubha is that he would have certainly visited the Shiants, as they lie on a direct route from his monastery at Applecross to Maruig, a small settlement 15 miles to the west on Lewis, and Teampull Mor, a chapel near the Butt of Lewis. Both of those places are said to be dedicated to Maelrubha. 

The next two photos show some of the acres of old cultivation ridges that cover the island. Eilean Mhuire was fertile in its time. Of the 500 acres of land that make up the three Shiant isles, only 30 were arable, and half of that was on Eilean Mhuire.

Crisscross cultivation ridges on Eilean Mhuire

Eastern tip of Eilean Mhuire

The few dwellings on Eilean Mhuire were basic, turf covered structures, visible today only as grass-grown mounds.

Old turf-covered structures

In May and June the puffins on the Shiants are a sight to behold - truly amazing. At times the sky is filled with tens of thousands flying back and forth between the sea and their burrows in the scree of Garbh Eilean, and the steep slopes of Eilean Mhuire. 

Puffin burrows on Eilean Mhuire - Garbh Eilean in the distance

Getting off the island is as exciting as getting on to it, as you have to descend the near vertical hillside. To do that I held the rope in one hand, and slowly slid down on my side, every now and then digging my boots into the little grassy ledges created by grazing sheep.

Descending the rope - Eilean Mhuire

I hope to return to Eilean Mhuire. Its tricky landing, especially if there is any swell, followed by the rope climb, make for an exhilarating island visit.

Eilean Mhuire departure

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.