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

Caisteal a' Bhreabadair - Reiver's Castle

Standing atop the highest spot on the Stack Islands is Caisteal a' Bhreabadair; a landmark seen by all who take the ferry from Castlebay to Lochboisdale. 

Caisteal a' Bhreabadair atop the Stack Islands (photo taken from Ben Stac of Eriskay)

The name means castle of the reiver (robber), and it was the base of a MacNeil pirate known as Reaubaidair Stache. 'Reiver' became corrupted as 'weaver', and so the little building is often called Weaver's Castle. It is a small structure, measuring only 12 by 10 feet, with a remaining bit of wall standing 15 feet high. In Portrait of Skye and the Outer Hebrides (1967), W Douglas Simpson writes that the reiver's wife was an accomplice in her husband's depredations, and:

'When boats sheltered in the Sound of Eriskay or in Barra Sound, so it is said, the pair cut the hawsers and let the vessel drift to wreck upon the rocky shores, whereupon they helped themselves to its content.'

Stack Islands and the castle seen from the east

DDC Pochin-Mould mentions the castle in West Over Sea, and says:  There is only one way up to the castle and that is difficult...for ease of transport, the walls were made of very small stones, and the cementing mortar was prepared with lime made from the shell sands of neighbouring beaches.

The reiver and his family were such a nuisance that they were attacked while on Eriskay, where the reiver, and three of his four sons, were killed. The further adventures of the fourth son can be found in John Macpherson's Tales From Barra: Told by the Coddy (1960).

Someday I hope to land on the Stack Islands and climb up to the reiver's castle, but it will not be easy. The sea needs to be calm to land, and the islands are a long way from the charter boats in Castlebay. See this CANMORE page for more on Caisteal a' Bhreabadair.

Reiver's Castle - 1

Reiver's Castle - 2

Atop Eriskay 4

After descending Beinn Sgiathan we have to walk around the head of the harbour Acairsaid Mhor before starting the climb to the top of Ben Stac, the highest terrain on the southern half of Eriskay.

Acairsaid Mhor

From the harbour it's a short climb to the top of Beinn Stac. The next photo shows the cairn at its summit. In the distance is Barra and its highest point Heabhal. 

Looking to Barra from Beinn Stac

To the south of Beinn Stac lie Na Stacan Dubha, the dark stacks, usually called The Stack Islands. In the next photo the small building you can see atop one of them is Caisteal an Reubadair. This is the Reiver's, or Pirate's Castle. I have also seen it translated as the Weaver's Castle, but that's a corruption of the Gaelic. What kind of weaver would have a castle? 

Otta Swire begins her book The Outer Hebrides and their Legends with the story of how the tower was once home to a nine-headed giant. I won't recount the whole story, so you will need to read it to find out how eight of his heads became the islands of Bernera, Eriskay, Mingulay, Vallay, Grimsay, Taransay, Pabbay and Killegray. Another part of his anatomy became the Butt of Lewis. And no, it's not what you think, it was his ninth head.

Stac Islands and Caisteal an Reubadair