A Day on St Kilda

In October of 2014, some ten months ago, I signed up for an Outer Hebrides trip on Hjalmar Bjorge operated by Northern Lights Charters. The cruise was for this August, and included a visit to St Kilda. As the date approached I started paying attention to the weather news from Scotland. The news was not good: a record number of day-trip cruises to Kilda were being cancelled due to the bad weather. A week before the trip the weather looked like it was still going to be terrible, and the Northern Lights cruise during that week was unable to get to Kilda, and had to spend a good deal of time hiding from the winds in and around Skye.

But we were lucky. As we set out from Oban on August 8 the weather took a turn for the better, and we were able to get to Kilda. Greeting us as we arrived in Village Bay was the beautiful tall ship Bessie Ellen.

Bessie Ellen in Village Bay

The first few hours on the island were a bit crowded. For in addition to the passengers on Bessie Ellen, there were another 90 people ashore, as all the day-boats had taken advantage of the break in the weather to make the trip. I had about seven hours, long enough to escape the crowds and make a long walk around the island.

Once past the Helipad and beach, I started up the grassy slopes to Ruabhal and the Mistress Stone.

The Mistress Stone

From Ruabhal a gentle grassy slope leads to Mullach Bi and the dramatic west ridge of Kilda.

Day Boats from Harris, Lewis and Loch Alainn - Hjalmar Bjorge at far right

Looking NW to Soay

From the above viewpoint over Soay I made a steep descent into Glen Mor to take a close look at its cluster of horned structures that, from a distance, resemble ant-heads with giant pincers.

Glen Mor

Ruins in Glen Mor

Horned Structure - 1

Horned Structure - 2

Scattered across the glen are bits and pieces of the Sunderland flying boat which crashed here in June of 1944.

Sunderland Wreckage - 1

Sunderland Wreckage - 2

From Glen Mor it was a stiff climb of some 1200 feet up the slopes to the top of Mullach Mor, where I encountered the not-so-picturesque radar complex at the top of the hill

Summit of Mullach Mor

From Mullach Mor an enjoyable walk led to the top of Conachair, the highest point on Kilda. To the NE there was an amazing view over to Boreray, and the south side offered a view directly down to the village. I could see that all the day-boats had now left, and the only ships at anchor were Halmar Bjorge, Elizabeth G, and two others.

Boreray seen from Conachair

Village Bay seen from Conachair

From the top of Conachair it was a steep descent down the grassy hillside to the Gap. There I took a seat at the cliff edge to enjoy the view of Boreray.

Boreray seen from the Gap - with one of the day boats on its way to the stacks

Bonxies had harassed me all day, and as I descended to the village I had to keep a fist in the air to ward off their attacks. I still had an hour left, and so I leisurely wandered through the village before making my way to the cannon by the feather store.

Village Street

Site of the post office

Number 5

The canon - with Hjalmar Bjorge & Elizabeth G at anchor

I was soon back aboard Hjalmar Bjorge enjoying a cold beer and a wonderful dinner. The next morning we motored out of village Bay to head for the Monachs. The plan was to spend the night there, but the conditions were too rough, so we ended up at Loch Maddy, where I was offered the opportunity of making a through-hike across the hinterlands of North Uist. It would be a trek from Loch Maddy to Loch Euphort via North and South Lee, which will be the subject of the next post.

M E M Donaldson

I did something a few days ago that I've wanted to do for a long time: find the grave of Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson, better known as M.E.M. Two of her books, Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands (1921), and Further Wanderings: Mainly in Argyll (1926), are some of the best you'll find on the islands and Highlands. I vividly remember the first time I read her tales of camping on Staffa and the Garvellachs, and her visit to Eilean Mor mhic O’Charmaig, where she dropped into the dark pit of St Carmaig’s cave.

Her photos are a wealth of information on things that have changed in the last century since she saw them. For example; the cross on the summit of Eilean Mor (now in a museum), the Keill and the Kilmory crosses (both have also been moved indoors), and the cottage on Staffa (now a sad pile of stones). To capture these images she toted around Green Maria, a wagon packed with her photographic gear. There is a wonderful picture of her with Green Maria that graces the cover of an excellent book about MEM by John Telfer Dunbar: Herself: The Life and Photographs of MEM Donaldson (1979).

As much as I admire MEM, based on the following excerpt from her preface to Further Wanderings, I doubt if she would have approved of me:

…one of the most crying needs of the day is, in my opinion, an Anti-American Association, to rid the entire country of its present curse of American atrocities…American films, plays, raucous jangles, and clumsy gyrations in place of music and dancing, cacophonic gibberish, and idiotically named cocktails…and the hideous American spelling of Highland names, such as Urgard, Cahoun, and Chissim.

   

When I dance it is indeed a clumsy gyration. And I spell my name 'Calhoun' - one of several variations of the Highland name Colquhoun that stem from a history of emigration from Scotland, to Ireland, and then on to the States. It is a name I am proud of - but I do pronounce it “Ca-hoon”, not “Cal-hoon”, when I’m in Scotland.

It was in reading John Dunbar's book that I learned MEM, who died in 1958, was buried in Oban. And so on a trip there, some 10 years ago, I spent several hours searching the large cemetery on the hilltop north of town for her grave. The search was unsuccessful, and there was no one in the office that could help me. Then, a week ago, while on a Hebridean cruise, I met Iain Thornber (Oban Times). Iain told me where her grave was, and so when the trip ended in Oban I drove up to the cemetery to find it.

I searched in the area where I'd been told it was, but I could still not find the grave. Fortunately, someone was mowing the lawn that knew where the manager was. I asked the manager if he could help, and he went into the office, returning a few minutes later with an old book that listed all the burials. He found the entry for MEM, and I was delighted to see that listed with it was the name 'Bonus'. Isabel Bonus had illustrated many of MEM's books. Using the site number from the book we soon found the grave, a large cross atop a three-tiered pedestal. The lettering on the memorial had so faded into the color of the stone, that it was no wonder I'd been unable to find it when I'd wandered around the cemetery in 2005.

The memorial reads as follows:

Here Lies The 

Folded Garment Of

Isabel Bonus

Beloved Friend Departed This

Life August 9th 1941

When Thou Rewardest Thy Saints

O' Lord Remember Her For Good

Here Also Lie The Mortal Remains Of

M.E.M Donaldson, Her Beloved Friend

Who Wrote Books In Defense of Scotlands

Faithful Remnant, the Scottish Episcopal 

Church, Departed This Life On 17th Jan. 1958

"God Be Merciful to Me a Sinner"

So next time you're in Oban be sure to pay a visit to its cemetery high above the sea. It has some amazing grave markers; like the giant memorial stone to David Hutcheson, who founded what would become Caledonian Macbrayne; and a pyramid that marks the grave of a banker from the early days of Oban. But before leaving be sure to pay your respects to a modest cross-stone memorial, near the highway along the south wall of the cemetery. It marks the grave of an amazing woman who left a legacy of books and photos that will be immortal.

Note: For more on the history of MEM, and Isabel Bonus, see this page.

Update - June 21, 2016
On May 30 (2016) I motored around Ardnamurachan Point aboard the ship Hjalmar Bjorge. We passed Sanna Bheg just before reaching the lighthouse, which gave a good view of what's left of MEM's house at Sanna Bheag. It was gutted by a fire in 1947, and MEM left it after that. It was rebuilt in 1967, but it is a sad remnant of its former glory. As you can see in the photo below, it now looks like a bomb shelter; or the utilitarian military housing they built on St Kilda.

Barra View

I will be off-line for a couple weeks, so I thought I'd leave you with my favourite view in all the Hebrides. It is Castlebay seen from the slopes of Heaval, with the islands of Vatersay, Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay, and Barra Head floating off in the distance. 

Castlebay seen from the slopes of Heaval

The Marble Quarry - Iona

In 1790, the Duke of Argyll thought it would be a profitable enterprise to quarry the green-veined Iona marble. But the cost of operating from such a remote location doomed the effort. In 1907 the quarry was reopened. It had a more successful run that time, staying in business for a dozen years. But since 1919 the only marble that’s left the quarry are small chunks carried away in the pockets of tourists, and pieces taken to produce items of local Celtic craft work. 

On my first visit to Iona, back in 1989, I tried to find the quarry. All I had with me at the time was the 1:50000 scale Landranger map 48. The quarry is not marked on that map, and I incorrectly thought it was about halfway down the east coast of the island. I searched, but was not able to find the quarry. 

A few years later I acquired the 1:25000 scale Pathfinder map of Iona (Pathfinder 341). Using that map, in combination with info from some old sketch maps of Iona, I was able to pinpoint the location of the quarry (NM 269 218), which is just a short distance north of the south tip of the island. Using those coordinates I was able to find the quarry in 2003. Here are a few photos from that visit. (Also see chapter 16 of book 1 for a description of a walk around Iona that includes the quarry.)

On the Shiants

As is the case with most people, the first time I saw the Shiants was a tempting, long distance view of them from the Uig to Tarbert ferry. The islands lie a dozen mile north of the ferry route, and their profile from the ferry is nearly as dramatic as St Kilda's.

My first vision of the Shiants from the ferry was in 1990. At the time I thought there was no way I'd ever set foot on them. But, as it turned out, the Shiants are a regular stop on cruises around the Outer Hebrides. And so I was finally able to go there in 2002. I thought, at the time, I'd never return. And so I did the most exciting thing I could think of, and made the steep climb to the top of Garbh Eilean from the isthmus between it and Eilean Tighe. When time came to leave I made the scary descent back to the isthmus, and with only 10 minutes left paid a quick visit to the house on Eilean Tighe. 

Although I'd explored much of Garbh Eilean, I regretted not having spent much time on Eilean Tighe. But that regret is now long forgotten. Nearly every cruise I've taken since 2002 has paid a visit to the Shiants, and so I've had many leisurely strolls around Eilean Tighe. Here are a few photos from a visit in 2006 that I took aboard MV Chalice.

The isthmus between Eilean Tighe and Garbh Eilean

Iron Age farmstead at left

Kinlochresort From Up High

Here are a couple summer evening views of one of my favourite places in the Western Isles. They are photos of Kinlochresort taken from the heights of Beinisbhal. Although it doesn't look like it, each photo shows two islands; the house on the left is on Lewis, the one on the right is on Harris. The stream winding up the middle, Abhainn Mhor Ceann Reasoirt, marks the boundary here.

Kinlochresort seen from atop Beinisbhal

Campsite on Beinisbhal - The Harris hills in the distance

The Crosses of Raasay

One of the jewels of Rassay is its Pictish Symbol Stone. It lies in a small patch of ground east of the road north of Raasay House. The top of the stone has a square Chi-Rho cross that appears to be carved inside a Pictish mirror symbol. Below the cross is what's described as a tuning fork (or tongs), and at the bottom a crescent and V-Rod.

Raasay Symbol Stone

Although the symbol stone is easy to find, there was another Raasay cross, carved into the bedrock near the landing place below Raasay House, that I was only able to locate on my third visit to the island. I first read about this rock-carved cross in Boswell's Journal, where he mentions that 'on one of the rocks just where we landed...there is rudely drawn a square with a crucifix in the middle.'

On visits to Raasay in 1995 and 1998 I searched in vain for this cross. I walked back and forth all over 'The Battery', looking on every rock surface I could find. But I saw nothing that looked like a cross. The Battery is the little peninsula below Raasay house that was the main point for landing on the island before they built the ferry slip a mile and a half to the south.

These days the ferry lands at a new slip on The Battery, and on a visit last May I looked for the cross again. But this time I found it thanks to location details and photos on this CANMORE page. The cross lies just above the original landing place, on the southeast side of The Battery, where Boswell & Johnson landed in 1773. The cross is a sad sight, nearly completely worn away. So there is no way someone can find it without specific directions, and most everyone who arrives on Raasay these days drives (or walks) past the cross without even knowing it's there.

The cross is the same design as the mirror chi-rho cross on the symbol stone; and you can find a comparison drawing of the two crosses on the last page of Proc. Soc Antiq Scot Volume 41. Other good images can be found on page 64 of Proc. Soc Antiq Scot Vol 67, and on this Pictish Stones of Raasay page. Next time you are on Raasay be sure to pay your respect to this vestige of the past before it completely disappears.

The cross is on the exposed rock face at centre