St. Kilda, Scotland
White caps scudded across the tops of the waves as we sighted St. Kilda off the starboard bow. Before we went ashore, we invited the warden for St. Kilda aboard to give us an introduction to this most remote island in the Outer Hebrides. St. Kilda or Hirta to call it by the name it was known by the islanders has had inhabitants for about 4 thousand years. The island became popular during the Victorian period as a summer cruising destination. The people of St. Kilda were a hardy and industrious lot. They lived principally off the sea bird populations that surrounded them on the adjoining stacs. The birds were used for their feathers and oil. Birds were dried in stone cairns called cleits that provided a dry shelter but allowed the gusting wind to blow through and thus dry the birds. The islanders also raised a primitive species of sheep called Soay for both meat and wool. The Soay sheep remain on the island today and exist in an almost wild state. The islanders suffered from tourism since they were not immune to the diseases brought from the outside. The population gradually dwindled and in 1930 a decision was made to evacuate the island and settle them elsewhere. This morning we visited their church and school and walked down the high street peering in at their cottages. Sixteen cottages remain and approximately 25 of the earlier homes known as black houses. The islanders never lost their love of the island and in the cemetery there are recent burials one of which says in Gaelic “Back again to the best of places”.
White caps scudded across the tops of the waves as we sighted St. Kilda off the starboard bow. Before we went ashore, we invited the warden for St. Kilda aboard to give us an introduction to this most remote island in the Outer Hebrides. St. Kilda or Hirta to call it by the name it was known by the islanders has had inhabitants for about 4 thousand years. The island became popular during the Victorian period as a summer cruising destination. The people of St. Kilda were a hardy and industrious lot. They lived principally off the sea bird populations that surrounded them on the adjoining stacs. The birds were used for their feathers and oil. Birds were dried in stone cairns called cleits that provided a dry shelter but allowed the gusting wind to blow through and thus dry the birds. The islanders also raised a primitive species of sheep called Soay for both meat and wool. The Soay sheep remain on the island today and exist in an almost wild state. The islanders suffered from tourism since they were not immune to the diseases brought from the outside. The population gradually dwindled and in 1930 a decision was made to evacuate the island and settle them elsewhere. This morning we visited their church and school and walked down the high street peering in at their cottages. Sixteen cottages remain and approximately 25 of the earlier homes known as black houses. The islanders never lost their love of the island and in the cemetery there are recent burials one of which says in Gaelic “Back again to the best of places”.
