Pentland Road - 2

Aberdeen Weekly, 19 May 1877 THE DISTRESS IN ST KILDA ARRIVAL OF HMS FLIRT IN ABERDEEN Yesterday afternoon HM gunboat Flirt arrived in Aberdeen from Stornoway. She left Greenock on Tuesday 8 May for St Kilda, with provisions and seeds for the inhabitants. The island of St Kilda consists of three rocks, only one of which, however, is inhabited. It belongs to Macleod of Macleod. It is situated in the Atlantic 36 miles from the nearest island of the Hebrides - the Monach - and 70 miles from the mainland. As we have reported from time to time, great privation existed on the island, and owing to the publicity given to the state of matters by the press, the Government took the matter up, and the result was the despatching of the Flirt with food. The Flirt arrived on the following Saturday night, and the captain got out the provisions, put them in the ship's boats for transference to the boats belonging to the islanders - the Flirt's boats being unable to reach the shore owing...

The Glasgow Herald, 14 June 1873 Our Stornoway correspondent writes: Her Majesty's steamer Jackal (Lieutenant Clanchy commander), at present cruising about the Hebrides, an in charge of the fisheries at Barra, &c, recently visited St Kilda. After taking on board a supply of coal, the Jackal left Stornoway on Tuesday 3rd [June 1873] at 9 o'clock PM and arrived at the island the following morning, about ten o'clock. After a stay of two hours, the steamer took her departure, and returned to Stornoway harbour shortly after midnight same day, accomplishing the passage - via the Sound of Harris, a distance of nearly 200 miles - in about 27½ hours. The weather was all that could be wished by day and by night, and the waters of the Atlantic were as smooth as Stornoway Loch. The Kildeans, who presented a respecteable appearance, met those on board of the steamer at the landing place and gave them a hearty welcome,  many of them speaking good English. The village is situated ab...

Angus Gillies can be seen in the 1881 census of St Kilda, aged 34, living with his parents Finlay (72) and Mary (66), wife Ann (39) as well as his sister Mary (41). His son Finlay (3) is present, as well as niece Mary Macqueen (9). In 1891, he is shown just with his wife and son, and in 1901 the couple are living together at 6 St Kilda. In 1871 Angus and Ann are shown at Finlay's house, with occupations cottar and cragsman. Also present is Angus's sister Merion, whom we saw in 1881 as Mary. In 1861, we have a more complete picture of Angus's siblings: Ewen (19), Angus (14), John (23), Marion (21), Mary (17) and Christian (9). Angus Gillies passed away on 4 March 1924, aged 77, having suffered from internal cancer for 3 years. He is mentioned as being from 6 Main Street, and his death was registered by his neighbours from no 7. Angus's widow, Annie, died a year later, aged 83.

Further to the information on the death of Donald Macdonald in the previous post , I can add that an article in the Scottish Field Magazine explains that the accident occurred when the men's boat capsized when it got caught by a wave whilst returning from tending to sheep on Dun. Norman John Gillies says that his mother, who lost her two brothers Norman and John in the drowning, named him after her brothers.

Donald Macdonald is quoted aged 36 at the time that he gives evidence to Lord Napier's Commission in St Kilda. We find him in the 1881 census as a joint crofter with his mother Cath (60). He is in the same household as his niece Christina Gillies (28) and young son Donald (5). Ten years later, Donald can be seen with his wife Rachel, who is 20 years his junior. Whether this is accurate is debatable, as it would mean she had her son Donald (now 15) at the age of 11. They had Ewen (3) and Catherine (1) between 1881 and '91. In 1901, Donald is listed at 16 Main Street, St Kilda, with Rachel and his children Ewen (12), Catherine (11), Angus (2), Donald (5) and Rachel (18 months). Mother Rachel is a handspinner of wool; Donald senior's occupation has been corrupted in transcription, but appears to read "Crofter, handloom weaver of wool". Donald Macdonald drowned in Village Bay, St Kilda at 11 am on 22 March 1909, aged 66. He is only marked as 'married', ...

Rev. John Mackay was Free Church minister in St Kilda at the time of the visit by Lord Napier. He had held this charge for 18 years by that time, and we see him in the 1881 census. At that time, he is aged 64 and is quoted at the St Kilda manse with housekeeper Ann Macdonald, 9-year old scholar John Macdonald (boarder) and 67-year old Ann Mackinlay, nurse and teacher. She hailed from Bracadale in Skye. The entry for the minister in the 1871 census is not easily found, but is soon spotted among the 87 people present on the island of St Kilda. John (54) is joined at the FC Manse by his sister Marge (40) and Ann Macdonald, housekeeper. Rev Mackay, who had been in office in St Kilda since 1844, does not show up on the 1851 or 1861 censuses. St Kilda cannot be differentiated in the 1841 census. By 1891, the Rev Angus Viddes (48) is on the census as United Free Church minister for St Kilda, in the company of Catherine Maclennan (59), domestic servant, born in the district of Carloway in...

Rachel Chiesley, who is also known as Lady Grange, died in 1745 after spending 13 years in enforced exile on remote islands off the Scottish west coast. In 1732, she separated from her husband, James Erskine, Lord Grange and Lord Advocate. She accused him of having Jacobite leanings, something that caused her to be declared insane. Lady Grange was declared dead, but whilst her funeral was in progress, she was being shipped off to the Scottish west coast. The first two years of her exile were spent in the Monach Isles, six miles west of North Uist. In 1734, she was transferred to St Kilda, where she apparently lived in miserable circumstances - in a cleit. After being spirited off the island in a hurry in 1740, she was taken to various other locations, but finally ended her days in Skye, where she died in 1745. I wonder whether the account of her story was an inspiration to Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped , which is set at around the same time. An extensive account can be rea...

On that day, the villagers of St Kilda were packing up their belongings , before leaving the island of their birth forever. Some left a bowl of grain on the table, with the Bible open at the chapter of Exodus. A community, a culture, a way of life was coming to a close after thousands of years. Life on their outpost in the Atlantic had become untenable, to their minds, and the Hiorteachs had requested their own removal. The steamer Harebell took them to the village of Lochaline, on the mainland and on to Glasgow. A lot has been written about St Kilda, with insights changing as the years and researches progress.  Someone has recently mooted the idea to repopulate the islands with permanent inhabitants - an idea that is as fanciful as it is unrealistic. Even today, with modern, powerful boats, it is not always possible to cross the sea to the islands. In the past, there would be no communication with St Kilda for 8 months of the year, due to the severity of the weather ...

On August 29th this year, it will be 80 years ago since the people of St Kilda left their native isle, never to return (to live there). They had requested to be removed as life there had become untenable. It is perhaps noteworthy to read the submissions to the Napier Commission , which visited St Kilda in June 1883. The replies by the three people who were called to give evidence have been transcribed into separate postings on the blog. Read the entries first, then return here, I ask. In order to get an idea of the attitude of the “have’s” versus the “have-nots” of the day, I copy a few lines from a submission from the factor for St Kilda, in effect the landowner’s manager of the islands. John T. Mackenzie was not a bad man, as he did not pressurise any people if they could not pay the rent. Others in his position  would have their tenants evicted in case of default. [...] the ” land question” to a great extent is in the hands of educated people, who know the d...

his year, it will be 80 years ago since the islanders of St Kilda (Hiort) were evacuated to the Scottish mainland at their own request. It was on 29th August 1930 that the culture of St Kilda died with the passing to other shores of its inhabitants. This evening, Monty Halls in his Hebridean Hideaway visited the islands. The scenery was absolutely stunning. But otherwise, there was nothing there. There are no permanent residents left, the houses are ruinous, with a few exceptions, and the storage huts (cleits) stand empty and derelict. In other words, St Kilda is dead. Monty Halls, who stayed in North Uist for six months from July 2009 onwards, got involved with the controversy surrounding the location of the St Kilda Centre. It will be a point where the culture and people of St Kilda will be celebrated and kept alive. The strife was bitter, and already reflected in Monty's programme. The other contestants were Mangersta (Lewis) and Leverburgh (Harris). Cleitraval (N...

It was 79 years ago since the last few dozen people were evacuated from the archipelago of St Kilda (Hiort), 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. The move, requested by the people themselves, came in the wake of a decline in population and the increasing problems posed by their remoteness. St Kilda has remained without permanent habitation since, with only Ministry of Defense personnel monitoring the rocket range on Uist and National Trust for Scotland staff looking after the remains of the houses there. Upon departing their shores, the St Kildans left a handful of grain on their tables, alongside the family bible, opened at the chapter Exodus. A few houses have been restored, and cruiseliners regularly call in the summer. Reaching the islands is still difficult, due to the weather and sea conditions found in the North Atlantic. Efforts have been made to retain the history and culture of the islands, and quite a few books have been written. Yesterday was the first-ever S...

Pollution is not a word commonly associated with the Hebrides. Certainly not when I mention that I'm referring to St Kilda. It would appear that pollution was one of the factors that led to the demise of that community. Strange, but true. The two main pollutants were heavy metals and dioxins. Heavy metals are present in fatty deposits in seabirds. The elements concerned are zinc, cadmium, platinum and many others. The people on St Kilda lived off seabirds, which were culled from the islands' cliffs. After eating the birds, the remains were disposed off by plouging into the earth for the purpose of fertilisation. Once crops were harvested, the heavy metals would come back to the islanders. Heavy metals are toxic. Dioxins are the products of combustion of carbon-based fuels in the presence of chlorine. They are very toxic at low concentrations. The islanders on St Kilda used peat for fuel. As the islands are only small, the soil is impregnated with salt, which (...