Yumpu_ May_June 2017_02

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Colonsay’s Ruined Village Colonsay’s Ruined Village declined throughout that century and mirrored the change in numbers on Colonsay as a whole. In 1841, 68 people were recorded living in 14 households. The residents even included incomers from Mull and Jura, but 30 years later there were only 49 inhabitants in nine houses. Ten years on, it appears only five houses were still occupied and numbers had fallen to just 19. They rose in the next census but, by then, the island population had dramatically fallen from its peak of 979 in 1841 to less than 400 and only 25 residents remained on the eve of the First World War. face peers out from the top of the monument and the two arms of the cross contain carefully shaped spirals. The base terminates in the shape of a fish-tail and the age of the cross implies that the vicinity may have had special significance before settlement. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Colonsay House in 1902 and planted commemorative rhododendrons in the subtropical woodland around St Oran’s Well. The King apparently caused some amusement by noting that the face on the cross “Was a very good likeness of the chief engineer on the royal yacht.” Page 17 l-r: The ruins of Riasg Buidhe seen from the hill to the south of the village. Colonsay’s new fish farm can be seen offshore, with Scarba beyond. This house stood at the western end of the village row and, in its later days, was fitted a roof of tarred felt. An old rusty bedstead is slowly engulfed by grass. This man-made basin, used to grind barley, can be seen on the top of a rock in the graveyard. Above: Stone walls once formed small enclosures in the area between the houses and the church. Right: Half a mile of moorland lies between Riasg Buidhe and the scattering of houses at Scalasaig. Glassard, where the villagers relocated in the early 1920s, lies at the foot of the hill. Photographs taken by the author, Roger Butler. Tragic Visitation Today, the row of empty houses is reminiscent of the village street on St Kilda and the writer, Alasdair Alpin MacGregor, thought the ruins looked like the result of some tragic visitation. Eight single-storey dwellings survive and one or two still retain traces of high-level slots which supported wooden crucks. Early photographs show thatched roofs on the row of the houses which formed the main ‘street’. This sloped gently eastwards in the direction of the sea and other pictures, taken in front of some of the properties, reveal whitewashed walls, small windows and well-used panniers. Barefoot children stand outside a doorway and washing hangs near two detached buildings at the west end of the village. The pictures show that the thatch had deteriorated and a later photo (taken after the move to Glassard) reveals that the two cottages furthest from the sea had been refurbished with roofs of tarred felt, while the rest of the terrace now stood empty and roofless. The houses are known to have had earthen floors and one of the two basic rooms would have contained simple beds, while loft spaces were often spread with bracken or twigs to make sleeping quarters for children. Pioneered Improvements The two cottages with felt roofs now stand proud from the rest of the row and retain chimney-breasts that appear to have been added after they were built. However, not everyone seems to have taken to the new-fangled chimneys. In 1829, Baron Teignmouth reported that the laird of Colonsay had pioneered improvements to the island’s housing stock, but found it was easier to build chimneys than to get tenants to use them - even with the incentive of rent allowances. The ruins seem to date from around the start of the 19th Century, though it is known a small farm was already established in the vicinity. The population of the village Uninscribed Gravestones Riasg Buidhe includes the remains of a chapel, which may indicate that an earlier settlement pre-dates the row of houses. A number of uninscribed gravestones lie within or near the boundary of a crumbling enclosure. A distinct round basin, cut into a rock in the graveyard, would have been used to grind barley and the remains of a well can also be seen to the south of the old chapel. The windswept larch tree next to the chapel is now showing its age. The most remarkable remnant from Riasg Buidhe is the distinctive 7th or 8th century carved cross which was relocated from the old burial ground to St Oran’s Well, within the policies of Colonsay House, sometime in the 1870s. This stood almost four feet high, though ten inches were broken off when it was moved. A mystical sloth-like Safe-keeping In 1974, a small cross was discovered in the wall of an old out-house. This appeared to be part of an old flagstone and its slightly irregular shape, which was pecked rather than carved, led some historians to consider it may have been of relatively recent origin. Nevertheless, it was taken to the National Museum in Edinburgh for safe-keeping. Today, the ruined village would be the perfect setting for a children’s adventure story. But what happened to the islanders who moved over the moor towards Scalasaig? The first of their four semi-detached houses was ready by 1922 and, nearly a century later, descendants from those families at Riasg Buidhe still live at Glassard. 18 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER MAY / JUNE 2017 MAY / JUNE 2017 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER 19
Hideaways in the Outer Hebrides Hideaways in the Outer Hebrides ‘An adventure it was indeed and a privilege to get a sense of the sheer distinctiveness of all the islands ...’ Hideaways in the Outer Hebrides Kenneth Steven plotted a journey to include them It was Kristina who gave me the idea, because she had never been to any of the Outer Hebridean islands before. We live on Seil, which is best described as a semidetached island with its Bridge over the Atlantic. The best of both worlds: the romantic notion of an island with the practicality of easy access to the mainland. We have pottered about the other islands close to us, and been on holidays to Coll, Colonsay and Iona. But it was Kristina who reminded me last year that we had never yet been to the Outer Isles, and the beginnings of a plot began to form in my mind. She is the photographer: I am the writer. And what I realised was that we could travel the length of the Outer Hebridean chain - that curling tail of islands - telling the story of the journey in words and pictures. We would begin at the bottom and work our way north: that made sense because our home-island is only half an hour from Oban and we could get one of the Hopscotch ferry tickets that greatly reduces the price of the combined ferry journeys. All we would have to do was pray for good weather, for I had plumped for March to stay at our special hideaway locations. Early Childhood I visited corners of the Outer Isles with my parents in early childhood and had memories of huge gusting skies, black and white flurries of sheepdogs, Gaelic phrases taught by crofters and endless beaches. But we had gone in the summer, when the promise of blue sky was almost always there. The crossing to Barra was gentle enough, and many are the stories of appalling experiences getting over the infamous Minch. We had fine views of Rum and Eigg and the legendary Ardnamurchan beaches, as we left the mainland and Mull further and further behind. It’s somehow wonderful to think you have to plough a whole five hours west to these outer isles, for the CalMac ferries fairly storm their way across once out into open water. We arrived in Barra much later than scheduled to be welcomed warmly at the Castlebay Hotel. There was Kismul Castle, little more than itself and its rock, right out in the bay before us when we opened our curtains the next morning. There were tempting hints of scimitars of beaches too on Vatersay, but we knew the forecast was warning of gales and we did not want to risk missing the Eriskay ferry. Still, Calm Channel Kristina had sufficient time to capture a few quick images of the vast strand that serves as the island’s airfield, boasting the only scheduled flights landing on a tidal beach in the world, before speeding the last mile of bumps and bends to begin the crossing of the still, calm channel between the islands. As soon as we had begun navigating the steep Eriskay road there were ponies, at one point half a dozen wandering without a care in the world from one side to the other. Barra, Eriskay and South Uist are all strongly Catholic islands (in stark contrast to the strictly Presbyterian Harris and Lewis). There were sudden glimpses of little shrines, and once we had crossed the short causeway to South Uist we visited a much larger Catholic church only yards from the main road. This was Bonnie Prince Charlie’s first stop in Scotland - deliberate indeed his landing in what was and remains such staunchly Catholic country. Appropriate too that South Uist should have been the birthplace of Flora MacDonald, who disguised the Prince as a maid and rescued him from the clutches of the Hanoverians after Culloden. 20 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER MAY / JUNE 2017 MAY / JUNE 2017 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER 21
Page 1 and 2: SCOTTISH ISLANDS THE UK’S ONLY MA
Page 3 and 4: Editor’s Welcome / Guest Columnis
Page 5 and 6: Five Weeks on the Monachs Five Week
Page 7 and 8: Bute has Four A-rated Attributes MI
Page 9: Colonsay’s Ruined Village Colonsa
Page 13 and 14: Page READERS’ Index Header OPPORT
Page 15 and 16: Machair Machair Unfortunately, the
Page 17 and 18: A Quiet, Natural History A Quiet, N
Page 19 and 20: The Flying Duchess The Flying Duche
Page 21 and 22: Skye Excites the Emotions Skye Exci
Page 23 and 24: Fibre Optic Broadband Fibre Optic B
Page 25 and 26: RESPONSES Responses CROSSWORD Page
Page 27: ISLAND AND WILDLIFE CRUISES OFF SCO

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