Tuesday 7 October 2014

'Modern Primitives'


Norman John Gillies (1925 - 2013) was the last male to be born on St Kilda. He barely recalled being there - unlike these men and women (below) whose daily life centred on the simple demands of survival. They were the focus of attention for tourists who came in the summer months.


Some rare photographs taken by Professor Thomas Patterson (1872 - 1949) while on a day-trip to Hirta in the late 1920s are presented in the blog of Keir Harper. He includes from the University of Glasgow Archives a gallery of images of a group of people referred to as 'modern primitives' by the visitors, who were quite unaware that within a short time the island would be evacuated at the request of the residents. The process started at 08.00 on Friday 29 August 1930.


Scottish Islands Explorer - All words and images have been archived

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