Farays Apart

If these sheep on Eday, Orkney, look seaward, they will see an island that is named after them, Faray. It's pronounced 'fairy' and comes from the Old Norse - faerey - meaning 'sheep island'. To confuse matters, the island is sometimes spelt Pharay and often is referred to as North Pharay or North Faray. This is to differentiate it from South Pharay or Faray some miles to the south in Scapa Flow. The population of North Faray was 82 in the Census of 1861 and then fell rapidly to eight families by the late 1930s. After the War and following the severe Winter of '47 it was down to two families and desertion was imminent. A detailed account is available in an issue of  The Orcadian. South Faray maintained a permanent, albeit small, population until the 1960s.

Scottish Islands Explorer - looking over islands

Dreams and Schemes

This puffin is pictured on that most remote of islands, North Rona. In 1844 the islet's owner, Sir James Matheson, wished to present it to the British Government as a place for penal servitude. His offer was not taken up. Lord Leverhulme had his early 20th Century schemes for regenerating the Isle of Lewis. After the Second World War, Gavin Maxwell set up what became a short-lived shark fishing station on Soay, south of Skye. There is a tradition of people with notions and projects wanting to bring new life to isolated communities. Is there a case for a Scottish Redundant Islands Trust to take into care the abandoned and deserted?  The person below is on North Rona, perhaps pondering its future.

Scottish Islands Explorer - identifying island interests

Now Few in a Pew

On the exposed coast of Skiall Bay is St Peter's Kirk, Sandwick, Orkney. It is in the vicinity of Skara Brae and provides insights into its own era of history. It was built in 1836 to serve a more densely-populated area. In 1998 it was taken over by the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust and within five years was restored to its original. The pulpit, of gallery height, towers over the pews. These, in the kirk's heyday, could accommodate a congregation of 500, but this provided only 18" of space per person. Perhaps it's as well that numbers have declined.

Scottish Islands Explorer - still room for more readers

Active at Ardvourlie

Close to the point where Loch Seaforth comes between Lewis and Harris are two features that attract attention. One is the newly-built stretch of road that makes cornering a pleasure. The other is the recently-refurbished building (photograph above) at Ardvourlie on the right-hand-side travelling south. It stands apart, looks impressive and offers all sorts of activities, both wet and dry, for people of all ages. The LHYCA needs looking into and the internet offers just that.

Scottish Islands Explorer - take a look

Change of Lifestyle?

The appeal of space, size and style - perhaps a complete change of lifestyle - is yours or mine for what is now a relatively modest sum - £150k. It's a 20-acre smallholding on Egilsay, an Orkney island that has a long history, a fine setting and a regular ferry service. This property certainly has something about it - indeed plenty to offer - from a smallholding-to-cultivate, a remote-office-hub to create and on to a place in which to settle, with a horse, of course!

 

Scottish Islands Explorer - presenting something different.

Walking on Water

There's safety in numbers - and even more security by first finding out about the tides - when walking across to Vallay on the north shores of North Uist. This tidal island was purchased by Erskine Beveridge in 1901 and money was lavished on what was then a state-of-the-art house, with central heating and 365 panes of glass to give all-around-views. Beveridge had inherited his father's successful linen-producing company in Dunfermline, but is now remembered as an enthusiastic antiquarian, historian and photographer who died in 1920. His son, George, inherited and lived in the house, but, perhaps, loneliness and drink affected his lifestyle and sense of judgement - for he made a fatal error when rowing home in November 1944 and drowned. The house is now a ruin that is visible from a great way off.

Scottish Islands Explorer - cares about getting to islands

Consider a Miniature

Arran has been described as 'Scotland in miniature' because of the varieties of landscape within this Firth of Clyde island of 167 square-miles. It has its 'Highland' and 'Lowland' areas divided by the Highland Boundary Fault that traverses Scotland from north-east to south-west. The geological and historical elements of the island attract much attention, but its linguistic traditions are now just preserved in written form. Gaelic, in a variation particularly influenced by Old Irish, was widely spoken here at the beginning of the 20th Century. However, by the 1990s the last of the native speakers died. The local newspaper, The Arran Banner, claims the highest saturation of readership in the UK - by some 97% of residents.

Scottish Islands Explorer - aiming for a high saturation of readers

A Far From Deserted Island

Kirsty Young presents the Desert Island Discs programme to all parts of the UK, including its deserted islands. The Portree-based Cuillin FM covers the whole of Skye and Lochalsh within its range. Skye is far from devoid of people and its population has recently risen, bucking the trend. Many people - including residents, visitors, observers and listeners - will be participating in the forthcoming Atlas Arts event on the second Saturday of September. More information about this sound and spectacular occasion will be broadcast here.

Scottish Islands Explorer - making waves

The Pull of a Place

Here's a small image of a very small school. It's on Sanday and also serves the community of Canna that's just across a nearby footbridge. The pupils can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The place does have a pull, quite literally. Compass Hill, at the north-eastern corner of the island, has a sufficiently high iron content to distort the compasses of passing ships.

Scottish Islands Explorer - has some attractions, too

Home for a Gnome?

On Hoy, Orkney, there's a Neolithic burial chamber that's called Dwarfie's Stane. It was, allegedly, the home of a troll. However, other legends indicated that it was contested between a giant with a large wife and a rival man of gargantuan dimensions. It is considered to have been a rock deposited by a glacier and then worked on by Early Man. The interior has been hewn by hand and is the only example of a rock-cut tomb in Britain It's worth a traipse across the moor.

Scottish Islands Explorer - for people of all dimensions and temperaments