Drift Bottle Record

This bottle drifting in the sea featured in an advertisement. A drift bottle dating from 1914 has been caught by a Shetland fisherman and his catch has been confirmed as a record. The details are here in Shetland News. In fishing terms, it's not something that long, but something that long ago?

Scottish Islands Explorer - catching up some years later

The Golgotha Factor

Something appeared at Hillock close to the Bight of Baywest (above) in Stronsay earlier this week. It was a human skull. The Orcadian reported it in a non-dramatic, somewhat deadpan way, indicating it was probably that of a resident from the Iron Age. The eerie aspect is that the monks of Papa Stronsay, who featured in the news a week ago, reside in the Golgotha Monastery, named after the small hill outside Jerusalem that was known as 'the place of the skull'.

Scottish Islands Explorer - delving into the past; featuring the present

Something New

Something interesting is always turning up on St Kilda. Earlier this summer, scientists announced the discovery of a new species of dandelion on Hirta. It is thought to have developed from seeds brought by birds or human voyagers from Iceland. It has been named Dandelion Taraxacum Pankhurstianum and its seeds were first collected for investigation about two years ago.

Scottish Islands Explorer - tries to come up with something new

Harvest Time

Mareel, the most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre in the UK, has opened in Lerwick, Shetland. It has been years in development and construction, but this is harvest-time for the energy and resources invested. The name mareel comes from the Old Norse for 'sea-fire' and refers to the sparkling, luminous light seen on the water at hairst or 'harvest', particularly under a harvest-moon.

Scottish Islands Explorer - extends congratulations

Quintessential Images

It's Bank Holiday Monday and so beach scenes should feature. Last week marked the 250th Friday Picture on the Islay Blog and the above photograph of Machair Bay featured. Another recent quintessential image was of Saligo Bay (below) from the same source. Enjoy the computer screen, for real life may not provide such pleasures.

Scottish Islands Explorer - a collector of coastal impressions

Papa for Pope

The number of Roman Catholic monks in Scotland has increased significantly this month with the admission of abut 15 members of a religious order based in the Orkney island of Papa Stronsay, off-shore from Stronsay. These are the majority, seeking full communion with Rome, within an estranged traditionalist group that has been in dialogue with the Vatican for four years. Details are in the current issue of the Catholic Herald.

Scottish Islands Explorer - not sure about such men wanting to be off-shore

Red Relics

Once upon a time, before mobile phones, public telephone boxes were in demand and sometimes provided much relief to those in distress. Now they are relics of bygone eras, except in remote places where landlines have not been supplemented by mobile coverage. The box above is in Lewis and this BBC website item is about Canna.

Scottish Islands Explorer - remains in contact

Shorn of Papa

This early 20th Century photograph of the Horn of Papa shows the complete geological phenomenon that featured on Papa Stour, Shetland, until its destruction in a storm of 1953. A hundred years before the population of the island had been well over 350, but by the mid-20th Century it had fallen to just over 50. Now it has declined further to only nine residents. A complete way of life - involving customs and dialect, crofting and fishing - has ended. A local folk song began 'Oot bewast da Horn o Papa' referred to fishermen going to the west beyond the Horn and its chorus was 'Rowin Foula doon!' - an allusion to rowing to a point where the high cliffs of the island of Foula (below) were no longer visible over the horizon. That meant getting to fishing grounds some 60 miles off-shore.

Scottish Islands Explorer - features and is read on both islands

AuroraWatch

Help is on its way for those wanting to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis in the UK. The University of Lancaster has a team of scientists behind AuroraWatch, which will assist people finding the best places to witness the Northern Lights. Look them up.

Scottish Islands Explorer - always looking out for items of interest

Little Has Great Appeal

The residents of Great Bernera are interested in a community buyout of their own island as well as of Little Berneray, close by and uninhabited. You can see why by looking above. In the past the island graveyard was highly regarded and much in demand, although its appeal diminished during the 20th Century.

Scottish Islands Explorer - continues to be demanded by the living