Figure 1.-- The photo was taken in Saint Kilda archipelago, probably in 1907. The photo shows how the people, mainly the children but also the adults, went barefoot even in cold weather. That was due to poverty, but also to an habit of enduring cold, which led them to preserve the few footwear for the snowy days. Leather would hve been a scarce commodity.

The Saint Kilda Archipelago is an outlier. The many islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides are clustered close togetherr. St Kilda in contarst is located far from the others island well out in the storm-tossed Nirth Atlantic. It juts out of the North Atlantic with towering cliffs providung safe nesting areas for countless seabirds. There are different species, primarily fulmars, gannets, and puffins. Therevis even a unique specues of wren. St. Kilda now has Britain's largest colony of Atlantic puffins. St. Kilda was settled several millenia after the other islands. The birds are what attracted people to St. Kilda. It was settled several millenia after the other islands (about 2000 BC). People survived on this this isolated island, developing an economy based on the birds: providing food, feathers and oil. There appears to have been a Norse interaction, alyhough there is no record. The first known written record describes it as being at the edge of the world (14th century). For an island bearing a sants name, Druidis, seem more pronouncd than Christianity and there was no school. Actually ther is no Saint Kilda. The nanme seems to b a miunderstanding of a Norse nme on a Dutch chart name. (The Norse and Dutch were active in the North Atlantic and the Dutch unkike the Norse chartered the waters.) Life on the island did not changee for centuries. Visiting ships caused outbreaks of small pox and cholera (18th century). [Haswell-Smith] Real change began (19th century). Some 42 islanders, a substantial part of the population, many died en route. It was part of a program funded by the Highland and Island Emigration Society. Church of Scotland ministers improved comditions. A rather intolerant pastor, Rev John Mackay, however, disrupted the islander's tranquil lives. After 4,000 years World War I (1914-18) would bring human habitation to an end. The Royal Navy erected a signal station on Hirta (the largest island) (1915). We are anot sure what the purpse was, but this meant that for the first time there was daily communications with the mainland. This eventually attracted a German U-boat (May 1918). Late in the war, a German submarine surfaced in Village Bay (1918). Rather chivalrously, the U-boat captain issued a warning and yhen bergan shelling. The main target was the wireless station which was destroyed along with the church, but there was no effort to destoy the closely clustered houses. There was only a single casualty, a lamb. [Steel] The Royal Navy response was to place a Mark II QF gun on a promontory overlooking Village Bay. It was never fired except for practive. The Germans never returnd and a few months later the War was over. The impzct on the islanders was huge. The Royal Navy personnel acquinted the islanders with some of the niceities of modern life and the monied economy. Apparently after the War, the small population decided to seek economic opportunities on the mainland. Many of the young men lft. The remaining 36 islanders voted to leave, deciding that fiur millennia-long way of life was no longer sustainable. The islabd was evacuated (1930). The island was not used in Wotkd War II, but a few planes crash landed there. It continues to be unihabited, excpt for occassionl visitors who mostly come to admire the birds and a few civilians working for the militaruy.

Sources

Haswell-Smith, Hamish. The Scottish Islands (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2004.

Steel, Tom. The Life and Death of St. Kilda (London: Fontana, 1988). Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004) The Scottish Islands, Edinburgh, Canongate

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Created: 10:44 PM 1/10/2022
Last updated: 10:44 PM 1/10/2022