The Western Isles have been inhabited for over 6000 years. The Vikings invaded in the 9th century and today many place names are of Norse origin. Gaelic and English are both spoken. The Isle of Lewis and The Isle of Harris still retain some of their history and culture going back over 6000 years. The history of the Islands covers quite a bit of hardship over the times, when the islanders have fought with great determination to carve out their future. Historically Lewis and Harris have gone their separate ways, despite the existence of the common clan surname Macleod. - however today they are more united.
Callanish Stones
One of the things that The Western Isles are famous for - is the Callanish Stones - a worthy rival to Stonehenge - in fact these stones are older than Stonehenge. In these ancient stones there is much pre history It would appear from these that The Western Isles had a settled society long before the Norsemen sailed to the Islands. The Standing Stones were old when even Rome wasn't even heard of.
Calanais comprises a late Neolithic stone ring and associated lines of standing stones.. Callanish has three sets of stone circles all within a few miles of each other - the main being a ring of large stones about 12 metres in diameter encloses a huge monolith at its centre. Charcoal samples were taken in the 1980's and subjected to radio-carbon dating in America which showed that these stones were erected between 2900 and 2600BC. Up till the 80,s previous estimates of how old they were - were really only educated guesses.
Norse Settlements - 9th Century
Until the 9th century the Western Isles was regarded as part of what we now know to be Scotland. Across this time permanent Norse settlements were being formed in Lewis and indeed throughout the Hebrides. A race of people of mixed Norse & Celtic ancestry came into being.
The year 1066 - Important to The Isle of Lewis
Everyone associates 1066 with the battles of Stamford Bridge - The battle of Hastings - when the Normans conquered England but actually this date is very important to The Isle of Lewis and other Hebridean Islands. One of the Norse leaders Godfrey Crobhan escaped slaughter and made his way to The Isle of Man trying to control the island and indeed he succeeded - his kingdom extended from The Butt of Lewis to Dublin.
Godfrey Crobhan - vassal of the King of Norway - brought peace
Although he was a vassal for the king of Norway - he conveniently forgot this fact and behaved rather badly to the islanders. Meanwhile the King of Norway who heard about this sent over nobles to "take control" of the situation. One such noble was Ingemund who set up headquarters in The Isle of Lewis - however all he and his followers did was to plunder, fight and abuse the womenfolk - so when king Magnus of norway heard about this he set of with his men to reach Lewis and annihilated Ingemund. Godfrey Crobhan was expelled and the kings' son Sigurd took his place and peace and tranquility reigned for quite some while.
Fights for Ownership Raged on
Over the next hundred years or so many fights raged by several others to regain The isle of Lewis - descendants of Godfrey Crobhan - one being Somerled and Godfrey the Black who each laid their claims to Lewis. Somerled won and Godfrey returned to Norway defeated. Somerley was eventually murdered on Renfrew in 1164 and Godfrey then regained possession of Lewis once again
Alexander 11 of Scotland fought to own Lewis and Harris
Alexander 11 of Scotland also wanted to add Lewis to his kingdom and there were many fights between him and the Norwegians - ultimately the Norse king died in 1265 and the last of the race of Godfrey Crobhan passed away and Lewis became part of England.
Macleods - Tormod and Torquil
Over this period 700 years ago when Norway finally lost its hold on Lewis and indeed North West Scotland, there was a scramble for "The Isle of Lewis". Initially the Macleods grabbed "Lewis", "Harris" , "Raasay" and much of Skye and pars of the mainland coast - but then later two descendants Tormod and Torquil fought to slit it out.
Eventually Tormod held Skye and Harris, whilst Torquil had Lewis and Raasay. Although it is some 200 years or more since the Tormod Macleods sold Harris and nearly 400 years since Torquil Macleods lost Lewis the Macleods presence can still be seen especially in the surnames which prevail today.
Lewis ceded to the Scots - Treaty of Perth
Lewis was ceded to the Scots in 1266 by the Treaty of Perth. Lots of the Norwegians then returned home and many islanders who had left Lewis - then returned back to the island.
Villages - Still have Norse Names
Many of the villages on Lewis have still retained the Norse names - Grimersta, Swainbost, Grimshader and many Lewis people have fair hair and blue eyes of their Norse ancestors.
Many fights for ownership over the next 700 years
Apart from the descendant of the Norsemen - by far the main body of the rest of the Islanders is composed of Celtic stock, most of whom spoke and indeed many still speak Gaelic. There were over the years fights between the Macleods and the Morisons. The Brieves were revered for quite a period. There was also the Clan MacAulay - who occupied for a time - the area of Uig. There was the Macdonalds and the Macleans
16th Century - Roderic - against the King
In the sixteenth century the "Long Island" (as the Western Isles are known) had to endure great disorder. Roderic - who was almost the last of the Macleods - was ruling. There was a royal expedition in 1540 - the king trying to collect taxes which the Macleods owed and in an endeavour to gain a foothold in Lewis - they did actually take Stornoway Castle - but the hostile islanders serving under Rodreic's sons - won and the fight was abandoned. They did try again a few years later - to no avail.
The Blachouses in Lewis - Western Isles
The blackouses were lived in on the islands right up until the 1960's - these were dwellings which houses both animals and humans. There was no chimney and a peat fire was lit at all times in the centre of the kitchen and living area. It was in the early 1900's that laws were enforced which meant that animals had to be housed separately - this resulted in a new type of houses named "whitehouses"
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Dun Carloway Broch
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The Iron Age Broch at Carloway in The Western Isles a stunning example of a broch. The broch was a structure built as a means of defence. The Carloway broch was probably built for either a tribal leader or at least for a really important member of the community. It was built with two concentric drystone walls. It isn't know exactly how long the Carloway Broch was in use, however it is known that it was in use in the 1500's.
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The Herring Girls of Stornoway
Part of The Islands history envelopes and centres around the fishing industry which over the years has been of great importance. The Herring Girls played a major role in the fishing industry. The girls were really "hardy" and have contributed greatly to The Islands history
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The Harris Tweed Industry
The Harris Tweed industry has always played an important role in the islands culture, industry and history. By its legal definition - the cloth must be woven on the islands. For centuries the islanders of Lewis,and Harris have woven the cloth the world knows as Harris Tweed, Clo Mhor or in Gaelic - 'The big cloth'.
The raw material, wool, being produced locally and part of it would have been used in its natural uncoloured state, the rest is dyed. When much of mainland Scotland turned to mechanisation of the cloth" industry - The Isle of Harris - (and Lewis) retained the traditional methods of creating this luxury cloth.
Today however machine-spinning and vat dyeing have been slowly trying to replace the hand methods. Recently extensive renovation and investment has taken place in the Mill at Shawbost , Lewis and the industry lives on.
The luxurious fabric from the Outer Hebrides has proved popular with leading British fashion designers over the past 20 years, including Vivienne Westwood, and is worn by celebrities such as Madonna and Gywneth Paltrow.
Harris Tweed
A weaver who lives and works at Luskentyre - Donald John MacKay, in 2011 was given the MBE for services to the Harris Tweed Industry. Nike had been looking for a way to uodate their trainers and after seeing swatches of the Harris Tweed ordered immediately and many of the Islands weavers were put to work, to help meet the demand. Mr Mackay has been weaving for over forty years. Over the past 21 years, he and his wife Maureen have been independently producing the tweed, trading under the name Luskentyre Harris Tweed.
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Mealista a long time ago - Ancient Mountain Range - as High as The Himalayas - Ice Melts
The rocks of the hiils and the shore at Mealista were once part of a very ancient mountain range once as high as the Himalayas. They have been eroded by time, and more recently ground smooth by vast sheets of ice. This created the magnificent scenery at Mealista. As the ice melted, it left thin soil, humps and hollows, and locjs. The sea level rose and created islands, beaches and sea inlets.
People arraive three and a half thousand years ago
People arrived more than three and a half thousand years ago, tilled the land, fished in the seas. The wind blew sand from the beaches to produce the lime rich "machair", good for the crops and wildflowers. The cooler w eather encouraged peat to grow on the upper slopes and this buried some good soil, but provided fueld for fires. The people built houses out of stone and cut the meagre suppy of timber for roofs and tools.
Then the Vikings settled at Mealista!
By two thousand years ago dwindling land resources,squabbles over land ownership and raids by pirates, meant a more precarious existence. Local stories tell of underground passages here, possibly used as secret stores or hiding places. Later fierce raiders from the North, the Vikings came and carried off slaves. Later some of the Norsemen returned to settle. They stayed for a few hundred years and intermarried, so in one respecy they never left, for their genes still persist in the local population and all the local place names are Norse.
Townships - but landlords evicted the people in favour of farms
There are a number of traceable townships. One is to be found at Village Bay where the clustered ruins (now partly a sheep fank) are of houses of the seventeenth century or earlier. The sad ruins, mainly beyond the large farm stonewall, were the houses of the last inhabitants who left, involuntarily , in 1838. The “feannagan” or lazybeds, which cover the slopes, are testimony to their struggle to survive. All trhese were dug by hand and planted with oats, barley and potatoes. The landlord wanted their township as a farm, and shepherds from Kintail were given the tack. The people, so cruelly evicted, had to move, some to Ness, others to Canada & Australia.
Folklore - Fact or Fiction - Nuns - Infants born on Mealista
There is a strong tradition of a nunnery at Mealastadh, Taih nan Cailleachen Dubha (House of the old Black Women, or nuns). So far no one has been succesful in finding records of its existence or exact whereabouts. There is a small early church and graveyard close to the sea. Mysterious lights are said to appear on the sae, and one disappeared forever in 1932, when four local fishermen were tragically drowned. Another story tells that any infant born on Mealastadh Island would not be of “sound mind”.
Recent Ruins Remain at Mealista
The most recent ruins seen here are the remnants of the military operations that took place from 1941 – 1946. Two ir three hundred men were stationed at Mealista and Brenais, to operate wireless and radart installations. There was a cinema, a bar, regular dances, but when the war was over, they all left. Mealista was once again a place of peace and tranquility, with just the memories and traces of the people of the past. Just the remains of the peoples stone & turf blackhouses stay to remind of others who lived and loved this place. It was their treasured home, until they were unwillingly forced out.
Many of you may not have heard or read about St Kilda, to really understand what you are seeing on the island, I think you really need to have read at least a few articles on the amazing history of the islands and the past residents.
This group of islands are all that remains above the sea of a large volcano thought to have been active 60 million years ago. The underlying rocks which are granite, gabbro and dolerite, have been eroded by ice, rain and sea to form an impressive coastline of the four main islands and offshore stacs. Stac an Armin, being 191 metres is the highest sea stac in the British Isles
In brief to summarise, St Kilda is a group of islands, though most people when quoting St Kilda, really mean the largest island where the actual village was, that called Hirta. Hirta was occupied for many thousands of years by various residents and there were many traditions handed down the generations, traditions influenced by monks, viking sailors, medieval rulers and landowners.
In later times though there were actually very few residents left and in 1930 the very last remaining villages asked the government to evacuate them to the mainland as life there was no longer sustainable. By this time there were only 30 residents left. It was a very sad occasion when they left the St Kilda village behind.
What remains there now are the ruins of both their original houses, mainly blackhouse type houses, alongside slightly newer houses which had been built for them in the later years. The layout of the 19th-century village remains to this day, and over 1,400 stone-built Cleit for storing food and fuel are scattered all over the islands, and even on the sea stacs
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The Military Gun - 4 inch Mark 111 QF gun
erected in World War 1
after a German Submarine shelled the island
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The Village Street at St Kilda - Hirta |
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The Village with the Cleits Behind |
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Seatrek approaches Boreray and Stac Armin |
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The amazing Stac Lee - St Kilda |
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Gannet Flying Over Stac Lee - St Kilda
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