Ten days on Zuza to St Kilda - 11th June - we go ashore in Village Bay

 

We had had a good night anchored just off shore in Village Bay on Hirta,  St Kilda's main island. When we woke up the sky was clear and the visibility good and I felt very proud of being able to make a panorama of the shore from the slightly rolling boat. There was one other small yacht tied up in the bay.

The other yacht in the bay with Stac Levenish in the background

In the panorama, if you enlarge the picture, you can see the bay, the sandy shore, with the military buildings at the front of the shoreline, the old village spread out some way behind and then a jumble of walls and stones going off into the distance.

However by the time we had had breakfast and got out in the dinghy to go on land a fog had descended limiting our views of the hills. It seemed good though to explore in the conditions that must prevail on St Kilda most of the time!

As we climbed the jetty I noticed some kelp in the water that looked just like a fish skeleton.

St Kilda had been inhabited by man since the Bronze Age up to 1930 when the last of the inhabitants were evacuated to mainland Scotland. These were the vestiges of a people who had lived for centuries through hardship and companionship, only for the 20th century to destroy their way of life.

St Kilda had, until 1931 been owned by the Clan McCleod of Skye and the factor and his retinue would come a couple of times a year to collect rent, which up until recent times was paid in kind. In 1697 the population was 180, but had fallen to 100 by 1800 after smallpox and cholera pared their numbers. During this time some people came to the island from Harris to replenish the population and to stop inbreeding, but by 1930 only 36 people were left to evacuate.

The people of St Kilda farmed the meagre soil and kept sheep and a few cows, but their main source of food came from scaling the tortuous cliffs for birds and bird eggs which they preserved with salt, if they had any, or by simply attempting to air dry the flesh in the moist atmosphere. All over St Kilda are stone hutches called cleats (plural cleatean), over 1000 of them, used for storage. They were very careful about how many eggs and birds they took to preserve the populations. The rents to their landlord were paid in feathers and bird oil and in exchange the factor would bring salt, alcohol, other necessaries and occasionally a boat as the islands have no trees. The islanders did everything communally and divided possessions according to need. The men would meet every morning and decide mutually what needed doing during the day and settle any issues. If nothing needed doing they just talked! The women tended to do the strenuous jobs of agriculture, cutting and drying turf for fuel and looking after the animals, as well as the domestic chores, while the men's main job was the collection of eggs and birds for which they were trained from a young age. The occasional boat would call in but it was not until the 19th century that the tourist trade started and their way of life changed.

The St Kildan's had little to do with Christian religion until 1822 when a Rev John McDonald arrived. He preached to his congregation and, worried about their condition, raised money to help them from the mainland. He was replaced in 1830 by the Rev Neil McMackenzie who did a great deal of good, rebuilding the village and building a church and manse as well as bringing formal education to Hirta.

In 1843, as many of the island and highlanders did, the St Kildan's decided they wanted to join the recently formed Free Church of Scotland. The laird John McLeod locked them out of the island church as a punishment. In the arguments that followed 36 islanders emigrated to Australia. McCleod realising his mistake reopened the church and the 'Wee Free' became the established denomination. Unfortunately in 1865, the Rev John McMackay arrived. He was a zealot who introduced strict rules of behaviour and banned the making of music and singing on the island and even stopping the children playing games.

Steamers started to bring tourists to visit the islanders whom they regarded as curiosities. The St Kildans sold them eggs and tweed and their economy changed from barter to cash. In earlier times the women spun and wove but as soon as money was to be made the men took over the weaving!

Then, at the end of the 19th century, a strange infantile tetany came to the island which meant that 80% of newborns died.  A nurse was brought in who improved the standards of hygiene in childbirth and curbed this shocking loss. In 1899 the postal service started operating on St Kilda which improved their communications with the outside world, although still dependent on the weather.

During the First World War a Naval base was established on St Kilda but they left after the war. By 1920 the population was down to 73 with only 15 men capable of foraging for birds and eggs. Many of those men then left to seek employment elsewhere. In 1926 four men died from influenza. There was a succession of crop failures and in January 1930 a young woman, Mary Gillies, died from appendicitis after being shipped out from Hirta. The population was down to 36 and the postal service announced its withdrawal from the island following a dispute over money with the trawler men, who delivered the mail. The remaining islanders, struggling to survive, asked the government to relocate them.

On 29th August 1930 the 'Harebell' took the last of the St Kildans to the Scottish mainland. In their houses each family left a bible and a small pile of oats. They landed in Lochaline and the community was split up, being giving accommodation in different areas of Scotland. New employment was also found for the remaining men, ironically many of the jobs being in forestry.

In 1931 the islands were bought by the Marquess of Bute and used as a bird sanctuary and on his death in 1956 the ownership was given to the National Trust for Scotland who are now the custodians.

No 1 Main Street, home to Norman MacKinnon, his wife and 8 children.

It was knowing this background of St Kildan life that we walked from the jetty to the first house on the island. Modernised and painted white the manse has now been restored and is used by the National Trust to house the warden, and we were greeted when we arrived, given brief background information and some leaflets about St Kilda. There is also ia board showing recent bird sightings.

From here we walked up to the old village. Before 1861 there had been a random collection of stone blackhouses, but a hurricane in 1860 had torn many of the roofs from them. In 1861 sixteen craftsmen came from Dunvegan and built new houses to a standard design, linearly along what was now called "Main Street", reusing stone from the old houses Most of the inhabitants moved into these. After the evacuation these houses decayed as well but the National Trust has been restoring some to be used as accommodation for volunteers and people investigating the islands' wildlife and archaeology.

The fog was still lingering over the village and blanketing the higher ground beyond although by lunchtime it had started to break up. I took lots of pictures of the houses, many of which have plaques on them telling who was living there at the time of the evacuation. The Soay sheep, which is a native breed to St Kilda, were grazing all round us.

Walking down on Main Street to the housing. The grey building in front of the factor's house is a modern bath and shower room for use of all on the island

The factors house, where he stayed when he came to collect rent. Rather more imposing than the rest

There is a small museum in one of the restored houses

No 3 Main Street, William and Mary MacDonald and their 9 surviving children left the island in 1824, leaving no 3 vacant

Roof stays are fixed to stop them blowing off in the storms

The churchyard is walled to keep the animals out. A snipe was nesting there when we visited and whirred up and away when we disturbed it

As we walked further south along Main Street the houses became more dishevelled and tumble down.

The standard design of the 'new 'houses. The original black houses would have been divided between humans and animals

In this picture you can see the round wall of a black house at right angles to the street

There were a few cleatean in the vicinity of the village but most were scattered up the hill behind us. Villagers would hide their supplies in the more remote ones when the factor came to hide their income and lessen their rent.

Lady Grange's cleat. She was the wife of a wealthy Edinburgh aristocrat who faked her funeral and hid her on St Kilda

It was coming up to lunchtime and we had reached the end of the village. We crossed a little stream. The sky was beginning to clear and we decided to walk up the military road to the top and eat our packed lunch.