This is the first book ever to be written on the collective history of the little group of islands between Ardnamurchan and Skye. As some of the best known Hebridean islands, Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck have a long and varied history, but are also amongst the least documented. Rum was the playground of the Macruari kings of the Northern Hebrides; Eigg was the island meeting point where their descendants conceded primacy to the Islay Macdonalds, while Muck and Canna were the property of Iona, spiritual nerve centre of the west. With reference to both the extensive material remains on the islands and rare original source material, this book is a dynamic and wideranging account of the Small Isles and their history.
A guidebook to 15 day walks and 1 multi-day trek on the Isles of Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna, Coll and Tiree. Exploring the beautiful scenery of the Western Isles, the routes are suitable for walkers of all abilities. The day walks range in length from 9 to 27km (5–17 miles) and include a challenging round of Rum Cuillin. A 3-day trek around the coast of Rum covering 40km (25 miles) is also described. 1:50,000 OS maps included for each walk Detailed information on public transport to and around the islands Highlights include an ascent of An Sgurr Information included on local history, geology and wildlife
Some ten thousand years ago, hunter-gatherers moving through a landscape newly emerged from the grip of the last Ice Age reached four islands on the western seaboard. The shores they landed on were deserted. After making camp, they struck out to hunt and explore. We know this because the evidence of their presence has been preserved down the millennia - in traces of flint and quartz, in charred fragments of grain and animal bone, in great heaped piles of ancient shellfish. The islands were Rum, Eigg, Canna and Muck - four distinctive shapes rising from the waters of the Inner Hebrides between Ardnamurchan and Skye. Collectively, they are known as the Small Isles.From those first moments on, people have been working these islands and using their resources, adapting each landscape to suit the changing needs of the communities they served. In this definitive new book, archaeologist John Hunter searches for the stories of the Small Isles in the evidence that survives - from the fragmentary physical remains of dwellings, defences, places of worship and monuments, to the records of early antiquarians, historians and travellers.This is a journey to rediscover communities that were erased by the mass migrations of the nineteenth century, and the rise of the Victorian sporting estate. Within a few generations cultural identity on the islands disappeared and a new order developed. Placenames were changed, buildings and structures abandoned, and traditions forgotten. The Small Isles became islands without memories.This comprehensive guide - illustrated with a wealth of photographs, maps and drawings - takes readers on a tour of both place and time. Crisscrossing the landscapes of four fascinating and evocative islands, it reveals traces of a forgotten past in everything that has been left behind.
Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends. In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.
The Rough Guide Snapshot Skye and the Small Isles is the ultimate travel guide to this sublimely beautiful part of Scotland. It guides you through the region with reliable information and comprehensive coverage of all the sights and attractions, from the dramatic Cuillin hills to opulent Kinloch Castle. Detailed maps and up-to-date listings pinpoint the best cafés, restaurants, hotels, shops, pubs and bars, ensuring you have the best trip possible, whether passing through, staying for the weekend or longer. Also included is the Basics section from the Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands, with all the practical information you need for travelling in and around this beautiful region of Scotland, including transport, food, drink, costs, health, festivals and outdoor activities. Full coverage: Skye, Isle of Raasay, Rùm, Eigg, Muck and Canna. (Equivalent printed page extent 56 pages).
In 1937, Adam Nicolson's father answered a newspaper ad—"Uninhabited islands for sale. Outer Hebrides, 600 acres. . . . Puffins and seals. Apply."—and thus found the Shiants. With a name meaning "holy or enchanted islands," the Shiants for millennia were a haven for those seeking solitude, but their rich, sometimes violent history of human habitation includes much more. When he was twenty-one, Nicolson inherited this almost indescribably beautiful property: a landscape, soaked in centuries-old tales of restless ghosts and Bronze Age gold, that cradles the heritage of a once-vibrant world of farmers and fishermen. In Sea Room, Nicolson describes and relives his love affair with the three tiny islands and their strange and colorful history in passionate, keenly precise prose—sharing with us the greatest gift an island bestows on its inhabitants: a deep engagement with the natural world.
Walk, scramble, cycle, wade or even swim around the outer edge of our wildest islands. Islandeering provides all the information you need to circumnavigate 50 amazing hidden islands off the shores of England, Scotland & Wales. From Essex, Somerset and Cornwall to Pembrokeshire, Northumberland and the Hebrides; follow wild foreshores and remote coast paths. Complete each journey to discover a magical archipelago world. 50 islands to bag, with routes from easy to difficult and detailed directions with GPX downloads. Beautiful photography and maps. Hidden islands for the best wildlife, local food, swimming, wild camping, secret beaches, coasteering, legends and foraging. Engaging writing charting historical, geographical and wildlife highlights. Tips for coasteering, scrambling, camping, wild swimming and kayaking.
Before New York Times bestselling author Bill Bryson wrote The Road to Little Dribbling, he took this delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation of Great Britain, which has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie’s Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey.
The Fortress of Glass by David Drake is the first in the Crown of the Isles trilogy, which will conclude the epic Lord of the Isles series. A true trilogy, the action extends over the whole three-book arc. The Fortress of Glass begins the story of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally brought into being by the group of heroes and heroines who have been central to all the books in the series. The group includes Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, his consort Liane, his sister Sharina, her herculean sweetheart Cashel, his sister Ilna, with her adopted child Merota and piratical Chalcus. On giant triremes filled with soldiers and diplomats, they journey to the small kingdoms of the Isles to confirm the succession of Garric and to subdue, if necessary, any local rulers too fond of their own kingship to pledge fealty to Garric. All this is being done in a time when the powers of magic in the Isles have flooded to a thousand-year peak, and even local magicians can perform powerful spells normally beyond their control. Fantastic forces from all angles try to keep them apart and unable to continue the reunification of the Isles. So separately and together, they must fight their way back to the same time and place to combat the mysterious and supernatural menace of The Green Woman in her Fortress of Glass. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
From the abandoned crofts of Mingulay to the standing stones of Orkney, from the white beaches of Colonsay to the spectacular Cuillins of Skye, this is the first complete gazetteer to cover all of Scotland's many hundreds of islands, including both those which are uninhabited and those which are notoriously difficult to reach. Packed with information on access, anchorages, points of historical or natural interest, and things to see and do, this fascinating compendium provides indispensable information for touring, for browsing, for reference, and for all those travellers who wish to sail to some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world. No other book can begin to emulate the range and depth of the information contained in The Scottish Islands. This is an impressive work of reference, providing a fascinating personal view of Scotland's distant outposts. Guide, history, travelogue - it is essential reading for all who love Scotland.
