In 1830 people were busy cutting seaweed at Sgeir na Duchadh near Grimnis on the west coat of the island of Benbecula. One woman spotted a creature several yards out in the water. The creature looked like a woman in miniature. Alarmed she called to the others working on the shore who also saw this strange sight. Men went into the water to try to catch the creature but she evaded them. A boy aimed a rock at her which struck her on the back, she cried out in pain and disappeared beneath the waves.

A few days later a creature was washed up dead on the beach at Culle bay near the township of Nunton which lies a few miles north of this spot. The creature was said to have the upper shape of a well developed woman but was around the size of a 4 year old girl. She had long dark glossy hair and white skin, however her lower half was described as being ‘like a salmon’ but without the scales.

As the crowds gathered on the beach they all agreed that this was the body of a mermaid.

The factor for the chief of MacDonald of Clanranald who was also the local sherif was called. On seeing the creature he called for a shroud and coffin to be brought to the beach and the creature was layer into this and buried in the nearby churchyard. It was said that the funeral for this creature was one of the largest attended on the island and was carried out like any proper christian burial.

No grave marker related to the incident can be seen at the churchyard and others have said that the creature was buried near the dunes and not in the churchyard at all, in fact a recent survey of a large stone near the south end of the bay was carried out, suspecting that this may indeed be the resting lave of the mermaid but this was inconclusive.

Culla Bay, Benbecula

So what do you think? evidence of mermaids or another ‘fishy tale’ from the islands. Certainly mermaid stories like this do bring in the tourists who were beginning to find their way to the islands in the mid 19th century. Many other tales of mermaids exist on the islands. A crofter from Barra called Colin Campbell spotted what looked like an otter fishing near the shore, he was about to shoot it but decided to check it though a telescope only to see what he described as a woman carrying a small baby in her arms. the creature then spotted him on the shore and disappeared. Whatever the truth is they do make great stories.

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The Macniel’s flag flying high today at Kisimul Castle

Friday’s ceremony to celebrate finalising the Lease of Kisimul Castle to Historic Scotland is a milestone in Kisimul’s long history. It will enable my father’s dream of securing a viable future for Kisimul to be realised. Supported by my mother, his vision and determination through five years of negotiation of the lease with Historic Scotland, followed by a decade of persistance to ensure that Historic Scotland presented a viable Conservation Plan, laid the foundation for the finalisation of the Lease being celebrated today.

Many other people have contributed to the growing relationship between the MacNeils of Barra, Historic Scotland, the people of Barra and MacNeils around the world that had brought us to where we are today, at the dawn of a bright new future for Kisimul. At the head of the list is Ruth Parsons, former Chief Executive of Historic Scotland, who courageously re-engaged with my family, admitting mistakes that had been made in the past, and inspiring the team at Historic Scotland to provide the devoted and professional support that has been so much in evidence for the past five years.

Ian Walford, the current Chief Executive of Historic Scotland, has continued on the path Ruth set out, quickly came to grips with the unique challenges support and care of Kisimul presents, and is demonstrating his ongoing personal commitment to Kisimul by, among other things, organising and attending today’s ceremony.

Many people at Historic Scotland are involved in providing one form of support or another to Kisimul. Lucy Vaughan and Jamie MacPherson, who lead the team, are both highly skilled and committed professionals. The fantastic work they do at Kisimul itself and in Barra is open for all to see; they have been equally effective in working within Historic Scotland to explain Kisimul and the challenges it presents and act as advocates for it. I am sure I can speak for both Historic Scotland and the community in saying that we are very fortunate indeed to have Lucy and Jamie so actively involved in managing Kisimul.

Donald, Anne-Marie, Maggie and Gerry have proved worthy counterparts to the ‘offshore’ Historic Scotland team. Their commitment and good humoured professionalism, notwithstanding the weather(!), has been instrumental in Historic Scotland’s growing involvement in the Castle over the past five years. Without the local knowledge they bring to the day to day management and operation of Kisimul its management would literally be impossible. With Annag Bheag’s support, the participation of the children from the school in the outreach activities Jamie has initiated has been an inspiration to more people that you might think, both within and beyond Historic Scotland.

I would specially to thank Alasdair Allan. Alasdair intervened not once but twice to build a bridge to Historic Scotland during a period when it appeared very likely that no Conservation Plan would be forthcoming. It was the second of these interventions, a meeting with Ruth Parsons, that set stage for the progress made over the past five years and the promise of much more to come in the years ahead.

Last but not least, a timely reminder of the fact that Kisimul is important not just to the local community but to MacNeils and other Barraich around the world comes from the happy fact that the finalisation of the Lease enables my family to make available to Historic Scotland the 100,000 in the Kisimul Castle Restoration Fund for use in the conservation projects now planned for the next three years.

Warm thanks are also due to the many donors, small and large, who contributed to that fund over the years.

Rory Macneil of Barra

You can read the full press release from Historic Scotland regarding Kisimul Castle by clicking here.

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3:44am, Isle of Harris (John Maher)

A new photographic exhibition is set to open that will shine a light on abandoned crofts throughout the Western Isles of Scotland. Entitled Leaving Home: An Alternative View of the Outer Hebrides, selected photographs will be accompanied by memoirs from those who grew up in the houses, which reveal what life was like in the second half of the 20th century in an outer Hebridean croft.

John Maher and Ian Paterson, the pair behind the exhibition, said their interest lay in exploring the domestic landscape and social histories of the people who once made a living in the Outer Hebrides. The area is known for its stunning landscapes featuring white sandy beaches and endless machair, rather than its crofting history. This is the first time many of the crofts have been photographed and exhibited, offering a unique and fresh insight into the almost forgotten history of the area.

George’s House, Eriskay II, 2012 (Ian Paterson)

One croft featured in the exhibition was once home to a man named Seoras (George) Skillanders, who was a young boy when he was bought to Erskay as a ‘homer’ or ‘boarded-out child’. During Victorian times, young children from homeless or very poor families were relocated to the Highlands to cope with Scotland’s central belt sprawl. This practice carried on for at least 100 years, with reports suggesting that checks of the suitability of surrogates were largely inadequate. According to accounts form the 1950s and 60s, staff members would set off north with a vanload of children, stopping at villages along the way and asking if anyone needed a child. This practice would continue until the van was empty. Seoras was almost certainly from a Polish family, and possibly came from Greenock. He was a fluent Gaelic speaker and was left the croft when the family who took him in died. He died in the 1980s and the croft has remained vacant ever since.

Domestic Decay, Isle of Harris, 2013 (Ian Paterson)

Another croft in the exhibition is located in the Bays of Harris, and was once the childhood home to Morag Morrison. Morag’s grandfather built the house, and she recalled fondly the men who would sit around the Rayburn stove in the kitchen, telling stories and smoking Black Twist tobacco. There was no road near the home when it was built, as the main method of transport being boat in and out of the bays. Morag has returned to live in the Bay of Harris, living only yards from her childhood home. Today the only inhabitants of the croft are the sheep, who gather there to escape the cold.

An message by an ex-crofter published on the exhibition’s website also provides an account as to why the houses were simply abandoned as they were. The photographers received an e-mail from Flora MacDonald in Australia, who came from a family of nine from Harris. In 1957 the family left Harris for Glasgow, and from there went to Australia, as at the time it was not permitted to emigrate directly from Harris to Australia. Almost all of their possessions were left behind, as they were only allowed to bring one suitcase. Ms MacDonald said she identified strongly with the homes in the photographs, saying: “We just closed the door behind us and left.”

Ian and John are both self-taught photographers who became aware of each others work through social media, including Flickr and Facebook. They kept in touch mostly via e-mail and by following each others postings on various websites. Collaboration and the subsequent development of an exhibition came about when they realised that between them they had amassed a considerable body of work on a subject they were equally as fascinated by. John said he was repeatedly drawn to the crofts, saying: “The people may have left long ago, but it’s the things they left behind with only the passage of time and the elements to disturb them that make these places so special.” John lives on Harris and was once the drummer for the legendary and influential punk band The Buzzcocks. Ian lives in Fife and has spent the last 25 years working as a veterinary surgeon.

The exhibition is set to open from 9th November until 31st December at An Lanntair in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The pair are currently running a KickStarter campaign (which you can donate to here) to cover the costs of printing, mounting and framing the photographs. As additional funds become available they plan to increase the body of work and to assemble a traveling exhibition that will enable the stories and images of the crofts to live on.

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