The St Kilda Parliament - then and now

Each working day, the working men of the village (as distinct from those who for any reason were not working) got together and agreed the jobs for the day and who would be doing them.  Although not formally called "the Parliament", in an isolated community, this was a serious task, and on occasion lives were saved when someone did not return at the right time.  There was no need to search - everyone knew exactly where that person should be found.  On one occasion, the factor arrived, and hearing that the men were thinking about going to Boreray the following day, said that he would like to accompany them.  He was told that they would meet at the boat "first thing". Waiting at the boat the following morning, he eventually gave up and wandered up through the village to see the cause of the delay - they were simply chatting!  Clearly a St Kilda "first thing" was not to the same time scale as "first thing" to the factor!

One of the most widely published pictures of the "St Kilda Parliament" was that taken by Norman Macleod in August 1886.  Norman was an employee of George Washingtom Wilson who landed in St Kilda in 1886 and took some of the best known photographs of the islanders.

Almost every year, Work Parties stand in the same spot in the street where the original GWW photograph was taken.  This year, Alison (our cook) decided to set new standards in Parliamentary photographs and orchestrated an up market photograph, directed, as previously mentioned, by Alex, the NTS artist in residence.

The Parliament in 1886

  

The Parliament in 2013

What a bunch of ruffians!  Many thanks to Alison (our Producer), Alex (Artistic Director), Alex (for the photography) and all those who helped create this masterpiece.

Thursday 4 July - The end of the World!

The last 2 days on St Kilda were free days but sadly the weather was not great for walking - in fact it was doubtful if we would get off the island on the Wednesday.  However the weather (and thus the forecast) were fickle and changed from hour to hour.

The rather enigmatic title: the cruise ship "The World" was due to arrive off St Kilda on Tuesday. We had been offered a visit. Sadly, due to adverse weather, the itinerary was changed so we did not get the visit.  I see from the Highland Park web site that the ship did manage to visit Orkney, and presumably (hopefully) the passengers managed to try some of the golden nectar!

A disconsolate Fal trudges back to House 1

People did their own thing - and Alison (our excellent cook) organised something rather different for the Monday evening.  Many work parties pose as the St Kilda Parliament (an excellent picture taken by Norman McLeod in August 1886 of the Parliament posing outside House 10). Alison went a stage further. Over the 2 weeks, we had been collecting Soay wool. This was carded and made in to beards similar in style to those sported by the men in the original  picture. With help from friends from the base (Bev produced white shirts and black waistcoats (don't ask!) for everyone), and with Gregg from the base and Kevin (the archaeologist) coming to make up numbers, we posed dressed as closely as we cold to the original picture. Alison was our producer, and Alex, the NTS artist in residence was our artistic director. He placed people as closely as he could to the places occupied in the original picture and then took a series of photographs. Once he has tarted these up, we will be e mailed them and one will appear as the last entry on this blog - watch this space.

Alison and Jana look out beards

What on earth is Bev doing to Fal?

The tension mounts as the time for the shoot approaches

Wednesday dawned with the wind of the day before having died away. By 8am, with no word, we knew that Orca must be on her way to collect us. Tidy up our houses, finish packing, and ferry everything down to the jetty for departure.

One work party, 2 weeks!

Our luggage is safe behind Janice on the 2 stages

With some botanists arriving, 2 NTS volunteers and some campers, there was quite a bit of luggage to come off as well as luggage to go on. It is a case of putting our luggage up on the jetty till all the luggage coming off is out the way, watching everything like hawks to make sure that none of our luggage gets left behind. Good teamwork meant that our chain soon got the luggage well away and our luggage off to Orca.

The Cambir - last week we ate lunch at the top

A wild landscape

The wee pinnacle of rock is the Lovers Stone - we stood on that last week

Gannets literally "flow" off Stac Lee

The crew offered to take us round the stacs - not just Stac Lee and Stac an Armin, but round Dun, round by Soay, back to Connachair then off to Boreray and the big stacs there. A magical journey.

Connachair - 2nd Highest sea cliffs northern Europe. 1340'

Then, full speed for Leverburgh.  Dinner was booked at the Anchorage, and the following morning (was it really just yesterday?) we began to disperse. First Derek and Ranete went off by ferry from Leverburgh; then Fal went off to Stornoway by bus, then the rest of us waved goodbye to Jo and Janice who are staying on for a few days, and we set off to Tarbert. In Tarbert, some went with Sara to the Hostel, and Alison and I set to our respective homes.

Looking at this amazing landscape

Paul and camera - never apart

And, when the pressure gets too much...

Fal resorts to binoculars to look at the vegetation

Syncronised meditation

An excellent 2 weeks, a great deal of work done and objectives achieved, good company and some good walking.  Hopeful as many as possible will make it to the St Kilda Club reunion in November, but perhaps the last word (or last "picture" rather) should go to the members of Work Party 3, 2013. An excellent team!

St KIlda - Monday 1 July. Isolation continues.

The weather continues to be changeable – last night was very blowy, so no boats bringing visitors today. This is rather unfortunate as our stocks of alcohol are running rather low and we had oirdered more to come out with the Orca last week.  At this rate, we can see the boat which comes to collect us on Wednesday arriving with the alcohol! So.. our isolation continues.



Indeed - a deserted island



We have already seen the Soay Sheep, and it continues to be fun to try to walk through a group without them scattering to the 4 winds. The only other mammal on St Kilda (excluding man and seals, which are transitory) is of course the St Kilda Mouse.  About twice the size of our house mouse, the St Kilda Mouse is descended from the field mice which were here at the evacuation. There used to be House Mice and Field Mice on St Kilda. After the evacuation, the House Mice died out, and the Field Mice have thrived – they live in the crevices in the dykes, and of course in our houses. If one site quietly, and puts down a biscuit almost anywhere on the village street, eventually a mouse will come out of the wall to drag the biscuit in to a crevice in the wall. Professor Sam Berry did work on the DNA of the St Kilda Mice some years ago and found that their DNA was closer to the DNA of Norwegian mice than mice from Scotland – that and the plethora of Norse place names on the islands tells us something about the early settlers on St Kilda.

St KIlda Mouse removes half a Digestive Biscuit



Today was a half day of work and a half day free, so after lunch, a group went off to see if they could spot an interesting visitor to Hirta – look at this photograph taken by Renate!



On the way to see the Owl




Our very own Snowy Owl!



Work parties get up to daft things – is this an example of an early species which moved from the sea to the land? Indeed, is this a cross between a Plesiosaur and a Soay Sheep?

One tradition of Work Parties is to make a St Kilda Mail Boat – you can read a bit about these in the book by Tom Steel on St Kilda.  We have made 2 mail boats – one built for speed but not very durable, the other built to last but heavier and slower.  Today we went to the Point of Coll (a small promontory east of the village) to launch them. This was the traditional point where St Kildans threw their mail boats in to the sea. Derek launched both boats while others took photographs. The first mail boat was only 20 yards out, when a seal stuck its head up between the boat and ourselves and looked as though to ask what we were doing.



Both mail boats ready to launch







Derek launches the big mail boat (the frist one is out of sight already!)



The big mail boat floated right way up!!





 

Two nights ago we had the St Kilda wardens and Alex (the NTS Artist in Residence) round to join us for dinner and we had an excellent Curry evening prepared by Alison – after it, most of us could not move!



Alison and the selection of curries we had.



Today, on the half day of work, we are finishing up various tasks – varnishing the 3^rd coat on to the bench which sits outside the Manse for visitors to collapse on after they arrive, roof painting of House 2 is now complete. The roof window of House 6 is leaking, so Paul managed to open it (not an easy task), scrape out the rotting material from round one side where he found the cause of the leak, put in trowelling mastic, and covered it with bitumen. Also, having pressure hosed loose paint off the Manse in preparation for the walls to be professionally coated later in the summer, today we brushed up the loose material which had been washed off the walls. A thankless task which needs to be done. Finally, the museum needed the artefacts cleaned – a splendid job which allows one to handle the things in the museum!



Derek varnishes his bench




Paul repairs the leaking skylight




Ken and Ranete paint roof of House 2




Fal, Kevin and Sara cleaning in the Museum




Janice, Sara and Jana brushing up the paint



The NTS warden on ST Kilda (Paul), went off last Friday on the one helicopter flight (90 minutes later than scheduled because of weather) and was replaced by Peter Holden from Marr Lodge. Today Peter came up to present those who ran the Chimney Challenge with their Certificates. I know that Ken’s two children are following this, to find out your dad’s time, you will have to ask him!



This is the Chimney. One runs from near this viewpoint up the Chimney and touches a leit to the right of the top.



Sara receives her Certifcate from Paul (thye Warden)



Ken receives his Certificate



Jana receives her Certificate



Tomorrow is our last day on Hirta. If all goes well, we depart Wednesday early afternoon, however we hope (weather permitting) to return to Harris via the Stacs and Boreray, so the last blog will probably be on Friday and will hopefully have some pics of these places.

Meanwhile – our isolation continues.

ST KIlda - 29 JUne. Splendid Isolation

The weather has not been great for the last 3 days – gale force 8 yesterday, not good visibility with the mist coming and going. The boats bringing visitors from Leverburgh have not been in for the last 3 days – we really have had the island to ourselves – “Splendid Isolation” indeed.



Jo enjoys the Splendid Isolation



Yesterday was a free day, so a late start and a morning spent each doing our own thing round the village – visibility not good enough for walking.  At lunch time, the weather cleared, and those people interested in walking decided where they would go. Some went to the Gap (600’) then veered east to go up Oisseval. Others went to the Gap then up Connachair. Still others went to Ruival where they watched a seal and bird watched. On the walk up Connachair, the Bonxies (Great Skuas) were at their best performing excellent aerobatics assisted by the force 8 wind.



Bonxie preparing to attack



Village form Connachair



On our return to the village, 3 hardy souls decided to do “The Chimney Challenge” . On the opposite side of Village Bay from the MoD base, there is a steep gulley (called The Chimney”), and there is a tradition of seeing how quickly one can run from the base, up the Chimney, and touch a cleit at the top.  All three of our heroes did it, and rather than pick anyone out, we feel that they were all winners.



Sara Jana and Ken prepare to set off



Food plays an important part in our day – the group work hard -  we are outside all day, and on days off, everyone gets a real appetite.  Our cook Alison has planned everything is great detail – although we have bread frozen in the freezer, each day she bakes Sourdough bread from her own culture that she brought with her.  I understand that she is culturing enough to give everyone in the group who wants a culture to take away, and instructions for growing it.

Everything is made fresh – nothing tinned (though of course our pulses are dried!), so dinner is always something to look forward to. The food is excellent!  Yesterday was fish cakes followed by banana cake in which the bananas had been poached in caramel.

The plates are not small! It is indeed the fish cakes which were huge.

The kitchen rota was mentioned previously – 2 of our group each day assisting Alison. It is nice to see those not on duty getting up to help clear up at the end of meals.  Dinner is a friendly affair as people recap what they did that day, or talk about plans for the following day.



Paul and Alison preparinf dinner



Paul has shown that he is adept at doing the dishes





Oh dear!



We have been joined on the island by Alec Hartley, the National Trust for Scotland Artist in Residence. Alec has joined us onh a couple of evenings for dinner, and last night also got involved in carding the Soay wool (the ladies have some scheme to make beards for everyone based on those found in the George Washington Wilson photographs).

L-R Ken, Alec, Janice, Jana, Sara and Alison

Today was back to work, with one BIG task being to pressure hose the Manse to remove flaking paint – the exterior of the Manse is due to be repainted later this year, and the old loose flaking paint needed removed. Paul set to work – it took him 6 hours, but he got it done.



Ken, Pete (new NTS Warden) and Paul



Others continued painting bitumen on 2 of the houses, and this morning the major task was to help Kevin (the St Kilda Archaeologist) to repair a large cleit. This we have left to the end as it is such a big job, and there was a great deal of barrowing of old soil from our soil dump up to the cleit to build up the surface prior to putting the turf which Kevin has precut in place.



Sara, Janice and Ian at the last cleit we will repair.



The weather having meant that we have had no trip boats, tomorrow is Sunday, so no boats again. Our “Splendid Isolation” continues.