We have recently returned from a family (joined by a jolly cleric) holiday on The Shiant Isles. The Shiants are made up of three uninhabited islands. Eilean Tighe (House) and Garbh Eilean (Rough) are connected by beach but you require a boat to reach Eilean Mhuire (Mary); you also need to charter or borrow a boat to cross the Minch from Skye or Lewis to get to The Shiants.It was an amazing, privileged experience and we benefited hugely from that Scottish word 'fineness'. When the children returned home from primary school, their day was usually 'fine'. Fine is such a dull, non descriptive word, it always tempted me to press for 'finer' detail but in the case of Scottish weather, you can do no better.
Read Sea Room by Adam Nicolson to learn more about these uninhabited isles. I cannot begin to compete, he paints a magnificent picture; the challenges of nature and climate and I'm told by a Puffin expert (who spent time on St Kilda) that you will not read a better description of puffins and their lifestyle. Adam has even sighted an orange, beakless creature in the Mediterranean.
For my part, I clambered up steep cliffs, clinging on with sure footed sheep admiration, foraged for the supper table (limited: water mint, limpets, chickweed, sorrel and Scots lovage) and marvelled at the wild flowers.. we left a book in the Bothy for future visitors.The Bothy is home to lots of Black Rats but Coco, the dog seemed to keep them at bay. We stored our provisions in a metal trunk that my Great Grandmother had used at boarding school.We should have taken a padlock,not for protection from the black rats but against thieving, hungry teenage boys. The boys had to be tempted by water mint and boiled well-water tea, not lashings of ginger beer.Number five said that he wouldn't want to visit again because it had been just perfect.One for the Swallows and Amazons memory box. These amazing photographs were taken by the lovely Canon Bill Stuart White who was mad enough to join us.
