THE HEBRIDES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 July 1924, Page 3

THE HEBRIDES.

FAMINE THREATENS THE ISLANDERS. A CR V OF DIRE NEED. WILD MOOR LANDS AND TOWERING OR AOS A f-rof dire need has (some from flip Scotsmen that inhabit the islands Ivina; off the west coast of Scotland, known as the Hebrides. As in 1846 they are beset with fa mini ne, declares a correspondent of the New York Times. Rot in this twentieth century the call for help is hashed through the air by radio and under the seas by cable, and already various relief-caving agencies are at work on plans to. send aid! The first, appeal 1 to this country for assistance was a cable from Arthur Balfour. Lord of Balfour, and former Prime Minister of England, to Hr. •John A. Stewart, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Sulgravo Institution. Mr, Stewart appealed to the Rockefeller Foundation, to the American Red Cross, and other organisations. Already several generous promises of help have been given. There are' more than 600 islands in the ; Hehrides, of which about one-fifth are At the taking of the last census, in 1001, the totaf population was 78,047, hut since that time large numbers have emigrated, and it is reported that no more than. 40.000 have, remained. Of these, so.the cables say, 30,000 men. women and children are threatened with starvation and cold.

Living conditions at best in the western isles are hard. Broadly speaking, tire Hebrides are divided into two groups, the Inner and the Outer Islands. Like a great breakwater, the exterior group stretches 130 miles from Larra Head to the Butt of Lewis. Against it .rages’ the title of the stormy Atlantic, whose fnrv is broken on the rocks of the Outer Islands, protectors of the Tuner group and the mainland. The Outer Hebrides are composed of gneiss. The upper tiers of the rocky wail were worn off by marine erosion when Lewis was submerged under the waters of the Atlantic.. As they washed away the foundation of arehean rocks rose as a bulwark against the breaking action q[ the ocean, and so geologists account for the flatness bf the islands, whose hills nowhere rise to a height of more than 3CK'k) feet. The savagery of the stormy seas increases their natural isolation. Many of the islands are little better than barren rocks, treeless, with poor and scant pasture land. Nowhere in the world, we are told by those who have made a study of conditions in the Hebrides, do people live who are more industrious and proud. Their lives are an unceasing struggle against terrific odds. Their three main industries, fishing, kelp-making, and crofting, are carried on under tremendous hardships. 'Jhq- storms and poor harbours make of fishing a dangerous trade. They are largely dependent for food on their catch. The long rainy seasons render the production of kelp difficult. M hen fair days’ come women and children aid the men with the incineration of the seaweed, often working through the night to take advantage of dry weather. As for farming, with hut one-ninth of the total area of! their island lands under cultivation —) .the greater part of their surface is! moorland and mountain—the crons are! at best poor and scant. Potatoes and turnips are the only root crops that! succeed. On some of the islands barley! .and oats are grown. Frequently the J long rainy seasons make it impossible for the natives to bring in their crops, the grain lies in the fields until it rots, and the potatoes stay under ground till they are water-soaked. The cotters' houses ate of undressed stone, piled together without mortar, their roofs thatched with turf. Frequently a hole in the ceiling is the only means of ventilation, besides the door. But withal the inhabitants of the Hebrides are hard-working, eager to learn, and ever-ready to sing a Highland song or tell some tale of Gaelic lore. “The conditions of the islands would not he so ha ( | to-day.’’ .said Herbert Graham of the Scottish American, “if it were not for the Highlander’s pride. 'They have- not (old of their plight, and for months those on lhe* mainland have remained in ignorance -of the ’suffering since March. Now they are giving all the help they can, but they, too, are poor.” For well, over a century and a half the crofters have been the loo! of cruel circumstances. The power of the chiefs, with the warfare brought- on bv their feuds, was such that in 1748 a blow was struck at their power. Heritable jurisdictions were banished. Evil resruJts followed. The land was leased to new' owners, high rents were imposed on the crofters, who were unable to pay them, Sheep farming on a largo scale was introduced. The land was rudely taken from the cotters, who found themselves forced t° move to the villages or to seel, shelter on barren miners of land. Many- of them turned their faces toward the New World and emigrated r.o North America. Thousands upon thousands were evicted from their lands. Not until 1883, when a Royal Commission .was appointed, were matters improved. The report showed ”a state of misery and wrongdoing and patient iong suffering without parallel in the history of this country (Britain).” Evidence was brought out that “the native population was not m possession of sufficient land to provide them with food for themselves and their stock.” Though much has been done in improvement of conditions these conditions must throw some ught on matters to-day, for the people and i he natural surroundings have not ehn nged. ’There is another side to the Hebrides that has long been dear to poets and artists. The wild moorlands, the towering crags, the Haming sunsets attract | lie painter, while the lover of old Gaelie legends eagerly listens to tales told by the cotters as they sit out, in the open of a summer's night or huddle over a pent lire in the winter. The very name fills the mind with dreams, for ir. is said that the origin of Hebrides might possibly be Fives Brigid. or the Tslos of St. Briget. Emir was while she was on the islands, so the legends ielate-, thai she gave food In the Virgin Mnrv while she and | good St. Joseph passed, by her master’s bouse. And St. Columha. who brought the Christian faith to the Highlands, landed his little barque in the Ray of (’oracle and stepped out on fair lona’s shores. Owi.side the church, believed to have been founded bv the genile v a inf. is the burial ground of kings, inscriptions, long since worn off. revealed the tombs of 48 Scottish mnnnveils, four kings of Ireland, and eight • rulers of Norway. Norsemen conquered 1 ii r - Hebrides in J lie sixth century. Dnnvegan Castle raises its “fairy tower” on the island of Skye. ’Twns rim he Prime Charlie was given shelter ’’ •'-'•o -£.00.009 was the price of his head, and from it he esenned with the aid of fair Flnvn .Macdonald disguised as her maid. Tn 1773 Dr. Samuel Johnson slept in the very bed in which “the prpntCnn 0 f (ho unfortunate Jnmee LI lay.” Said the doctor to Boswell

in tile morning: “1 have had no ambitious thoughts in it.” Another name dear to all the world is linked with the Hebrides, that of Sir Vi alter Scott. It was he who, with Robert Stevenson, an engineer, was responsible for the building of the Skerry, 'ore lighthouse in 1848. Its bright light lias since kept many a poor fisherman from going cm the rocks. Hie United States has a link holding it to the Hebrides, for among the signers of the Declaration of Independwere Philip Livingstone, Thomas McKean, and George Ross, whose ancestry is traced back to 'Western Scotland and its islands, and Betsv Ross, of flag fame, married the nephew of this same George Ross.'