ISLANDS FOR SALE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3783, 17 July 1936, Page 9

ISLANDS FOR SALE

FIVE IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES; SEAWAY LEGENDS. At an upset price of £4,000, five of the most fascinating Islands in the Outer Hebrides have come into the market, writes a correspondent to the London Observer. The Islands are Ensay, Lingay, Groay, and the Larger and Lesser Saghay. Ensay is the largest, measuring approximately three miles in length and a mile and a half in width. All these Islands are situated between South Harris and North Uist, in the legend-haunted tideway known as the Sound of Harris. Their climate is surprisingly mild; and the soil, which is peaty and sandy, is exceedingly fertile. For generations Ensay has remained the property of the Stewarts of Ensay, whose family burying-ground at Luskentyre, on the mainland of South Harris, lies in one of the most picturesque and secluded parts of all Scotland. Ensay itself is within a twenty minutes’ journey by motor-boat from Obbe, where to this day may be seen the derelict piers and buildings constructed by the late Viscount Leverhulme when he transferred his interests from Lewis to South Harris, and began to develop Obbe—hitherto the merest elachan —into an industrious and thriving township. Immediately below Ensay House, whose windows afford one of the loveliest views of the Sound of Harris and of the elfin Hills of Harris beyond, 'stretches a fine crescent of sand, from which a stone staircase leads up to the sea-gate admitting the traveller by sea to the precincts of the house itself. ANCIENT FONT. Near at hand stands the ancient Chapel of St. Columba, which was restored about twenty years ago. Close to the chapel’s entrance may be seen a stone basin of great antiquity —probably an ancient baptismal font. A little ivy scrambles over the chapel wall, and veronica scents the doorway. The chapel is referred to by Martin Martin in his inimitable “Descriptione” (circa 1695), wherein mention is made of the discovery of a grave on the west side of Ensay, in which were found a pair of brass scales and a small hammer, both of which were finely polished.: The Islands of Groay and Lingay offer fine pasturage. During low tide the latter can be reached dryshod from the shore of North Uist The Saghay group, which includes ’ the islet of Quidam, lies between Ensay and the shore of South Harris, quite close to Obbe. No member of this group has been inhabited for a considerable number of years. According to Martin, already referred to, “mice don’t live on this Island and when they chance to be carried thither among the Corne, they die quickly after.” The sea-ways in and around these Islands are rich in Hebridean legend and tradition. They are the habitat of the Clan MacCodrum, the Children of the Seals, and also of Clan Andy of the Widgeons. The natives of these parts still recount the legends of the Seal-folk, and of the section of the Clan Andy that forfeited human form for that of the long-tailed lach or widgeon.