"Last Post Sounded."

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18165, 1 November 1930, Page 13 (Supplement)

"Last Post Sounded."

THE last phase of the. removal of the colony from St. Kilda took place recently, when the Admiralty sloop Harebell embarked the remaining population to Oban,, preparatory to- their settlement in Morven (Argyll). The evacuation affects some 36 natives, together with the island nurse and the missionary and his small family. Owing to heavy seas the Glasgow vessel Dunara Castle was late in arriving at St. Kilda to deliver the last mail-bag for the natives before their departure, and take off such of the sheep stock as remained on the islands after the ship’s previous call a couple of weeks before. In addition, the Dunara Castle loaded all the islanders’ cattle —10 animals in •' all—and the bulky possessions of the inhabitants who were being conveyed from Oban to their new surroundings.. Some hundreds of sheep were placed in small boats and towed out to the Dunara Castle as she lay at anchor in the village bay. Owing to difficulty in working with the sheep, which are semi-wild, operations had to be suspended about midnight, and the natives began to transport their belongings by the light from a couple of lanterns. The goods consisted mainly of wooden kits containing clothes and personal effects, spinning wheels, querns, and pieces of furniture, many of which 'have been bought by tourists who-visited the island in the s.s. Hebrides a few-days earlier. The St. Kildans begap work early in the morning and by 9 a.m, had the remainder of the sheep aboard. The six oows on the island had to swim out from the jetty, dragged by a rope fastened to the stern of a small boat. The Last IVlails. The last mail dispatched to St. Kilda from Greenock was one of the smallest ever carried. The final outgoing dispatch, however, was by far the heaviest that ever left St. Kilda. A number of passengers went ashore from the Dunara Castle and crowded round the little village post-oflice in their anxiety to procure any remaining relics of the island. , They bought large supplies of stamps, picture post-cards showing local scenes, and many pieces of woollen goods manufactured’by St. Kilda women from the fleeces of the famous St. Kilda sheep. The island postmaster was engaged all day in separating and trans-shipping the community sheep, but his duties were undertaken by a young Scots writer who had been on St. Kilda for some days and had

St. Kilda Islanders Taken Off.

greatly helped the inhabitants in making preparations for their departure. He stamped for the last time several hundreds of cards and letters addressed to every part- of the world. The post office business did not finish until 2 a.m., when he stamped a parcel that a native had almost left behind on the island. There are to be no “Robinson Crusoes” left on the lonely island: the Government officials saw that everybody left. One young man endeavoured to stay behind when the Dunara Castle was due to sail, but officers from the Harebell, the fisheries cruiser, insisted on the modern Robinson Crusoe leaving. Similarly, Baron Mackay, heir to Lord Reay, Chief of the Clan Mackay, had intended if possible to remain on St. Kilda to do some exploring, and had brought with him a- load of provisions to carry him through his period of isolation. He, however, also leit. Shortly before 7 o’clock of the next night the Harebell steamed into Lochaline Bay. She had on board 33 former inhabitants of St. Kilda. Tenants of the Ardtornish estate where the St. Kildans are to settle, gathered on the rocks to give the new settlers a rousing reception. The Harebell anchored in the bay and a tender brought the St. Kildans ashore. They all appeared to be in the best of spirits. End of a Long Struggle, The removal of the St. Kildans to the mainland marks the end of a struggle against Naturfe that has been going on for centuries, and that in the last few years had become mere acute owing to the decline in the number of able-bodied men who normally would man the boats and attend to fishing and turfcutting. From August until May the community was entirely cut off from civilisation except when a trawler managed to reach the bay in front of the only village on the island and brought the natives the. mails, that often had accumulated for months, and additional provisions. The trawler men have been noted for the consideration they showed to the St. Kildans. During the winter months the island’s man-power had dropped so low in recent years that for three years the natives have not ventured near the adjoining island of Boreray, with the result that the sheep there are absolutely wild, and more than 200 have been left on the island.

To the very last night the villagers have held family worship in their respective homes, reading and praying and singing the Gaelic psalms in the traditional manner which has endured for centuries.