Eriskay
- Iomairt aig an Oir
(Initiative at the Edge)
Eriskay - along with neighbouring
Lochboisdale - is one of the four areas on the Western Isles which is covered
by the Initiative at the Edge/Iomairt aig an Oir project.
This is a development
programme which aims to help some of Scotland's most distant and fragile communities.
It was launched by Brian Wilson, then a minister at the former Scottish Office
in 1997 and is intended to bring the full range of development agencies closer
to the communities they serve.
Eriskay
- Island Walks
Details from sign near ferry
terminal
Eriskay
Jersey
One of the rarest pieces
of craft-work in Scotland is the Eriskay Jersey, originally made by Island
wives for their fishermen husbands. Produced entirely in one colour - navy
blue - but now available in cream, the single hue has the effect of downplaying
the extraordinary intricacy of the patterns which cover the jumper.
Close-fitting and seamless,
the Eriskay Jersey is produced using very fine needles with a very tight,
light stitch which kept out damp and kept in warmth for its wearers by the
skill of its knitters rather than by thickness. It is produced for the Co-Chomunn
Eirisgeidh (the local co-operative, one of several on the Western Isles) by
two or three Island women, although perhaps as many as seven are still involved
in knitting the traditional patterns. Jersey.
Eriskay
- How Times Have Changed
The
Stornoway Gazette editorial
of March 20, 1997, gives an indication of the concern about the
problems facing Eriskay a few years ago.
"Something
must be done. That's the only conclusion that can be reached about
the problems which the people of Eriskay face in merely moving
on and off their island. But aside from the need for greater spending
on ferry services, there is the vital need to protect the passengers
using the services from the effects of tide and weather at Ludag
landing in South Uist. The conditions which people have to face
there are simply not acceptable.
This
is at a time when the Stornoway Pier and Harbour Commission is
very proud of providing a covered walkway on its new ferry terminal
which will enable passengers to transfer from ship to shore without
even encountering a drop of rain. Yet people on the Eriskay link
have to run the gauntlet of the tides and winds, fearful that
the only effect of drawing attention to the dangers of the pier
will be a further reduction in the availability of services to
it.
Delays
awaiting a decision on a Barra ferry cannot be accepted. It will
not do to await an accident before something is done about providing
a breakwater. On the wider issue of the transport links, it is
no good to talk of the inevitable problems of island life when
these are not encountered on similar islands elsewhere.
Great
Bernera has its bridge; Vatersay has its causeway; Scalpay has
a far more frequent car ferry service and has a bridge on the
way; Berneray's ferry service at present in the run up to the
construction of the causeway, though it has attracted complaints,
is still far better than Eriskay; and Scarp ... of course, Scarp
no longer requires a ferry service.
Everyone
throughout the Western Isles is quite familiar with delays and
hold-ups caused by airline snags, poor weather or ferry problems.
But the occasional late delivery of daily newspapers - or supermarket
shelves temporarily bare of fruit or milk - is not the same as
the daily disruption caused to the lives of people on Eriskay
by their transport provision.
And
it is clear that there must be a direct relationship between the
limitations of the ferry services and the lack of investment in
the island. It is also clear that only a fixed link - a causeway
- will solve the problem. Providing the money for one can only
be a political decision based on the principle of avoiding further
depopulation of remote islands. It is time the causeway was re-appraised
before millions of pounds are committed to ferry scheme which
may improve the situation very little."
Eriskay
- The Causeway 1
The
causeway to Eriskay was the largest civil engineering project
of its type under way in the United Kingdom in 2000-2001. It is
the latest in a series of fixed links built between the many
islands
which make up the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides).
To
the north of Eriskay lie the islands of the Uists, Benbecula and
Berneray, all now linked by causeways. A high quality car ferry
service now links these islands with Harris and Lewis to the north.
The
causeway to Eriskay ended the isolation of its people and makes
Eriskay a link in the north-south route along the 135-mile island
chain. The ferry link to Barra will integrate that island (along
with more distant Vatersay) with the other islands.
Ashleigh
Mackinnon, Primary 6.
Eriskay
- The Causeway 2
Over
the last 100 years, a whole series of communities have vanished because
of the problems caused by isolation. St Kilda is the most remote
and most famous but others include Mingulay and Berneray south
of Barra, the Monach Isles, Scarp and Taransay. The aim of the
Council's transport policy is to reduce the effects of peripherality.
It
will encourage local economic growth by creating a bigger market
for local products and by improving access for visitors. It is
also improving access to services - emergency and otherwise -
for local people, making the Islands easier to live on.
The
port village of Leverburgh in South Harris has already seen considerable
development since becoming the ferry link to the south - and traffic
on its Loch Bhrusda ferry greatly exceeded forecasts. A new bigger
ferry is to be put on the run during 2003.
The
Eriskay link gives fishermen from the South Uist area - with about
45 boats operating - access to the excellent anchorage at Acarsaid
in southern Eriskay.
Duncan
Macinnes, Primary 4.
Eriskay
- Map
Eriskay
- The Place
The name Eirisgeidh
is derived from the Norse for Eric's Isle. Many placenames on the Island and
elsewhere on the Western Isles derive from Norse. This arises from the 400
years of Norse occupation (c800AD-c1200AD).
The area where
the car ferry used to berth is called Haun - haven - also derived from Norse.
Eriskay is also
referred to in Gaelic as Eilean na h-Oige, or Isle of Youth.
The
Clearances
In 1746
the local records show only eight inhabitants. By 1841 there were 80. Ten
years later there were 405 people on the Island. This followed clearances
by landlords elsewhere. Eriskay had been considered too barren for people
to live on - but now the landlords wanted people off their land to make way
for sheep farms. Many others were forced to leave for the New World.
Calum Macinnes, Primary 6.
Eriskay
Pony
The native breed of pony
has been rescued from near-extinction in the past 30 years. The Comann Each nan Eilean Ltd.
(Eriskay Pony Society) was founded in 1972. The first sale of ponies for around 40 years
took place in Lochboisdale on April 5 2000. Buyers came from all over Scotland.
A feasibility study has been completed on a possible pony centre on Eriskay.
S.S.
Politician
The Politician was a cargo
ship rather than a person. The s.s. Politician incident became the basis for
Compton Mackenzie's book Whisky Galore (Galore is itself derived from the
Gaelic for enough). In 1941 the ship ran ashore north of Eriskay near the
little island of Calvay - it carried 20,000 cases of whisky.
The Islanders and the
Customs and Excise department took different views of what should be the fate
of these bottles - even now, when houses are being extended, there are finds
of 'Polly bottles' hidden from the authorities by being buried in the peat.
The only local pub is
called "Am Politician".
Michaela
Macinnes, Primary 4.
Father
Allan Macdonald
Fr Allan took over the
parish of Daliburgh - which then included Eriskay - in 1884. The people of
the area - more than 80 per cent Roman Catholic - were then very poor. Despite
this and other difficulties, he was able to encourage the building of a hospital
in Daliburgh which was only recently replaced by a modern one in Balivanich,
and the present church in Eriskay.
He is also remembered
for his work collecting Gaelic folklore, one of the greatest collections related
to one locality. He died aged only 46 in October 1905 after a cold became
pneumonia.
Jade
Hawkins, Primary 4.
Prince
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles III, as he was
regarded by his supporters, landed on Eriskay at the start of what became
the '45 - the last time that a land invasion posed a serious threat to the
government of Britain.
 |
He landed almost
alone on July 23, 1745, on what is still called Prince's Beach. This
adjoins the new ferry terminal for the service to Barra. The Prince
set off on a campaign which took his army as far south as Derby, causing
panic to grip London, only just over 100 miles further on.
|
The campaign ended on
Drummossie Moor near Inverness with the battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746.
Eriskay
Jersey
The variety
of patterns used in the Eriskay Jersey.
Eriskay
Jersey
The work is done exclusively
by older women, each working to their own individual style within the traditional
motifs. But the work needed for each jersey - perhaps two weeks of intricate
knitting - is deterring younger people from taking up the traditional work,
formerly passed down through families. It is thought that the original inspiration
for the work came more than a century ago from contact with the East Coast
of Scotland, where men went to fish and women to work in fish processing -
cutting and gutting. Once widely practised in the Hebrides, this kind of knitwork
is now confined to Eriskay.
