Hebrides: an archipelago at the ends of the Earth. Hebrides: description, attractions, interesting facts and reviews Hybrid Islands

Located in northwestern Europe, called British. In addition to Great Britain and Ireland, this archipelago also includes the Hebrides. In the fall of 2015, they were on the lips of many, since on October 21, the first training interception of a ballistic missile in Europe was carried out near the Hebrides.

Protected corner of northern nature

The archipelago is located at western shores Scotland. Two chains in Atlantic Ocean separated by the Sea of Hebrides and the North Minch and Little Minch straits. Just over 500 rocky and mostly high islands and islets, of which only 100 are inhabited, are divided into the Outer Hebrides (one chain) and the Inner Islands (second chain).

What is the surface of these northern lands? Out of a total area of 7.2 thousand square meters. km, lakes occupy 1.6 thousand square meters. km. The rest of the surface is mostly either rocky or marshy. There are many peat bogs on the marshy plains. In addition, there are lava fields, troughs and karrs - traces of ancient glaciation. Some islands, such as Skye, have low mountains, just over 1000 meters above sea level.

Fans of rugged beauty

The Hebrides, often called “the archipelago at the ends of the earth”, “the kingdom of wind and waves”, are very impressive with their rugged northern beauty. The stone blocks blown by the winds took on amazing and bizarre shapes, reminiscent of giant sculptures rising straight from the foamy waves. Not everyone is to the taste of such beauty, but tourism is one of the revenue sources of the local budget, along with fishing, agriculture and the oil industry.

UK region

The Outer and Inner Hebrides have different administrative subordination. The region of the Western Isles, or Nach Elenan Shiar, is the Western, or Outer, Hebrides. Scotland, of which they are part, has owned these territories since 1266. According to the Treaty of Perth, the Outer Hebrides were ceded to it by Norway. This document ended the long-term rivalry between the two countries for the right over the islands.

The Kingdom of Scotland itself was independent from 854 to 1707. But then it became a region of Great Britain and, judging by the recent referendum, it will not gain freedom and independence soon. Based on this fact, all islands belonging to Scotland are still included in

Westernmost Scottish islands

The western part of the archipelago, that is, the Outer Hebrides, consists of 15 islands that have a permanent population, and dozens of uninhabited land areas. The Western Isles are separated from the Inner Hebrides and Great Britain by the Sea of Hebrides and the North Minch. This area includes an uninhabited rock located to the north. The right to Rockall is disputed by Scotland from Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland and Iceland. Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra are the names of the largest parts of the archipelago known as the Outer Hebrides.

Small islands of the western link

In addition to small rocks rising from the waves and skerries, this part includes the Flann Islands, a small archipelago located 23 kilometers north of the largest landmass of Lewis and Garisse.

The Flann Islands have been uninhabited since 1971. Another desert archipelago, abandoned by the population in 1930, is located 64 km west of North Uist. It's called St Kilda. Rhone and Sulisker are islands significantly removed from the main mass, and they also belong to the Outer Hebrides.

Local features

Of course, of all the tourist flow directed to Scotland, these 119 islands are the least visited. But if travelers make it here, to one of the 32 regions of Scotland, they will find the classic beauty of the north-west of this country. It refers to the amazing castles of ancient Scottish families, white beaches, hills and heaths, green meadows and thickets of low-growing birch. The traditions of Gaelic Scotland and ancient taste preferences are preserved here - strong alcohol and hearty, hearty food. But tourists can also be attracted by bird colonies, seal rookeries and whale watching.

Sights and artifacts

All the Hebrides are primarily famous for their gloomy monumental ancient castles, such as Kimisul and Dunstaffnage, Skipness and Dunolly. The Benedictine monastery on Iona and the cathedral in Saddel are beautiful. The islands have preserved places of worship of ancient aborigines, the most prominent of which is Callanish. It is precisely located in the Outer Hebrides, on the Isle of Lewis.

This megalithic group is the largest Neolithic site in the British Isles, although due to its remote location it is not as famous as Stonehenge and Avebury. Here, on the largest landmass of the Outer Hebrides, a unique artifact known as the “Isle of Lewis Chess” was found in 1831. They represent 76 figurines carved from walrus tusk, presumably in the 12th century, by carvers from Trondheim (Nidaros), the third largest city in Norway.

all Hebrides

There needs to be clarity about what the Isle of Lewis is all about. This is one of the parts of the largest island of Lewis and Harris, whose area is 2179 square meters. km. It so happened historically that these two areas, Lewis and Harris, were separately called islands, although this is not true.

Administrative center and largest locality Outer Hebrides - Stornoway (population over 19,000). It is here that the largest factory producing Harris Tweed, a local fabric, is located. There is an airport 4 km from Stornoway, which has direct flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The nature of the Hebrides is amazing (photos are attached to the material). It should be noted that there are high mountain lakes on the Isle of Lewis. Their fresh water, flowing out, rushes into the ocean along wide rocky ledges. One such terrace called Grimersta is one of the main attractions of this island.

Inner Hebrides

The Inner, or British, Hebrides are located along the coast of Great Britain. The largest of them is Sky.

These islands, according to the same Treaty of Perth, also went to Scotland, but in 1707 they were taken from her and became part of the British Kingdom. The total area included in the Inner Hebrides is 4,158 thousand square kilometers, the permanent resident population exceeds 19,000 people.

The most beautiful island

The largest of the Inner Hebrides is the aforementioned with an area of 1656 square meters. km. This is followed by Mull (875), Islay (620) and so on. Skye is part of a small archipelago known as the Askribe Islands. An interesting site to visit is the tidal Sunday Island. Tidal is an area of land that is separated from big land or neighboring island an artificial or natural channel that disappears at low tide. And located next to Sunday very picturesque island At low tide, Canna can be walked along the watts - coastal shallows exposed with the outflow of water. The island of Aova with its basalt slopes is incredibly beautiful. And how impressive is Dunvegan Castle, located on the Isle of Skye!

Most visited by tourists

The Hebrides (photos are presented in the article), and Skye especially, are very picturesque.

This island was connected to the mainland by a bridge in 1995. In addition, a ferry connecting the port village of Mallai with the island is always at the service of tourists. Skye has been called "Scotland in miniature". It should be noted that throughout this area British Isles The production of woolen fabrics - tweed - is developed. Therefore, sheep, from whose wool it is made, are found here in huge quantities. Inner Islands boast Fingal's Cave (Staffa Island). It so impressed Felix Mendelssohn, who visited here in 1829, that he wrote a concert overture called “The Hebrides, or Fingal’s Cave.”

Nature of the Hebrides

As noted above, the region where the Hebrides Islands (northern Atlantic Ocean) are located is very harsh - the average temperature in January is 4-6 degrees Celsius, and in July - 12-14. It rains very often, precipitation falls up to 2000 mm per year. The weather can change dramatically within half an hour. And, of course, constant winds blow here. As for the local flora and fauna, which is somewhat poor compared to the larger British Isles, it can boast of several species found only in this territory and listed in the Red Book. These include the long-faced seal, the chough, the white-tailed eagle, and the common guillemot.

The harsh and inaccessible Hebrides are the kingdom of wind and waves. But this is at first glance. The attentive traveler will find a special romance and beauty here. Photos by Jim Richardson

The Inner and Outer Hebrides are more than five hundred islands and islets. It is often foggy and rainy, the winds blow almost continuously, and the sea around is so unstable that even the most experienced captain can feel afraid. In these seas, everything is changeable: in just an hour, the measured silky swaying of waves of a piercing blue tropical color is replaced by a stormy invasion of leaden foamy waves.

Berneray Island, West Coast

Dusk has fallen over the pale sands, scattered shells and thick dune grass that stretch for miles along Berneray's Atlantic coast. The winding line of the Harris Hills in the background disappears into the blue shadow of the distant horizon.

Hirta, St Kilda

Stone walls still encircle patches of fill soil on the rugged hillsides above the ruins of St Kilda's main settlement. These fences protected the oat and barley crops from salty winds and livestock. Beehive-like structures were used to store food supplies and peat, which the islanders used as fuel; Hundreds of such warehouses have survived to this day.

Boreray, St Kilda

Armadas of seabirds circle the sky, narrow rocky ledges dotted with their nests. Often hidden behind clouds, the northern tip of the island juts out 400 meters above the ocean; The offspring of 60 thousand pairs of cormorants are raised here - the largest colony in the world. The people of St Kilda climbed these rocks barefoot, caught birds and collected eggs for food.

Mangersta, Isle of Lewis

Dangerous waters The Hebrides Islands, with their sharp sea cliffs and cliffs, are, oddly enough, favored by surfers. Mangersta is popular among athletes because it all year round A steady northeast wind is blowing. Moreover, these parts are not crowded.

Calanish, Isle of Lewis

These stone pillars were probably there before the pyramids were built. People settled on the island 5,000 years ago, farming, fishing, hunting - and building. The outer stones rise 3.5 meters, the central pillar - 4.5 meters. Like the famous Stonehenge, the 13-meter circle at Kalanisha was an important ritual center.

Grimersta, Isle of Lewis

Fresh waters from the upper lakes, bubbling, they rush down to the sea along wide rocky terraces. “It’s easy to find a place on an island where you don’t hear the sounds of man,” says Alice Starmore, a native of Lewes, “but the land and water are never silent.”

Boreray, St Kilda

Rising fog reveals a distant island in the Atlantic Ocean. People have survived on the St Kilda archipelago for thousands of years, but its last inhabitants left their secluded homes about eighty years ago.

Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye

At Trotternish Point on the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars overhang the Razeay Channel. They indicate powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.

Fingal's Cave, Staffa

Row after row of basalt pillars fill the sea cave; its eternal darkness is illuminated only by a camera. The natural purity of the lines of these columns and the echo of the crashing waves have attracted travelers here since the 18th century.

Red Cullin Mountains, Isle of Skye

The calm surface of the water and the veil of fog give the wrong impression of the indestructible force that sculpted the granite hills. Born as the bases of huge volcanoes, they were subjected to the powerful destructive action of wind and water for millions of years, and the pressure of glacial ice gradually gave them a soft, round shape.

Hebrides

Hebrides- an archipelago stretching along the west coast of Scotland. Conventionally, it is divided into two groups. The Inner Hebrides lie directly off the coast of Scotland in fjords and bays. The Outer Hebrides have a more compact location. They are separated by the Little Minch Channel and nestle in a close group to the north-west of Scotland.

The Hebrides Islands are rocky, with highly developed coastline. They are characterized by long sea bays, high banks and a homogeneous steppe landscape. The islands are subject to frequent precipitation coming from the west. On the Isle of Skye is highest point of the Cullin Hills archipelago (1009 meters). The Hebrides are a natural extension of the Scottish Highlands.

Megaliths discovered on the archipelago provide evidence of human activity during the Neolithic period of the history of the British Isles. In ancient times, the Hebrides were mentioned in the works of Greek and Roman authors of the beginning of our era. Then the population of the islands were Picts, who later underwent assimilation with the Gaels. This union of tribes marked the beginning of the kingdom of Dal Riada - the predecessor of Scotland. From the 8th century, Vikings appeared on the Hybrids. In the 11th century, the Norwegian Kingdom of the Isles was formed. In the 13th century it was annexed to Scotland, but for a long time it maintained broad autonomy.

The role of the Hebrides in the formation and preservation of the culture and traditions of Gaelic Scotland is quite significant. In addition to traditional activities and way of life, ancient objects of tourist interest have been preserved here. Firstly, these are the monumental gloomy castles of Kimisul, Dunstaffnage, Skipness and Dunolly, the Benedictine monastery on Iona, the cathedral in Saddell and other architectural monuments of the Middle Ages. Secondly, these are the cult places of the ancient inhabitants of the Hebrides, where Callanish stands out - a megalithic group of the Neolithic era.

The natural resource of the tourism industry is represented by bird colonies, whale watching, and seal rookeries. Thriving green tourism and sea fishing.

Hebrides Islands, Hebrides Islands map
Hebrides(English Hebrides, Gaelic Innse Gall) is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Scotland. Part of the British Isles group. The archipelago's two island chains, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, are separated by the Little Minch and North Minch straits, as well as the Inner Hebrides Sea.

1 Description
- 1.1 Inner Hebrides
- 1.2 Outer Hebrides
2 History
3 Economics
4 Notes

Description

The Hebrides are a widely scattered group of about 500 rocky, mostly high islands, of which about 100 are inhabited. The surface is about 7.2 thousand km², of which about 1.6 thousand km² are occupied by lakes. Most of the surface is rocky or marshy plains (peatlands). There are low mountains up to 1009 m high (Mount Cullin Hills on the Isle of Skye), as well as lava fields and traces of ancient glaciation (troughs, karrs).

Humid maritime climate, the average January temperature is 4-6 °C, July - 12-14 °C. There is a lot of precipitation, up to 2000 mm per year. Vegetation includes meadows on soddy-coarse-humus and soddy-peaty soils, heaths, and occasionally groves of low-growing birch.

Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, Rum, etc. Northern Isles are part of the Highland region, the southern ones are part of the Argyll and Bute region.

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides include the islands of Lewis and Harris (consisting of the two historical parts of Lewis and Harris, often called the “isles”), North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, etc. The Outer Hebrides administratively form the Western Isles region.

Story

The very first inhabitants of these islands were, apparently, the Picts, who from 843 were considered subjects of the Scottish kings, and by the 12th century were practically assimilated by the Scots. For many centuries the islands were in fact under the rule of Scottish elders. An Act of Parliament in 1748 deprived these latter of their rights, but even today most of the land is the property of the chiefs of the Scottish tribes (clans).

Economy

Residents are mainly engaged in fishing and livestock farming. The production of woolen fabrics (tweed) has been established; tourism. The largest city- Stornoway on Lewes.

Notes

1 2 Hebrides - Dictionary of Modern geographical names/ Under the general ed. acad. V. M. Kotlyakova. - Electronic edition. - Ekaterinburg: U-Factoria, 2006
Hebrides - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Hebrides
Inner Hebrides Islay - Iona - Gia - Danna - Jura - Easdale - Canna - Cara - Kerrera - Coll - Colonsay - Crowlin Island Group - Langa - Lismore - Mac - Mull - Oronsay - Razey - Rum - Sale - Skye - Soey - Tyree - Egg - Escrib Islands group

The harsh and inaccessible Hebrides are the kingdom of wind and waves.

Hebrides Islands- an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Scotland, part of the British Isles group. The archipelago's two island chains, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, are separated by the Little Minch and North Minch straits, as well as the Inner Hebrides Sea.

TO Inner Hebrides(Inner Hebrides) include the islands of Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, Rum, Staffa, etc.; To Outer Hebrides(Outer Hebrides) - the islands of Lewis, Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Barra, etc. The Outer Hebrides make up one of the 32 regions of Scotland.

All the Hebrides have more than 500 islands with a total area of more than 7.5 thousand square kilometers, 100 of them are inhabited.

Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye

At Trotternish Point on the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars overhang the Razeay Channel. They indicate powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.

Callanish stone ring, Isle of Lewis

A mysterious stone ring is located near the village of Callanish. These stone pillars were probably there before the pyramids were built. People settled on the island 5,000 years ago, farming, fishing, hunting - and building.

The outer stones rise 3.5 meters. In the center of the stone ring is a mysterious monolith about 5 m high, which represents the top of a small, partially destroyed burial. It is surrounded by a ring of thirteen columns. Three short rows of vertically standing blocks radiate, like rays, from the ring approximately to the east, west and south, and a wide alley - approximately to the north. Overall it resembles the spokes of a wheel. It is believed that the mysterious monument was built in the late Neolithic era, around 1975 BC. e.

Like the famous Stonehenge, the 13-meter circle at Kalanisha was an important ritual center.

Nearby, on the shores of Loch Roag, there are three other smaller stone rings. Mysterious stones appear in many legends. So, one of them, typical of stories related to stone rings, says: the stones were once people, they are severely punished for refusing to convert to Christianity.

Berneray Island, west coast

Dusk has fallen over the pale sands, scattered shells and thick dune grass that stretch for miles along Berneray's Atlantic coast. The rolling line of the Isle of Harris hills in the background disappears into the blue shadow of the distant horizon.

Red Cullin Mountains, Isle of Skye

This large, rocky and intricate island is surrounded by spectacular coastal landscapes, and Cuillins Peak is a treasure trove for climbers.

Mangersta, Isle of Lewis

The dangerous waters of the Hebrides with sharp sea cliffs and rocks, oddly enough, have been chosen by surfers. Mangerst is popular with athletes because there is a steady north-easterly wind blowing here all year round. Moreover, these parts are not crowded.

Grimersta, Isle of Lewis

Fresh waters from the upper lakes, bubbling, rush down to the sea along wide rocky terraces. “It’s easy to find a place on an island where you don’t hear the sounds of man,” says Alice Starmore, a native of Lewes, “but the land and water are never silent.”

Hirta, St Kilda Archipelago

Fingal's Cave, Staffa Island

Row after row of basalt pillars fill the sea cave. Her eternal darkness is illuminated only by a camera. The natural purity of the lines of these columns and the echo of the crashing waves have attracted travelers here since the 18th century.

Boreray, St Kilda Archipelago

Photo by Jim Richardson/National Geographic

The harsh and inaccessible Hebrides are the kingdom of wind and waves. But this is at first glance. The attentive traveler will find a special romance and beauty here.

Berneray Island, west coast

60 years ago, Michael Robson fell in love with a place he had never visited.

Pictures in an illustrated magazine stimulated the imagination of a Scottish boy accustomed to the comfort of home, and he began to rave about the wild islands rising in thorny ridges to the northwest of the Scottish coast.

The Hebrides beckoned to Michael Robson, and, responding to their call, he at the first opportunity, first in school break, and then during vacations, he left mainland Scotland and embarked on long journeys: by bus, steamship, small ship - and then on foot throughout the archipelago. He reached the mountainous Isle of Skye, to the peat bogs and sea bays of the Isles of Lewis and Harris, and then moved further, through many kilometers across the ocean to a tiny rocky shore, from where, a century earlier, all the inhabitants had abandoned their stone-built houses...

Hirta, St Kilda

For thousands of years, people have waged a fierce struggle for survival here. And yet, despite the harsh conditions, the Celts and Vikings, and after them the Scots and the English, sought to take possession of these shores. Today, only a few dozen Hebrides islands are inhabited. “This is a real challenge,” says Robson. “To some tourists these places seem empty and cold, but in my opinion they are just not paying attention.”

Mangersta, Isle of Lewis

History has known times when the islands received no attention at all. And why? Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th-century London intellectual and madman, said that the people of southern Britain knew no more about them than they did “about Borneo or Sumatra.” If these islands were mentioned at all, it was always in connection with the question of their development: what kind of grain should be grown there? What minerals to mine? How many people can individual lands support and what rent could they bring to landlords? Samuel Johnson himself largely filled his diary of his journey to the Hebrides with complaints about the difficulties and harsh conditions in which he had to live. Despite Johnson's grumblings, a new attitude towards these far from heavenly places. Scottish thinkers of the Enlightenment, especially the philosopher David Hume and the geologist James Hutton, trying to rid their contemporaries of worship of authority, insisted that the world should be studied through own experience rather than relying on the testimony of ancient geographers and saints. The Enlighteners did not look at nature as a wild element; it was for them a textbook of life on Earth. And some of the most mysterious pages of this textbook were read in the Hebrides.

Calanish, Isle of Lewis

In 1800, naturalist Robert Jameson (who later studied with Charles Darwin at the University of Edinburgh) published a two-volume Mineralogy of the Scottish Islands. On the island of Islay, Jameson discovered deposits of shells that were located above the high tide line: “this proves,” he wrote, “that the sea has retreated from the land.”

Modern scientists know that these prehistoric beaches, raised 35 meters above sea level, are witnesses of the last ice age. As the glaciers that covered the island melted 15,000 years ago, freeing it of its gigantic glacier cover, the land began to become exposed, and eventually the old coastline rose high and confidently above the sea.

Grimersta, Isle of Lewis

Of the Isle of Skye, Jameson said that it was possible that "at some distant period it was subject to monstrous fluctuations." The spiky arc of the Black Cullin mountain range, rising 100 meters above sea level, is actually the remains of a volcano. Its outer features have long since disappeared, revealing a deep crater of magma that bubbled here 60 million years ago.

Perhaps the most impressive site in the Hebrides is the giant circle of stone pillars at Calanish on the shores of Lough Rogue on the Isle of Lewis. Erected 4500-4900 years ago, the Kalanish complex is probably much older than the central circle at the famous Stonehenge. There is very little reliable information about the builders of these structures; only their engineering skill is beyond doubt. The island is dotted with other standing stones, as well as burial mounds, ramparts and strong Iron Age defences, most of them Lewis Gneiss. The weathered ruins of stone houses bear witness to fierce battles on land and pirate attacks from the sea. Peasants, shepherds and fishermen built them from thick blocks of gneiss, but time has not been kind to the stones.

Boreray, St Kilda

The romance of these gloomy ruins found a lively response in the heart of the Scotsman Michael Robson, who was discussed at the beginning of the story. Ancient legends, he says, “often fanciful or simply ridiculous, still contain a grain of truth.” “Every valley remembers its battle, and every stream its song,” Sir Walter Scott used to say, who sang it in his novels and poems wildlife Scotland. Even the purely rational Scottish naturalist Robert Jameson assured his readers that he, too, “succumbed to the feelings that naturally arose in ... the soul at the sight of the magnificent solitary landscapes that unexpectedly appeared before the eyes.”

Back then, British ingenuity fueled the nascent Industrial Revolution - and with it came noise, dirt and overcrowding. The world became more and more mechanical and urbanized, and nature became a refuge, a place for reflection and a source of high inspiration, capable of transforming feelings and thoughts.

Boreray, St Kilda

The Hebrides were amazing. Their most remarkable landscape, by all accounts, was discovered in 1772 by the English naturalist Joseph Banks. Heading to Iceland past the Hebrides, Banks stopped at the small island of Staffa and discovered “absolutely extraordinary stone pillars” in its southwestern part. Now it is known about them that these are the remains of colossal volcanic eruptions, which about 60 million years ago began to tear apart the bottom of the North Atlantic. The research team, which was moving along the coast, was simply breathtaking from this spectacle. The most magnificent was a huge sea cave, which Banks called Fingal's Cave.

Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye

At Trotternish Point on the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars overhang the Razeay Channel. They indicate powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.

Fingal was the subject of an epic poem purportedly written by the ancient Gaelic bard Ossian - the British Homer - and translated by the Scotsman James Macpherson. Reviving a mythical past, this epic work (which, alas, turned out to be largely the work of Macpherson himself) ignited readers' romantic desire for the misty and mystical shores of the British north.

The wide entrance to Fingal's Cave, as tall as a six-story building, leads into a column-framed cavity that extends 70 meters into the sea, where the echoes are echoed by the roar of the waves. “Compared to this,” Banks argued, “the temples and palaces built by man are insignificant!”

Fingal's Cave, Staffa

Of course, the Englishman made no discovery: the Gaelic-speaking islanders had long heard the echo of roaring waves in this cave and called it Uam Binn, or the Melodious Cave. However, the fame of Banks himself meant that his report, in which the miracle of geology was associated with the fashionable poems of Ossian, was noticed by the general public, and they started talking about the cave in London salons.

Red Cullin Mountains, Isle of Skye

The moment was right. Illustrated travel books have fallen in price. By replacing steel printing plates with softer copper ones, it became possible to print illustrations of larger sizes. And new roads and steamship connections made travel to the islands easier. During the Napoleonic Wars, travel to the continent was virtually impossible for the British, and the Hebrides seemed exotic and - if you weren't afraid of the risks - accessible.

When the British thoroughly studied the mysterious, gloomy Hebrides, it became clear: even the hardiest people would not be able to survive here. However, people have lived on the small islands and sea cliffs of St Kilda, which rise in the North Atlantic 64 kilometers from North Uist, for more than 4,000 years. Once upon a time near the winding shore of Village Bay on Hirta, largest island archipelago, a small community huddled together. Sheep grazed everywhere on the steep slopes. On the fill soil, the islanders grew modest crops of barley, oats and potatoes. They carefully mixed the thin local soil with mineral-rich seaweed.

But by 1930, the 36 residents who remained here were fed up with this life. They petitioned the British government to urgently evacuate them from the island before the onset of winter.

In a mechanized world, nature has become a refuge where man finds peace and inspiration.

On August 29, the residents of St Kilda and the bulk of their domestic animals were sent by sea to mainland Scotland. And the islands themselves were declared by the UNESCO Commission in 1968 World Heritage and taken into custody. Now they have become the property of a host of birds that circle in flocks along the steep banks. People, on the contrary, have become rare visiting guests here.

In his youth, the hero of our story, Michael Robson, had to cross about 60 kilometers open sea in the North Atlantic to get from Lewis to the lonely island of Rhone - another abandoned outpost of the archipelago. Lying under open air On bright summer nights, Robson listens to the calls of the seabirds that nest in the thousands on the Rhône every year. He comes here to find traces of the people who once lived here: ruined stone shelters that sheltered 8th-century Christian hermits, the tombstones of chiefs and warriors, or worn-out stone millstones that later inhabitants of the island used to grind their meager grain harvest. None of the isolated Rhone communities lasted long here: the harsh conditions broke each of them in turn.

In love with the Hebrides, Michael Robson made his choice 16 years ago: he settled on the Isle of Lewis, opening there to the public his collection of books, manuscripts and maps dedicated to Scottish history and folklore. This self-sufficient, youthful man with direct blue eyes retains the excellent form of one who spends a lot of time in the fresh air, and he still has an unusually tenacious memory.

But he is no longer young. Sometimes, when Robeson gestures while telling an old Hebridean tale, his hands shake a little. Now Michael no longer undertakes very difficult and long journeys, but still continues to look for places that would otherwise seem empty and cold, but for him are full of special hidden meaning.

“The essence of these islands can only be understood over a long period of time,” says Michael. “It’s a pity that I won’t have enough time to find out everything I would like to know about them.”

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