hybrid islands. The Hebrides: an archipelago on the edge of the Earth. Serious beauty lovers

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

Berneray Island, west coast

Twilight hung over the pale sands, scattered shells, and dense dune grass that stretched for miles along the Atlantic coast of the Bernerey. The sinuous line of the Harris Hills in the background fades into a blue shadow on the distant horizon.

60 years ago, Michael Robson fell in love with a land he had never been before.

Pictures in an illustrated magazine spurred the imagination of a Scottish boy accustomed to homeliness, and he began to rave about wild islands, towering in thorny ridges northwest of the Scottish coast.

The Hebrides beckoned to Michael Robson, and, responding to their call, he, at the first opportunity, first during school holidays, and then during holidays, left mainland Scotland and embarked on long journeys: by buses, steamers, small ships - and beyond. walking throughout the archipelago. He got to the mountainous Isle of Skye, to the peat bogs and sea bays of the islands of Lewis and Harris, and then moved on, many kilometers across the ocean to a tiny rocky shore, from where a century earlier, having abandoned their stone houses, all the inhabitants left ...

Hirta, St Kilda

Stone walls still skirt patches of arable land on uneven hillsides above the ruins of St Kilda's main settlement. These fences protected oat and barley crops from salty winds and livestock. The hive-like buildings were used to store food and peat, which the islanders used as fuel; hundreds of such warehouses have survived to this day.

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

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 British, sought to take possession of the local shores. Only a few dozen of the Hebrides are inhabited today. “It's a real challenge to fate,” says Robson. “To some tourists, these places seem empty and cold, but they, in my opinion, just look inattentively.”

Mungerst, Isle of Lewis

Dangerous waters of the Hebrides with sharp sea cliffs and rocks, oddly enough, were chosen by surfers. Mangersta is popular with athletes because it has a steady northeasterly wind all year round. In addition, these parts are not crowded.

History has known times when the islands were not paid attention at all. And why? Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th-century London intellectual and madcap, said that the inhabitants of southern Britain knew no more about them than "of Borneo or Sumatra." If these islands were mentioned at all, it was certainly in connection with the question of their development: what kind of grain should be grown there? What minerals to extract? How many people can individual lands feed, and what rent could they bring to landlords? Samuel Johnson himself mainly filled out the diary of his trip to the Hebrides with complaints about the hardships and harsh conditions in which he had to live. Despite Johnson's grumbling, a new attitude to these far from paradise places soon took root. Scottish thinkers of the Enlightenment, especially the philosopher David Hume and the geologist James Hutton, in an attempt to rid their contemporaries of admiration for authority, insisted that the world should be studied from one's own experience, and not rely on the testimony of ancient geographers and saints. 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

These stone pillars probably stood here before the pyramids were built. People settled on the island 5000 years ago, they were engaged in agriculture, fishing, hunting - and construction. 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.

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

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

Grimersta, Isle of Lewis

Fresh water from the upper lakes, bubbling, rushes down to the sea along wide rocky terraces. “It’s easy to find a place on the island where no man-made sounds can be heard,” says Alice Starmore, a native of Lewis, “but land and water are never silent.”

Of Skye, Jameson said that it may have "been subjected to monstrous vibrations at some remote period." The prickly arc of the Black Kullin mountain range, rising 100 meters above sea level, is actually the remains of a volcano. Its outer features have long since vanished, revealing a deep magma crater that bubbled up here 60 million years ago.

Perhaps the most impressive site in the Hebrides is the giant stone pillar circle 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 in the famous Stonehenge. There is very little reliable information about the builders of these structures, only their engineering skills are beyond doubt. The island is also littered with other standing stones, as well as burial mounds, ramparts and strong Iron Age defenses - most of them from Lewis gneiss. The weathered ruins of stone houses are witnesses of fierce battles on land and pirate attacks from the sea. Peasants, shepherds and fishermen built them from thick blocks of gneiss, but time did not spare the stones either.

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 protrudes 400 meters above the ocean; here the offspring of 60 thousand pairs of cormorants are raised - the largest colony in the world. The inhabitants of St Kilda climbed these rocks barefoot, catching birds and collecting eggs to feed themselves.

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. Old traditions, he says, "often fanciful or simply ridiculous, still carry a grain of truth." “Each valley remembers its battle, and each stream its song,” said Sir Walter Scott, who sang the wild nature of Scotland in his novels and poems. Even the purely rational Scottish naturalist Robert Jameson assured readers that he, too, "succumbed to the feelings that naturally arose in ... the soul at the sight of magnificent solitary landscapes that unexpectedly appeared before the eyes."

In those early days, British ingenuity fueled the nascent Industrial Revolution - and with it came noise, filth and crowding. The world became more and more mechanistic 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

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

The Hebrides were amazing. Their most remarkable, admittedly, landscape 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 in its southwestern part "absolutely unusual stone pillars." Now it is known about them that these are the remains of colossal volcanic eruptions, which about 60 million years ago began to tear the bottom of the North Atlantic. The research team, which moved along the coast, was simply breathtaking from this spectacle. The most majestic was the huge sea cave, which Banks called Fingal's Cave.

Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye

At Trotternish Point on the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars hang over the Strait of Rasay. They testify to the powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.

Fingal was the subject of an epic poem allegedly written by the ancient Gaelic bard Ossian - the British Homer - and translated by the Scot James MacPherson. Reviving a mythical past, this epic (which turned out, alas, for the most part to be MacPherson's own) ignited readers' romantic attraction to the misty and mystical shores of the British north.

The wide entrance to Fingal's Cave, as high as a six-story house, leads into a cavity framed by many columns, which stretches 70 meters into the depths of the sea, where the echo echoes the roar of the waves. “Compared to this,” Banks argued, “man-built temples and palaces are insignificant!”

Fingal's Cave, Staffa

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

Of course, the Englishman did not make any discovery: the Gaelic-speaking islanders have long heard the echo of roaring waves in this cave and called it Uam Binn, or Melodious Cave. However, the fame of Banks himself served to ensure that his report, in which the miracle of geology was associated with the fashionable poems of Ossian, was noticed by the general public, and the cave was talked about in London salons.

Red Cullin Mountains, Isle of Skye

The calm surface of the water and the veil of fog give the wrong idea of ​​​​the invincible power that sculpted the granite hills. Born as the foundations of huge volcanoes, they have been exposed to the powerful destructive action of wind and water for millions of years, and the pressure of glacial ice gradually gave them a soft, rounded shape.

The moment was right. Illustrated travel books have fallen in price. By replacing steel printing plates with softer copper plates, larger illustrations can be printed. And new roads and steamship communications made it easier to travel to the islands. During the years of the Napoleonic Wars, travel to the continent was almost impossible for the British, and the Hebrides seemed exotic and - if you are not afraid of risk - accessible.

When the British thoroughly studied the mysterious gloomy Hebrides, it became clear that even the most hardy people could not survive here. However, the small islands and sea cliffs of St Kilda, which rise in the North Atlantic 64 kilometers from North Uist, have been inhabited for more than 4,000 years. Once upon a time, a small community huddled along the winding shores of Village Bay on Hirta, the archipelago's largest island. Sheep were grazing everywhere on the steep slopes. On bulk soil, the islanders grew modest crops of barley, oats and potatoes. They carefully mixed the lean local soil with mineral-rich seaweed.

But by 1930, the 36 residents who remained here were fed up with this life to the throat. 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 inhabitants of St Kilda and the bulk of their pets were sent by sea to the Scottish mainland. And the islands themselves in 1968 were declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO commission and taken under protection. 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 stray guests here.

In his youth, the hero of our story, Michael Robson, had to cross about 60 kilometers of open sea in the North Atlantic to get from Lewis to the lonely Rhone Island - another abandoned outpost of the archipelago. Lying out in the open on bright summer nights, Robson listens to the calls of the seabirds that nest in the Rhone by the thousands every year. He comes here to find traces of the people who once lived here: the ruined stone shelters that sheltered Christian hermits of the 8th century, the tombstones of leaders and warriors, or the worn-out stone millstones that the later inhabitants of the island used to grind the meager grain harvest. None of the Rhone communities, isolated from each other, held out here for long: 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 a direct gaze of blue eyes has retained the fine form of a person who spends a lot of time in the open air, and he still has an unusually strong memory.

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

Along the western coast of Scotland lie the impregnable Hebrides, which seem cold and inhospitable. However, travelers find a special romance in them and fall in love with a distant land famous for its picturesque landscapes. Even in ancient times, the archipelago with a fickle sea element was mentioned in the writings of the Romans and Greeks.

From time immemorial, people who defy fate tried to survive in harsh conditions, and the Vikings and Celtic tribes, the British and Scots dreamed of taking over the land, most of which was rocky or swampy.

Some facts about the archipelago

The archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean, has received the unofficial name "miniature Scotland" for the variety of unique attractions. Conventionally, it is divided into two groups - the Outer and Inner Hebrides. If the former are separated by the Little Minch Strait and huddle compactly to the north-west of the autonomous region, then the latter are located off the coast of a state that is part of Great Britain.

The Hebrides, consisting of approximately 500 small islands (no more than a hundred are inhabited), are a real kingdom of chilly wind and powerful waves. Once upon a time, a giant piece of land broke away from the mainland, shattered into many parts. This is how the Hebrides archipelago appeared with an area of ​​​​7.2 thousand km 2. More than 1.5 thousand km 2 are occupied by lakes, thanks to which a special climate has formed with frequent rains and fogs coming from the west.

As tourists note, the weather here is extremely changeable: within an hour, the clear sky is covered with gray clouds, and the Hebrides, which are a continuation of the mountain ranges of Scotland, are hidden in a milky shroud. And the pacifying sea waves of a transparent blue hue are immediately replaced by frightening giant shafts of lead color.

Ancient monuments of Scotland

It is impossible not to mention the important role of the archipelago not only in the formation, but also in the preservation of Scottish culture. Here you can get acquainted with ancient monuments of great interest to tourists. On those islands that are inhabited, majestic castles rise, which have come down to descendants from past eras. In a mysterious gray haze, they acquire a mysterious halo, and it seems as if old Scottish legends about valiant knights who fought dragons come to life here.

The unique island of Staffa with caves and basalt columns

Staffa Island is one of the most interesting places in the Hebrides in Scotland. Tourists who have visited an unusual corner admit that their hearts sank at the sight of fantastic landscapes. Stone basalt columns, which give the territory a mystical charm, and numerous underground kingdoms attract guests admiring the miracle of nature.

The most famous is Fingal's Cave with excellent acoustics, for which it was nicknamed "singing". The sounds of the surf, which are reflected under its arches, are carried everywhere, and experts compare it with a majestic cathedral. The miraculous sights have been under the protection of UNESCO since 1968.

Secrets and mysteries

The Hebrides, formed during the Ice Age, are a place where a human foot does not often set foot, and each pearl of the archipelago boasts both a curious history and unique sights. As scientists say, there are more than enough local mysteries here, and the unusual megalithic complex located on the Outer Hybrid Island is proof of this.

Isle of Lewis and Scottish Stonehenge

An analogue of the English Stonehenge, surpassing it in age, is located in the village of Callanish (Lewis Island). In 1981, an archaeological expedition unearthed a stone circle covered with a thick layer of peat, which received the same name. Inside thirteen vertical boulders just over three meters high, cleared of soil, there is a huge slab. Experts believe that the mysterious circle was erected by adherents of the Moon cult about five thousand years ago.

It is known that until the 19th century, local residents gathered at the stone guards on a certain day and performed mysterious rituals. It is curious that behind the cobblestones there are smaller blocks, and from a height the outlines of a Celtic cross are visible, the ends of which are directed to the four cardinal points. Unfortunately, there is no information about the builders of the most impressive place in the archipelago. Only their engineering skills are not questioned, which made it possible to create a real miracle that raises many questions among modern scientists.

In addition, other mystical stone structures are located on the territory, as well as burial mounds, the secrets of the appearance of which have sunk into oblivion along with those who erected them. The megaliths found by scientists testify to the activity of primitive man in the Neolithic - the New Stone Age. Eight years ago, another structure was discovered, so far poorly studied by archaeologists, who suggested that it was ritual.

Isle of Harris

The Outer Hebrides, which form one of the 32 regions of the country, include the isle of Harris, on whose sandy beaches tourists love to relax.

Harris and Lewis are the same large island, which is divided into two parts by a narrow isthmus. A wonderful corner with beautiful landscapes is considered the heart of Scotland. The north of the island is peat bogs, and the south with stunning beaches is chosen by vacationers.

Isle of Skye

The Kuirang mountain range, located in the north of the largest island of Skye (the Inner Hebrides archipelago), resembles a place, fantastic landscapes are transferred to a magical world far from reality. Its main attraction is the rocky Cape Trotternish, which delights with basalt blocks rising above the water surface.

Tourists who appreciate the beauty of sheer cliffs, majestic mountain peaks, powerful cliffs, it seems that they are in a real fairy tale. It was only created by mother nature, like the most famous rock, reminiscent of its protrusions of an old man who peers intently into the distance.

North Rhone Island

A secluded corner in the North Atlantic is so isolated from everyone else that it is often forgotten to put it on the geographical map of Great Britain. Many centuries ago, the island was chosen as a haven by Christian hermits, later it was inhabited by the Scandinavian peoples who captured the Hebrides.

In the 8th century, an Irish bishop settled here, who was later recognized as Saint Ronan. Ronan erected a chapel - the oldest Christian building in Scotland, which has survived to this day. Curious guests of the miniature island can crawl into the semi-submerged structure made of earth and see the ascetic decoration that sheds light on how hermits lived on the Rhone a thousand years ago.

• 1 Description
  • 1.1 Inner Hebrides
  • 1.2 Outer Hebrides
• 2 History
• 3 Economy
• 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 is occupied by lakes. Most of the surface is rocky or marshy plains (peat bogs). There are low mountains up to 1009 m (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 temperature in January is 4-6 °C, in July - 12-14 °C. There is a lot of precipitation, up to 2000 mm per year. From the vegetation - meadows on soddy-coarse-humus and soddy-peaty soils, heaths, occasionally groves of stunted birch.

Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, Ram, etc. The northern islands 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 two historical parts of Lewis and Harris, often referred to as "islands"), North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, and others. 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 the Scottish elders. An Act of Parliament of 1748 deprived these latter of their rights, but even at the present time most of the land is the property of the chiefs of the Scottish tribes (clans).

Economy

The inhabitants are mainly engaged in fishing and animal husbandry. The production of woolen fabrics (tweed) has been established; tourism. The largest city is Stornoway on the Lewes.

Notes

1. 1 2 Hebrides - Dictionary of Modern Geographical Names / Ed. ed. acad. V. M. Kotlyakova. - Electronic edition. - Yekaterinburg: U-Factoria, 2006
2. Hebrides - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The source of inspiration for poets, artists and photographers is located in Scotland. The Hebrides are harsh and impregnable, they are rightfully called the kingdom of waves and wind.

Islands are nothing more than an archipelago that occupies the entire western coast of Scotland. It is divided into two groups: internal and external. As for the internal ones, they are located directly on the Scottish coast, but the external ones are separated by the Little Minch Strait, and they nailed in a rather cramped group in the northwestern part of the country.

In total, at least 500 islands and their smaller counterparts are counted. These places are full of mystery, where fog and rain are frequent guests, and the winds tirelessly “drive” the clouds. Experienced sailors are wary of this area, because such an unpredictable sea element is confusing, forcing them to be in constant tension.

For centuries, in these parts, the peoples fought for the right to own the magnificent shores. Nowadays, only a small number of islands are inhabited by people. Once local beaches caught the last ice age. The rock ledges are strewn with bird nests, and the largest colony of cormorants (more than 60,000 pairs) lives here. In ancient times, tribes climbed mountains, destroying nests in order to feed themselves.

The Hebrides have fascinated the imagination for a long time. And the naturalist Joseph Bankson opened the most striking in the opinion of the landscape (1772). Where exactly? In the southwest of the island of Staffa. It was there that amazing stone pillars towered before his eyes. We will not argue, only now more is known about them - these are the remains of once erupting volcanoes that tore apart the bottom of the North Atlantic millions of years ago. The spectacle is truly breathtaking! In 1968, these places were noticed by UNESCO, including them in its list.

After the British went around all the gloomy places Hebrides, it was concluded that even the most unpretentious and strong-willed people will never be able to live and, in fact, survive here. But as the saying goes: “never say never”, so it turned out that the small islands and cliffs of St. Kilda were inhabited by people for at least four millennia. In 1930, the population was small - 36 people, and besides, they were quite fed up with such a life. Appealing to the government of the country with a request to withdraw them from the island, they received an affirmative answer and went to Scotland.

The local nature is untouched by the “hand” of civilization, carrying its natural “train” through the centuries. Romance and beauty attract a huge number of travelers from all over the world to the Hebrides.