"...In our sail from Loch Tarbert to Rowdil, on June 1st, we saw several pairs of the bean goose, and procured specimens of the turnstone in full summer plumage, but I do not think they had begun to lay, for they were in flocks of four and five; and near Rowdil, the southern extremity of Harris, we were gratified by finding an eyrie of the peregrine falcon, containing four young birds. The old ones were too cautious..."

https://direcleit.blogspot.com/2011/02/some-account-of-people-of-st-kilda-and.html

#hebrides #uist #westernisles #stkilda

southerly gale…

uist

slips

between

compressed sky

and arguments of sea

https://berneraybardachd.wordpress.com/2014/10/02/southerly-gale-2/

#gale #storm #uist #hebrides #poem #poetry #westernisles

125 years ago in Stornoway:

"1898 sees Alexander at 24 New Street, Stornoway and the Crest is laid-up from 1st January until the 13th March. On the 14th she leaves for Larne... This time the crew of four includes Able-Seaman John MacPherson and the Boy Donald Macleod, for whom this is his maiden voyage."

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2010/02/crest-official-number-44427-47-net.html

#hebrides #lewis #stornoway #coastaltrading #marine #archive #socialhistory #genealogy #sailing #ketch

"As we draw close to the 100th anniversary of the start in 1923 of the mass emigrations of the 1920s, evoked in particular by the names 'Metagama' and 'Marloch', we can clearly their impact on the population of Harris."

http://direcleit.blogspot.com/2022/09/civil-parish-of-harris-population-1801.html

#harris #hebrides #emigration #metagama #marloch #1923 #diaspora #westernisles #socialhistory #genealogy

hogmanay…

thin skin between

this year and the next

lies in frozen swirling pleats

upon the surface of the loch

until first-footing’s cheerful thaw

https://berneraybardachd.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/hogmanay/

#poem #poetry #hogmanay #newyear #uist #hebrides #scotland

hogmanay…

thin skin between this year and next

lies in frozen swirling pleats

upon the surface of the loch

until first-footing’s cheerful thaw

https://berneraybardachd.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/hogmanay/

#poem #poetry #uist #hebrides #scotland #newyear

Christmas Day…

santa’s path lit by

an excitement

of children

https://berneraybardachd.wordpress.com/2015/12/25/christmas-day/

#poem #poetry #christmas #uist #hebrides

Christmas Eve…

song thrush

carols her way

along the hedgerow

https://berneraybardachd.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/christmas-eve/

#poem #poetry# christmas #christmaseve #hebrides #uist