With nature and a camera

Chapter III. The birds and fowlers of St Kilda (continued)

Ropes *

The fowling-ropes now in use are made of Manilla hemp, but formerly they were of horse-hair, which in Martin's time was protected by a coat of cowhide. I was fortunate enough to secure the last old rope on the island for half-a-crown, and upon inquiry discovered that the hair of which it was composed had cost five shillings per pound, and that the last man in St Kilda who knew how to make one was long since dead. My purchase weighs three pounds, and measures fifty-two feet in length, and is, I need hardly say, treasured as a prize of considerable value amongst my collection of curiosities.

Horsehair rope

Kenneth Macaulay describes the fowling-rope in use at the time of his visit as thirty fathoms long, "made of a strong, raw cowhide ... capable of sustaining a great weight, and lasting for about two generations." He adds that "in the testament of a father it constitutes the very first article in favour of his eldest son; should it happen to fall to a daughter's share in default of male heirs it is reckoned equal in value to the two best cows in the isle."

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St Kildan fowler

Four years ago a girl, whilst watching the men collect eggs on the Doon, had her petticoats ballooned by a sudden squall of wind, and was lifted clean over the cliff. She fell one hundred and eighty feet without a break, and alighted on a ledge which was covered with earth.

The cragsmen descended to pick up what they very naturally supposed to be the dead body of the poor child, but were surprised to find that she was still alive. Her head had entered a large Puffin burrow, and the force of the blow been expended upon her shoulders. This undoubtedly saved her, and although she hung a whole week between life and death in an unconscious condition, she ultimately made a complete recovery, and was a fine buxom lassie at the time of our visit.

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Seton has a note to the effect that the Eider Duck is only seen occasionally at St Kilda. I cannot understand this, for I saw several pairs nearly every morning in Village Bay, and had a clutch of eggs offered to me for sale.

If a stray Heron happens to alight upon St Kilda the natives firmly believe that they are being visited by a witch from Stornaway.

It is said the Cuckoo is rarely to be seen in Hirta, and then only upon such extraordinary occasions as the death of MacLeod, his steward, or the arrival of some notable stranger upon the island. This venerable superstition is more than two centuries old, and is still believed in as firmly as ever. In fact, its truth is said to have been verified only a year or two back, when a bird visited the island as a presage of the late proprietor's death.

Bees are never seen at St Kilda, and I very much doubt whether such insects would find sustenance if they ever found their way thither.

On the evening of the 23rd of June we packed up our things and held a kind of farewell meeting, at which we distributed our spare tea, coffee, cheese, butter, and other articles amongst the people, as we expected the steamer which was to take us away on the morrow to be in the Bay in ample time for us to breakfast on board. At eight o'clock next morning she had not hove in sight, and when time dragged heavily along till the stroke of ten was upon us we were all hungry, and I must confess I was a wee bit home-sick, as everything looked so cheerless and dismal.