Outer Hebrides

In the novel “Persuasion” by Jane Austen, the heroine Anne states “My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.’

Four years ago, I had the good fortune to go on holiday with three friends who not only share my love of books, but who have also experienced widowhood.  It was truly a week spent in “good company”.

We hired a dog-friendly cottage on the Isle of Harris that was large enough to accommodate the four of us and two dogs. The cottage had magnificent views and was only a ten-minute walk from the nearest beach called Huisinis.  I had been to Harris a few years before with my daughter, but unfortunately saw it through typical Scottish rain and cloud.  By contrast, we had magnificent weather all week.

For those unfamiliar with Scotland, I shall have to explain something that I didn’t understand until I went there with my daughter.  At the school where I used to teach, the houses were named after Scottish islands and were called Skye, Lewis, Harris and Mull.  Naturally, this ignorant South African assumed that Lewis and Harris were two separate islands.  They are not!  They are in fact one landmass which together forms the biggest island in Scotland.   Lewis is the northern, flatter part whereas Harris is more mountainous and lies to the south. 

We travelled to Harris via Lewis.  The ferry for Stornoway, the largest (and only) town on Lewis, leaves the Scottish mainland from the Highland town of Ullapool and takes 2h30min.  The drive from Stornoway to our cottage took nearly two hours, mainly because, once we turned off from the excellent main road that links Stornoway to Tarbert, the largest town on Harris, we were on a narrow single-track road.

The beautiful beaches are one of the main attractions of Harris. If you have a dog in tow, this is where you are most likely to spend your time.  Our nearest beach was accessible on foot, provided one was prepared to brave the Highland cows that were protective of their calves. Crofting (small scale farming) remains popular on the island with about 920 active crofters. The Highland cattle seem to be free to roam and there was a small herd grazing around our cottage. The lovely weather meant that we were content to spend most of our time on the beach and to allow Suki to dig holes in the soft white sand while we lazed and read or enjoyed a picnic.

The most famous beach on Harris is Luskentyre, which is described as having white sands that ripple down to waters of turquoise and aquamarine. It was a “must” to go there and walk along the extensive sparkling sands.  Several trips were made to Tarbert for provisions as well as to shop for the famous Harris Tweed (although I believe that most of it is actually made on Lewis). 

One day we had a meal at Talla na Mara (which means Centre by the Sea). Talla na Mara is an arts and entertainment centre, owned and operated on behalf of the West Harris community.  There are several artists’ studios that are open for you to browse and to chat to the artists. Because I had Suki with me, a table was provided for us on the decking outside the restaurant and we had a marvellous view over the Niseaboist beach.

Sight-seeing is difficult with a dog companion and I was grateful that I had been there on a previous visit without a dog. On that trip, I was able to indulge my interest in the historical sites.  It appears that there was human activity on Lewis 8,000 years ago, but the earliest archaeological remains date from about 5,000 years ago.  Small round houses belonging to these people have been found throughout the Western Isles, but more striking monuments remain like the Callanish Stones (older than Stonehenge).  

Island society moved into the Iron Age round about 500 BC.  The buildings became larger and more prominent, culminating in circular, double-walled towers made of stone.  They were defensive buildings and testify to the uncertain nature of life then. The best remaining example of a broch in Lewis is the Carloway Broch,

The so-called blackhouses are examples of more recent crofter homes.  They are built with dry-stone walls, packed with earth. The roofs consisted of wooden rafters covered with a thatch of turf with straw or reeds.  The floor would have been either packed earth or flagstones and contained a central hearth. There was no chimney and the smoke escaped through the roof. The people lived at one end of the house and their livestock at the other, with a partition between them.

I respond emotionally rather than intellectually to ancient sites.  It’s as if I am being taken out of the present and become part of peoples that have existed for millennia.  I’m sure that a poet somewhere has described the feeling of timelessness.  The only words that come to my mind are from the hymn “O God our help in ages past”:

A thousand ages in your sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
soon bears us all away;
we fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.

These islands are a wonderful place to go if you want get away from it all. The slower pace of life, the beautiful scenery and the fascinating history ensure that you leave feeler stronger and more relaxed. The combination of natural beauty and ancient history helps to put everything into perspective.