SERVICE ABOVE SELF


The good Reverend had finally had enough and in 1843 decanted back to the mainland with his own brood of six children. Thereafter until 1872 any s chool ing was car r ied out by missionaries, until the local authority of the time took over control. The last individual owner of the four islands of St Kilda, the Marquess of Bute, eventually bequeathed the property to the National Trust for Scotland in the late 19th century. Since the evacuation in 1930, the NT and its volunteers have carried out extensive work in restoring original family buildings and the Reverend McKenzie’s church. The Ministry of Defence have also used the island as a base for whatever activities they got up to.


OCTOBER 2019: ISSUE 126


Nowadays, the St Kilda islands are a popular tourist destination – when the weather permits. The wild bird life still had its attractions for enthusiasts, as the world’s largest colony of gannets lives there – some 30,000 pairs. Anne concluded her talk with a slide show of some modern views of St Kilda, the restored schoolroom, stone and peat-roofed crofts and so on. (See below.) In a vote of thanks Iain MacKinnon reckoned that is was little surprise “school was out forever” in a place where life is so harsh and unforgiving. Anne’s comprehensive talk had shed great light on the most remote part of the British isles.


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