Freddy fulfils wish to visit forebears' island home

Given it is a World Heritage Site, the remote wind-blown Atlantic archipelago of St Kilda, 100 miles west of the Scottish mainland, has for many years been a topic of universal interest.

 

"attachment_1002283" "aligncenter" "300"] The remote wind-blown Atlantic archipelago of St Kilda is a World Heritage Site.

 

For Freddy Gillies of Campbeltown, though, the appeal is more intense since oral tradition, confirmed by reliable research, has confirmed this branch of his paternal family can go back six generations to St Kilda.

 

"attachment_1002292" "aligncenter" "300"] Sheep grazing on St Kilda.

 

A former Courier editor turned fisherman/ferry skipper/author, Freddy for years lived in hope that one day a visit to Hirta Island - home of his forebears before the famous 1930 evacuation - would be possible but for various reasons the anticipated trip never materialised.

 

"attachment_1002298" "aligncenter" "300"] The church.

 

However, a random auspicious conversation with local businessman and avid yachtsman Billy McFadyen led to plans, as part of his cruising season, for a 250-mile passage to St Kilda from Campbeltown aboard the 50-foot sloop Southern Sun; the yacht is named after a former local seine-net fishing vessel part-owned by Billy’s grandfather William McLean.

 

"attachment_1002286" "aligncenter" "300"] Billy McFadyen zipping down the Sound of Jura at 13.1 knots.

 

The two intrepid mariners spent the first day of eight at sea in a fresh breeze sailing to Iona via the Torran Rocks. A peaceful night at anchor in the Sound of Iona was followed by a direct run through the Gunna Sound across the Sea of the Hebrides to Castlebay, Barra.

 

Strong winds necessitated a two-day lay over there before an eventful run up through the Minch ended at anchor off Leverburgh in the Sound of Harris.

 

"attachment_1002280" "aligncenter" "300"] Approaching Hirta and Village Bay.

 

The following morning dawned bright with favourable light winds - ideal conditions for the final 40-mile leg west to the National Trust-owned Hirta, where Southern Sun lay for a day and a night.

 

"attachment_1000177" "aligncenter" "300"] Southern Sun at anchor in Village Bay.

 

Describing his feelings on setting foot on Hirta, Freddy said: “It was a haunting moment, that’s for sure, with wistful thoughts in abundance, especially when walking on the flat stones of The Street in front of the houses, a path trodden so well by my Gillies ancestors, a surname which was prominent on Hirta.”

 

"attachment_1000183" "aligncenter" "300"] Museum information shows the Gillies family's strong connection with St Kilda.

 

He added: “The National Trust warden kindly permitted me to enter a Gillies house, one of the restored dwellings which, apart from the museum, are reserved for staff accommodation. A poignant experience certainly, yet I felt completely at ease.”

 

"attachment_1002289" "aligncenter" "300"] Another Gillies home on St Kilda.

 

He continued: “I looked in at the schoolroom and adjoining church, which was of great importance in the islanders’ way of life and ventured into the pulpit. A weighty book of Gaelic psalms lay open and it was easy for me to imagine the pews filled with men, women and children.”

 

"attachment_1000189" "aligncenter" "300"] The huge book of psalms in the church.

 

Freddy said: “Wandering among some of the 1,260 drystone cleitans reminded me on such a glorious calm, sunny day how harsh wintertime life was for the St Kildans, often being cut off for months by winds sometimes reaching hurricane force. The cleitans air-dried and preserved great numbers of plucked gannets and fulmars which along with salt fish, mutton, eggs and a little barley, oats and potatoes provided vital winter sustenance.”

 

"attachment_1000180" "aligncenter" "300"] A few of the 1260 cleitans on Hirta.

 

The changes made to Hirta by tourists in the 19th century radically altered a way of life that had allowed past generations to survive in such a unique environment. It gradually became a money-based economy and the population dwindled accordingly.

 

"attachment_1002295" "aligncenter" "300"] The schoolroom.

 

The end came on August 29 1930 when the remaining 36 souls on Hirta were evacuated at their own request to mainland Scotland, principally Lochaline on the Morvern Peninsula.

 

Of that number, 16 bore the Gillies surname. The last survivor of the evacuation, Rachael Gillies - married name Johnson - died there in 2016, aged 93.

 

"attachment_1000186" "aligncenter" "300"] Freddy returning home to Campbeltown in high spirits after completing his voyage to St Kilda.

 

On his return to Campbeltown, Freddy said: “I think the gods must have been smiling on us during the last lap to St Kilda. The weather before and after the interval we spent at idyllic anchor in Village Bay was extremely challenging at times and it was testament to Billy’s first-class seamanship and yachting skills that the boat coped so well.”

 

"attachment_1002301" "aligncenter" "300"] A storehouse where feathers as part of annual rent were kept.

 

He added: “Thankfully my ongoing basic training on the passage allowed me to take the wheel for spells.”

 

"attachment_1002304" "aligncenter" "300"] Remains of an original 'black house'.

 

Freddy’s family was established in Kintyre after his great-great-grandfather John Gillies of St Kildan stock settled in Greenock in the mid-19th century, where he married Janet McEwing and raised a family. His son Robert and his wife Mary Crawford had eight children, including Freddy’s grandfather, also Robert. The family moved to Southend, and the 1901 census lists their address as Keil Lodge.