Where are the Hebrides located? The Hebrides - an archipelago at the ends of the Earth Local winds in the Hebrides of Scotland
60 years ago Michael Robson fell in love with a land where he had never been. Pictures in an illustrated magazine spurred the imagination of a homely Scottish boy, and he began to rave wild islands, towering spiky ridges northwest of the Scottish coast. The Hebrides beckoned to Michael Robson, and, responding to their call, he at the first opportunity, first during school holidays, and then during vacations, left mainland Scotland and embarked on long journeys: by buses, steamers, small ships - and further on foot throughout the archipelago. He traveled to the mountainous Isle of Skye, to the peat bogs and sea bays of the Lewis and Harris Islands, and then moved on, through many kilometers across the ocean to a tiny rocky coast, from where a century earlier, abandoning their stone-built houses, all the inhabitants left ...
"To some tourists, these places seem empty and cold," says Robson, "but I think they are just not watching."The Inner and Outer Hebrides are more than five hundred islands and islets. It is often foggy and rainy, the winds blow almost continuously, and the sea element around is so fickle that even the most experienced captain can feel fear. Everything is changeable in these seas: in an hour, the measured silky swaying of the piercing blue tropical waves is replaced by a stormy invasion of lead foam rolls. For thousands of years, people have fought a fierce struggle for survival here. And yet, despite the harsh conditions, the Celts and Vikings, and after them the Scots and the British, sought to take possession of the local shores. Today only a few dozen of the Hebrides are inhabited. “This is a real challenge,” says Robson. "To some tourists, these places seem empty and cold, but they, in my opinion, just look inattentively." History has known times when the islands were not paid attention to at all. And why? Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th century London intellectual and madcap, said that the people of southern Britain knew no more about them than they did "Borneo or Sumatra." If these islands were mentioned at all, then it was imperative in connection with the question of their development: what grain should be grown there? What are the minerals to mine? How many people can individual lands feed, and what rent could they bring to landlords? Samuel Johnson himself mostly filled out the diary of his trip to the Hebrides with complaints about the difficulties and harsh conditions in which he had to live. Despite Johnson's grunts, a new attitude towards these far from heavenly places soon took root. The Scottish thinkers of the Enlightenment, in particular the philosopher David Hume and the geologist James Hutton, trying to save their contemporaries from admiration for authorities, insisted that the world should be studied on own experience rather than relying on the testimony of ancient geographers and saints. The enlighteners did not look at nature as a wild element, it was for them a textbook of life on Earth. And some of the most cryptic pages of this textbook were read in the Hebrides. In 1800, naturalist Robert Jameson (later Charles Darwin studied with him at the University of Edinburgh) published a two-volume Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles. On the island of Islay, Jameson discovered deposits of shells that were located above the high tide line: "this proves," he wrote, "that the sea receded from the land." Modern scientists know that these prehistoric beaches, 35 meters above sea level, are witnesses of the last ice age. As the glaciers that covered the island melted 15,000 years ago, freeing it from a giant glacier cover, the land began to bare, and eventually the old coastline rose high and confidently above the sea. Of the Isle of Skye, Jameson said that perhaps "at some distant period he was subjected to monstrous fluctuations." The spiky arc of the Black Kullin mountain range, which rises 100 meters above sea level, is in fact the remains of a volcano. Its outer elements have long disappeared, revealing a deep funnel of magma that bubbled here 60 million years ago. Perhaps the most impressive site in the Hebrides is the giant circle of stone pillars at Kalanish on the shores of Lough Rogue on the Isle of Lewis. Built 4500–4900 years ago, the Kalanish complex is probably much older than the central circle in the famous Stonehenge. There is very little reliable information about the builders of these structures, only their engineering skill is beyond doubt. The island is dotted with other standing stones, as well as burial mounds, ramparts and solid defensive structures Iron Age - most of them from Lewis gneiss. The weathered ruins of stone houses are witnesses of fierce battles on land and pirate attacks from the sea. Peasants, shepherds and fishermen built them from thick blocks of gneiss, but time did not spare the stones either. The romance of these gloomy ruins found a lively response in the heart of the Scotsman Michael Robson, who was discussed at the beginning of the story. Ancient legends, he says, "are often pretentious or simply ridiculous, but still carry a grain of truth." "Each valley remembers its battle, and each stream remembers its song," said Sir Walter Scott, who sang in his novels and poems wildlife Scotland. Even the purely rational Scottish naturalist Robert Jameson assured readers that he too "succumbed to the feelings that naturally arose in ... the soul at the sight of magnificent secluded landscapes that suddenly appeared before their eyes." In those early days, British ingenuity fueled the nascent industrial revolution - and with it noise, filth and crowding entered life. The world became more and more mechanical and urbanized, and nature became a refuge, a place for contemplation and a source of high inspiration, capable of transforming feelings and thoughts. The Hebrides were amazing. Their most admittedly remarkable landscape was discovered in 1772 by the English naturalist Joseph Banks. Heading to Iceland past the Hebrides, Banks stopped on the small island of Staffa and discovered in the southwestern part of it "completely extraordinary stone pillars ". Now we know about them that these are the remnants of colossal volcanic eruptions that about 60 million years ago began to tear apart the bottom of the North Atlantic. The research team, which moved along the coast, was simply breathtaking from this sight. The most magnificent was the huge sea cave, which Banks called Fingal's Cave. Fingal was the hero of an epic poem allegedly written by the ancient Gaelic bard Ossian - the British Homer - and translated by the Scotsman James MacPherson. Reviving a mythical past, this epic work (which, alas, turned out to be mostly the work of MacPherson himself) ignited the romantic attraction of readers to the foggy and mystical shores of the British north. The wide entrance to Fingal's Cave, the height of a six-story building, leads into a cavity framed by many columns, which stretches 70 meters into the depths of the sea, where the echo echoes the roar of the waves. "By comparison," Banks argued, "man-made temples and palaces are paltry!" Of course, the Englishman did not make any discovery: the Gaelic-speaking islanders have long heard the echo of the roaring waves in this cave and called it Wam Binn, or the Melodic Cave. However, the fame of Banks himself served to the fact that his report, in which the miracle of geology was associated with the fashionable poems of Ossian, was noticed by the general public, and the cave was talked about in London salons. The moment was right. Illustrated travel books have fallen in price. By replacing steel printing plates with softer copper plates, it has become possible to print larger illustrations. And new roads and steamship connections made it easier to travel to the islands. During the Napoleonic Wars, travel to the continent was almost impossible for the British, and the Hebrides seemed exotic and - if not afraid of risk - accessible. When the British carefully studied the mysterious gloomy Hebrides, it became clear that even the most hardy people would not be able to survive here. However, on the small islands and sea cliffs of St Kilda, which rise up in the North Atlantic 64 kilometers from North Uist Island, people have lived for over 4,000 years. A small community once huddled near the winding shores of Village Bay on Hirt, the largest island in the archipelago. Sheep grazed on the steep slopes everywhere. The islanders grew modest yields of barley, oats and potatoes on bulk soil. They thoroughly mixed the skinny local soil with seaweed rich in mineral salts. But by 1930, the 36 residents who remained here were fed up with this life. They appealed to the British government with a petition to urgently evacuate them from the island before the onset of winter.
In a mechanized world, nature has become a refuge where a person finds peace and inspiration.On 29 August, the residents of St Kilda and most of their pets were shipped by sea to the mainland of Scotland. And the islands themselves were declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO Commission in 1968 and taken under protection. Now they have become the property of a host of birds that circle in flocks along the steep banks. People, on the contrary, have become rare stray guests here. In his youth, the hero of our story, Michael Robson, had to cross about 60 kilometers of the open sea in the North Atlantic to get from Lewis to the lonely Rhone Island - another abandoned outpost of the archipelago. Lying under open air on bright summer nights, Robson listens to the cries of the seabirds that nest in the thousands on the Rhone every year. He comes here to find traces of people who once lived here: destroyed stone shelters that sheltered Christian hermits of the 8th century, tombstones of leaders and warriors, or worn stone millstones that later inhabitants of the island used to grind a meager grain harvest. None of the isolated communities of Rhone lasted long here: the harsh conditions in turn broke each of them. In love with the Hebrides, Michael Robson made his choice 16 years ago: he settled on the Isle of Lewis, opening there to the public his collection of books, manuscripts and maps dedicated to Scottish history and folklore. This self-sufficient youthful man with a straight blue gaze retains the excellent shape of a person who spends a lot of time in the fresh air, and he still has an unusually tenacious memory. But he is no longer young. Sometimes, when Robson gestures, telling an old Hebrides tale, his hands shake a little. Now Michael no longer undertakes too difficult and long journeys, but he still continues to look for places that would seem empty and cold to others, but for him are full of special inner meaning. “The essence of these islands can only take a long time to comprehend,” says Michael. “It’s a pity that I don’t have enough time to learn everything I would like to know about them.”
Along the west coast of Scotland lies the inaccessible Hebrides, which seem cold and inhospitable. However, travelers find a special romance in them and fall in love with a distant land famous for its picturesque landscapes. Even in ancient times, an archipelago with a fickle sea element was mentioned in the writings of the Romans and Greeks.
From time immemorial, people who defy fate tried to survive in harsh conditions, and the Vikings and Celtic tribes, the British and Scots dreamed of taking possession of the land, most of which was rocky or swampy.
Few facts about the archipelago
The archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean, has received the unofficial name "Miniature Scotland" for the variety of unique attractions. It is conventionally divided into two groups - the Outer and Inner Hebrides. While the former are separated by the Little Minch Strait and compactly huddle to the northwest of the autonomous region, the latter are located off the coast of a state that is part of Great Britain.
The Hebrides, consisting of about 500 small islets (no more than a hundred are inhabited), are a real kingdom of chilly wind and powerful waves. Once upon a time, a giant piece of land broke off from the mainland, shattered into many parts. This is how the Hebrides archipelago with an area of 7.2 thousand km 2 appeared. More than 1.5 thousand km 2 are occupied by lakes, thanks to which a special climate has been formed with frequent rains and fogs coming from the west.
As tourists note, the weather here is extremely changeable: for an hour, the clear sky is covered with gray clouds, and the Hebrides, which are a continuation of the Scotland's mountain ranges, hide in a milky veil. And the pacifying sea waves of a transparent blue hue are immediately replaced by frightening giant shafts of lead color.
Ancient monuments of Scotland
It is impossible not to mention the important role of the archipelago not only in the formation, but also in the preservation of Scottish culture. Here you can get acquainted with ancient monuments of great interest to vacationers. On those islands that are inhabited, there are majestic castles that have come down to descendants from past eras. In a mysterious gray haze, they acquire a mysterious halo, and it seems as if ancient Scottish legends about valiant knights who fought dragons come to life here.
Unique island of Staffa with caves and basalt columns
Staffa Island is one of the most interesting places Hebrides in Scotland. Tourists who have visited an unusual place admit that they felt heart stopping at the sight of the fantastic landscapes. Basalt stone columns, giving the area a mystical charm, and numerous underground kingdoms attract guests admiring the wonder of nature.
The most famous is the Fingalova cave with excellent acoustics, for which it was nicknamed "singing". The sounds of the surf, which are reflected under its arches, are carried everywhere, and experts compare it with a majestic cathedral. The miraculous sights have been protected by UNESCO since 1968.
Secrets and riddles
The Hebrides, which were formed during the Ice Age, are a place where human feet do not often step, and each pearl of the archipelago can boast of both an interesting history and unique sights. As scientists say, there are more than enough local mysteries here, and the unusual megalithic complex located on the Outer Hybrid Island is proof of this.
Isle of Lewis and Scottish Stonehenge
An analogue of the English Stonehenge, surpassing it in age, is located in the village of Callanish (Lewis Island). In 1981, an archaeological expedition unearthed a stone circle covered with a thick layer of peat, which received the same name. Inside the thirteen vertical boulders, a little over three meters high, cleared of soil, there is a huge slab. Experts believe that the mysterious circle was erected by adherents of the cult of the Moon about five thousand years ago.
It is known that until the 19th century, local residents gathered on a certain day at stone guards and performed mysterious rituals. It is curious that behind the cobblestones there are smaller boulders, and from a height you can see the outlines of a Celtic cross, the ends of which are directed to the four cardinal directions. Unfortunately, there is no information about the builders of the most impressive site in the archipelago. Only their engineering skill is not questioned, which made it possible to create a real miracle that raises many questions from modern scientists.
In addition, on the territory there are other mystical structures made of stone, as well as burial mounds, the secrets of the appearance of which have sunk into oblivion along with those who erected them. The megaliths found by scientists testify to the activity of primitive man in the Neolithic - New Stone Age. Eight years ago, another structure was discovered, so far poorly studied by archaeologists, who suggested that it was ritual.
Harris Island
The Outer Hebrides, forming one of the 32 regions of the country, is the isle of Harris, on sandy beaches which tourists love to rest.
Harris and Lewis are one and the same large island, which is divided into two parts by a narrow isthmus. A wonderful corner with beautiful landscapes is considered the heart of Scotland. The north of the island is peat bogs, while the south, with its stunning beaches, is the preferred choice for holidaymakers.
Isle of skye
The Kuirang mountain range, located in the north of the largest island of Skye (the Inner Hebrides archipelago), resembles a place, fantastic landscapes transfer to a magical world far from reality. Its main attraction is the rocky Cape Trotternish, admiring the basalt boulders towering above the water surface.
Tourists who have appreciated the beauty of the sheer cliffs, the majestic mountain peaks, powerful cliffs, it seems that they have fallen into a real fairy tale. Mother nature only created it, as well as the most famous rock, which resembles an old man with its protrusions, who gazes intently into the distance.
North Rhone Island
A secluded corner in the North Atlantic is so isolated from everyone else that it is often forgotten to put on geographic map Great Britain. Many centuries ago, Christian hermits chose the island as their haven, and later the Scandinavian peoples lived on it, who seized the Hebrides.
In the 8th century, an Irish bishop settled here, who was later recognized as Saint Ronan. Ronan built a chapel - the oldest Christian structure in Scotland, which has survived to this day. Curious guests of the miniature island can crawl into a half-flooded structure made of earth and see an ascetic decoration that sheds light on how hermits lived on the Rhone a thousand years ago.
The harsh and inaccessible Hebrides are the kingdom of wind and waves. But this is at first glance. The attentive traveler will find special romance and beauty here.
Berneray Island, West Coast
Dusk looms over the pale sands, crumbling shells and dense dune grass that stretch for miles along the Atlantic coast of Bernerei. The winding line of the Harris Hills in the background fades into blue shadow on the distant horizon.
60 years ago Michael Robson fell in love with a land where he had never been.
Pictures in an illustrated magazine spurred the imagination of a homely Scottish boy, and he began to rave about the wild islands that rise in prickly ridges northwest of the Scottish coast.
The Hebrides beckoned to Michael Robson, and, responding to their call, at the first opportunity, first during school holidays, and then during vacations, he left mainland Scotland and embarked on long journeys: by buses, steamers, small ships - and beyond. on foot throughout the archipelago. He traveled to the mountainous Isle of Skye, to the peat bogs and sea bays of the Lewis and Harris Islands, and then moved on, through many kilometers across the ocean to a tiny rocky coast, from where a century earlier, abandoning their stone-built houses, all the inhabitants left ...
Hirta, St Kilda
Stone walls still wrap around the loose plow on the uneven hillsides above the ruins of St Kilda's main settlement. These fences protected the oats and barley crops from the salty winds and livestock. Hive-like buildings were used to store food and peat, which the islanders used as fuel; hundreds of such warehouses have survived to this day.
The Inner and Outer Hebrides are more than five hundred islands and islets. It is often foggy and rainy, the winds blow almost incessantly, and the sea element around is so fickle that even the most experienced captain can feel fear. Everything is changeable in these seas: in an hour, the measured silky swaying of the piercing blue tropical waves is replaced by a stormy invasion of lead foam rolls.
For thousands of years, people have fought a fierce struggle for survival here. And yet, despite the harsh conditions, the Celts and Vikings, and after them the Scots and the British, sought to take possession of the local shores. Today only a few dozen of the Hebrides are inhabited. “This is a real challenge,” says Robson. "To some tourists, these places seem empty and cold, but they, in my opinion, just look inattentively."
Mangersta, Isle of Lewis
The dangerous waters of the Hebrides with sharp sea cliffs and rocks, oddly enough, were chosen by surfers. Mangersta is popular with athletes because a steady northeast wind blows here all year round. In addition, there are not many people in these parts.
History has known times when the islands were not paid attention to at all. And why? Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th century London intellectual and madcap, said that the people of southern Britain knew no more about them than they did "Borneo or Sumatra." If these islands were mentioned at all, then it was imperative in connection with the question of their development: what grain should be grown there? What are the minerals to mine? How many people can individual lands feed, and what rent could they bring to landlords? Samuel Johnson himself mostly filled out the diary of his trip to the Hebrides with complaints about the difficulties and harsh conditions in which he had to live. Despite Johnson's grunts, a new attitude towards these far from heavenly places soon took root. The Scottish thinkers of the Enlightenment, especially the philosopher David Hume and the geologist James Hutton, trying to save their contemporaries from admiration for authorities, insisted that the world should be studied from their own experience, and not rely on the testimony of ancient geographers and saints. The enlighteners did not look at nature as a wild element, it was for them a textbook of life on Earth. And some of the most cryptic pages of this textbook were read in the Hebrides.
Kalanish, Isle of Lewis
These stone pillars probably stood here even before the construction of the pyramids. People settled on the island 5000 years ago, they were engaged in agriculture, fishing, hunting - and construction. The outer stones rise 3.5 meters, the central pillar 4.5 meters. As in the famous Stonehenge, the 13-meter circle at Kalanish was an important ritual center.
In 1800, naturalist Robert Jameson (later Charles Darwin studied with him at the University of Edinburgh) published a two-volume Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles. On the island of Islay, Jameson discovered deposits of shells that were located above the high tide line: "this proves," he wrote, "that the sea receded from the land."
Modern scientists know that these prehistoric beaches, 35 meters above sea level, are witnesses of the last ice age. As the glaciers that covered the island melted 15,000 years ago, freeing it from a giant glacier cover, the land began to bare, and eventually the old coastline rose high and confidently above the sea.
Grimersta, Isle of Lewis
Fresh waters from the upper lakes, bubbling, rush down to the sea along wide rocky terraces. “It's easy to find a place on the island where you don't hear human sounds,” says Lewis native Alice Starmore, “but land and water are never silent.”
Of the Isle of Skye, Jameson said that perhaps "at some distant period he was subjected to monstrous fluctuations." The spiky arc of the Black Kullin mountain range, which rises 100 meters above sea level, is in fact the remains of a volcano. Its outer elements have long disappeared, revealing a deep funnel of magma that bubbled here 60 million years ago.
Perhaps the most impressive site in the Hebrides is the giant circle of stone pillars at Kalanish on the shores of Lough Rogue on the Isle of Lewis. Built 4500-4900 years ago, the Kalanish complex is probably much older than the central circle at the famous Stonehenge. There is very little reliable information about the builders of these structures, only their engineering skill is beyond doubt. The island is dotted with other standing stones, as well as burial mounds, ramparts and strong defenses of the Iron Age - most of them from Lewis gneiss. The weathered ruins of stone houses are witnesses of fierce battles on land and pirate attacks from the sea. Peasants, shepherds and fishermen built them from thick blocks of gneiss, but time did not spare the stones either.
Boreray, St Kilda
Armadas of seabirds circle in the sky, their nests dotted with narrow rock ledges. The northern end of the island, often hidden behind clouds, juts out 400 meters above the ocean; here the offspring of 60 thousand pairs of cormorants are raised - the largest colony in the world. The inhabitants of St. Kilda climbed these cliffs barefoot, caught birds and collected eggs for food.
The romance of these gloomy ruins found a lively response in the heart of the Scotsman Michael Robson, who was discussed at the beginning of the story. Ancient legends, he says, "are often pretentious or simply ridiculous, but still carry a grain of truth." "Each valley remembers its battle, and each stream remembers its song," said Sir Walter Scott, who praised the wild nature of Scotland in his novels and poems. Even the purely rational Scottish naturalist Robert Jameson assured readers that he too "succumbed to the feelings that naturally arose in ... the soul at the sight of magnificent secluded landscapes that suddenly appeared before their eyes."
In those early days, British ingenuity fueled the nascent industrial revolution - and with it noise, filth and crowding entered life. The world became more and more mechanical and urbanized, and nature became a refuge, a place for contemplation and a source of high inspiration, capable of transforming feelings and thoughts.
Boreray, St Kilda
Rising fog reveals a distant island in the Atlantic Ocean. Humans have survived for millennia on the St Kilda archipelago, but its last inhabitants left their secluded homes about eighty years ago.
The Hebrides were amazing. Their most admittedly remarkable landscape was discovered in 1772 by the English naturalist Joseph Banks. Heading to Iceland past the Hebrides, Banks stopped on the small island of Staffa and discovered in the southwestern part of it "absolutely extraordinary stone pillars." Now we know about them that these are the remnants of colossal volcanic eruptions that about 60 million years ago began to tear apart the bottom of the North Atlantic. The research team, which moved along the coast, was simply breathtaking from this sight. The most magnificent was the huge sea cave, which Banks called Fingal's Cave.
Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye
At Cape Trotternish of the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars hang over the Razey Strait. They testify to the powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.
Fingal was the hero of an epic poem allegedly written by the ancient Gaelic bard Ossian - the British Homer - and translated by the Scotsman James MacPherson. Reviving a mythical past, this epic work (which, alas, turned out to be mostly the work of MacPherson himself) ignited the romantic attraction of readers to the foggy and mystical shores of the British north.
The wide entrance to Fingal's Cave, the height of a six-story building, leads into a cavity framed by many columns, which stretches 70 meters into the depths of the sea, where the echo echoes the roar of the waves. "By comparison," Banks argued, "man-made temples and palaces are paltry!"
Fingal's Cave, Staffa
Row by row, basalt pillars fill the sea cave; its eternal darkness is illuminated only by the camera. The natural purity of the lines of these columns and the echo of the breaking waves have attracted travelers here since the 18th century.
Of course, the Englishman did not make any discovery: the Gaelic-speaking islanders have long heard the echo of the roaring waves in this cave and called it Wam Binn, or the Melodic Cave. However, the fame of Banks himself served to the fact that his report, in which the miracle of geology was associated with the fashionable poems of Ossian, was noticed by the general public, and the cave was talked about in London salons.
Red Cullin Mountains, Isle of Skye
The calm surface of the water and the veil of fog give the wrong idea of the indestructible force that carved the granite hills. Born as the foundations of huge volcanoes, they have been exposed to the powerful destructive action of wind and water for millions of years, and the pressure glacial ice gradually gave them a soft, rounded shape.
The moment was right. Illustrated travel books have fallen in price. By replacing steel printing plates with softer copper plates, it has become possible to print larger illustrations. And new roads and steamship connections made it easier to travel to the islands. During the Napoleonic Wars, travel to the continent was almost impossible for the British, and the Hebrides seemed exotic and - if not afraid of risk - accessible.
When the British carefully studied the mysterious gloomy Hebrides, it became clear that even the most hardy people would not be able to survive here. However, on the small islands and sea cliffs of St Kilda, which rise up in the North Atlantic 64 kilometers from North Uist Island, people have lived for over 4,000 years. A small community once huddled near the winding shores of Village Bay on Hirt, the largest island in the archipelago. Sheep grazed on the steep slopes everywhere. The islanders grew modest yields of barley, oats and potatoes on bulk soil. They thoroughly mixed the skinny local soil with seaweed rich in mineral salts.
But by 1930, the 36 residents who remained here were fed up with this life. They appealed to the British government with a petition to urgently evacuate them from the island before the onset of winter.
In a mechanized world, nature has become a refuge where a person finds peace and inspiration.
On 29 August, the residents of St Kilda and most of their pets were shipped by sea to the mainland of Scotland. And the islands themselves were declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO Commission in 1968 and taken under protection. Now they have become the property of a host of birds that circle in flocks along the steep banks. People, on the contrary, have become rare stray guests here.
In his youth, the hero of our story, Michael Robson, had to cross about 60 kilometers of the open sea in the North Atlantic to get from Lewis to the lonely Rhone Island - another abandoned outpost of the archipelago. Lying out in the open on bright summer nights, Robson listens to the screams of the seabirds that nest in the thousands on the Rhone every year. He comes here to find traces of people who once lived here: destroyed stone shelters that sheltered Christian hermits of the 8th century, tombstones of leaders and warriors, or worn stone millstones that later inhabitants of the island used to grind a meager grain harvest. None of the isolated communities of Rhone lasted long here: the harsh conditions in turn broke each of them.
In love with the Hebrides, Michael Robson made his choice 16 years ago: he settled on the Isle of Lewis, opening there to the public his collection of books, manuscripts and maps dedicated to Scottish history and folklore. This self-sufficient youthful man with a straight blue gaze retains the excellent shape of a person who spends a lot of time in the fresh air, and he still has an unusually tenacious memory.
But he is no longer young. Sometimes, when Robson gestures, telling an old Hebrides tale, his hands shake a little. Now Michael no longer undertakes too difficult and long journeys, but he still continues to look for places that would seem empty and cold to others, but for him are full of special inner meaning.
“The essence of these islands can only take a long time to comprehend,” says Michael. “It’s a pity that I don’t have enough time to learn everything I would like to know about them.”
The harsh and inaccessible Hebrides are the kingdom of wind and waves. But this is at first glance. The attentive traveler will find special romance and beauty here. Photos Jim Richardson
The Inner and Outer Hebrides are more than five hundred islands and islets. It is often foggy and rainy, the winds blow almost incessantly, and the sea element around is so fickle that even the most experienced captain can feel fear. Everything is changeable in these seas: in an hour, the measured silky swaying of the piercing blue tropical waves is replaced by a stormy invasion of lead foam rolls.
Berneray Island, West Coast
Dusk looms over the pale sands, crumbling shells and dense dune grass that stretch for miles along the Atlantic coast of Bernerei. The winding line of the Harris Hills in the background fades into blue shadow on the distant horizon.
Hirta, St Kilda
Stone walls still wrap around the loose plow on the uneven hillsides above the ruins of St Kilda's main settlement. These fences protected the oats and barley crops from the salty winds and livestock. Hive-like buildings were used to store food and peat, which the islanders used as fuel; hundreds of such warehouses have survived to this day.
Boreray, St Kilda
Armadas of seabirds circle in the sky, their nests dotted with narrow rock ledges. The northern end of the island, often hidden behind clouds, juts out 400 meters above the ocean; here the offspring of 60 thousand pairs of cormorants are raised - the largest colony in the world. The inhabitants of St. Kilda climbed these cliffs barefoot, caught birds and collected eggs for food.
Mangersta, Isle of Lewis
The dangerous waters of the Hebrides with sharp sea cliffs and rocks, oddly enough, were chosen by surfers. Mangersta is popular with athletes because a steady northeast wind blows here all year round. In addition, there are not many people in these parts.
Kalanish, Isle of Lewis
These stone pillars probably stood here even before the construction of the pyramids. People settled on the island 5000 years ago, they were engaged in agriculture, fishing, hunting - and construction. The outer stones rise 3.5 meters, the central pillar 4.5 meters. As in the famous Stonehenge, the 13-meter circle at Kalanish was an important ritual center.
Grimersta, Isle of Lewis
Fresh waters from the upper lakes, bubbling, rush down to the sea along wide rocky terraces. “It's easy to find a place on the island where you don't hear human sounds,” says Lewis native Alice Starmore, “but land and water are never silent.”
Boreray, St Kilda
Rising fog reveals a distant island in the Atlantic Ocean. Humans have survived for millennia on the St Kilda archipelago, but its last inhabitants left their secluded homes about eighty years ago.
Cape Trotternish, Isle of Skye
At Cape Trotternish of the Isle of Skye, basalt pillars hang over the Razey Strait. They testify to the powerful geological displacements that formed this piece of land.
The Hebrides, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Scotland. Belongs to Great Britain. Includes about 500 islands, including about 100 inhabited. total area 7.5K km 2... A distinction is made between Internal and External G. lakes, separated by the North Minch Strait, Little Minch Strait, and the Hebrides Sea. include the islands of Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, Ram, etc .; strongly dissected hilly and low-mountainous relief prevails (200-600 m). Cenozoic effusive rocks are characteristic. On the Isles of Skye and Mull, individual cone-shaped peaks rise above the lava plateaus (Cullin Hills, 1009 m, on about. Skye). On Outer G. about. - Lewis, North-Uist, South-Uist, Barra, etc. basement lowlands prevail (100-150 m), composed mainly of Archean rocks, mainly gneisses; in some places small mountain ranges rise (up to 799 m), which are often associated with Paleozoic intrusions. There are numerous traces of the Pleistocene glaciation (troughs, kars, boulder fields, etc.). Humid maritime climate; the average temperature in July is 12-14 ° С, in January, 4-6 ° С; precipitation 1000-2000 mm in year. Meadows on sod-coarse-humus and sod-peaty soils; steep exposed slopes are widespread. Occasionally there are birch groves, heath groves, and peat bogs in more gentle areas. The main occupations of the population are fishing and animal husbandry. Production of woolen fabrics (tweed). Tourism.
L. R. Serebryanny.
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Saint Petersburg (encyclopedia)
- - 1993, 95 min., Color, "Kinodokument", "Lenfilm", "Shin-Eizo, Ltd." ... genre: documentary ...
Lenfilm. Annotated Film Catalog (1918-2003)
- - in accordance with Article 121 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, land formations of natural origin located in sea spaces, surrounded on all sides by water and constantly rising ...
Encyclopedia of the Lawyer
- - in international maritime law, naturally formed land areas surrounded by water, which are above the water level at high tide. This definition is contained in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ** ...
Big Law Dictionary
- - land areas surrounded on all sides by the waters of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers. They differ from the continents in their relatively small size. There are single islands and their groups ...
- - land areas, surrounded on all sides by the waters of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers. They differ from the continents in their relatively small size. There are single C), and their groups ...
Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary
- - "" - this is sometimes abbreviated as the Cape Verde Islands or the Canary Islands, where ships go to Europe or Africa from Central and South America, for instructions ...
- - land areas surrounded on all sides by the waters of oceans, seas, lakes or rivers. In the seas and oceans, there are single islands and groups ...
Marine vocabulary
- - lying off the west coast of Scotland, a widely scattered group of 186 rocky, mostly high islands, of which only 79 are inhabited. Their surface is 7213 sq. km. km, of which 1600 sq. km is occupied by lakes ...
- - O. refers to relatively small areas of land, surrounded on all sides by water ...
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron
- - The Hebrides, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Scotland. Belongs to Great Britain. Includes about 500 islands, including about 100 inhabited. The total area is 7.5 thousand km2 ...
- - Cay, islands in the Arafura m., Part of the Lesser Sunda Islands ...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- - land areas surrounded on all sides by the waters of the ocean, sea, lake or river. They differ from the continents in their relatively small size. There are single O. and O. groups - Archipelagos ...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- - THE HEBRID ISLANDS - an archipelago in the Atlantic approx., As part of the UK. OK. 500 islands, area 7.5 thousand km & sup2. Height up to 1009 m. Lava fields, traces of ancient glaciation. Meadows, heaths, peat bogs ...
Big encyclopedic dictionary
- - Island "a, -" ov, uptr. in the names of states, for example: Resp "ublica Marsh" allovy Island "a, Resp" ublica Seish "Elskie Ostrov" a, Island "a Green M" ...
Russian spelling dictionary
- - n., number of synonyms: 1 archipelago ...
Synonym dictionary
"Hebrides" in the books
Excursion to the islands of Bili-Bili, Yambomba and some islands of the Archipelago of Happy People
From the book Travels to the Maclay Coast the author Miklouho-Maclay Nikolay NikolaevichExcursion to the islands of Bili-Bili, Yambomba and some islands of the Archipelago of Satisfied People. From Bili-Bili went to about. Yambombu, on the way there he stopped at the islet of Uremu, or Urembu, as others call it. Here I planted with my own hands in different places along the shore 12
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Voyage from Easter Island to the Marquesas Islands - Anchorage in Madre de Dios Bay on Waitahu Island - From there through the low-lying islands to Tahiti
author Forster GeorgCHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Second Camp at the Cape of Good Hope - Sailing from there to St. Helena and Ascension Island
From the book A Journey Around the World author Forster Georg11. Land of the Gods Civilization of the small islands "South Seas". - Hawaii and Easter Island. - Aleutian Islands. - Maldives. - Malta. Minoan Crete. - Venice
From the book of Civilization the author Fernandez-Armesto Felipe11. Land of the Gods Small Island Civilizations " Southern seas". - Hawaii and Easter Island. - Aleutian Islands. - Maldives... - Malta. Minoan Crete. - Venice - Why, in the name of God, did they decide to settle here if they weren't crazy? The redhead shook his head and answered
Jumping from islands to islands. Disembarkation on the Gilbert Islands
From the book War at Sea. 1939-1945 by Ruge FriedrichJumping from islands to islands. Landing on the Gilbert Islands For this operation, the 5-U Fleet was formed under the command of Vice Admiral Spruance - the victorious at Midway, with battle groups of large aircraft carriers (each of them lifted an average of 90 aircraft).
Chapter forty-one ABOUT HOW THE SQUAD LEAVE GRAN CANARIA AND, PASSING BY THE ISLAND OF ANFER, REACHED THE ISLAND OF GOMERA
From the book Canaryz, or the Book of Conquest Canary Islands and the conversion of their inhabitants to Christianity by Jean de Bettencourt, a nobleman from Co, compiled by Mona author Bonthier PierreChapter forty-one ABOUT HOW THE SQUAD LEAVE GRAN CANARIA AND, PASSING BY THE ISLAND OF ANFER, REACHED THE ISLAND OF GOMERA Then the detachment<Гадифера>left<с Гран-Канарии>to visit the rest of the islands. They came to the island of Fer174 and, without landing, sailed along its coast, holding
Chapter 2. British Isles and Atlantic Islands
From the book Vikings author Arbman HolgerChapter 2. British Isles and Isles Atlantic Ocean The distance between Scandinavia and Britain, separated by the North Sea, is insignificant, and when the first Viking raids on European cities began at the end of the 8th century, the coast of Britain was already well known to them.
From the book Admiral Ushakov in the Mediterranean (1798-1800) the author Tarle Evgeny Viktorovich12. Attack and capture of the island of Vido, capitulation of the island of Corfu
From the book Russian Fleet in the Mediterranean the author Tarle Evgeny Viktorovich12. Attack and capture of the island of Vido, capitulation of the island of Corfu The admiral was in fact in a difficult position. He well understood that if "confusion and debauchery" began to appear among the population of the island of Corfu, then this is not so much from the eloquence of the French
13. ISLANDS BETWEEN AFRICA AND INDIA. ESPECIALLY, GULF ISLANDS AND MADAGASCAR, see fig. p.11, fig. p.12, fig. p.17
From the book Baptism of Rus [Paganism and Christianity. Baptism of the Empire. Constantine the Great - Dmitry Donskoy. The Battle of Kulikovo in the Bible. Sergius of Radonezh - isob the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich13. ISLANDS BETWEEN AFRICA AND INDIA. ESPECIALLY, GULF ISLANDS AND MADAGASCAR, see fig. p.11, fig. p.12, fig. p.17 ??? “The island is rich in kurmirin (? - Auth.), With pearls in the sea, and more in shells. There are no people, empty. ”??? “Moses struck with a rod crosswise three times in the sea and still
Bug islands, ghost islands, myth islands
the authorError islands, ghost islands, myth islands Thus, many islands indicated on old maps of the Atlantic have undergone an amazing transformation: first, their names were given to non-existent objects, and then, when real
Islands are born, islands die ...
From the book Atlantic without Atlantis the author Alexander M. KondratovIslands are born, islands die ... Whalers live in the Azores, who to this day go to the ocean on sailing ships and hunt whales "by hand", without guns - last mohicans whaling of the past centuries. From the towers, observers survey the ocean in
3. CANARY ISLANDS. PARKING AT TENERIF ISLAND
From the author's book3. CANARY ISLANDS. LOCKING AT TENERIFF ISLAND On October 5, the expedition departed Falmouth. The weather was calm. Night fell, but none of the officers and crew wanted to go to bed: everyone enjoyed the wonderful weather and stayed on the upper deck for a long time. Everyone wished that these clear
Hebrides
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GE) of the author TSBGilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, neutralization of Truk base, first attacks on the Mariana Islands - June 1943 - April 1944
From the book A6M Zero author Ivanov S.V.Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, neutralization of Truk base, first attacks on the Mariana Islands - June 1943 - April 1944 In September 1943, the Japanese intercepted several American radio messages, from which it followed that the enemy was preparing a major attack on