The tale of Cailleach Uragaig, Colonsay

After Pig's Paradise, we came to a grim grey headland on Colonsay's NW coast called Cailleach Uragaig. The Cailleach is a Celtic Goddess who has powers to shape shift herself so that she can appear as a hag, a mother or a virgin. She is a winter spirit who ushers in winter by washing her plaid in the Corryvreckan and she can often keep the arrival of spring at bay. On Colonsay she kept a young girl captive and hid herself from the girl's angry lover by transforming into this grey headland.


Although we slowed in respect, there were no damsels in distress requiring of our assistance.


The long interval swell had increased to about 2m and we now searched for somewhere safe to land before the impending nightfall. Young fulmars wheeled inquisitively round us before returning to their ledges on the headland, to report our progress to the Cailleach. If we were caught out by night then surely the Cailleach would come and get us and then we would be found dead on some remote shore, just like the Scandinavian Prince Bhreacan...

Pigs have wings in Pig's Paradise, Colonsay

Leaving Port Lobh on the west coast of Colonsay we now found ourselves on a very committing part of Colonsay's western coast.


Out at sea the swell just rose and fell gently.


I had hoped to land at Port Ban on the wildest part of Colonsay's entire coastline but the swell was breaking heavily on the steep beach.


Port Ban is a raised beach and the cliffs surrounding it are known as "Pigs' Paradise". Despite its remoteness, someone has carried a heavy wooden picnic table down to the shoreline.


We didn't see any pigs (winged or otherwise) but there were plenty sea birds especially guillemots, black guillemots and fulmars. In the spring these cliffs are one of the biggest bird breeding colonies on Scotland's west coast.


We pressed on as the day began to die. We were looking for somewhere safe to land. Tomorrow's forecast was for 6' surf!

In the wake of our ancestors on the west coast of Colonsay.

We rounded the SW corner of Colonsay protected by a maze of skerries and channels.


Our way now lay to the NE but it was still protected by...


...reefs which sheltered shallow sandy bottomed lagoons.


We lost the shelter of the reefs as we approached a rocky peninsula.


On its summit, a pile of stones marks the remains of an Iron Age fort, Dun Ghallain. At one time Colonsay lay on the path of a marine "highway" which connected the Isle of Man, Galloway and Ireland with the rest of the Hebrides and mainland to the north. At that time, the fort was of considerable strategic importance.


Like our ancestors before us, we decided to stop for a break in Port Lobh, which lies below the rocky ramparts of the fort. One of the great joys of sea kayaking is that we are retracing the routes that our predecessors have used for over 6,000 years.

From Oronsay to Colonsay

From the Priory we made our way down to the sweep of sand at the SW corner of Oronsay. Beyond the enclosing arms of the bay, the hills of Jura, Islay and Donegal made up our horizon. Eilean nan Ron lay offshore.


As we emerged from the shelter of the bay...


...the swell picked up as we rounded the skerries of Bacastair.


Then we entered the great tidal lagoon called the Strand, which separates Colonsay from Oronsay only at high tide. It reminded me of the lagoons of Arisaig and like there, was well populated by inquisitive grey seals.


We made first landfall on Colonsay at a delightful little beach.


The Campbeltown registered SS695 FV Keriolet (11.4m) was lifting her pots in the lagoon. She was built in 1994 and originally registered in St Ives in Cornwall but now fishes outof Port Askaig.

The stories of contrasting graves on Oronsay

The Prior's House at Oronsay has recently been made weather tight and the ancient grave slabs, which were previously exposed to the elements, have been moved inside. The grave slabs of two warriors lie on the floor but the others are arranged vertically around the walls.


High on the east wall the remains of another cross have been reassembled.


Beneath, stands the grave slab of one of the Priors. The inscription reads:

[HIC] IACET D(OMI)N(U)S DONALLDUS / MACDUFFIE PRIO[R
(CON)VEN/TUALIS DE O[RR]ANSAY QUI / OBIIT AN(N)O MDL-

'Here lies Sir Donald MacDuffie, Conventual Prior of Oransay, who died in the year
155-'

It is known that he died after a long illness in 1554 so it is likely that the slab was carved in expectation of his death but the final digit of the year was never added.


These two memorials stand in the McNeill family mortuary. The inscription on the right hand one reads:

In memory of / Alexander McNeill / Laird of Colonsay and Oransay / Gigha and
Ardlussa / aged 59 / Anne Elizabeth Carstairs / his wife / fourth daughter and coheiress
of / John Carstairs Esqre / of Woodhurst and Warboys, Hunts / aged 47 / and
two of their daughters / Cecil Anne / aged 17 / and / Hester Mary / aged 6 / who all
perished / in the wreck of the "Orion" / at Port-Patrick on her passage / from
Liverpool to Glasgow / 18th June 1850 / and are buried in the / Island of Gigha


The Orion was an 890 ton steam paddle steamer which was wrecked on the rocks at the entrance to Portpatrick harbour on 18/06/1850. She had 38 crew and 212 passengers. Despite sinking in full view of the town and the efforts of local fishermen, 41 lives lost. There was such an outcry following the sinking, as reported here in The Illustrated London News, that henceforth British ships had to carry enough lifeboats for every passenger.


In the graveyard there are several graves to unknown sailors. The inscription of this one reads:

MN / A sailor of the / 1939 - 1945 / war / Merchant Navy / Found 10th July 1946 /
Known unto God

Oronsay and Colonsay by their position to the west of Scotland have been where many sailors lost in the Atlantic have been washed ashore.


Due to the swell, we had been unable to land on Eilean nan Ron, to the SW of Oronsay. I had hoped to find the simple wooden cross on the machair which marks the grave of Edmondo Armando Sottocarnola. It is situated near the old seal hunter's hut which you can see to the right of the wave.


Edmondo was an Italian civilian who was being deported to Canada with other Italian and German civilians in 1940. They were on the Arandora Star when she was sunk on 1/7/1940 by the German U-boat U47. Of about 1736 people aboard, about 867, almost half, were drowned.

The original wooden cross marking Edmondo's resting place decayed long ago but the late Finlay McFadyen of Colonsay made a replacement in October 2002.

The crosses of Oronsay

Walking up to Oronsay House, I asked Mrs Colburn if it was easy to get to the Oronsay Cross.

"You will find two crosses very easily, they are just beside the Priory."

"Oh, I had wondered if we might have passed the old stump of a cross down by the dunes." I replied.

Without a hint of irritation, Mrs Colburn quietly answered "That 'old stump' is the memorial I erected to the memory of my dear husband in the Millennium year."

Oops! "Sorry!"

She continued "I do hope you enjoy your visit, it's such a nice day and there have been so few like it this year."


The Great Cross of Oronsay stands inconspicuously against the farm buildings at the back of the Priory graveyard. It is finely carved on both sides and is thought to have come from Iona.


It has suffered from the weathering of five centuries but this drawing, which was published in Thomas Pennent's, A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772, shows the west face in detail, when it had been standing for only 272 years. The inscription reads:

+HEC EST CR/UX COLINI F/ILII CRISTI/NI M(EIC)DUFACI
'This is the cross of Colinus (Malcolm), son of Christinus MacDuffie

It was carved for Malcolm MacDuffie, the Lord of Colonsay, some time after 1472 and erected before 1500.


This is the beautiful east face of the Oronsay Cross. Next to the Kildalton Cross, on nearby Islay, it is one of the finest crosses in all of SW Scotland.


Another interesting, but older, cross stands on a little knoll to the east of the Priory. In 1881 just the shaft was standing and the present head of the cross lay on the ground beside it. There is some doubt as to whether this is the original head but it has now been replaced atop the shaft.


It is decorated by a rather portly and smiling figure.


From the grounds of the Priory, you can look out over the sea to Jura, Islay and Ireland. It is said that St Columba, who had been banished from Ireland, landed here but proceeded to Iona because he could still see his homeland from Oronsay.

Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown DVD #2

My recent review of Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown DVD did not have any video footage. Simon Willis has just released this promo clip, which illustrates very nicely what the DVD is about.

Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown trailer from Simon Willis on Vimeo.

A reluctant visitor to the Priory, Oronsay (not London).

When I first mentioned to David that I wanted to visit the Oronsay Priory, he became quite distressed.

"They'll never let us out, we'll need to go into rehab and walk the twelve steps!"

"Relax David, its not the Clinic, it's just a very well preserved religious complex."

So we found ourselves approaching the beautifully maintained grounds of the Oronsay Priory.


The buildings date from the mid 1300's but there may have been a chapel here since St Columba's time. The Priory was founded by the Lords of the Isles and became a centre for religious sculpture until about 1500. Some say St Oran gave his name to Oronsay but I rather doubt this as Oronsay is quite a common name for tidal islands on the west coast. It comes from the Old Norse and means island of the ebb tide which is exactly what Oronsay is. You can walk to it from neighbouring Colonsay at low tide.


It is one of the best preserved medieval religious buildings in Scotland. It was too remote to be destroyed in the Reformation, like many of its more accessible contemporary religious buildings.


Although there are no traces of its roofs, the walls, including those of the cloisters, are still in remarkably good repair.


Fortunately for David, our departure from the Priory was unhindered by a locked door. He took a deep breath, followed by a great sigh of relief.

Looking after the corncrakes of Oronsay

Oronsay is managed by the owner, Mrs Colburn, in partnership with the RSPB. The RSPB manage a farm on the island with arable pastures, Luing cattle and sheep. Their management is designed to provide an environment to encourage the corncrake and the chough. In late summer, corncrakes and their chicks hide in long pasture and are killed by conventional cutting.


On Oronsay, large patches of nettles are grown and the cutting takes place late in the season. Uncut areas are left in each field as cover for the corncrakes.


There are large patches of specially grown nettles near Oronsay House...


...where we left Mrs Colburn.


From her room in this beautiful 18th century house, she must love the sound of corncrakes in the morning!

North American residents on Oronsay.

After rounding the southern skerries of Oronsay we entered a great bay with some prominent buildings at its head.


In a little cove, a small flock of Canada geese were milling round. These were introduced to the UK from North America over 300 years ago and they since have spread over most of the UK.


We arrived on another huge sandy beach.


It was protected from the swell by a ring of skerries.


We made our way over the machair behind the beach and met a very nice lady with an American accent. She had been picking plastic litter off the beach. We got chatting as we helped her carry bags of litter up to the farm.

"Are you on holiday here?" I asked, spotting her accent.

"Actually, I own the island." she replied quietly.