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By George Seton (1848).
PREFACE
ONE of the earliest writers on St Kilda concludes his account with an apology for what some of his readers might regard as prolixity, and justifies his narrative by asserting that “the St Kildans may be ranked among the greatest curiosities of the moral world.” Concurring in that opinion, the author has long turned his attention to the vital and social statistics of the remote islanders; and the large amount of public interest in their lonely rock which has been aroused by the recent appearance of numerous letters and articles in the columns of the Scottish press has induced him to compile the present volume. Upwards of twelve years ago, he prepared a lecture on St Kilda, which he delivered in various parts of the country; and since that time, he has collected a number of additional facts bearing upon its history and circumstances, and has, moreover, visited the island during the past summer. In referring to the rare appearance of strangers on its distant shores towards the beginning of the present century, Dr Macculloch says that every avatar of that nature was well remembered, and that he who had no other means of reaching the temple of fame had only to find his way to St Kilda, in order to be recorded in its archives. Even in these later days of rapid locomotion and increased intercourse, the visitors to the island are comparatively few and far between; and for one that has landed on its rocky coast, probably tens of thousands have accomplished the hackneyed “ Swiss round,” or even penetrated the wilds of Norway.
With the exception of the incidental notices of Macculloch, Wilson, and one or two later writers, nearly all the accounts of St Kilda were published before the end of last century; and hitherto no work has appeared which embraces anything like a detailed description of the island and its primitive inhabitants. Besides a careful perusal of all the known literature on the subject—most of which is comparatively scarce — the author has examined the various official documents relative to St Kilda in the custody of the Registrar-General, and has been favoured with a number of notes and verbal statements by several friends who have visited the island during the last twenty years, of whom he must specially mention Captain F. W. L. Thomas, R.N., formerly engaged on the Admiralty survey. He has also been furnished by Mrs M'Vean of Killin, a native of St Kilda, with an interesting series of Reminiscences.
For some of his most attractive illustrations, the author is indebted to the sketch-books of Mr Alexander Carlyle Bell (kindly lent to him by Lord Young) and of the Rev. Eric J. Findlater of Locheamhead; while the groups of women and children are from photographs taken by Captain Thomas in i860.
St Bennet’s, Edinburgh,
15th December 1877.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ilda/index.htm
Alastair
PREFACE
ONE of the earliest writers on St Kilda concludes his account with an apology for what some of his readers might regard as prolixity, and justifies his narrative by asserting that “the St Kildans may be ranked among the greatest curiosities of the moral world.” Concurring in that opinion, the author has long turned his attention to the vital and social statistics of the remote islanders; and the large amount of public interest in their lonely rock which has been aroused by the recent appearance of numerous letters and articles in the columns of the Scottish press has induced him to compile the present volume. Upwards of twelve years ago, he prepared a lecture on St Kilda, which he delivered in various parts of the country; and since that time, he has collected a number of additional facts bearing upon its history and circumstances, and has, moreover, visited the island during the past summer. In referring to the rare appearance of strangers on its distant shores towards the beginning of the present century, Dr Macculloch says that every avatar of that nature was well remembered, and that he who had no other means of reaching the temple of fame had only to find his way to St Kilda, in order to be recorded in its archives. Even in these later days of rapid locomotion and increased intercourse, the visitors to the island are comparatively few and far between; and for one that has landed on its rocky coast, probably tens of thousands have accomplished the hackneyed “ Swiss round,” or even penetrated the wilds of Norway.
With the exception of the incidental notices of Macculloch, Wilson, and one or two later writers, nearly all the accounts of St Kilda were published before the end of last century; and hitherto no work has appeared which embraces anything like a detailed description of the island and its primitive inhabitants. Besides a careful perusal of all the known literature on the subject—most of which is comparatively scarce — the author has examined the various official documents relative to St Kilda in the custody of the Registrar-General, and has been favoured with a number of notes and verbal statements by several friends who have visited the island during the last twenty years, of whom he must specially mention Captain F. W. L. Thomas, R.N., formerly engaged on the Admiralty survey. He has also been furnished by Mrs M'Vean of Killin, a native of St Kilda, with an interesting series of Reminiscences.
For some of his most attractive illustrations, the author is indebted to the sketch-books of Mr Alexander Carlyle Bell (kindly lent to him by Lord Young) and of the Rev. Eric J. Findlater of Locheamhead; while the groups of women and children are from photographs taken by Captain Thomas in i860.
St Bennet’s, Edinburgh,
15th December 1877.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ilda/index.htm
Alastair