Destination St Kilda

Destination St Kilda. In 1885 Aberdeen photographers George Washington Wilson and Norman Macleod set out to travel through the Western Isles to St Kilda. They took many photographs along the way and their collection of pictures, From Oban to Skye and the Outer Hebrides was shown in magic lantern lectures throughout Scotland. In 2004 Mark Butterworth purchased the set, complete with the original lecture notes. The images and text in this book come from this double set of lantern slides which was produced in the late 1880's Individually hand coloured onto the glass plates, these images capture the Western Isles and their way of life in evocative details. Published here for the first time as a complete set, many of the images, particularly of St Kilda and its inhabitants are iconic, well known among enthusiasts of Western Isles history. However, these contemporary hand coloured slides are rarely seen and present a new light on life in the Western Isles, produced fifty years before colour photography came to Scotland. Destination St.Kilda.

Island on the Edge of the World: Story... of St.Kilda. A part of Britain but a world apart, St Kilda society existed almost completely isolated from the mainstream of civilization for more than 1000 years. Increased contact with the mainland during the 19th century brought about the downfall of what many once regarded as an ideal society. Missionaries and tourists brought money, disease and despotism. In 1930 the islanders, who could no longer support themselves, were finally evacuated at their own request. The island, which is difficult to access, is now a nature reserve. The island's story was chiefly recorded by outsiders. This book examines the island and the St Kildan society as a microcosm of a process which is consistently taking place, often on a much larger scale, all over the world. St Kilda remains a symbol of the ability of man to survive in the most hostile of environments and it remains a fascination unique among islands. This new edition of Charles Maclean's study of the island contains an introduction highlighting recent findings about St Kilda.

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