* 'south west by south': taigh chearsabhagh 4 sep-23 oct 2021
* sound of harris * sea lore * tributrees * lost ships * tidal streams * show guide
Hundreds of ships were wrecked around the coasts of the western isles to the sea and weather, war, or navigational error.
Iolaire
On New Year's morning 1919 while carrying nearly three hundred naval men home on leave to Lewis, HMS Iolaire struck the Beasts of Holm, rocks within a mile of Stornoway harbour. Over two hundred died, most of them from Ness and the West Side of Lewis© Scottish War Memorials Project
I trawled through the maritime archaeological archives from Canmore mapping, absorbed by the detailed records of events: loss of life and cargo, weather conditions, accidents. The immense journeys some of these ships made a hundred or so years ago, crossing oceans to other continents, and coming to grief on the Islands. Some of it was terrifying. I love the sea environment but I am scared of its power. I have always felt uncomfortable on small boats.
archangel for glasgow
archangel for greenock
archangel for cork
archangel for liverpool
baltic for ireland
baltimore for london
bangor for hartlepool
belfast for charleston
belfast for new york
belfast for philadelphia
belfast for sunderland
calcutta for dundee
canada for liverpool
castle bay for stornoway
clyde for haiti
clyde for sligo
copenhagen for baltimore
cronstadt for larne
danzig for london
demerara for queenstown
dublin for newcastle
dundee for cardiff
dundee for rangoon
ellesmere port for risor
florida for bo’ness
georgia for grangemouth
glasgow for hebrides
glasgow for sunderland
glasgow for westport
in gale force winds and snow showers
her sails torn and tattered
lying on her side
thumping heavily in six fathoms
at Aird an Runair
north west of Shilley
blown off course
back and forth
demasted
a severe westerly gale
ripped her sails
and drove her through
the sound of Monach
to the sands of Baleshare
in dense fog she struck
a sunken rock
and was holed on the Uisgeir reef
at daybreak a heavy sea breaking
all around them
struck heavily on a rock
in the sound of Monach
during a gale in the night
a brocket washed ashore
at Hanglum Headland
with iron canons
struck by a huge wave
in rough weather off Barra
St Ilfonsado sank in ten fathoms
off the Butt of Lewis
three casks of whisky
marked 'Glasgow Distillery Company'
floated on
St Kilda was sighted
off the port bow
by 6:30 pm the light
at Barra Head
visual poems
a wind rose for lost ships
The wind direction and force reported in the records of incidents
Many notable wrecks happened in the vicinity of Heisker (Monach Islands).
The story of the Van Stabel was told by Alastair Laing.
I made a map of Heisker using Mary Laing’s research into oral history, where she identified place-names that had not been recorded.
My sister has a sideboard, the door of which was made from a wreck in North Uist.
and this is the model of the James A Wright that he made.
Donald has also compiled local information about other wrecks, including the Ragnhild, the bowsprit of which is in the Westford Inn
I listened to the stories from Tobar an Dualchais and read first hand accounts of shipwrecks in Mary Laing’s dissertation on Heisker. Catherine Laing told me a story of a man she knew, who had stood out on the headland at Tigh a’ Ghearraidh, North Uist watching a ship floundering in the sleet and gales with her sails torn. The day we visited that same headland it was stormy. We walked to the point where the man had watched from, and it was easy to imagine.
Iolaire
‘Sheòl an Iolaire/The Iolaire Sailed’ is Stornoway Port Authority’s dramatic, visual tribute to the Iolaire, whose sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters in United Kingdom waters.
On New Year's morning 1919 while carrying nearly three hundred naval men home on leave to Lewis, HMS Iolaire struck the Beasts of Holm, rocks within a mile of Stornoway harbour. Over two hundred died, most of them from Ness and the West Side of Lewis
The end of the war was greeted with joy and relief by families and friends of the soldiers and sailors of many nations. For the islanders of the Outer Hebrides the many tragedies of the war were to have one last cruel twist as the survivors of the conflict made their way back to their island homes. (Scottish Shipwrecks)
wreck of the Iolaire
wreck of the Iolaire
I trawled through the maritime archaeological archives from Canmore mapping, absorbed by the detailed records of events: loss of life and cargo, weather conditions, accidents. The immense journeys some of these ships made a hundred or so years ago, crossing oceans to other continents, and coming to grief on the Islands. Some of it was terrifying. I love the sea environment but I am scared of its power. I have always felt uncomfortable on small boats.
archangel for glasgow
archangel for greenock
archangel for cork
archangel for liverpool
baltic for ireland
baltimore for london
bangor for hartlepool
belfast for charleston
belfast for new york
belfast for philadelphia
belfast for sunderland
calcutta for dundee
canada for liverpool
castle bay for stornoway
clyde for haiti
clyde for sligo
copenhagen for baltimore
cronstadt for larne
danzig for london
demerara for queenstown
dublin for newcastle
dundee for cardiff
dundee for rangoon
ellesmere port for risor
florida for bo’ness
georgia for grangemouth
glasgow for hebrides
glasgow for sunderland
glasgow for westport
lost ships
in gale force winds and snow showers
her sails torn and tattered
lying on her side
thumping heavily in six fathoms
at Aird an Runair
north west of Shilley
blown off course
back and forth
demasted
a severe westerly gale
ripped her sails
and drove her through
the sound of Monach
to the sands of Baleshare
in dense fog she struck
a sunken rock
and was holed on the Uisgeir reef
at daybreak a heavy sea breaking
all around them
struck heavily on a rock
in the sound of Monach
during a gale in the night
a brocket washed ashore
at Hanglum Headland
with iron canons
struck by a huge wave
in rough weather off Barra
St Ilfonsado sank in ten fathoms
off the Butt of Lewis
three casks of whisky
marked 'Glasgow Distillery Company'
floated on
St Kilda was sighted
off the port bow
by 6:30 pm the light
at Barra Head
visual poems
lost cargo
 |
| click image and zoom in to show in higher resolution |
The wind direction and force reported in the records of incidents
 |
| click image and zoom in to show in higher resolution |
There are stories of happy salvaging too: The whisky dislodged by the Van Stabel on Heisker was consumed by locals; Potatoes saved from the Inflexible wrecked on Sgeir Mhor Shivinish in 1894 were grown until the 1970s and named 'Buntata Bowman' after the captain.
Many notable wrecks happened in the vicinity of Heisker (Monach Islands).
The story of the Van Stabel was told by Alastair Laing.
'I heard the older men in Heisker saying that you could walk to the lighthouse on the cases of whisky without wetting your feet. That’s half a mile and the tide never goes out. You could walk to the lighthouse with the quantity of cases coming in the current…'
I made a map of Heisker using Mary Laing’s research into oral history, where she identified place-names that had not been recorded.
 |
| click image and zoom in to show in higher resolution |
My sister has a sideboard, the door of which was made from a wreck in North Uist.
It belonged to my brother in law, Ronald’s family, the MacVicars, who came from North Uist. I asked Ronald if he knew which ship it could have been from. Ronald asked his cousin, Donald MacQuarrie if he knew and he replied:
‘You say that that you have some some sideboard cupboard doors handed down from a Uist wreck. I wonder if the wreck is the one that came ashore on Baleshare in 1877, the James A Wright? When the ship came ashore all the houses in Baleshare, at the time got a share of the booty. I remember there was a green corner cupboard in the family house in Baleshare. It eventually succumbed to woodworm and was burned. Strangely, I have a little bit of wood from a staircase on the wreck that was once in Clachan shop.’
Donald sent me the article he had written about the James A Wright with photos of the wreck at Baleshare
and this is the model of the James A Wright that he made.
The hull is made from a piece of the actual wood (oak) from the boat.
Donald has also compiled local information about other wrecks, including the Ragnhild, the bowsprit of which is in the Westford Inn
and the Birlin, where a mystery still remains
No local tradition can throw any light on how the boat came to be embedded in the sand, but there is still living in Hacklett, Benbecula an old woman who says that that she heard from her great grandfather or grandfather that a boat of that description had struck the rocks near where it was found.
Two or three women were saved because their skirts filled with air and they were able to get ashore.
