Isle of Scalpay / Scalpaigh in the Outer Hebrides
Isle of Scalpay, shown left (click image to view an enlargement), lies just off the coast of the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides / Western Isles. Scalpay's Gaelic name is Scalpaigh and has also been known as Scalpa. Access to the island was, until recently, via a ferry running from Kyles Scalpay. A bridge, which was officially opened by PM Mr. Tony Blair, now links the Isle of Scalpay to the Isle of Harris but in essence Scalpay will always remain an island with it's own character created by a long and fascinating history.
Scalpay history is immense when you consider the physical size of the island. There has certainly been a fair number of memorable characters who either lived on, or visited, the island, the most interesting of which include Bonnie Prince Charlie and Black Kenneth and the rest of the Campbell family.
For such a small island there is plenty to write about, so much so that we have a whole section of the Virtual Hebrides dedicated to the Isle of Scalpay. One of the reasons that the Scalpay section is so huge is that one of our writers lived on the island for over 10 years (the longest time he has ever stayed in one place which says much about the island) and the content once appeared on it's own site www.scalpay.com.
The population of Scalpay has always been hard working and industrious. At one time the population exceeded 800 people and to feed such a large number of inhabitants much of the island was turned over to the production of barley and other foodstuffs. Because the ground was not of the highest quality small patches, known as lazybeds, were created and many remain visible today.
Unfortunately the ground was fertile but not sufficiently enough in quantity to feed everyone adequately so most folk also went fishing. The island became renowned for the expertise of it's fishermen and right up until the 1990's both harbours featured many small fishing boats and several large trawlers. Many of the old folk of the island look back to a time when "the fishing was good" and it is said that it was possible, at one time, to walk from one side of the North Harbour to the other without touching water by walking across the decks of the fishing boats waiting to offload their catch.
Much of the character of the Isle of Scalpay can be seen in the words of songs and poems such as the poem "Return To Scalpay" by Norman MacCaig.
To discover more about the wonderful Isle of Scalpay please visit our Scalpay Section
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