The tiny Isle of Scarp was long inhabited, and like St Kilda the men of the island met each morning in a "parliament" to plan the day's work. In 1881, there were 213 people on the island but this fell through the 1900s, and in 1967 the school closed, the post office followed in 1969 and the last two permanent resident familes left in 1971.
A pattern repeated all over the Highlands and Islands. In prehistoric times, when the early settlements began, islands and remote places offered protection and resources. They were the centre of the world for the communities that thrived there and the island folk tasted the "sweetness of true liberty" (Martin Martin) Centuries later, as large estates began to take over and clear the lands, crofting became less sustainable and for the few families remaining to manage the estates, theirs was a more lonely existence. Now the mainland drew people away, and the dominant situation in the islands is one of isolation. |
