The Editor would take this opportunity to wish all Readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2005.

The Editor is also indebted to a visitor who came to the rescue of the two intrepid chaps who created the above Good New Year wishes in the sand of Kiloran Bay, only to then discover that their camera had decided not to play ball. Fortuitously, Nick Agnew, a visitor staying in Scalasaig farmhouse, was on the beach with friends and family at the time, and very kindly took the photograph which kicks off the first Corncrake of 2005.

CHRISTMAS DAY ON COLONSAY

Snow is a rare commodity on Colonsay and it is hardly surprising therefore that the Editor has yet to meet anyone who can remember a White Christmas on the island. This year promised to be different however when snow began to fall on Christmas Eve; alas, the snow lasted for only a few short minutes. Then on Christmas morning, with snow covering much of the UK mainland, snow started to fall on Colonsay again, but it turned out to be only a tantalising flurry.
Then, quite suddenly on Christmas afternoon, there was a torrential hailstone shower and within minutes the island had that magical White Christmas mantle; the hailstones then gave way to a further flurry of snow, lending authenticity to the claim of a White Christmas at last for Colonsay :

Christmas Day on Colonsay seemed a lot less magical earlier in the day however, when the electricity went off all over the island somewhere between 1am and 2am. For those still awake and preparing for the big day, panic began to creep in. How was Santa Claus going to see the houses that he needed to visit and reward all those children who had been little angels throughout the year? And what about the traditional over-indulgence of Christmas Dinner? Was it sadly about to be transformed into a few limp lettuce leaves and some cold meat?

Just as we all were fearing the worst however, the power was restored and Christmas Day on Colonsay was saved. The island even had its' regular fortnightly refuse collection, Charlie not letting a wee thing like Christmas come between him and his work :

THE EMERGENCY

With the Isle of Colonsay Hotel temporarily closed, this has been a tough time for a number of islanders, although we are perhaps referring more specifically to the bar here, rather than to the Hotel itself.
Indeed, just the other day the Editor overheard the current situation being referred to as "The Emergency", reminiscent of the term used by the Republic of Ireland for that small emergency, The Second World War.
Emergency or not, there is a need, particularly at this festive time of year, for somewhere for people to meet and congregate socially in a convivial atmosphere. A huge thanks are therefore due to Angus MacPhee and Lucy Johnstone who have volunteered between them to organise for the opening of the village Hall on an occasional basis to serve such a purpose :

The first of these "meeting opportunities" took place on the afternoon of Boxing Day, and as our photograph shows, a goodly crowd assembled for the craic, some dominoes and even some table-tennis. It was perhaps fortuitous that the recent Book Fair in the Hall left a few remaindered items, these serving remarkably well in the absence of the more traditional table-tennis bat.

Lucy and Angus were again good enough to arrange for the Hall to be ready and available on the evening of the following Monday for, ostensibly at least, a Quiz Night. Again, there was a sizable turnout, and such was the success of the evening that a further Quiz Night was immediately arranged for the Thursday evening.
Swelled with the influx of visitors for the Hogmanay celebrations, the Hall was full to capacity on the Thursday evening and a great time was had by all. The traditional prize money was not dispersed as per usual to the Quiz winners, but was donated instead to the tsunami disaster relief fund, as indeed were all the evening's proceeds.
The Hall was again the island centre of conviviality two days later, when it hosted the traditional New Year's Day Ceilidh. As our photographs show, a grand time was had by all, perhaps none more so than our former Editor, who obviously has been using his freed-up time to hone his dancing skills :

 

   

The fun and frolics continued into the wee sma' hours before revellers made for the door, some to go home to bed, others to carry on in an alternative venue...
As is traditional with the New Year's Day ceilidh, entry to the festivities was free of charge. Despite this, a jar at the door for donations and a raffle combined to raise over £400 for the tsunami disaster relief fund, making a grand total of some £550 raised over the two events.

REMINDERS

The Corncrake would take this opportunity to remind Readers of two issues, both of which were also mentioned in Issue 106.
The first of these is the ongoing request for financial contributions toward the cost of the erection of a memorial to those who perished in the "Arandora Star" tragedy. The memorial will be placed at Leam a' Bhriar, and the following inscription has been commissioned :

Contributions may be left at the Post Office, or may be posted to Kevin Byrne, "Arandora Star" Memorial, Isle of Colonsay, Argyll PA61 7YR. Credit card details are quite acceptable, but please provide a postal address to which a receipt can be sent.

Secondly, and perhaps more urgently, The Corncrake would remind Readers that time is running out to secure tickets and accommodation for THE social event of 2005, "The Colonsay Gathering", to be held in the Grosvenor Hotel in Glasgow on Saturday 19th February.
Attractive rates for overnight accommodation have been negotiated with the hotel, but these are only available for a further few days. Another reason to firm up your booking TODAY, as if you need one.
Christa has full details and can be contacted on 01951 200 320. There are also further details to be found on the Colonsay homepage Notice Board.
"Take your partners please....."

THE GENERAL WASHINGTON

Readers may recall previous articles in The Corncrake concerning a large emigration of Colabhsachs which took place late in 1791. The ship which called at Scalasaig to collect and transport this human cargo was the "General Washington", obviously named after the man who would become the first President of the USA.

Apart from her name however, information on the ship has been scant and we are therefore indebted to Robbie Meldrum who has unearthed the following information on the craft in question :

"General Washington, a swift sailing ship, was commissioned as a privateer by the state of Rhode Island in 1780, Captain Silas Talbot in command. She was captured later in that year by a British squadron and taken into the Royal Navy and renamed as General Monk. Whilst in British service, she assisted in the capture of over 60 American vessels.

Because of her successes, the merchants of Philadelphia purchased Hyder Ally, in March 1782, armed her, and placed her under the command of Lt. Joshua Barney of the Continental Navy. Barney encountered General Monk on 8 April 1782 at the entrance to Delaware Bay and, after a furious engagement, captured her.
Restored to her original name, the General Washington was taken into the service of the state of Pennsylvania with Barney in command. She sailed on 18 May 1782 for Havana and brought back $600,000 in much-needed specie for the Continental Congress.

Robert Morris, then Agent of Marine, purchased the General Washington for the Continental Navy in August 1782 for use as a packet between the United States and France. She made three voyages to France, under the command of Lt. Barney. by now Captain Barney. Sailing in October 1782 with important dispatches for the peace negotiations, she returned to Philadelphia on 12 March 1783 with a preliminary copy of the treaty. General Washington again sailed for France in June and returned to Philadelphia on 20 September. On her third voyage, she carried John Paul Jones to Europe to seek payment for prizes he had captured in European waters, leaving on 10 November 1783 and returning in March 1784.
The General Washington was sold in the summer of 1784".

What fascinating information Robbie Meldrum has found, and what a fascinating ship; only a few years before she anchored off Scalasaig, she had carried the 1st President of the USA, the Scottish "founder of the American Navy", John Paul Jones, and the draft of the peace treaty between Britain and the fledgling United States of America!
This information should provide us with renewed vigour to unearth her subsequent history and, more pertinently, to shed some light on the circumstances and the outcome of the human cargo she took to the "New World" from Colonsay's shores.

THE MOVING SPIRIT

Retaining our nautical theme at this juncture, it would appear that Oban harbour is set to become the centre of interest for investigators of mysterious phenomena such as the "Bermuda Triangle"

For those unacquainted with the "Bermuda Triangle", it is a sea area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the USA, which is noted for a high incidence of unexplained accidents to, and losses of, ships, small boats, and aircraft.
In the past, extensive but ultimately futile Coastguard searches and investigations, prompted by cases such as the disappearance of an entire squadron of TBM Avengers shortly after take off from Fort Lauderdale, or the traceless sinking of the USS Cyclops, have lent credence to the popular belief that the area is subject to some supernatural force. Countless theories attempting to explain the many accidents and disappearances have been offered, but all to no avail.
Recent events have however diverted investigators' attention from the "Bermuda Triangle" to what is now being dubbed the "Oban Harbour Triangle"
Corncrake readers will recall that it was reported in Issue 106 that on the 17th of December, the CalMac ferry "Clansman" mysteriously smashed into Oban pier, damaging the berthed "Isle of Mull" in the process. Now the "Isle of Mull" itself seems to be subject to the same possibly supernatural phenomenon ; on the 29th, she smashed into Oban pier and in the process damaged the berthed "Lord of the Isles"!
What supernatural forces are at work here? What kind of spirits could possibly be involved? Or is it possibly a disgruntled CalMac customer in the Shore Street car park with a giant magnet?
Investigators from all over the world are currently rushing to Oban, aware that strange spirits are particularly prevalent around the New Year. Certainly, a solution is needed urgently, before CalMac runs out of ferries or a second new linkspan needs to be built in Oban.

LOOK BACK IN ALBUM

The very first photograph in our new series, one taken in 1963 when the new pier was under construction, has transpired to become something of a saga. However, Georgina is now safely back home and she has been able to confirm that the figure on the extreme left of the photograph is indeed her father :

The Lord provideth, but the Lord also taketh away, and just when we thought all persons had been identified, Georgina speculated that the next figure along was perhaps not Iain Kelly after all, but her brother, David.
Then The Corncrake received an e.mail from Angus McFadyen suggesting that the figure on the right might indeed be his father and not Angus Clark.
Clouding matters yet further (again!), Sandy Wilson, who took the photograph in the first place, then sent the following photograph in support of his theory that the figure to the right of Peter Kelly could in fact be John Clark :

This photograph of Sandy's was taken about 20 minutes after our first photograph, and is indeed of John Clark. John however states categorically that he is not in the first photograph and the consensus of opinion on the island is now that the figure in question is definitely Hugh Brown. Similarly, the consensus is that the figure on the right is not Angus McFadyen's father but surely Angus Clark.

Can anyone out there now tell us if the youngster in the photograph is Iain Kelly or David Hobhouse, thus allowing us to close this long-running saga and regain the will to live...


Moving on to last Issue's photograph, also kindly provided by Sandy Clark, there have as yet been no suggestions as to the identities of any of the people involved. Assuming this lack of correspondence to be due to the current holiday season rather than the onset of mental stupor, we shall carry the photograph over for a further Issue and hope that some names can be put to the people pictured :

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SNIPPETS

CalMac's current propensity to ram Oban pier and simultaneously damage two ferries, as reported above, has of course repercussions which can be felt on Colonsay. The accident on Wednesday left the "Isle of Mull" out of commission for two to three weeks, so undoubtedly islanders will experience a varied ferry programme during this time.
A flavour of things to come was experienced on the last sailing of the year on Friday 31st December. Due to leave Oban at 10am, the scheduled service was cancelled and all travelling passengers were diverted to Kennacraig to board the Islay ferry which, having completed her normal run, then proceeded to Colonsay. Fearful of damage to the linkspan, a large crowd turned out for her arrival at 4pm, but thankfully Scalasaig pier does not seem to have the same magnetic appeal as that at Oban.
There was of course a knock-on effect of the ferry arriving 4 hours later than scheduled ; both the Shop and Post Office had to stay open late. The queue in Pedie's at one stage resembled that outside Harrods on a Boxing Day morning. As if coping with the majority of the population visiting his shop simultaneously wasn't enough for Pedie to cope with, the phone seemed to suddenly like trying to attract his attention every few minutes, giving his natural bonhomie a final wee test for the year. The impromptu "Conga" of the queuing customers perhaps saved his sanity on this occasion however.

CAPTION COMPETITION

The judging of our last Issue's competition was made less difficult with fewer entries in the competition's postbag this time round. Fortunately, this did not affect the quality of entry, and congratulations are due to Mark Hemmings who submitted the winning entry :

Regretfully, there was insufficient time to receive a photograph for this Issue's competition from Mark. Much rummaging in the Corncrake photographic archive did however produce fond memories of three much-loved Neil Munro characters :

Entries as usual to : editorcorncrake@yahoo.co.uk : by telephone : 01951 200336 ; or by post to : A.N.Other, The Corncrake Caption Competition (Issue 106), c/o The Editorial Suite, The Corncrake, Corncrake Towers, Isle of Colonsay PA61 7YW.

WHAT'S ON IN COLONSAY

Please note that there is also a Notice Board on the Homepage; anyone wishing to publicise any event or attraction is invited to send details to the Editor.

TOPICAL LETTERS

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