SAILING CLOSE TO THE WIND

The annual ritual of "first-footing" was barely in full swing when the time came for the first ferry of the year, on Monday the 3rd. Alas, for many visitors the pilgrimage was already over and the return to secular lives on the mainland beckoned. Would however the ferry make it, with a wind gusting at over 30 mph and with treacherous seas after days of high winds?
The assembled crowd at the pier-shed watched anxiously as the "Lord of the Isles" hove into view and began her stern-first manoeuvre towards the pier. The skipper on board, Captain Sinclair, did an excellent job however and the "Lord of the Isles" (LOTI) was soon safely secured to the pier and 116 souls left the island and Hogmanay behind them, taking 31 vehicles with them.

The next ferry was due on Wednesday, but with a Force 7 wind blowing and due to strengthen to Severe Gale Force 9 for the rest of the day and for the Thursday, it was no great surprise when the news arrived from the mainland that there would be no ferry until the scheduled Friday service. At least everyone could now relax and get on with the serious job of first-footing.

There was heightened anxiety on the Friday however, as it was by this time a week since the island had received any fresh bread, milk and other basic necessities of life ; although the Shop's alcohol shelves were looking bare, satiation was slowly settling upon the population and therefore, on this occasion, replenishment of these shelves was not universally seen as a strict necessity.
Winds had eased by the Friday but were still gusting at 25 to 30mph when LOTI came into view, but again Captain Sinclair did a sterling job of work and berthed her safely. Twenty minutes later LOTI set sail with the last of the visiting New Year celebrants and the island settled down to its characteristic pace of life and relative tranquility.

COLONSAY LANDMARK COLLAPSES

Remaining on a weather-related theme (there being little escape from it on Colonsay this year to date), the cancellation of the ferry on Wednesday the 5th was not the only effect of the weather on the island that particular morning.

When news of the cancellation reached Colonsay, Seumas was asked to let the visitors staying in Machrins farmhouse know that they would not be able to leave the island before the Friday at the earliest.
When Seumas arrived at the farmhouse and told the visitors the news however, the reply was - "well, we rather anticipated a ferry cancellation might be on the cards as soon as we saw your barn getting blown down this morning... "

And, sure enough, there it lay :

The barn, or more properly, hayshed, has become something of a landmark to a generation of both islanders and visitors. In trying to ascertain just how long the hayshed has been a feature of the Colonsay landscape, May revealed that she was in fact working at Machrins at the time until young Jessie left school. Quite a wee while then...
Further enquiries yielded the information that the Machrins hayshed was one of five on the island built at the same time by the firm of A & J Main, the others being at Garvard, Balnahard, Kiloran and Baleromindubh. The Machrins hayshed was the last survivor of these in their original form, those at Garvard, Balnahard and at Baleromindubh having disappeared altogether and the one at Kiloran having been effectively re-built by Nigel a few years ago. Landmark though it had become, the hayshed had been showing signs of its age for some time, and Eleanor recalls that Alasdair himself had anticipated its collapse in high winds for many a year.
No doubt the image of the hayshed will remain in the collective mind's eye for some time but it is also fortunate that the multi-talented Jean MacAllister captured it for posterity in one of her wonderful collages (thanks to Georgina for the use of her image of same) :

CONTINGENCY PLANNING

The Committee in charge of overseeing the usage of the island or village Hall in Scalasaig invited the community to a meeting on the evening of Thursday 6th January to discuss how the Hall might best be utilised to meet the needs of the community whilst the Hotel remains closed.
The meeting, which was well attended, was led by Georgina Hobhouse who emphasised that any usage agreed upon would of course only be temporary until such times as the Hotel re-opened.
A number of events were agreed as being desirable in the interim period, including the retention of the Thursday "Quiz Night", the opening of the Hall on Saturday nights from 8pm to midnight and Scottish Country Dance classes to precede the weekly Quiz. Dr Currie also offered to run "Basic Life Support" classes on a weekly or fortnightly basis as required.
It was also agreed to hold a Burns Supper on Saturday 29th January ; catering constraints dictated however that numbers would require to be restricted to the first 40 subscribers.
Finally, Georgina indicated that she would be pleased to hear from any member of the community who would be prepared to join the Hall Committee and assist with the duties associated with same.

THE LONG AND WINDY ROAD

Returning yet again to a weather related theme, below is a photograph of LOTI taken on the afternoon of Monday 10th January as she approached Scalasaig pier :

With some pretty wild weather forecast, the photograph was taken in case islanders would shortly need reminding of what a ferry actually looked like. Indeed, the coastal forecast the following morning presented a rather alarming picture :

"Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point. Issued by the Met Office at 0500 UTC on Tuesday 11 January 2005.
24 hour forecast:
Wind: south or southwest 6 backing southeast 7 to severe gale 9 during morning, then veering southwest severe gale 9 to violent storm 11 later in day with little change overnight.
Weather: rain today, then wintry showers.
Visibility: moderate, occasionally poor.
Sea State: rough or very rough, occasionally high in open waters."

Time then to batten down the hatches. Things however were about to get even worse, the Met Office changing their forecast from Violent Storm 11 to Hurricane 12 for the Tuesday evening and overnight.
The first effect of the extreme weather was felt in Scalasaig harbour where the hurricane force wind, combined with a very high spring tide, almost succeeded in blowing the boats like matchsticks out of the water, over the railings and into the dark void beyond. Only some valiant efforts, in atrocious conditions, prevented a disaster. And it was only 8pm ; a long night lay ahead...

Daylight the following morning however revealed that the 100mph+ winds had caused remarkably little damage -a few missing roof tiles, a few phones out of order (but the man from BT was stranded on the island, so we had our own personal telecoms service!) and a shed had disappeared from Calcraig. An island within an island had been created though, with the road at Port Mór covered with tonnes of seaweed whilst a flooded Dèabhadh blocked access to and from Scalasaig going the other way round. Nigel soon cleared the seaweed with the aid of his Mapro, although Angela too did her bit, keen to re-locate some of the seaweed to her garden...

There was of course no ferry on the Wednesday and, as every island in the West of Scotland had had ferries cancelled, there was none on the Thursday, which, in fact, turned out to be an absolute delight of a day weatherwise.
The cancellation of the Wednesday ferry in turn heightened anxiety on the Friday morning, the wind now picking up again and gusting wildly, and from the south-east, the direction that causes most problems to ferries trying to berth at Scalasaig. Captain Kenny Cameron however did a splendid job, allowing a delighted Carol MacNeill to get home at last (her one day course turning into a 5 day ordeal) and a dejected Hamish Grant to return to school after perhaps the longest Christmas holiday in history....

And finally on the subject of weather (honest!), many Corncrake readers will remember with affection Jo and Lucky, the New Zealanders who spent much of 2004 on Colonsay, working for the Estate. Many islanders will also recall the bitterly cold November day that Jo and Lucky left to return home to the southern hemisphere, Jo with a wee detour to India on her way. In case memories are short, Jo has forwarded a copy of their final Colonsay photograph, which they titled "chilly" for some reason or other...

For Readers unacquainted with Jo and Lucky, they are on the right of the above photograph. As an aside, Jo and Rhona tied in equal first place in the "Who Can Look the Coldest?" competition...

Jo and Lucky (who recently had lunch with Alex and Jane in Sydney, Australia!) also forwarded a further photograph for which the Editor is extremely grateful, as it will no doubt remind islanders that Winter will not last forever. Jo and Lucky gave this particular photograph the title "Not Bad!", a title with which we perhaps would all agree (jammy sods!) :

CALMAC ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS

Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has reported an increase of 6.8% in passenger carryings to 5.2 million and car traffic by 4.9% to over 1 million in its Annual Report and Accounts (covering the year ending April 2004), which were laid before Parliament at Holyrood on December 22nd.

Describing 2003-04 as "a successful year financially and operationally", Company Chairman Dr Harold Mills reported that CalMac "recorded a profit of £777,000 before tax and after receipt of deficit grant of £25.9 million." "This is a satisfactory outcome given our remit to 'break-even' before tax and after receipt of deficit grant from the Scottish Executive." "Compared with last year, our fares revenue increased by £2.9m. Our operating expenditure increased by £9.5m, resulting from a number of factors including costs associated with ensuring SOLAS compliance (£1.3m), additional manning requirements under EU working hours regulations (£1.2m) and the introduction of two new vessels (£1.1m), as well as a lump-sum payment to the Company pension scheme (£1.5m). "

The Report notes that CalMac met all performance targets set by Scottish Ministers relating to service reliability and punctuality, fares income and staff costs. In traffic terms, it was a year of continuous and steady improvement with passenger and car carryings showing a year-on-year increase of 6.8% and 4.9% respectively. As a result, for the first time for many years, CalMac's carryings exceeded five million passengers and one million cars respectively. Commercial vehicle carryings were broadly similar to those in 2002-03.

It is to be hoped that these apparently excellent results serve CalMac well in the uncertain times that lie ahead for the company.

THE "GENERAL WASHINGTON"

Since the article in our last Issue about the ship "General Washington", a number of Readers have expressed their amazement that so little is known about the 138 Colbhasachs who boarded a ship of that name in 1791 and sailed to start a new life in the "New World".
What were their names and in which part of the island did they live? Did they go voluntarily or were they early victims of the notorious "Clearances"? Did they land as planned in Wilmington, North Carolina, and if so, where did they go? What happened to the ship's Passenger List? Was the ship "General Washington", (the subject of the article in Issue 107) the same "General Washington" that carried them from their native shores?

A picture does emerge from the mists of time, but it is a sketchy one. With regard to the latter question, the Editor contacted the established expert in the field of Colonsay emigration, John Sheets, Professor of Anthropology at Central Missouri State University. John's reply (see Letters section) is that until such time as a record of the ship's arrival in Wilmington can be located, nothing can be stated with any certainty. He adds that if such a record exists, it will be found in the US National Archives in Washington DC, and that he intends to pursue the matter further when next in that city.

Until then, further research is required and it is to be hoped that The Corncrake can carry an article in the foreseeable future detailing the information which can be substantiated about this significant early emigration from these shores.

LOOK BACK IN ALBUM

By now, regular Readers will have this feature's first photograph, that of Scalasaig pier in 1963, indelibly imprinted on their memory, thus obviating the need for the photograph to appear again in this Issue, and perhaps simultaneously avoiding an outbreak of mass hysteria.
Hughie McNeill (see Letters section) has been in touch with Iain Kelly and Iain confirms that it is indeed himself in the photograph. End of mystery.....or is it? ; Iain also recalls that D.A. was also there and gave him a "big penny" for helping with the sheep...
It is at this juncture that, in the interests of our mental health, we should perhaps recall the Biblical phrase "we see through a glass, darkly" and move swiftly along to other concerns...

We do however stay with the year 1963 and with another photograph from Sandy Wilson, this time of the ferry prior to its departure :

In his recent communication, Hughie McNeill suggests that the figure leaning over the side of the ferry is Para Mór. Angus McFadyen has also been in touch, stating that it is surely Donald Gibbie at the helm, but speculating further that the figures on the slip closest to the ferry are a young Lord Strathcona and a pregnant Lady Jane, complete with their old Jack Russell dog, "Jaypot", at their feet. This was confirmed a few days later by Lady Jane herself who telephoned despite having recently fallen down a flight of stairs in her new home and shattering her leg.

Lady Jane did however think that the photograph must have been taken in 1961 and not 1963, as she identified the other figures on the slip as being her daughters Jane and Katie together with the nanny holding a very young Caroline. If the year being 1961 is correct, the baby in Lady Jane's tummy is none other than the Young Laird himself, Alex. In turn, after careful scrutiny of the photograph, Alex has come to the same conclusion as his mother, whilst simultaneously identifying the nanny as being Ruth Cudlipp.

If however the year is not 1961, then the foregoing must, by necessity, be wrong ; over to you then Sandy Wilson - are we all looking at the ferry in 1961 or 1963?
Oh, and finally, can anyone identify the remaining figures on board the ferry? Is that, for example, Pony waving farewell?

Moving on to pastures new, The Corncrake is grateful to Netta Titterton for provision of the next photograph in our "Look back..." feature. This is definitely one for our more mature Readers, the year being 1954. Crivvens, your Editor was still in nappies...
This is quite a rare photograph, full as it is of Colbhasachs, but they are geographically far removed from the island they know as home. In fact, they are all in Bath, England.
Who can put names to all the faces, and who can tell us what they were all doing so far from home?

SNIPPETS

Before Christmas disappears over the horizon completely, it is worth considering the fact that, over the Christmas period, Keith Rutherford handled a staggering 7,015 pieces of incoming letter-related mail. That equates to approximately 100+ letters per household and, by Keith's own statistics, an increase over Christmas 2003 of some 13.5%. Perhaps this increase equates, to some degree, with the rise in island population during the year? Does any Reader keep a note of population statistics? Anyway, a heartfelt thanks to Keith, the unsung hero of a Colonsay Christmas.
Dr Currie is currently off the island, attending an advanced Immediate Care Course and the hope is of course that he will never require to utilise the skills and techniques that he might acquire whilst away. In the same vein (no play on words intended...), a big island welcome is extended to his locum, Dr Roddy McLeod, currently enjoying his first visit of the year to the island.
Angus MacPhee has returned to the island after attending the funeral of his mother and our condolences go to him at this time. Angus has also agreed to participate in the previously reported "McDuffie DNA Surname Project" (see Issue 106) and in so doing will effectively become a Colonsay "control" for the project. All that is required now is to raise the funds necessary for his participation - already there is talk of an exciting island-wide competition, with its epicentre the Piermaster's Office, which should raise the money needed. Look out for notices at a Shop near you...
Talking shop (a play on words intended...), there was a scare at the island Stores last week when the fuel pump ceased to dispense either petrol or diesel following a lightning storm the previous evening. All attempts to fix it were to no avail, a card inside the control box apparently having been "fried" by a lightning strike. People needing fuel were turned away throughout the day, but late on there was a breakthrough and the pump now functions manually. The Shop now awaits a new control card or an engineer to come from the mainland.
Colonsay was featured on national television yet again recently when Eorpa, the Gaelic-medium magazine programme, devoted its Thursday 13th January BBC2 slot to the story of the "Arandora Star". On this occasion, viewers were treated to Flora and Donald Gibbie being in the position for once to give the nation their recollection of events in their native tongue. Bha e iomlan, nach robh?
Finally, the Country Dancing Classes kicked off last week, led enthusiastically by Kirsty, and ably assisted by Rhona, and attended by a goodly crowd. A lot of steps were taught but the stepping on partners' toes did seem to be a hot favourite. One would also have thought that someone would have renamed the Canadian Barn Dance the Machrins Barn Dance, given recent events. However, roll on next week's class and of course the forthcoming Colonsay Gathering in Glasgow. Take your partners please...

CAPTION COMPETITION

The number of entries to last Issue's competition was back up to normal levels, and a cracking lot they were too. Judging them is always enjoyable, but simultaneously not an easy task.
Thanks then to our guest judge for this competition, but whose identity must of course remain a closely guarded secret. Particular thanks are due to her as she did travel especially from her home next to the Shop to Corncrake Towers to do the judging.
Honorary mentions this time round must go to Angus McFadyen, Hughie McNeill and Mark Hemmings, but our winner this Issue is Shirley Johnston who submitted the following :

In turn, Shirley has delved into her considerable photographic archives to come up with a suitable photograph for the next competition. And here it is :

Entries as usual to : editorcorncrake@yahoo.co.uk ; by telephone : 01951 200336 ; or by post to : A.N.Other, The Corncrake Caption Competition (Issue 108), c/o The Editorial Suite, The Corncrake, Corncrake Towers, Isle of Colonsay PA61 7YW.

WHAT'S ON IN COLONSAY

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