Day 2 – Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

A complete contrast to yesterday with the clouds scudding over the island propelled by what seems to be a strong wind that means you have to hold on to your hat.

What better day then to visit Buth Bharraigh Ltd, a local community social enterprise providing a route to market for local produce and artisan’s work. I bought a hat that will stay on my head instead of heading towards the Atlantic like the previous one did. I bought some birthday cards and admired local paintings and wool products. There’s books on the area as well as food including the bulk purchase of certain items that people take away in their own containers ranging from shampoo to popcorn – please see photo.

I also visited Dualchas the heritage cultural centre on Barra where I read about the local life and traditions. Unfortunately one of those traditions was the landlords throwing people off their land. I’d heard of the Highland Clearances but never of the Island Clearances which happened until 1923, when around 60 people from Barra were given the opportunity by Emily Gordon Cathcart the local ‘landowner’ to move to Red Deer in northern Alberta in Canada. Cathcart was anti-Catholic and tried to replace the people on nearby Vatersay with sheep, but failed to do so thanks to the bravery of locals. The people Cathcart sent to Alberta spoke Gaelic, were fisherfolk, and had never seen a tree before. In Red Deer, an English-speaking town, they were given land covered by trees that they had to fell and then turn into farmland. They realised that misinformation had been provided by the church too. Somehow, some of those people made a go of this terrible situation, but others couldn’t cope and either moved or ended their lives. Another problem was that close-knit community people were given large plots of land that were many miles from their nearest neighbour. This was similar to the plight of Ukrainians in Manitoba in the 1800s that I read about on a trip to Winnipeg three years ago.