Isle of Harris, Part 2
Ancient temple, Harris tweed, and a great accordionist
While on the Isle of Harris (see last week’s first installment about our visit there), we took a walk by the beach to see the site of an ancient temple, and came across incredible views of the ocean that made me feel like I could have been in the Caribbean. Take a look!
We reached the beach and must have mistakenly walked near a bird nesting area because some terns made sure we heard their alarm. One even made a big show of dive-bombing one of our taller travelers, to warn us away from their homes.
Below on the left is one view of the beach. If you notice the thistle in the foreground, just above it to the right, on the hill in the distance, are the ruins of the temple we were heading for. In the photo to the right are some of the sheep we had to walk by along the way, and just behind one of them is the silhouette of the temple as we drew nearer. Below on the right is a jaunty photo of myself and one of our travelers next to the wall of the medieval chapel on the site.
The ruins of this chapel date from the 14th or 15th century. A stone and earth wall outside of it encloses a graveyard that may have been started in Viking times (about 700-1266) or earlier.
Under the chapel is a large circular foundation, the remains of a 2000-year-old broch, a tall, stone construction probably housing an Iron Age chieftain and his extended family. Brochs were constructed of large stones fitted together in smooth, sloping curves without mortar. Their double wall contained a staircase allowing for passage to upper levels, while also strengthening the wall. We came across brochs mainly in the Isle of Lewis and in Shetland, though they were located elsewhere in Scotland as well.
Along the shore below the temple ruins, there are eroding remains of even older settlements, and hollowed-out depressions, or “cup marks,” in the rock ledges, that date to some 5,000 years ago.
In ancient times, sacred sites were often built on hills near the sea, since most travel took place by water. At this temple site, we had a view of the sea to the horizon, and even saw faint specks out there that we believed to be the islands of St. Kilda, some 40 miles away. These rugged islands were inhabited from Neolithic times until a final evacuation in 1930. What a tough place to live! For example, there was apparently a ritual required of young St. Kilda men seeking a wife, in which they had to climb a rock formation about 150 feet high, stand on one foot, stretch out the other foot a particular way and reach for it with their hands, preferably without falling to their death! In this way they proved that they were able to climb and gather bird eggs from the high rocks in order to support a family.
We visited another beautiful beach on Harris, at Luskentyre. It’s so flat that when the tide is low, the entire area is a broad, sandy beach, but when the tide comes in, it fills the area very quickly and turns it into a shallow sea.
Across the way, we saw kids sand sledding down the dunes by the beach.
The sand there is soft but in many places, it’s loaded with seashells, as you can see below. There are also amazing rocks nearby. As I mentioned in an earlier post, on one of our trips, we had several prominent geologists on our tour, and they could tell us the life story of just about any rocks or rock formation we came across. (If you guys are reading this, maybe you’ll make a comment below!)
We had another reason to stop at Luskentyre besides the beach, and this was to pay a visit to a great weaver of Harris tweed, Donald John MacKay.
Below is the view of Luskentyre from Donald John’s driveway. On the right we see Donald John with my wife, Laura, wearing the vest she made from tweed Donald John had woven a few years earlier.
The authenticity of Harris tweed is carefully controlled by the Harris Tweed Authority. The official label on fabric (see below at right), indicates that the material was woven by someone in their own home. Here’s the official definition: "Harris tweed means a tweed which has been hand woven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the islands of Harris, Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra and their several purtenances (The Outer Hebrides) and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides."
Below, you can see Donald John making the tweed on a machine which he pedals like a bicycle, after carefully threading all the spools and determining the patterns he wishes to use. One of his biggest commissions was for the tartan tweed on a Nike sneaker, a huge job he had to parcel out to several other weavers to help him meet Nike’s deadline.
On the right, he is measuring some of his tweed for one of us to buy. He let us view the fabric magnified with a loup — what a sight! So many colors hidden in the cloth, mostly natural colors that you might spot if you look closely at a field of heather.
Here’s a brief video I took, so you can see him in action.
Dorothy always arranged for amazing places for us to stay. In Harris, we spent a couple of days in a small homey place in a most beautiful location. I don’t usually talk about our accommodations, but in this case, I hope it won’t go amiss to mention how amazing Ardhasaig House is, for its lodging, views, and perhaps above all, for the incredible food cooked by Katie, the proprietor.
I arranged for a brilliant local accordionist, Iain Angus MacLeod, to play some tunes for (and with) us. He came over mid-evening after he got back from his day job, which was to ferry visitors out to St. Kilda and back.
Below is a picture of one of the unique round porthole windows in the dining room of Ardhasaig House, and on the right, Iain Angus playing his accordion for us out on the patio.
I leave you with an evening view from our accommodations there, and below that, a video of Iain Angus playing some pipe marches at the 2018 Shetland Accordion and Fiddle Festival. He’s playing the melody, backed by two rhythm accordions, bass and drums. Enjoy!