Raasay
Raasay, sometimes the Isle of Raasay, is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birthplace of Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean, an important figure in the Scottish Renaissance.
Traditionally the home of Clan MacSween, the island was ruled by the MacLeods from the 15th to the 19th century. Subsequently, a series of private landlords held title to the island, which is now largely in public ownership. Raasay House, which was visited by James Boswell and Samuel Johnson in 1773, is now a hotel, restaurant, bar and outdoor activity centre. Raasay means "Isle of the Roe Deer" and the island is home to an endemic subspecies of bank vole.
Geology and geography
About north to south and east to west, Raasay's terrain is varied. The highest point, at, is Dùn Caan – an unusual, flat-topped peak. The island of Rona lies just off the north coast and the tidal islets of Eilean Fladday and Eilean Tigh are to the northwest. Other smaller surrounding islands are Eilean Aird nan Gobhar, Eilean an Inbhire, Holoman Island, Manish Island, Fraoch Eilean, Glas Eilean, Griana-sgeir and Eilean an Fhraoich. The main village of Inverarish is near the southwest coast and contiguous with both Clachan at the west end where the main pier is situated and Suishnish to the east. Oskaig is a small settlement further up the west coast.Geologically interesting, the island is visited by many students engaged in mapping projects. The south is mainly Torridonian sandstone and shale; the north is grey-banded Archaean Lewisian gneiss and granulite. There are also smaller outcrops of Jurassic shales and sandstones occasionally interspersed with limestone. The related ironstone beds contain low grade oolitic siderite and chamosite ores which were worked commercially in the early 20th century. Remaining reserves are estimated at 10 million tonnes. The seas to the east and west are very deep, large troughs having been created by the Skye icecap in the Pleistocene.
Economy and culture
The primary employment is in tourism, working for the ferry company, crofting and fishing, or commuting to work on Skye. A twenty-five-minute ride by the car and passenger ferry connects the island with Sconser on Skye. There is a primary school, but older students go to Portree High School by the ferry and bus.Sites of interest include the remains of a broch, the ruins of Brochel Castle, inscribed stones, abandoned crofting communities, and many walking paths.
There is a shop/post office located in Inverarish. Accommodation is available in the old manor of Raasay House, and at various B&Bs. There are significant numbers of incomers and holiday homes especially in the south of the island. This has helped to arrest the population decline from over 900 in 1803 to 194 in 2001. Some inhabitants belong to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which strictly observes the Sabbath. On Sundays there are no public services, the playground is closed and, until 2004, the ferry did not run.
In early 2007 the Raasay Community Association signed a contract with a number of building contractors to construct a community centre, which hosted its first céilidh on 29 May 2010. In 2008 construction began on a new £12 million ferry terminal at Churchton Bay, which was officially opened on 17 August 2010. Following the community buyout of Raasay House, a £3.5 million refurbishment was undertaken, leading to the temporary closure of the outdoor centre. However, in the early hours of 18 January 2009 the building was severely damaged by fire. Restoration work commenced in August 2010 but was suspended in November when the main contractor, ROK, went into administration. Work restarted with a new contractor, Mansell, in late 2011. Raasay House was officially handed over to the community in March 2013 and in addition to the 4 star accommodation it provides it is also now an outdoor activity centre with a restaurant, bar and cafe.
In September 2017 the Isle of Raasay distillery opened after the conversion of Borodale House. One source described this as transforming the "derelict Gothic hotel... into a modern whisky distillery, visitor centre and accommodation". The company's Single malt Scotch was described by one source as the island's "first legal single malt" whisky. It released 7,500 bottles of the spirit in 2020, the first year that Raasay Single Malt became available.
Flora and fauna
Raasay is home to the Raasay vole, a subspecies of bank vole, which is darker and heavier than the mainland variety and found nowhere else in the world. It is possibly a survivor of a Scandinavian race. Murray states that a single specimen of a pine marten, otherwise missing from the Hebrides, was found on the island in 1971. No other records for this species exist. Raasay is one of only four of the Inner Hebrides where mountain hares breed. Raasay is regularly visited by white-tailed sea eagles and golden eagles and there are populations of otter, red deer and European rabbit. Stoat and weasel are found in small numbers as are water shrew. It also supports a rich variety of plants, including red broomrape, dark red helleborine, mountain avens and numerous other saxifrages, orchids, alpines and ferns. The carline thistle was apparently extant in the 1970s, but a recent survey found no evidence of its continued existence. There are several stands of mixed woodland.Prehistory
Between 1999 and 2004 a large scale archaeological project, Scotland's First Settlers, was undertaken in the Inner Sound to locate and examine sites relating to the Mesolithic period in the strait. The entire coastline of the Inner Sound together with its islands was walked by volunteers and archaeologists. On Raasay they found 14 caves and rock shelters with evidence of prehistoric habitation, in the form of both middens and walls. Only the site at Loch an Sgurra at the far north of Raasay was confirmed as Mesolithic on the basis of both the stone tools and radiocarbon dating.History
The spread of Scots culture from Dalriada north of Ardnamurchan is poorly understood and little is recorded of Raasay's early Christian period. The placename Kilmaluag suggests the presence of St Moluag in the late sixth century.Following Viking expeditions to the islands they called the Suðreyjar in the eighth century, Raasay became part of the Norse Kingdom of the Isles and for much of the period religious observance came under the jurisdiction of the Bishopric of the Isles. The Hebrides were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth, after which time control of the islands north of Ardnamurchan was in the hands of the Earls of Ross. In addition to the name "Raasay" itself, placenames such as Arnish, Suidhisnis and Eyre are a legacy of the Norse presence.
15th to 17th century
Tradition has it that Clan MacSween originally held title to Raasay but there is no written record of this. It is known that the island was ruled by the MacLeods from 1518 when Gillecallum, younger son of the MacLeod Chief of Lewis was granted title. Martin Martin visited towards the end of the 17th century and noted:
it has some wood on all the quarters of it, the whole is fitter for pasturage than cultivation, the ground being generally very unequal, but very well watered with rivulets and springs. There is a spring running down the face of a high rock on the east side of the isle; it petrifies into a white substance, of which very fine lime is made, and there is a great quantity of it. There is a quarry of good stone on the same side of the isle; there is abundance of caves on the west side, which serve to lodge several families, who for their convenience in grazing, fishing, &c., resort thither in the summer. On the west side, particularly near to the village Clachan, the shore abounds with smooth stones of different sizes, variegated all over. The same cattle, fowl, and fish are produced here that are found in the isle of Skye. There is a law observed by the natives that all their fishing lines must be of equal length, for the longest is always supposed to have best access to the fish, which would prove a disadvantage to such as might have shorter ones.
There are some forts in this isle, the highest is in the south end; it is a natural strength, and in form like the crown of a hat; it is called Dun-Cann, which the natives will needs have to be from one Canne, cousin to the king of Denmark. The other lies on the side, is an artificial fort, three stories high, and is called Castle Vreokle.
Brochel Castle, as it is more commonly known, was built by the MacSweens in the 15th century on the north-east coast of Raasay. Latterly, it became a base for the MacLeod of Lewis's pirating activities prior to Calum Garbh's investiture there. The castle was inhabited until the death by drowning of the Chief Iain Garbh in 1671 and is now a ruin sitting atop a pinnacle. In the meantime the Macleods moved their seat to Raasay House at the south end of the island.
18th century
Although Protestant, the MacLeods of Raasay supported Bonnie Prince Charlie during and after the Jacobite rising of 1745. After the defeat at the Battle of Culloden, the Prince spent 2 days hiding from the British troops on Raasay. In conversation with Malcolm MacLeod of Raasay during his short stay on the island the Prince confided that although his life on the run was hard, he would rather live that way for ten years than be captured as he feared assassination. He seemed less aware of the risks his supporters ran. The atrocities perpetrated in the aftermath of Culloden were a shock to him. Of Cumberland he said: "Surely that man who calls himself a duke and pretends to be so great a general cannot be guilty of such cruelties. I cannot believe it."According to a 20 October 1752 letter to Robert Forbes by the Laird of Raasay, as a consequence of the island's support for the Jacobite cause and for having granted hospitality to the prince, the island was subjected to scorched earth tactics during two visits in July 1746 by troops of the Campbell of Argyll Militia under the command of General John Campbell and the Royal Navy crew of HMS Furnace under the command of Captain John Fergussone. One witness account states that the original Raasay House and many other dwellings were burnt down, all the islanders' livestock were confiscated and slaughtered, and two women were assaulted. The Laird was afterwards taken prisoner by Captain Fergussone, transported aboard the Furnace to London, and held aboard a prison hulk anchored in the River Thames. The Laird's allegations are also confirmed by a still extant letter from Captain Fergussone to his naval superior, Commodore Thomas Smith, and by a brief entry in the Furnace's ship's log, "Set Raasa Isle afire."
In 1773 James Boswell and Samuel Johnson arrived on the island during their Hebridean tour. They visited Raasay House and Johnson wrote:
Our reception exceeded our expectations. We found nothing but civility, elegance, and plenty. After the usual refreshments, and the usual conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet was then rolled off the floor; the musician was called, and the whole company was invited to dance, nor did ever fairies trip with greater alacrity. The general air of festivity, which predominated in this place, so far remote from all those regions which the mind has been used to contemplate as the mansions of pleasure, struck the imagination with a delightful surprise, analogous to that which is felt at an unexpected emersion from darkness into light.
When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, and six and thirty persons sat down to two tables in the same room. After supper the ladies sung Erse songs, to which I listened as an English audience to an Italian opera, delighted with the sound of words which I did not understand.
Boswell went exploring and described the island as follows:
Having resolved to explore the island of Rasay, which could be done only on foot, I last night obtained my fellow-traveller’s permission to leave him for a day, he being unable to take so hardy a walk. Old Mr Malcolm M’Cleod, who had obligingly promised to accompany me, was at my bedside between five and six. I sprang up immediately, and he and I, attended by two other gentlemen, traversed the country during the whole of this day. Though we had passed over not less than four-and-twenty miles of very rugged ground, and had a Highland dance on the top of Dùn Can, the highest mountain in the island, we returned in the evening not at all fatigued, and piqued ourselves at not being outdone at the nightly ball by our less active friends, who had remained at home.
My survey of Rasay did not furnish much which can interest my readers; I shall therefore put into as short a compass as I can, the observations upon it, which I find registered in my journal. It is about fifteen English miles long, and four broad. On the south side is the laird’s family seat, situated on a pleasing low spot. The old tower of three stories, mentioned by Martin, was taken down soon after 1746, and a modern house supplies its place. There are very good grass-fields and corn-lands about it, well dressed. I observed, however, hardly any inclosures, except a good garden plentifully stocked with vegetables, and strawberries, raspberries, currants, &c.