The Third Island - Speaker: Anne Tait

 On Tuesday night Kilrymont Rotary were treated to a talk by Anne Tait entitled - Eilean Mor MacCormaig- The Third Island.  Anne had previously given talks on St Kilda and one on Fianuis, the peninsula off Rona. Eilean means the big island and it is the largest of the eight islands that make up the MacCormaigs. They lie at the entrance to Loch Sween in Argyll, a powerful tidal loch. Not large by any standards, a mere 18 hectares of rock and grass, it was bequeathed to the SNP by Pat Neil in 1978.  It has been visited by Winnie Ewing and John Swinney although probably the most famous person to set foot on the island was John Paul Jones in 1778 when he was forced to make ship repairs.  Eilean is now run by a charitable trust with the help of volunteers who have built a visitor centre and a jetty. The volunteers also keep the island blackthorn under control, improve paths and steps and plant trees. St Cormac lived on the island sometime in the 7^th century in a cave which has two 8^th century crosses on the cave wall. There is a further 10^th century cross at the west end of St Cormac’s grave. The medieval chapel is quite well preserved and was once used as an ale house and illicit still in the 1700s. Events are held on the island throughout the year. In Spring there is the Yae Glintin’ Licht – an afternoon of traditional music and poetry; a Visitors Day in summer to allow visits to the volunteers and  also something each weekend in September.

Anne became aware of the MacComaigs in the late 60s when she went sailing with Hamish and his parents who had a boat moored at Tayvallich on Loch Sween. Not an easy place to take a boat as there is a narrow tricky entrance with a submerged rock right in the middle. The rock was blown up during army exercises in 1996 but enough remains to cause problems. Anne finished with a Booker prize winning account of a particular trip she and Hamish made to the MacCormaigs. With rain and wind there was plenty of scope for an entertaining account of husband and wife on a West Coast Adventure. Anne’s title says it all ‘SAILING WITH THE ANCIENT MARINER‘.  Thankfully, two went out, and two came back.