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A friend of mine from Montagu, Western Cape, tackled the Outer Hebrides in February. The average temperature in Montagu in February is in the 90's, so I had some doubts about her sanity.
"I visited the Standing Stones at Callanish, "she said. I found it odd that they were surrounded by houses. I thought they would be in an isolated place."
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| Standing Stones, Callanish |
Personally, I think that a church miles from its congregation might have had a very small one, before the era of the combustion engine. Mind you, my grandfather when offered a lift when he was walking the three miles from Northton to his church in Leverburgh, refused.
"What are legs for if not for walking?"
He was in his nineties at the time.
But I digress (Again!!!)
The only thing we know for certain is that the stones must have been of huge importance to the community. The labour and time used to carve and set them must have been enormous. The stones for Stonehenge were brought from Wales, by people power, proving that our ancestors may have been illiterate, but they knew their physics.
And there are standing stones all over Europe, although the Romans did their best to wipe out local religions. There are many in the Hebrides, the Thrushel Stone being the most impressive, once you get past Callanish.
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| Thrushel Stone Near Barvas, Lewis |
There are many legends about it, one that it is the gravestone of a Scandinavian princess. but I am highly suspicious of all stories Celtic. It all started when I walked into our local library in Montagu, darkest Africa, and our friendly librarian, the same nut who visited the Hebrides in February, said, with a funny look in her eye, "There's a new book out on Celtic Civilisation."
And there it was! Dun Carloway, right on the cover, and a much better photograph than our happy snaps.
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| Dun Carloway, Interior |
Why all the pics? you will notice I have captioned them. Dun Carloway is an example of a fortified dwelling, possibly of a person of standing in the community. Built in the 1st Century BCE, it was last inhabited about 1300 CE, according to radio carbon dating. The whole extended family -and the animals at times- would have slept there. (Personal privacy and separate bedrooms were not a feature of the lives of our ancestors.)
It is a stunning example of drystone walling, and has lasted for two thousand years. Excavations in 1971 have revealed that pottery was probably made on the site.
What I found amazing was the staircase inside the walls, the economic use of space, and the skill of the builders. When we visited Carloway, which is not far from Callanish, there was an informative board about the building, snapped by Len. This has now been superseded by the display in the Visitor Centre.
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| Inner Staircase, Dun Carloway |
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| Dun Carloway by Len The staircase runs between the double walls |
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| Dun Carloway Also by Len |
Don't try to read this! I am just inserting it to show how hard the conservationists try to get it right and inform the public.
Dun Carloway is a no- miss monument, even if, with stunning lack of sensitivity, the local authorities have allowed the building of a modern house which dominates the scene. I suppose the owners are making a statement, and can deal with the baffled fury of the conservationists.
But why all this? How does this connect with my friend the librarian and the book on Celtic Civilisation?
The wonderful picture of Dun Carloway was captioned as "An Ancient Celtic Temple"
Nuff said. The author was pouring out the usual junk about the Celts, with magic trees, fey priests sailing about in boats the size of a baby's bathtub and Coptic connections.And, according to some of our more screwy transatlantic cousins, Columba was really a Baptist.
People make big money out of the Celtic connections. It has given us a bit of an identity crisis. We Fringe Celts have always known who we are, but people have been trying to make us into something different, mainly, I think, for financial reasons.
Acting on the old Hebridean principle, I decided to ask the neighbours- well -the neighbour. Big Al is not only enormous, but he has the contents of an average library crammed into his house. Born in Zululand, he received quite some education at Durban Boys' High, and is an expert on many things. So I took my pencil and paper, and disturbed his cricket, rugby, athletics, or whatever South African team he was following on the telly.
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| Big Al At Len's 80th Check the Shirt |
"Ask me a question," he said.
"What about the Druids?"
"We don't really know very much about them."
"What was Celtic Christianity?"
"Well, Celtic Christians were basically Catholics."
I could hear my Free Church ancestors turning in their graves.
"To learn the truth, you must have access to primary sources," he said, so I followed him into his study, received a pile of books, with brief comments on the reliability of each and was turfed out to do the reading which has kept this blog out of the ether for an extra week.
There are no free lunches with Big Al.
So I have been introduced to A Church History of Scotland, by JHS Burleigh, and The Quest for Celtic Christianity, by Donald E Meek, a native of the island of Tiree, a noted scholar, and on no one's fringe.
And here's a connection. Too many years ago to think of, my grandad's brother, Captain John Macdonald married the delightful Elizabeth Lamont from the island of Tiree. Their daughter, my dad's beloved cousin, Lizzie or Leezie (depending on who you listen to), married Captain John Mackinnon of Tiree, commodore of Macbraynes. He used to let us wear his cap when he visited us in Tarbert.
He had great stories of the old days in the islands, and a love for the Gaelic language.
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| Wedding of Captain John Mackinnon and Lizzie Lamont Macdonald Glasgow, 1936 |
I don't intend to bore you with a scholarly analysis of the subject, but make a few observations, and connect to family history.
Thanks, Big Al. What is this thing you have for dressing up?
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| Rev Dr Alan Maker Past Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (In his Princeton Robes) |
1 comment:
Hi Chirsty
The story seemed to stop in the middle. I need to kow the rest!!!!
And Len looks smashing in his shirt
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