Some said the bones were those of birds, others judged them rather to be bones of pygmies. The proprietor of the town asked Sir Norman Macleod's opinion, and Sir Norman said the matter was plain: they must be the bones of infants born by the nuns. This was very disagreeable to the Roman Catholic inhabitants, who laughed it over. But the natives, out of zeal, sealed up the vault so that nobody could get in afterwards. Martin says it would seem they either believed Sir Norman's claim or feared it might gain credit with those who later saw the bones.
Carmichael notes two religious houses in Benbecula, Monk's Town and Nuns' Town, attached to Iona and occupied by members of leading island families. The vault has no known identification today. The pygmy idea matches the Lusbirdan tradition of small people in other islands, mentioned by Martin elsewhere.
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