Folklore & legend

The Apparitions of the Minister on North Rona

North Rona

Visit before 1703

One of the natives then walked round him sunwise, blessing him, though Morison asked him not to. They told him that the ceremony was due to him as their chief and patron. They killed five sheep, one for each family, flayed whole, filled the skins with barley meal and gave them to him as a present. Martin's account describes people who knew no money, bartered, lived on cows, sheep and barley and recited the Lord's Prayer, Creed and Commandments in the chapel each Sunday.

About fourteen years before Martin wrote, a swarm of rats arrived on the island and ate the corn, and seamen who landed took the bull. Martin says the want of supplies led to the death of that whole community, and that a later colony sent by the minister was lost too, as far as he knew. The wider history of the island is on the Wikipedia article.

This site is private property or has no public access. Coordinates shown are rounded and no directions are offered.
Evidence
Contemporary written record
Access
No public access
Location
59.125, -5.823 (Sited to the building or field)

Sources: Martin Martin, A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (1703), Islands off Lewis [public-domain]; Wikipedia, "North Rona" [other]

View on the map →

Comments

Loading…