0:00:02 > 0:00:03BIRDS CHATTER AND SING
0:00:06 > 0:00:10People have always been drawn to the magic of the West.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14For centuries, men and women have followed the course of the sun,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16looking for new lands and a better life.
0:00:17 > 0:00:195,000 years ago,
0:00:19 > 0:00:25our ancestors sailed these choppy waters in boats made of animal skin,
0:00:25 > 0:00:29with no maps, and just an instinct for what lay ahead.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Now, I'm following them, heading for the biggest offshore islands,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37not just in Scotland but the whole of Great Britain.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42I'm sailing to the "Long Island" of Harris and Lewis.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47In this series, I'm continuing my island grand tour,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50visiting the most northerly of the Shetland Islands,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53exploring the Western Isles and discovering the secrets
0:00:53 > 0:00:57of some of the remotest places in Europe.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59To see them through the water like this...
0:00:59 > 0:01:01it's amazing!
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Scotland boasts a wonderful array of islands.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08In fact, there are nearly 300 of them, and that's not counting
0:01:08 > 0:01:12the myriad of stacks, rocks and skerries that surround
0:01:12 > 0:01:176,000 convoluted miles of coast, from the Atlantic Ocean
0:01:17 > 0:01:18to the North Sea.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23For this grand tour, I'm heading to the islands of the far west.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41My route crosses the sea of the Hebrides and makes
0:01:41 > 0:01:45landfall in the south end of the Long Island of Harris and Lewis.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50From there, I'll make my way to the largest town in the islands,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52before returning to the coast.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58MALE VOICE: This is the little township of Tarbert,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00centre of a bare and primitive country,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02which is yet a land of song.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08I first came to Harris 30 years ago on a cycle tour
0:02:08 > 0:02:10with a couple of American chums.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14We felt as if we'd arrived in another country.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15Leaving the ferry,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19we cycled up the main street looking for the nearest bar.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24On either side, old men were talking loudly to each other in Gaelic.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28My American friends were amazed! They'd never heard such a thing.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30And when we did get to the pub,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34it was rammed full of drinkers, all speaking Gaelic.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38We felt like foreigners, which, of course, we were.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46That was the start of my first exotic island adventure.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Back then I sported a pair of handsome tweed breeches,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54which sadly have finally run their course and are now
0:02:54 > 0:02:57full of holes in all the wrong places.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00But now, I'm hoping that this return trip will give me
0:03:00 > 0:03:05the opportunity to refresh my rustic attire.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Harris is, of course, synonymous with Harris Tweed,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12that incomparable fabric for all seasons.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Made of wool and hand-woven,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17it's considered by connoisseurs to be the best in the world.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23MALE VOICE: No man is more independent than the crofter,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and the strength of the Harris Tweed industry
0:03:26 > 0:03:30lies in the independence of crofters who have cherished ancient skills.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Two hands skilled in the old craft, a spinning wheel and a Harris croft.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Wild irises gathered by the children for the green dye.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44These are the things that make the name Harris Tweed.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50To see how the ancient weaving tradition is faring
0:03:50 > 0:03:55in the 21st century, I've come to the south end of Harris.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59This is where Rebecca Hutton lives and works,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03spending six hours a day at her loom, which is housed in a shed
0:04:03 > 0:04:04at the back of her croft.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Growing up here, where Harris Tweed is just a huge part of the culture
0:04:09 > 0:04:11of Harris anyway, erm...
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Whether it was just the name that people associate, obviously,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17with the island or, like, for me when I was younger,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20it was the noise of the loom. I knew weavers growing up.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Like I say, my grandmother used to weave, and her siblings
0:04:23 > 0:04:26used to weave, my great-grandmother was an agent for Harris Tweed,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28so I've always grown up knowing about Harris Tweed.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30And they do say that Harris Tweed is unique.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33- It's absolutely the best, isn't it? - Oh, absolutely.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Where do you get your inspiration from?
0:04:36 > 0:04:37All over the place, you know.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I mean, you've seen the scenery around here, so
0:04:40 > 0:04:41sometimes it's colours that you see around.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44You might see, you know, the sea, or if you go down to the beach,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46you see the yellows and the blues and the greens and that.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50But it just depends. You see, you get ideas from all over the place.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Sometimes you don't even realise where you got the idea from.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56You know, to have an idea of a tweed, you know, a pattern,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59a design or whatever, and actually to bring it to life, you know,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and it's mine, it's my creation, I made it,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and then to see it going on from there and being turned into,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09whether it's an item of clothing or, you know, a furnishing
0:05:09 > 0:05:12or a bag or whatever, it's amazing, you know?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Best thing I ever did was take up weaving.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Well, can you demonstrate what you do to weave this wonderful cloth?
0:05:23 > 0:05:28'The quality of Harris Tweed is enshrined in an Act of Parliament.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32'To qualify as the genuine article, every step of the process
0:05:32 > 0:05:37'has to take place on Harris, from processing the wool
0:05:37 > 0:05:39'to hand weaving the cloth.'
0:05:39 > 0:05:43You ever tempted to sing in rhythm with the music of the loom?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45- CHUCKLING:- No!
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And, er, I did try listening to music while I was weaving
0:05:48 > 0:05:51at the start, but I then tried to weave in time to the music.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Didn't work.- Not working.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'Rebecca makes the process seem effortless,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01'and you'd be forgiven for thinking that anyone could do it.'
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Now, Rebecca, I'm desperate to have a go at this. Do you mind?
0:06:04 > 0:06:07- Not at all. Come here, sir, come and sit.- OK.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11- Sit there.- I'm a great cyclist, so pedals are no mystery to me.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Right. And see, there it goes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15That's it. Back again.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18That's it.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20- Whoa, whoa.- Oh, dear!
0:06:20 > 0:06:23- So, there we go, a wee crash. - Sorry about that.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Hope you don't do that when you're cycling!
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Well, I have actually! A few times!
0:06:27 > 0:06:28That's it!
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Makes you dizzy, watching that shuttle.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39I've got the rhythm! I've got the rhythm!
0:06:39 > 0:06:42There you go now, weaving Harris Tweed!
0:06:42 > 0:06:46It's gratifying to think that my tentative efforts have contributed
0:06:46 > 0:06:49to an authentic roll of Harris Tweed.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Leaving Rebecca, with the rattle of the old loom still ringing
0:06:55 > 0:06:59in my ears, I set off along the coast to Rodel,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02where the beautiful 16th century church of St Clements
0:07:02 > 0:07:05stands guard on a hill.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08The church of St Clements has been described
0:07:08 > 0:07:11as the finest building in the whole of the Western Isles...
0:07:11 > 0:07:13and I'm inclined to agree.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17'Its founder was Alasdair Crotach,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22'the most ferocious and bloodthirsty of all the mighty MacLeod chiefs.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25'He seems to have experienced something of a change
0:07:25 > 0:07:27'of heart in later life.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32'In the 1490s, he began worrying about his soul and investing
0:07:32 > 0:07:35'heavily in the afterlife, paying for the building work
0:07:35 > 0:07:39'of St Clements and praying for salvation.'
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Now, what's absolutely fascinating is the image that's been
0:07:43 > 0:07:46chosen to depict his power and status,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51and it's this, a Highland galley, or birlinn, as it's sometimes called.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Now, it looks a wee bit like a Viking ship,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56and that's because it is.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Now, like all MacLeod chiefs, Alasdair Crotach was descended
0:08:00 > 0:08:04from a long line of Norwegian Vikings, and the Highland galley
0:08:04 > 0:08:09depicted here is a development of the ships of his ancestors.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Alasdair Crotach might have hoped that the carved
0:08:15 > 0:08:18ship on his tomb would carry his soul to heaven.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22But we'll never know if it was sufficiently seaworthy
0:08:22 > 0:08:25to withstand the stormy seas of the afterlife.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Further along the coast
0:08:32 > 0:08:36are the remains of another chapter of maritime history.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41This gaunt ruin was once the centre of the Hebridean whaling industry.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Reviving the age-old Hebridean Viking connection,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51a Norwegian fishing company founded a whaling station here in 1904.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58A fleet of ships crewed by Norwegians and Harris men
0:08:58 > 0:09:00sailed into the North Atlantic,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05seeking out the leviathans of the deep, including the blue whale,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09the biggest animal to have ever lived on planet Earth.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11When the whaling fleet returned here,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14the animals were flensed on a slipway, their blubber
0:09:14 > 0:09:20refined for oil, and the meat smoked and ground down for export.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Much of the whale meat never even made it
0:09:23 > 0:09:25into the human food chain.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Instead, it was further processed and, this sounds almost
0:09:29 > 0:09:35incredible to our ears today, it was fed to cows or used as fertiliser.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39A truly tragic end for such a magnificent creature.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46'To clear my head of thoughts of slaughtered whales,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49'I hitch a lift with a man whose passion for music
0:09:49 > 0:09:53'and photography have come together on Harris.'
0:09:53 > 0:09:56MUSIC ON RADIO: Ever Fallen In Love by The Buzzcocks
0:09:56 > 0:09:58# Ever fallen in love with someone Ever fallen in love
0:09:58 > 0:10:00# In love with someone... #
0:10:00 > 0:10:04'The music on the radio is a clue to the man behind the wheel...
0:10:04 > 0:10:09'John Maher from the '70s punk rock band The Buzzcocks.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:12I left school at 16 and...
0:10:12 > 0:10:14that basically was my first job.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19And also probably a large part of my education, in many ways.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I was a drummer, yeah.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I'd been playing drums for five weeks when I joined the band.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29So, you weren't exactly an expert drummer when you joined, then?
0:10:29 > 0:10:34No, no, but that, that was, er, the punk rock ethic.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37After the band split, I thought, "Well, I'll just carry on
0:10:37 > 0:10:41- "and I'll maybe get a job drumming with somebody else."- Right.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43And it became apparent that, really,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46if you wanted to pursue that as a full-time career, it would
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- almost definitely involve having to move down to London.- Right.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52And that wasn't something that I was prepared to do.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57Instead of London, John moved to Harris 13 years ago.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Here, he's found a new creative outlet, taking some extraordinary
0:11:01 > 0:11:06photographs that capture a different face of the island.
0:11:06 > 0:11:12It took me about seven years to get to the stage where I'd figured out
0:11:12 > 0:11:16a way of photographing the place in a way that actually interested me.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20- Rather than just taking a picture of a landscape...- Yeah.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22..there's a subject in the picture, and it always will be
0:11:22 > 0:11:26something that's related to something that people have done.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Like... It might be a house or it might be the old tractor.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34It's something that shows that people live or did live here
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and did things here, in this landscape. That's the bit that...
0:11:37 > 0:11:39- Like these buildings we're passing. - Yeah, exactly.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42- They've got a story to tell, haven't they?- Yes.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50There are many ruined and deserted homes on Harris.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54These are a special source of inspiration for John.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Using long exposure times and frequently shooting at night,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02John has created a unique set of haunting images
0:12:02 > 0:12:05that reveal the remorseless passage of time.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Well, I'm in focus, I don't know about you.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Er, it takes a little longer with this set-up.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20I think this was pretty much the...
0:12:20 > 0:12:23one of the first houses that I actually ventured inside.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27I thought... I don't know why, but I just thought... I was curious.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31And just from a, you know, a photographic point of view,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34it's just such a great image.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37So it's not something you can artificially create,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39it just takes time to make things look like this.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41- And it's beautiful as well. - Yeah, I think so.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44But there's something really poignant about being here as well,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47because this was somebody's home. You can almost sense the life,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49there's all these effects lying around.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52There's a kettle on the hob there and there's a little brush
0:12:52 > 0:12:55for clearing up old coal dust and there's even a purse over there.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59- I know.- You're kind of reminded of someone's life and yet it's gone,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03- but somehow...- Yeah. - ..still almost, almost touchable.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14So often in some of the houses like this that I've been into,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17it's like nothing has been taken, by anybody.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19It has... It has just been left.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25I don't think it's like some kind of bizarre memorial to those people,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27"You must leave it as it is."
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I think it... I don't know, it just seems to be a common thing.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Not a lot of places in the UK where a house
0:13:38 > 0:13:42would be allowed to just gradually, I don't know, go...
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I guess it's returning back to nature, really, pretty much.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48- Remorseless time marching on. - It is, yeah. Yeah.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50- We all feel it, John.- Yeah.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58Before we're overtaken by time's winged chariot, I leave John,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and Harris, and head north to Lewis.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Although the two islands share the same landmass,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09they're separated by a mountain range and some very wild country.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Lewis is by far the bigger of the two.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24It's a place of big skies and wide open spaces,
0:14:24 > 0:14:29scattered crofting communities and some amazing ancient monuments
0:14:29 > 0:14:34that testify to the island's 7,000 years of human occupation.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42This is Stornoway, the biggest town anywhere in the Hebrides.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46It was once considered to be the best place in the west
0:14:46 > 0:14:48for its herring.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52This statue of a fisher lass commemorates the young women
0:14:52 > 0:14:54who followed the fishing fleets
0:14:54 > 0:14:57and the migrating shoals of herring around the coast
0:14:57 > 0:15:00from East Anglia to Shetland, gutting the fish
0:15:00 > 0:15:03and packing them in barrels of salt.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11If herring once made this town famous, today,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15it's Stornoway black pudding that's the best in the west.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Just up from the harbour is the home
0:15:18 > 0:15:21of this world-beating and remarkable dish.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Charles MacLeod's is a family business.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28The shop is known locally as Charlie Barley's,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33and Ria MacDonald is the granddaughter of the founder, Charles MacLeod.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35- Hi, Ria.- Hi, Paul.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38What a magnificent display of black puddings.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44And I've never actually seen a black pudding in its kind of full extent, as they say.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47But it's quite an impressive... quite an impressive object.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49It looks more like a sausage than a pudding.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Yes, yeah. There is associations with sausage.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55The way it's filled, um, and presented is similar to...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57to sausage making.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Our own recipe is around about 60 to 70 years old,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03and it was all about using every piece of the animal.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06So you used the blood and you used the fat and mixed it with some
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Scottish ingredients, like oatmeal,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and just a little bit of seasoning for flavour.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13So, in a sense, it was a poor man's food.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15- Yes, it is, yeah. - To begin with.- Yeah.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17But now it's celebrated around the world.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Yeah, it's a delicacy now, really, yeah.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28Black pudding is about as Hebridean as you can get, but Ria MacDonald's
0:16:28 > 0:16:32family have an unusual Latin-American connection.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34My grandfather, Murdo MacLeod,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37lived and worked out in Patagonia for a number of years.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40He was sheep farming over there, a shepherd.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- Were there many Lewis men over there?- Yeah, quite a number of people from Lewis
0:16:43 > 0:16:47went over there with their collie dogs to work as shepherds.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Their expertise as shepherds here transferred quite well over there
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and they were good on the large estancias they have over there.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The name of Murdo's employer was Menendez.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03He was so impressed with his Scottish shepherd
0:17:03 > 0:17:06that when Murdo returned to Lewis to marry,
0:17:06 > 0:17:11he was made to promise to give the name Menendez to his first-born son.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13And that's how my grandfather,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16who established the business here, became Charles Menendez MacLeod.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18That's quite unique, I'd have thought, isn't it?
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Yes, sure. Yeah, very unusual for Lewis!
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- Not many Lewis men with the middle name Menendez!- Yeah.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Three generations later, the business is still
0:17:28 > 0:17:34firmly in family hands, producing authentic Stornoway black pudding.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36- Well, I think I'm going to have to buy one.- Sure.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39I'm not sure if I can manage a whole one of those,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42cos that is...that is pretty intimidating in size.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45- How about one of these smaller ones? - Sure, one of the little ones?- Yeah.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51With my quality black pudding carefully stowed,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I hit the road again,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56feeling confident that friends and family will be impressed
0:17:56 > 0:18:01when they see my "marag dubh", as it's known in Gaelic.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05But my idle daydreams are interrupted by an unusual
0:18:05 > 0:18:09passing vehicle - a bank on wheels.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11A once common sight in the Hebrides which,
0:18:11 > 0:18:17as earlier visitors discovered, is where mobile banking was pioneered.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22And I'd been walking for about half an hour when I saw a van coming.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25At first I thought it was from a tweed mill in Stornoway,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29collecting the tweed from the crofters' homes.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33When I saw what it really was, I just couldn't believe it!
0:18:38 > 0:18:41It was a bank - a bank on wheels!
0:18:42 > 0:18:46To serve the scattered island communities,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50a mobile banking service was established 70 years ago -
0:18:50 > 0:18:54a surprising and unique innovation that was surely the first
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and the best in the west.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01- We ride three days in the week. - Uh-huh.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04So, we go everywhere from the Butt of Lewis
0:19:04 > 0:19:06all the way down to Rodel in Harris.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Do you know, when it began in Lewis in 1946,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15it was the first travelling bank in Britain, possibly in the world!
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Fancy coming across the most advanced development in modern
0:19:18 > 0:19:22banking in one of the most remote areas of the British Isles.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27How do you make yourself known? Do you have like a call sign?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Do you have like a...- We do. - Is it an ice cream van?- No! Er...
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- A chime you have? - Our regular customers,
0:19:33 > 0:19:34we actually give them a wee sign.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37So, they pop it in their window if they're wanting us to stop.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43It's a kind of social service,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47although of a pleasing, old-fashioned kind,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51and a far cry from the world of international banking
0:19:51 > 0:19:53so much in the headlines.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55This lady, I hadn't seen her for a couple of months.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57I haven't been out on this run for a wee while,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00so it was lovely to see her and just chat with her
0:20:00 > 0:20:03and see that she's doing OK. So, yeah, it was nice.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Wherever the people live, whoever they are,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11they get a visit from the bank.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23On the face of it, the landscape
0:20:23 > 0:20:26of the "Long Island" is wild and barren.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30It was this sense of the untamed, and even the primitive,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33that fascinated early tourists.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36And when visiting photographers and film-makers arrived here,
0:20:36 > 0:20:41they were quick to capture this aspect of Lewis life,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42showing the Blackhouse
0:20:42 > 0:20:46and islanders toiling heroically against the elements.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52It was a very romantic view, but it wasn't how islanders saw themselves,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56until a local man produced different images of his own.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00These intimate and dignified photographs
0:21:00 > 0:21:04were taken over a century ago by Norman Morrison.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06He went out of his way not to depict his people
0:21:06 > 0:21:10as ethnic curiosities, but to reveal their humanity.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14For years, these images lay forgotten
0:21:14 > 0:21:17until freelance photographer Murdo MacLeod
0:21:17 > 0:21:21brought Norman's photographs to public attention.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I've never seen photographs like this
0:21:23 > 0:21:27and I imagine he must be one of the very first, if not THE first Gael
0:21:27 > 0:21:31to use a camera to record the people he lived amongst.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Er, I think you're absolutely right in that.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36I think that he's extremely remarkable.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39He was photographing people that he knew well, er,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42with whom he had a rapport,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and that is massively reflected in the pictures.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51And the pictures are technically fantastic, beautifully composed.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54It's a collaboration as well. They're hand in hand,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56the photographer and the subjects in these pictures,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59in presenting themselves to us as we see them.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04There's one here of a young woman sitting beside an elderly woman
0:22:04 > 0:22:06who looks as if she's on her sickbed.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Now, not many people would be invited into someone's home
0:22:09 > 0:22:12- when they're being nursed back to health.- Indeed.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Er, I think that, er, there's tremendous dignity
0:22:15 > 0:22:19in that picture and I think that it's a statement of the closeness
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and the affection between the two women,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25but you can also see it in the gaze of the young woman
0:22:25 > 0:22:26looking at the photographer.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28You can tell immediately,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32she doesn't feel that her privacy's being invaded in any way.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40This self portrait shows the photographer, Norman Morrison,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43who at the time was working as a policeman.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45The son of a fisherman,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49he left Lewis with hardly any formal education.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Self-taught in almost everything he did,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Norman became a highly respected naturalist,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58renowned for his work on snakes.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Although he wrote extensively and was widely published,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04his passion for photography was forgotten
0:23:04 > 0:23:07until these wonderful images were rediscovered.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11I rate his photographs very highly and I don't think you need
0:23:11 > 0:23:16any great, um, complex analysis to do that.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17I think they speak for themselves.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22They are strong, erm, attention-grabbing portraits.
0:23:22 > 0:23:28They are beautifully laid out tapestries, showing dress, attire,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32er, emotion, interrelationship between the characters in the drama.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35All new and a fantastic discovery.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49A century ago, Norman Morrison realised the power of photography
0:23:49 > 0:23:52to define a people or a place.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Today, just about everyone on the planet
0:23:56 > 0:23:59is conscious of the image they project.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Lewis is no exception
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and the image that's now closely associated with these islands
0:24:05 > 0:24:08has become an icon -
0:24:08 > 0:24:09The Lewis Chessmen.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13The Lewis Chessmen have an intriguing
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and genuinely mysterious history,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and there's nowhere more intimately connected with them than here
0:24:19 > 0:24:22on the beautiful sands of Uig Bay.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25This is where their story really comes to life.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32Malcolm McLean lives overlooking this glorious stretch of coast.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34I join him on the sands,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39where 93 exquisitely carved chess figures were discovered in 1831
0:24:39 > 0:24:42by a local man, Calum Macleod.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48It was his cow who found them. It was... His cow was burrowing
0:24:48 > 0:24:54into the sand over there and, er, these little figures appeared.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58And, er, at first, the story goes, that he wasn't at all sure
0:24:58 > 0:25:03what these were, so he ended up
0:25:03 > 0:25:10- selling them to a local worthy for £30, which...- Right.
0:25:10 > 0:25:11A fortune in those days, I imagine.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14£30 would have been a lot of money in those days,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18but it's quite a thought that that works out at less than 50 pence each.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- It is.- Given that the British Museum describes them
0:25:22 > 0:25:26as their sixth most important homeland artefact.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30- Well, they're totally iconic now. - Absolutely.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31Do we know how they got here?
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Well, there's no hard evidence as to how they got here,
0:25:36 > 0:25:42but there is a local legend that predates the finding of the chessmen.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49This is a strange story which tells of a local man,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52An Ghillie Ruadh, who was working in the mountains
0:25:52 > 0:25:57when he saw a ship drop anchor, and a man steal ashore, carrying a bag.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01An Ghillie Ruadh followed him through the hills,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04thinking the bag contained treasure.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08An Ghillie Ruadh ends up killing him with a stone,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10murdering with a stone
0:26:10 > 0:26:14in order to steal the bag.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Comes down from the mountains, he buries this bag of treasure here...
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- Uh-huh.- ..in the beach. And some years later,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25he is hung for another murder
0:26:25 > 0:26:27and hung in Gallows Hill in Stornoway,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31but prior to his hanging, he confesses to this murder
0:26:31 > 0:26:34and to the fact that he had buried a bag of treasure here
0:26:34 > 0:26:36on the beach at Uig.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Is there any evidence that this is a true story?
0:26:39 > 0:26:40Well, there is a degree of evidence
0:26:40 > 0:26:44to support this because there is a skeleton in the mountains up there,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46that I've seen myself.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49And in the glen at the back of where we live,
0:26:49 > 0:26:55there is an overhanging rock, which has grey stones placed
0:26:55 > 0:26:57underneath the overhang.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01And if you pull that out, you know, the skeleton's still visible
0:27:01 > 0:27:05in the rocks there underneath the overhang.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12Were these the bones of the murder victim? We'll never know.
0:27:12 > 0:27:13But whatever the truth,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17mystery still surrounds these beautiful ivory figures.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22For a long time, they were thought to have a Scandinavian origin,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26but a recent study suggests they are closer to Lewis
0:27:26 > 0:27:27than previously supposed.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Their intricate decoration is very similar to Celtic artwork,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37placing them historically in the world of the medieval Norse Gaels
0:27:37 > 0:27:42and men, like Alasdair Crotach from Rodel, who once ruled the Hebrides.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Leaving Malcolm, I wander the beautiful sands at Uig
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and reflect on my grand tour of the west.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00The Long Island of Harris and Lewis
0:28:00 > 0:28:05is a place where tradition and modernity seem to thrive.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08A place that embraces the new and where different cultures
0:28:08 > 0:28:10have mixed for generations.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17It's fitting that the little carved chessmen with their complex origins
0:28:17 > 0:28:20have come to symbolise the island.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24In standing here, on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I can fully appreciate how west really can mean best.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Join me on my next grand tour of the Scottish islands,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39when I'll be exploring the Uists and Benbecula.