0:00:03 > 0:00:06Heading west from the Scottish mainland,
0:00:06 > 0:00:12a dark line between the sea and the sky can indicate a low-lying island.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17A wild scrap of land sculpted by ocean breakers and constant storms.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Over there, just on the horizon, are two of the most windswept islands on
0:00:24 > 0:00:29the Scottish coast, the Atlantic twins of Coll and Tiree.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42My destination today is the Hebridean island of Coll,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45and to get there I'm taking the ferry from Oban.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49It's been the gateway to the isles for 150 years.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52'Oban has much to offer
0:00:52 > 0:00:55'but we're too near the islands to linger long on the mainland.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58'There's a salt tang in the air.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59'It quickens the pulse,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01'fires the imagination,
0:01:01 > 0:01:02'exhilarates the senses.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04'It's the call of the sea,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'that is part of the irresistible call the isles.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Scottish islands are often paired together,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16even though they sometimes make unlikely couples.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19In this programme, I want to discover just how
0:01:19 > 0:01:24closely related the Atlantic twins of Coll and Tiree really are.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31This is Arinagour, the capital of Coll.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37In Gaelic, Arinagour means the place of the goats.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39No goats today, but plenty of sheep.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Coll is the most northerly of the Atlantic twins.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47It's a low-lying, rugged island,
0:01:47 > 0:01:5113 miles long by three miles wide.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Crossing the island, I'm following in the footsteps of the early
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Hebridean travellers Dr Johnson and James Boswell,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01who were blown ashore here during their famous
0:02:01 > 0:02:05tour of the Western Isles in the autumn of 1773.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10The literary gents from London and Edinburgh
0:02:10 > 0:02:14were stormstayed on Coll for three whole days.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17But being the curious souls they were,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20they made the best of a bad job by visiting the locals.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27To meet my first islander, I'm heading to the beautiful
0:02:27 > 0:02:31west side of Coll, where Angus Kennedy lives on a croft
0:02:31 > 0:02:34once occupied by his ancestors.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39My grandfather was the shepherd here
0:02:39 > 0:02:45and so it's kind of nice to come back after living and working
0:02:45 > 0:02:48on the mainland to retire back here to
0:02:48 > 0:02:53the ancestral homeland and back where you were with, er, as a boy.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55My mother and father were both Gaelic speakers,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58but Gaelic has more or less died out.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00You don't hear it on a day-to-day basis.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04You did in the '60s and '70s, it was day-to-day.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08- It's a great shame, because it had a richness that we've lost.- Mm-hm.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Has Coll, over the centuries, suffered from depopulation?
0:03:13 > 0:03:16- Were the Clearances a significant part of the history?- Oh, absolutely.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21Erm, in 1820, 1830,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the official census recorded
0:03:24 > 0:03:27some 1,500 people living on Coll.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31And these people went to Nova Scotia,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35they went to Australia, to Queensland.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37And to think of people coming from here
0:03:37 > 0:03:40to such a strange land, they must've had
0:03:40 > 0:03:42great courage and great character.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50The traditional way of life hasn't abandoned Coll entirely.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Some of the island's residents maintain the Hebridean spirit of
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Angus's intrepid ancestors.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Trobhad! Trobhad!
0:04:00 > 0:04:01Trobhad!
0:04:03 > 0:04:05BLEATING
0:04:16 > 0:04:17Like something out of a Western.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20ANGUS'S CALLING CONTINUES
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The woolly stampede heading our way is made up of one
0:04:23 > 0:04:28of the islands' most ancient of breeds - the Hebridean sheep.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Are these Gaelic-speaking sheep?
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Yes, well, "trobhad" is "come" in Gaelic.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38- Uh-huh.- They're technically north European short-tailed sheep.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Er, over centuries,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44they've been kept by the people who lived on the islands.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47In Barra and South Uist, the Catholic islands,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- they're known as blessed sheep... - The blessed sheep?
0:04:50 > 0:04:53- .. because they are technically multi-horned.- Ah-ha.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57And the sun, on a day like today, shining through the horns
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- made the sign of the cross on the ground.- Great.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05And that's their Gaelic, one of their Gaelic names in the southern isles.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08- Amazing-looking beasts, aren't they?- They are.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12They're quite unlike the normal, white, woolly monster you see on the islands.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14These are quite petite.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16They were crossed with the indigenous sheep,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20the Soay sheep, and the end product,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24over 1,000 years now, are the little black sheep, the Hebrideans.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Leaving Angus, I set off to explore the rest of the island.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35Sadly, it's almost invisible now through thick mist and fog.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40From what Angus has told me, it seems that Coll has changed
0:05:40 > 0:05:44considerably since Johnson and Boswell's time.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Of the 200 people who live here today,
0:05:46 > 0:05:51just four or five call themselves Collachs - true natives.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56One incomer with more of a connection to Coll than most
0:05:56 > 0:05:58lives at the southern end of the island.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04This is Breacachadh - in Gaelic, "the speckled field".
0:06:04 > 0:06:06And that is Breacachadh Castle,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09the ancient seat of the Macleans of Coll,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and a place familiar to both Johnson and Boswell.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16From these walls,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20the Macleans of Coll held sway over the island for centuries.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25But when Johnson and Boswell came here, it was in a ruinous state.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Restoration was begun 30 years ago by the present owner,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Nicholas Maclean-Bristol,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35whose front door forces people to bow before entering.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37- May I come in?- You certainly may. - Thank you.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43In the great hall of Breacachadh Castle,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47modern visitors are confronted with a gallery of Maclean ancestors,
0:06:47 > 0:06:52including some who would have been familiar to Johnson and Boswell.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Do you know who built this castle?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Yes, it was built by the first Maclean of Coll,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- my 13th great-grandfather, in about 1,400.- Right.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And his uncle was the Lord of the Isles,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06and the Lord of the Isles gave him the middle bit of Coll
0:07:06 > 0:07:09and Quinish in Mull and other bits.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11And, erm, but he had to fight for it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18From the portraits on the walls, I get a strong impression
0:07:18 > 0:07:23that fighting skills have figured large in Maclean history.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24They're all military men.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27They have all been soldiers, right back as far as...
0:07:27 > 0:07:28And you were a military man?
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Yes. My family...every generation since 1651 has been in
0:07:32 > 0:07:35the proper army, you know, not fighting clan warfare.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38They were all killed at, erm...the head of the family
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and his two elder sons were killed at the Battle of Inverkeithing.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44800 Macleans are meant to have gone to the battle and 40 survived.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46You're very proud of that heritage, though. I can see.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Of course one is, yes. Yes. The thing is, to try and inspire one's
0:07:49 > 0:07:52children to take an interest in it, and I haven't yet succeeded.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59I'm relieved to hear that Nicolas has long since done dodging bullets,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01and has exchanged the gun for the pen.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07In the library, where he spends his time writing clan histories,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10he tells me how a chance meeting with an old school chum
0:08:10 > 0:08:14inspired him to use the castle, which he'd restored with his wife Lavinia,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17to focus his energies on overseas development.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21This all started with the castle.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I always saw the castle, because of one's researches
0:08:24 > 0:08:28and thoughts about this, as the centre of something international.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29But what?
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And then, I didn't know, and I was in Aden with my battalion
0:08:32 > 0:08:36and I suddenly saw a motorcade go past and there,
0:08:36 > 0:08:37in the place of honour, was a black face who'd
0:08:37 > 0:08:41been in my form at Wellington and we'd been friends.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And, erm, I rang him up and had a drink with him and he invited me
0:08:44 > 0:08:47to go and stay in Ethiopia, and I did and he took me around.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50He was passionate about the development of Ethiopia.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Nicholas's friend was Iskinder Desta,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56the grandson of Haile Selassie,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59the last Emperor of Ethiopia.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01He said, "There's room for people in this country,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04"whatever colour their skin, you fall in love with Ethiopia."
0:09:04 > 0:09:06And he said, "Leave the Army and help me do
0:09:06 > 0:09:07"what I was going to do here."
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And I had my blinding light on the road to Damascus and said,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13"I won't, because my future is on the isle of Coll, but I'll send
0:09:13 > 0:09:16"you first-rate people from Britain at an impressionable age.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"You make them fall in love with Ethiopia."
0:09:19 > 0:09:23'Right, are you for the Project Trust? Good, welcome to Coll.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25- 'Did you have a good journey? - Well, not too bad, thanks.'
0:09:25 > 0:09:32Since 1967, Project Trust has been training young volunteers for overseas aid work.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Back then, Nicolas and Lavinia ran the organisation
0:09:35 > 0:09:39from their half-built home at Breacachadh Castle.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Since those early days, Project Trust has developed beyond their wildest dreams.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Not only has it reversed the drift of people away from Coll,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51it has become the island's biggest single employer.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55And how many volunteers have been through Project Trust?
0:09:55 > 0:09:57We've had 6,500 overseas.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59- 6,500?- Yeah.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02You must be very proud.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04I'm pleased it worked, but, you know...
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Nicholas's family are no longer lairds of Coll,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11but his ancestors were.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16When Johnson and Boswell stayed at what is still called New Breacachadh Castle,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20the Maclean home was snootily dismissed by Dr Johnson.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26"There is nothing becoming a chief about it. 'Tis a mere tradesman's box."
0:10:28 > 0:10:31To get a more elevated perspective of the island,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34I approach Coll's only mountain,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Ben Hogh, another place on Johnson and Boswell's Hebridean tour.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Dr Johnson never made it to the summit,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47preferring instead to read a book halfway up this modest protuberance,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52which rises to the less-than-dizzy 341 feet above the sea.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Now, this impressive rock was the reason for the literary gents'
0:10:58 > 0:11:00slog over heather and hill.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Now, what's quite unique about it
0:11:02 > 0:11:07is the fact that it's perched on three much smaller stones,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11almost as if it had been placed there by a giant.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Now, it may come as no surprise that local legend does indeed
0:11:15 > 0:11:18mention a giant and a Mrs Giant
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and a gigantic domestic row.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22And instead of dinner plates,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25this monstrous pair hurled
0:11:25 > 0:11:27boulders at each other
0:11:27 > 0:11:29and this is one of them.
0:11:34 > 0:11:41In 1773, neither Johnson nor Boswell could explain how the boulder got here.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Science was yet to discover ice ages
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and the power of long-since melted glaciers
0:11:47 > 0:11:51to carry rocks great distances on their icy backs.