0:00:08 > 0:00:10The seas around Scotland
0:00:10 > 0:00:12are a paradise of islands -
0:00:12 > 0:00:14700 at least.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Some rise up in majestic splendour,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22others barely break the surface.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26The Scottish Isles are home
0:00:26 > 0:00:30to some of the most close-knit communities in Britain,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32people ringed by the sea.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34It's their provider, their adversary
0:00:34 > 0:00:36and their inspiration.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Our journey will explore the lifestyles
0:00:41 > 0:00:45forged by this extraordinary land and seascape.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49On Shetland, Miranda goes potty over ponies.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53At Fingal's Cave, Hermione seeks out the inspiration
0:00:53 > 0:00:55behind a world-famous melody.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04Neil discovers how a disaster at sea broke the heart of an entire island.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08The clock stopped, the world changed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12And I'm unravelling Harris tweed,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14handmade by foot.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16This is Coast.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45We're sampling the delights of the Scottish Isles.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52My journey will take me across the islands of the Outer Hebrides.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54I'll be heading for Port of Ness,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57but I begin in the south, on Eriskay.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Arriving somewhere new,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06my first instinct is to make for the centre of town.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Never mind the centre, where's the town?
0:02:12 > 0:02:16There are just 100 or so islanders,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19but they're spread over six square miles.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25With so much space to do their own thing,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28I'm keen to know what binds Eriskay people together.
0:02:28 > 0:02:35What is it that creates an island's special community?
0:02:35 > 0:02:38The focus of village life is the local shop.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46This is a real Aladdin's cave.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51The islanders run the shop themselves, to suit their needs.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Wooden clothes pegs!- Yes.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55I didn't know those were still available.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58- Special socks for wellington boots. - Yes.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00- Does it rain here? - Oh, not really.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05This isn't just the only shop on Eriskay, it's the Post Office too.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09- Hello.- Hello.- Are you Patrick?
0:03:09 > 0:03:14- I am Patrick, yes.- How do you do, I'm Nick. Can I come round the back?- You can indeed, yes.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18- Hello there.- Hello.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Are these all your customers on the island, the people you deliver letters to?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24That's all the customers on the island, yes.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- You've got them labelled by all their Christian names. - Labelled by name yes, yes.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34- Most of the other Post Offices, they go by the numbers.- Yeah. - But I just go name and that's it.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38You must know the island better than anybody. Would you take me for a spin?
0:03:38 > 0:03:40I will indeed, yes.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45How many jokes do you have to put up with about Postman Pat, given your name is Patrick?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Quite a few actually, quite a few.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51What where you doing before you were Eriskay's postie?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Well, I was 15 and a half when I left home and went to sea,
0:03:54 > 0:03:55into the Merchant Navy.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I did that for 20 years,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02but every time I was coming home it was getting harder to go away.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05So I became the postman, and 20 years later I'm still here.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11There's something about the islands out here that really draw you back.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The Scottish islands nurture communities
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and they can also inspire individuals.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Around 40 miles south-east of Eriskay
0:04:31 > 0:04:33there's a tiny lump of rock
0:04:33 > 0:04:35with a grand musical reputation...
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Staffa.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Hermione is on her way to the island
0:04:42 > 0:04:44to explore its inspirational sound.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50For centuries, Staffa has been a place of pilgrimage,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53for scientists, painters and musicians.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Undoubtedly, the most famous composer to come to Staffa
0:04:57 > 0:05:00was this man, Felix Mendelssohn.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Inspired by his visit here in 1829,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Mendelssohn wrote the Hebrides Overture,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08also known as Fingal's Cave.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14For nearly 200 years,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17this music has been associated with this island,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20or more exactly, this cave.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26'I'm here with musician Seonaid Aitken, who's packed her violin,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29'and David Sharp, an acoustics expert from the Open University,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31'who's brought his microphones.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'We're going to investigate the musical qualities
0:05:34 > 0:05:37'of an awesome natural wonder.'
0:05:42 > 0:05:46I am absolutely blown away by this cave.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55I can't help thinking about what Mendelssohn would have thought, seeing this for the first time.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57It is truly inspiring.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01'Its Gaelic name, Uamh-Binn,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03'means melodious cave,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06'so-called after the musical sounds the cave produces
0:06:06 > 0:06:08'as the waves rush in.'
0:06:12 > 0:06:15When Mendelssohn's overture was first performed,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17it was called the Isles of Fingal.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19It's better known today as Fingal's Cave.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24So what is it about the cave that is so inspiring?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26VIOLIN PLAYS
0:06:26 > 0:06:28David Sharp, our acoustics expert,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31is preparing to test the cave's musical quality,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33armed with his microphone,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and Seonaid Aitken is tuning up.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37She's our one-woman orchestra.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Fingal's Cave is often described as a natural concert hall,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47but how do the acoustics compare with a modern auditorium?
0:06:48 > 0:06:54The sound is so different as you just come through the mouth of the cave to where we are here.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It just completely changes. It's so reverberant in here, isn't it?
0:06:57 > 0:06:58It's just so echoey.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03'Maybe that's the musical secret of this chamber - its reverberation -
0:07:03 > 0:07:06'so that's what David's going to measure.'
0:07:06 > 0:07:10And how is the gun going to help us measure reverberation?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12OK, well, the thing about a gun is
0:07:12 > 0:07:16that the gunshot is a very high-energy burst of sound.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17So we get the initial burst of sound,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and then we get reflected sound -
0:07:20 > 0:07:23reverberating sound dying away slowly afterwards -
0:07:23 > 0:07:24and we're going to measure that.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26So my job is to fire the gun?
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Don't forget your ear defenders.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29No! Thank you.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33OK.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- Has it shown up on the trace? - It has shown up very nice.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45This big jump up is you firing the gun
0:07:45 > 0:07:49and then you can see that the sound level drops off quite gradually
0:07:49 > 0:07:52as we get the reflected sound just dying away slowly.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55So, actually, the reverberation time is about four seconds.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Most concert halls are designed to have a reverberation time
0:07:58 > 0:08:00somewhere around two seconds.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02A cathedral - St Paul's Cathedral -
0:08:02 > 0:08:05over ten seconds, maybe eleven or twelve.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08So St Paul's - incredibly echoey. Much more than in Fingal's Cave.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12More so than here. But this is more echoey than a concert hall,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15so it's kind of part-way between a concert hall and a cathedral
0:08:15 > 0:08:16in terms of its acoustics.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Now that you know the cave has a reverberation time of four seconds,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22do you think that gives you an insight
0:08:22 > 0:08:25into how this place inspired Mendelssohn?
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I think it does, actually. I mean, it's the waves that inspired him
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and it's this four-second reverberation time
0:08:32 > 0:08:33which is one of the main factors
0:08:33 > 0:08:36in causing this change to the sound of the waves.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37VIOLIN PLAYS HEBRIDES OVERTURE
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Fingal's Cave attracts tourists by the score.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Today, they're in for a treat,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46a performance of Mendelssohn's overture
0:08:46 > 0:08:48in the cave that helped inspire it.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33The locals have learned to make the most of their island companions,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36whether they're fish, fowl, or any other creatures.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44In the far north, there's a small animal business on Shetland
0:09:44 > 0:09:47that's enjoyed big success.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Miranda is sizing up the stock.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56For over 4,000 years, these little ponies have roamed around Shetland
0:09:56 > 0:10:00and you'll find them throughout the islands, grazing by the roadside,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03over on the hills, and even down on the beach.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Come on then.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Today, Shetland ponies are sold worldwide as pets and show horses,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16but just look at this photograph, going back over 150 years.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21The ponies from that island were destined for a life in heavy industry.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24They were to swap the fresh air of Shetland
0:10:24 > 0:10:28for the coal dust and claustrophobia of a life underground as a pit pony.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35'I'm with John Scott and we're going to the Isle of Noss.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40'It was the site of a breeding programme to produce a super-pony,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'fit for hauling loads of coal.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47'The finest mares and stallions
0:10:47 > 0:10:50'were kept on the island in splendid isolation.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'This building was used to breed the best of the bunch.'
0:10:53 > 0:10:58They finally bred this stallion, who they named Jack of Noss,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02who was the kind of ultimate of what they had been breeding for.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05He was, I think the kind of Brad Pitt of the pony world, you know.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Brad Pitt pit pony! Great.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13And so he became...the foundation of the whole stud-book,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and so every Shetland pony in the stud-book
0:11:16 > 0:11:19has got blood from Jack of Noss.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21- From right from here? - Right from here.
0:11:21 > 0:11:27It wasn't looks the breeders were after, but size and strength.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28And they succeeded.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34The Shetland pony could haul tubs of coal weighing up to a tonne.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Those dark days are over.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Jack of Noss has long gone,
0:11:38 > 0:11:43but his hardy characteristics live on in the DNA of these Shetland ponies.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48That's why they'll comfortably bear the weight of an adult.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50So I couldn't resist a ride.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03SHE LAUGHS
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Whoa, whoa, whoa.
0:12:16 > 0:12:17Many of the Scottish Isles
0:12:17 > 0:12:23have managed to export their products far out across the seas.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28The Outer Hebrides can boast their own global brand.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32That's what brought me to Tarbert, on Harris.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38This is what I'm after.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Harris Tweed.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Hello there.- Hi there. - May I look at your jackets?
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Yes, of course. Just got some over here.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- Look at those. They're very evocative.- Yeah, they are.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54They're the colours of Scotland, with the grey rock, the heather...
0:12:54 > 0:12:58And then this one seems to have little traces of blue in it, and awesome colours.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01It's got lots of colours in it. Would you like to try one?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03- Yeah, why not.- We can try this one.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08This will be a sartorial leap for me,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12to get rid of the old anorak and present Coast in a genuine Harris...
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- Oh, it's very comfortable. - How's that for you?- It's lovely.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Oh, yes. Now that really is an improvement, don't you think?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- Yes.- Coast and beyond!
0:13:23 > 0:13:27There's a reason why the colours of Harris Tweed mirror the landscape.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32Originally, the dyes were produced by local plants and lichens.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35'Textile designer Alice Starmore
0:13:35 > 0:13:38is going to show me how it was done.'
0:13:38 > 0:13:39- Very good to meet you.- You too.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43- Looks like you've got things started already.- Yes. I have lit the peat fire.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46I have the water, which obviously you need for dyeing as well.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51I have the fleece, and the only thing I need now is the crottal lichen,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53which is going to actually give me the colour.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55What are we looking out for?
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Well, we're looking out for a very unassuming,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01and drab, grey, crusty stuff,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04which actually is black crottal.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06And here is a very nice crop of it.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Oh, is this it here?
0:14:08 > 0:14:11- This is it.- It looks like a spillage of very old porridge.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15It does, but the dye comes out of it very easily.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19It's a beautiful rich bronze-brown shade that you get from it
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and you can see that it's actually ready to come right off the rock here.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26The Harris people would say that was ripe and ready.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30'Some lichens are protected, but this one's safe to pick.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35'Even so, we're just taking enough to dye one small fleece.'
0:14:35 > 0:14:37- Now for the exciting part. - Time to get the pot.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43'First, take one scoured fleece and moisten with peat-rich spring water.'
0:14:43 > 0:14:46We're not just bunging it in, we're going to layer it a bit.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50It's important that the dye should be as even as possible.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53- It's a bit like making lasagne! - It is a bit, yes!
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And it is - the whole thing is a little bit like cooking.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Pour in the water.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Yes.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04And as it slowly comes to the boil, rather like a stew,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08all the products will come out and dye the fleece.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12'While we wait for the chemistry to cook,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14'Alice has some samples to show me.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18All colours produced from local lichens and plants.' Look at that.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21It's like silverweed and ragweed.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Here are the crottal colours
0:15:23 > 0:15:30and here is the rich dark colour that you would get from cooking it overnight, as it where.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33OK, it's been cooking for some time now, Alice.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- It's a rich, deep colour, isn't it? - It's beginning to get orange.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Look at that.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43That's it in the early stages, so you can see what a slow and painstaking process it was.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The rules governing the Harris Tweed trademark are strict.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55The cloth must be woven by the people of the Outer Hebrides
0:15:55 > 0:15:57in their own homes.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00MECHANICAL WHIRRING
0:16:00 > 0:16:01I can hear clattering machinery.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'Donald John Mackay has been busy with the fabric for over 40 years.'
0:16:08 > 0:16:11My goodness!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13So, Donald, how is the loom powered?
0:16:13 > 0:16:18- By my feet.- Oh, I see, so handmade really means...
0:16:18 > 0:16:23- Means foot power, yes.- So you cannot have an electric...- No! No, no, no.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24What's this roll going to be used for?
0:16:24 > 0:16:27This is going to Nike for shoes and bags.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- Really?- Yes.- To Nike?- Yes.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34- The big sports manufacturer? - Yes, the big... yes, yes, yes.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37That's incredible. And what about the threads themselves?
0:16:37 > 0:16:40See, each thread is made up of many, many colours.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45- Isn't that extraordinary? When you look closely, it's a whole rainbow of colours.- Comes alive.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Comes alive, exactly! It really comes alive.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Well, that's Harris Tweed for you.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51'The colours of the island
0:16:51 > 0:16:55'inspire the blends and patterns of the cloth.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'So I want to see what it looks like in the landscape.'
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- Now, let's have a look, Donald. - Now...- Wow!
0:17:02 > 0:17:07I can see the yellow of the wild grasses out there, coming on the cloth, and the heather.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10And you can see there the grass, the lighter one there.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12The roots, the grass, the darker one down there.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16There's blue in there too. See the sea beyond?
0:17:16 > 0:17:17It's all there in front of us.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22It's as if you've unrolled the surface of the Outer Hebrides and carried it into your loom.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37Harris is separated from Lewis in name only.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40They're parts of the same island,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44separated not by water,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46but by a range of mountains.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Across those peaks, on the east coast,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52lies the capital of Lewis, Stornoway.
0:17:55 > 0:18:02A disaster at sea nearly a century ago shocked this community so much,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05the pain is still raw today.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10It's a tragic tale, not often told to outsiders,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12that Neil knows well.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18In the First World War,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22half the male population of Lewis served in the armed forces.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Many never returned,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29but some perished cruelly close to home.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35More than 200 servicemen died in a disaster off the Scottish coast,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38just days after the Great War ended.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47It's late on New Year's Eve 1918,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52a cold, dark, end to a terrible year.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55But the men onboard the Iolaire are in high spirits
0:18:55 > 0:18:56because they're going home.
0:18:56 > 0:18:57The war is over.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03They were on a large civilian yacht, pressed into war service
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and renamed Her Majesty's Yacht Iolaire.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09By 1.50 in the morning, the boat was almost home.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14The servicemen aboard could see the harbour lights of Stornoway.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17They knew their loved ones would be lining the quayside at Stornoway,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19just half a mile away.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22But most of the men crammed aboard the Iolaire that night
0:19:22 > 0:19:26would never see their families again.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Minutes later, in stormy seas,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34the Iolaire struck a notorious reef - the Beasts Of Holm.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39They were only 30 yards from land,
0:19:39 > 0:19:44but of the 285 men onboard, just 80 survived.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50More than half of those that did survive
0:19:50 > 0:19:53owed their lives to one man aboard the stricken ship,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55John Finlay MacLeod, a Lewis man,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57a boat builder, in fact.
0:19:57 > 0:19:58Somehow, amid the chaos,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02he managed to half-scramble, half-swim ashore
0:20:02 > 0:20:04with a line tied around his wrist.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11This monument stands on the spot where John Finlay swam ashore.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16Interviewed in 1973, he recalled that night.
0:20:42 > 0:20:4740 survivors owed their lives to the courage of John Finlay MacLeod,
0:20:47 > 0:20:52but 205 men died on that last night of 1918.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56When dawn finally broke that New Year's Day,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59the people of Lewis were greeted to a dreadful sight.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03There's a photograph showing the wreck of the Iolaire,
0:21:03 > 0:21:09the bulk of her still submerged, and just the mast sticking out.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15As news of the Iolaire disaster spread,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19people walked the coastline, looking for relatives.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23At Sandwick Bay, they found only dozens of bodies.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Servicemen returning from the Great War.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33These Scots didn't die on the foreign field, but in home water,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36within sight of safety.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Relatives and friends, looking for loved ones,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43picked their way through the wreckage of the Iolaire
0:21:43 > 0:21:45and what they found were toys,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48presents that fathers never got the chance to give to children.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56In a remote part of Lewis,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59four-year-old Marion Smith was waiting for her father.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02- Oh, hello. Come in.- Hello, Marion.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08'Kenneth Smith survived the Great War, but only his suitcase made it back home.'
0:22:08 > 0:22:10In his possessions that they found on the beach,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13- they found this box that we have here.- M-hmm.
0:22:13 > 0:22:19Inside it are ration cards,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22with which they were issued.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24- So that's your dad, Kenneth Smith. - Yes.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29And he should have been on leave from the 30th December 1918
0:22:29 > 0:22:33until the 14th January 1919.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35That made it home and he didn't.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40What do you remember about your mum
0:22:40 > 0:22:42on the night when the news arrived at the house?
0:22:42 > 0:22:47She was sitting down, and the neighbours were coming in,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51and also people whom I didn't know were coming in.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55And they all hugged her and they all cried,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and my grandfather just sat,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and I would go over and lean across his knees.
0:23:02 > 0:23:08And I remember the tears dropping off his cheeks
0:23:08 > 0:23:10onto the top of my head.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I couldn't understand what had happened.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16The clock stopped
0:23:16 > 0:23:20and the world changed.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28The people of Lewis were grieving their loss,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31but alongside grief came anger.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Why had the Iolaire foundered on the Beasts Of Holm?
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Why had so many died within yards of the shore?
0:23:40 > 0:23:45'John Macleod has examined the events of that tragic night.'
0:23:45 > 0:23:47The boat was very under-crewed,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50the officer had never sailed at night.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51it was quite stormy.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54They weren't familiar with the waters and they lost their way.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58The Iolaire didn't have enough lifeboats for all the men. There weren't enough life jackets.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00It was a disaster waiting to happen.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02You would think that they were so close
0:24:02 > 0:24:05that it ought have been possible to escape the tragedy.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07You've these huge breakers hammering in,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11so the men who'd jumped into the water were mostly beaten to death.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14They wasn't drowned, they were smashed against the rocks time and time again,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17like being caught in the most nightmarish washing machine.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The appalling deaths in the Iolaire disaster
0:24:22 > 0:24:25happened just after the Great War ended,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29a war that had already killed 866 men of Lewis.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32A terrible sacrifice.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Of those who'd volunteered, one in six were dead.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39But the needless loss of all those men aboard the Iolaire
0:24:39 > 0:24:41was the cruellest blow,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45and yet for many years, the response from Lewis was silence.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Because what could anyone say that mattered?
0:24:49 > 0:24:51And that's why, beyond the islands,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53the name Iolaire is essentially unknown,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57because this was a very private tragedy.
0:25:08 > 0:25:14Many would envy the sense of community on the Scottish Isles.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Language and traditions
0:25:16 > 0:25:20bind people together,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22but some of those traditional customs
0:25:22 > 0:25:25may seem at odds with life elsewhere in our islands.
0:25:28 > 0:25:34I've reached my final stop at the tip of the Hebrides, Port of Ness.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It looks like the end of the line,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44but this little harbour is actually the point of departure
0:25:44 > 0:25:46for a group of men who set sail every August.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50It's a voyage the men of Ness have been undertaking for centuries,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53sons following fathers who followed their fathers.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55They've all been heading for the same spot,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59a lonely rocky island, 40 miles from here, called Sula Sgeir.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Nobody lives there,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07but it's home to thousands of gannets.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13The men of Ness come to Sula Sgeir to hunt for birds.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20It was a tradition captured on film in the 1950s. Take a look at this.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28They're after the young gannets, known in these parts as guga.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31The guga-hunting season is August,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35when the chicks are almost fully grown.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38There's no shortage of people to buy them.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Guga is an age-old delicacy in these parts.
0:26:43 > 0:26:4750 years on, the small boy in the film is doing as his father did.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54John MacFarlane is now the leader of the annual guga hunt,
0:26:54 > 0:26:59a time-honoured custom first recorded in 1549.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02It's a big thing in Ness, our community,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05in this part of the island, up the Butt of Lewis end.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07If you mention the community of Ness to someone,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10it's always associated with the guga, with the guga hunt.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13The Ness gannet.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It's... It's a Ness thing.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21Once, the men of Ness could take as many guga as they could carry.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24But now, they operate under a licence
0:27:24 > 0:27:28to take no more than 2,000 birds a year.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31What do you say to people
0:27:31 > 0:27:36who find the idea of killing wild seabirds...
0:27:36 > 0:27:38distasteful, abhorrent?
0:27:38 > 0:27:41I don't see any difference between that
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and going into a supermarket and buying a chicken or a turkey.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Those who oppose us going to the island,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52if you could put a guga and a chicken together,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57how could you explain to the chicken why it should be killed
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and the wild guga go free?
0:28:00 > 0:28:03There's no difference.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05It's for human consumption.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Guga and guga hunting may not be to everyone's taste,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14but the annual journey to Sula Sgeir
0:28:14 > 0:28:16is a centuries-old tradition,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20one fiercely defended by the men of Ness and their community.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29The Outer Hebrides are famously wild, rugged and beautiful.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32They share a quality that's far less conspicuous.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37The people I've met have a real sense of community, of belonging.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41A conviction that their island is truly their home.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45And that, maybe, is what it means to be an islander.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd