Autumn Storm Waves On Visit To The Outer Hebrides Scotland

Tour Scotland Autumn travel video of storm waves on visit to the Outer Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Siar or Na h-Eileanan an Iar, sometimes known as Innse Gall, islands of the strangers, is an island chain off the Scottish west coast on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of ferry services operate between the islands and to mainland Scotland. Modern navigation systems now minimise the dangers but in the past the stormy seas have claimed many ships. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century destroyed communities throughout the Highlands and Islands as the human populations were evicted and replaced with sheep farms. Colonel Gordon of Cluny, owner of the Island of Barra, South Uist and Benbecula, evicted thousands of islanders using trickery and cruelty and even offered to sell Barra to the government as a penal colony. Islands such as Fuaigh Mòr were completely cleared of their populations and even today the subject is recalled with bitterness and resentment in some areas. The position was exacerbated by the failure of the islands' kelp industry, which thrived from the 18th century until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and large scale emigration became endemic, and hundreds left North Uist for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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