St Kilda Britains lonliest island (1928)

A travelogue film shot in 1928 of places such as Kilda, Barra etc.

[@seamarram]

What a piece of historical gold dust. This film allows us the best glimpse yet into the life of the islanders and the best I've seen so far. It must have been gut wrenching to accept the fact that your home was no longer viable for survival. How brave these people were to live of the land with the only sure thing being uncertainty. Thanks for posting this, simply magical piece of film.

[@stephenmorgan8168]

. . .. .

[@antonystabielli5966]

i don't know if you have read the book St Kilda . it really is sad

[@steveandtinejeppesen1625]

it's beautiful.....

[@Yesica1993]

I am reading it for the second time right now. I don't even know how or why I first got the book. It's fascinating. And yes, so very sad.@@antonystabielli5966

[@maimiehendersonmcdade3941]

Must of been sad that wear u lived was no longer needed and not healthy 😞

[@patrickhoney2706]

Not many people are aware of the fact that during the summers of 1957 and 1958 a detachment of approx 300 RAF personnel from the Airfield Construction Branch 5004 Squadron (mostly RAF National Servicemen) worked from April to September each year building the road to the top of the mountain and all the Military buildings and infrastructure. They lived in tents under arduous conditions (at times most of the tents and their contents were completely blown away) and in serious inclement weather the Servicemen took shelter in solme of the old stone cleats). They worked for 6 days each week and It is recorded that these conditions led to 2 mutinies taking place. A quarry was opened and material for the roads and other buildings blasted. When the quarry blasting took place up to a million birds took to the air ! Their link to the mainland was by 2 x 800 ton flat bottomed front opening Royal Navy tank landing craft vessels, manned by ROAC Army crews, who made the hazardous trips from the military port at Cairnryian as and when weather permitted. For any further info and photographs feel free to contact Mr Honey. [e-mail].

[@MrMonero]

WOW what a film. I hope this is never lost. I am going to save it and watch it on St. Kilda soon. Felt a bit emotional just watching it sat here in my house in the Highlands. Watching this sat on top of St Kilda will be something else as I look down over the village. Its a beautiful place but so many places that I love here also fill me with a kind of sadness and loneliness that I cant put into words very easily. Every time I go out on my own and sit in the Scottish hills I feel it. Its like a sense of happiness and sadness all mixed in one and something I have needed to feel more and more as the years pass by.

[@fionanelson614]

Powerful words, which moved me.

[@MrMonero]

@@fionanelson614 there is something magical about the Highlands & Islands that really can’t be put into words.

[@tullochgorum6323]

A great find! Shot just two years before the evacuation. I knew the descendant of a St Kildan, and according to him most were only too happy to leave. The life was unutterably dangerous, hard and isolated, and dominated by a puritanical religious cult. They were often on the edge of starvation and needing help from outside - as with this shipment of food. They increasingly realised that there was no possibility of achieving a modern standard of life on the island. According to my friend, the main thing they felt nostalgic about was the taste of puffin! A relative on his deathbed asked him to hunt one for a final meal, but he couldn't bring himself to do it...

[@tuxjunkie]

It's a remarkable story, really. I left Skye many years ago, but these things continue to fascinate me.

[@davidowenjones5603]

Hard to put a value on the comradeship and cooperation, tradition and heritage. So much was left there.

[@willyspinney1959]

Yes, I once knew a lady who left with the evacuation with her parents and she said exactly the same, and when they arrived on the mainland it was the first time she had ever seen a tree.

[@davidconnelly]

There's another bird in the island called a shag. I think the islander missed a golden opportunity to ask for one last shag.

[@kevinadamson5768]

@@davidconnelly 🤣🤣🤣

[@rickhavingfun]

We were there in June 2014.... desolate place, it took 2+ hours in a high speed R.I.B. out of Lochmaddy...landed and the dock looked very much like it does in the film. Very rugged, very vertical, very isolated - we could only guess that each day had more suffering than the last were you to live there! Kayaked around the whole thing and went into an amazing sea cave - it went on and on. Beautiful and rugged island. Very glad to have gone and even happier that we could leave as we liked with the twist of a throttle and not like the poor folks at the turn of the 20th century.....a little too much isolation and suffering for my liking!

[@movingup2118]

It was there home 🏡. If the didn't have to leave they never would have. Last survivers said so themselves. It was hard but they worked the land the had each other. Don't judge what you don't know.

[@rickhavingfun]

i don't pretend to understand or judge their experience. given the location, sea conditions, weather and lack of arable land, it had to have been challenging living and it must have been a difficult decision to leave ancestral homes but they petitioned the government for evacuation. i think even your statement - if they didn't have to, they wouldn't have left - shows that you understand the straits they were in - that it was just unsustainable. lovely place. glad i don't live there. have a great day.

[@jakecharlie9574]

I think the main reason it became unsustainable was due to the fact many of the younger population where lured away by the knowledge of more modern trappings. Then it became an increasingly elderly population, without the 'legs' to comfortably live off what was actually quite a bountiful island for what appears to likely be thousands of years. According to archaeological finds which suggest either visitors, or inhabitants since as far back as 4-5 thousand years! Which I find quite astonishing. There must have been some quite unique dynamics, but clearly for a long, long time a strong sense of independence, as well as the quite obvious beauty.

[@aw1825]

​There just must have been so much inbreeding! We saw the one baby with Down's syndrome; I can only imagine what other issues may have come up, and they were so far from modern medicine as well. But no wonder the young people left, if only for some fresh faces. I think around 30 folks were evacuated in the 30's? Such a tribal existence for a modern age. Or, looking at a comment higher up, perhaps 'cultish' is more the word.

[@hyperacusiswikipedia7928]

I’ve read most of the books about Saint Kilda and have been amazed at the story about these special people. Happy to see this film was preserved from long ago because the footage shows how durable, inventive and resourceful the people were who lived there, and how helpful the mainland Brits were to those who lived so far from civilization having resources the Saint Kilda people lacked.

[@ruboo8053]

What a beautiful film ..as a Scottish islander who moved away a long time ago.. your home always stays in your heart 😢 I wonder how many people on the mainland can trace their routes to st Kilda ?

[@stevensad38]

This brings back memories of my national service days aboard RASC LCT Abeville when we serviced the rocket tracking station on St Kilda sailing from Helesburgh on the Clyde. A fantastic island and history.

[@tishparker4119]

My Great Grandfather came with his whole family to the Ottawa Valley from the Hebrides. Glad I’m Canadian! This was an incredible look at Our history. Hughes is the name. Music was lovely. Thank you.

[@brucemckenzie1837]

the music is excellent!

[@sav7568]

There is a world that none of us will ever know.

[@animallover4955]

And always will be

[@Msax50]

Excellent short film about St Kilda

[@MrLive2win]

Thank you for presenting this film. Incredible footage of St. Kilda and those who called it home especially the birds and sheep. The film touches something in me that is at once familiar and yet beautifully unobtainable. To leave ones home has to be heart-breaking even if self summoned. Once again thank you for the amazing time capsule.

[@studebaker4217]

It wasn't self-summoned - the government took it upon itself to get them to leave.

[@TheManxMarauder]

A superb record of life on this isolated island. I visited Aug 2012 it's an incredible, beautiful and quite haunting island. Thank you for posting.

[@PLuMUK54]

An amazing film. I find it hard to believe that people were living like this just 26 years before I was born. It seems a different century, or even a different world, but not a time or place that I would like to visit.

[@carolmurray187]

Fantastic and wonderful footage of St kilda. Gives a real glimpse into the lives of these unique and hardy people. St kilda holds for me a sense of awe and mystery, and respect for the people who lived there and maintained their identity for who knows how long. The “island on the edge of the world” is well named. Thankyou🙂👏

[@DonnyMacG]

Amazing film, I think the St Kildans knew they couldn't sustain their way of life. The ground they grew crops in was contaminated after years of using fish and bird offal as fertiliser, so their diet was birds and eggs. Half of them Emigrated to the new world and those left endured the worst winter in 1929 they where in dire need of help from the mainland. A sad end to the habitable part of Hirta but I'm sure the St Kildans enjoyed their new soft way of living and earning money from work rather than scaling cliffs for an egg to eat.

[@davids9549]

Utterly priceless film - thanks to whoever found/posted it.

[@123tgw]

SImply wonderful. Thanks so much for preserving this and posting it. Such an important historical record of a wonderful place so it's great that it is being preserved for future generations. I spent a summer on Sky and travelled from Stornaway all the way south to Barra, though sadly didn't get over to St. Kilda. Fell in love with the islands and have loved them ever since. Thanks again, Dave

[@Aidankiwi]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. Just one thing it's not Sky, it's Skye

[@sjobang]

What a wonderful film and music.

[@aspiadas]

Fantastic clip

[@stefanbattige7988]

What a treasure of history!

[@ianhames2465]

nice film, lovely music

[@TheAnn2shoes]

That tweed would be priceless today.

[@jeannettecrawfordcannon5936]

what a find. thanks for posting.

[@marchaller548]

Géniale video, merci pour le post!!!!

[@williammcmillan5727]

Just returned from St.kilda, an experience hard to describe. I camped over one night, such a magical place. This movie is priceless.

[@philippelannes7175]

Amazing documentary thank you for sharing it, I didn't even know it existed

[@catkatzi3320]

Fantastic 😍

[@ricko3k]

Amazing bit of film. They looked lovely people.

Nice to see my old office (The Oban Times) behind the sailors as they left Oban in 1928

[@davebutler3905]

Thanks for uploading this. Amazing footage!

[@martiniv8924]

Taken back in time , wow !.

[@trekliquid55]

29/11/2020 lockdown's got me thinking this lovely isle could be a good place, love to all.

[@MrToddy31]

Thanks for posting. A lovely way to start the day. Wonderful images accompanied by beautiful music.

[@FrancescPunsola]

Is a real luxury to watch that video.

[@fojnica2226]

i like this place then anything on this world..........i m fall in love with..my dream is visit place or speak with people who are conected by relatives from here.greetings from croatia

[@dreamangus1505]

Moving and beautiful

[@gritli1]

Semplicemente fantastico !!

[@jaysmith-sq4dy]

awesome

[@annabatarowicz]

Brilliant

[@trevorvarley8305]

Brings back a memory or two. I was there in 1957 as part of "Operation Hardrock" during my RAF service. A lovely island but rather desolate of course. Lots of sheep and birds and no girls. Just around three hundred guys doing their service.

[@jasondavies5603]

I saw a picture the other day of your lot's tents all over the bay!

[@steveclarke7494]

A wonderful film, if a little condescending to the people of St. Kilda. The music reminded me of Mark Knopfler's Local Hero. I miss my homeland.

[@Celler2]

What a great video.

[@jasoncorbett8948]

I first saw this film on the Edge of The World DVD, it's a film set on St Kilda but filmed on Foula

[@colonelsanders4006]

For anyone wondering, music is by Scottish folk musician David Allison

[@onlyhuman1954]

I can't tell you how profoundly moving I found this film... And I can't understand the tearful nostalgia for a land and life I never knew. A most beautiful record of days long gone. ❤️

[@ellieborla9243]

Same for me. I am trying to go there again in June. Last year Kilda cruises said it was too windy. Life was certainly hard but I imagine that leaving for good was not an easy decision. I think that a very bad aspect of this life was (even if nobody would think of it as the main issue) not to be able to get married to somebody you really liked due to the small number of eligible partners there.

[@markwhealen5949]

Wonderful video and a great historical record. In many ways their lives and surroundings seem to be similair to the Blasket Islanders who lived off the southwest coast of County Kerry in Ireland

[@fedyno4reviews]

Most islands in the outer Hebrides had (and still have) their own distinct cultures with their own unique individuality seperate from mainlanders similiar to how many Irish don't like to be called British 👍

[@ericmeechglobalnetwork2273]

Wonderful old film.

[@nickhanlon9331]

The little girl at 11.34 might be Rachel Johnson.She died in 2015.

[@torbenhellborn3175]

Very, very nice musical theme (and variations) Thanks a lot

[@seanfarrell1161]

great film amazing ,does anybody know what language those people spoke ?

[@addistubbs]

All the dogs were put in the sea to drown when they left. I’ll never understand that.

[@binaway]

Towards the end of the 1919 century about half the population left and settled about 4klms south easy of Melbourne Australia. They created a small fishing village named St Kilda. As Melbourne expanded it became a seaside town for holidays and weekends, then an outer suburb and today is an inner city suburb. It also became and remained for decades, the cities main red light district. The arty community moved in about 30 years ago and today St Kilda is becoming gentrified and home prices are ridiculous. An artificial marina created for the rich also has become home to a colony of fairy penguins (about 11 to 13 inches tall).

[@cherylovers9171]

Mate this is a nice story but its fake news I'm afraid. Its a matter of record that St Kilda Melbourne is named after the Lady of St Kilda a 136 ton British schooner that was in Melbourne in the 1840s. Having said that I have read that some evacuees came to Australia. It would be amazing to know how that went and if there are descendants still here.

[@johnshimwell9638]

What a wonderful old film of life on the island

[@Aidankiwi]

The title isn't quite correct. St Kilda is not an island, it is the name of the archipelago. The main island is called Hirta.

[@ronaldsmall4357]

Aidankiwi

[@MikeGreenwood51]

TY.

[@tosgem]

Oh we've got Mr Technicality over here. Who gives a crap

[@Aidankiwi]

@@tosgem You obviously do as you took the trouble to respond. It is not a 'technicality' it is a matter of correcting a factual error. You may be happy with the spread of misinformation, but I'm not.

[@tosgem]

@@Aidankiwi i care that someone is pedantic enough to nitpick this detail, I do not care about the distinction betweem island and archipelago IN THIS CONTEXT at all. Your inability to see the point continues to show itself.

[@KrisHughes]

Here we see the Celt as noble savage and tourist attraction. "We bought their souvenirs, we handed out sweets, we watched them at their (totally staged) work of spinning and hunting seabirds." Very much appreciate seeing this. Thanks for posting!

[@wayinfront1]

Nothing 'staged' about it. They did that all the time when the cameras weren't rolling, so in no way was it artificial.

[@KrisHughes]

@@wayinfront1 I'm not saying they didn't do these things all the time, just that what we see here is them doing these things very much FOR the camera and tourists. This kind of thing actually puts a lot of subtle, (and sometimes not-so-subtle) pressure on how people relate to their own culture. It's really not that great to have people looking at you as something "exotic".

[@solitairecatnaps4444]

Well, they certainly appeared to be camera shy, so apparently were not accustomed at this time to being filmed.

[@KrisHughes]

@@solitairecatnaps4444 Are we discussing humans as if they are wildlife, now?

[@stevewapner9061]

Here we see the disgruntled pseudo-intellectual commenter complaining about nothing.

[@j.martinez9618]

Impresionante ver la vida, la actividad, los niños en la calle principal y hoy la tristeza del abandono y la soledad. Valioso y bello documental.

[@junglebray]

who did the music for this? interesting

[@toniaschonken6117]

Amazing footage...Hard for a birder watching bird catching though. We visited in June 2019. Absolutely stunning place!

[@GCStalker]

It's some place, you must visit if you can.

[@suekatz]

I’d love to see this restored and colorized

[@jeholloway2]

Thank you for this video. I would have liked to be able to hear how they spoke but I know thats not possible. I felt bad about the children living in such a desolate place.

[@TryIt42069]

what music is this?

[@spiritflower6640]

I'm still amazed at the fate of St Kilda it just seems like there's another part of the story because even 1920 something when this film was made there was that many children still there and why were they all mass evacuated in 1930?? also it seems like they could have been encouraged to sustain themselves from things from the sea and the domesticated animals and growing and storing plants I still don't understand from watching this and other videos about St Kilda why these people weren't assisted to grow and evolve to make living on their Island where their people had lived for hundreds or a thousand years possible into today where it would be even more possible... let us not forget that the military putting up resources into it to have barracks and a power plant and a health clinic and a kitchen and mail delivery once a week....

[@williamf4544]

If had been now thats probably what would have happened - i think there were many reasons - the younger folk were finding the way of life too hard - a lot of people were dying from disease passed on from tourists and they were too far away from hospitals .Poor people on the mainland were starting to have a better way of life than they had and they islanders seemed destined to remain the same - it must have been a really hard way of life

[@Automedon2]

The soil was very poor for growing and the existed mainly on sea birds and their eggs and potatoes. The sea was too rough for fishing. Most of the men had left, and the infant mortality rate was very high.

[@solitairecatnaps4444]

Looking back further into history, I wonder what prompted their ancestors to settle there in the first place? There must have been plenty of room for religious settlements to remain insular on the mainland if that were the intent.

[@davidowenjones5603]

@@solitairecatnaps4444 They had surnames like MacDonald as the mainland- when and why did they settle there?

[@kevinadamson5768]

@@Automedon2 the land was fertilised with human waste and with the main diet being sea birds and fish the land over the years became toxic with heavy metals like Mercury and lead and became increasingly difficult to grow things.

[@Anybloke]

A very charming and enjoyable film. There was a documentary about St Kilda on UK TV a good ten or so years ago. I remember it saying that it was a pleasant enough place until Christianity arrived. After that, the islanders had to walk around with bowed heads and a copy of the bible left open in their homes.

[@IngramCars]

Beautiful.

[@chrisfleming5109]

People living now are very lucky really.

[@5Cats]

Absolutely beautiful. A tragic story.

[@malcolmadlington]

What is the soundtrack music, please?

[@davo171]

One day I'd like to visit here, and all the places seen in the film, like mccaigs castle.

[@TryIt42069]

anyway thx alot =). and this film is so interesting but also kinda depressing.

[@animallover4955]

There wasn’t much to be had then unless you built it, grew it, made it.

[@junefoyer699]

I have never heard of this place is it near Skye or Lewis

[@studebaker4217]

About 50 miles west of Lewis. Visit if you can, the sea stacs are amazing.

[@HazelAgnes48]

Going to St. Kilda in 4 days time.Hazel.

[@christrickett3291]

How was it?

[@gibbyau]

its a great place in melbourne and allso so a football team callled st kilda

[@geoffpriestley7001]

Place in dunedin new Zealand called st kilda

[@HugeWolf1]

Nice job. The music was not overpowering, the sound effects were minimal and did not distract from the video. It is great there is archival film of the Island.

[@cyclist68]

If you get the chance, watch Michael Powell's movie "Edge of the World" ( he of Powell and Pressburger fame) A drama set on St Kilda in the 1930s. It is a rarely seen gem

[@ameliaread4719]

Thats amazing, would be wonderful it was in colour.

[@maaan8494]

I went there this year and I'll tell you the cliffs are the most spectacular thing I've seen in the uk

[@amazinganton7125]

this is the "why was this recommended to me" comment you were looking for

[@jojoidk3399]

And to think they left very shortly after this film was shot. To imagine the pain they felt in having to leave the place their families had called home for thousands of years. I guess they knew it was for the best but it must have been awfully sad and difficult to adapt to a new way of life

[@GeoPerspective]

Hey, is this public domain? Can I use some of this footage for my video?

[@calumcooke2040]

Would love to hear their accents.

[@matthewcoombs3282]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/noOYg52tn8qEm5o

[@kevinadamson5768]

You wouldn't understand them.

[@kevinadamson5768]

Wonder who shears the sheep left on the Island?

[@peterrooke5336]

Find it a friend if the islands lonely 😉

[@ianmaclennan4189]

OK, seriously who is the background music ? Thanks

[@jethrojangles9541]

Nick Glynn there were people on St Kilda's in 1928 who already thought that joke was a sign of severe personality disorder and ulceration of the bowels

[@roxas4thewin]

Ian MacLennan It's hard to believe such a random travelogue had music this good.

[@roxas4thewin]

Ian MacLennan It was David allison a Scottish folk musician, he seems to have done many soundtracks to black and white films.

[@ianmaclennan4189]

Thank you !!

[@movingup2118]

Scotlands Island actually

[@giuseppenero110]

The first inhabitants must have got stranded there...can't imagine anybody from the mainland actually boating out there to live on it.

[@johndoe-ss9bz]

The First Inhabitants were Irish Monks in the 6th century.

[@freewheelman68]

The fist inhabitants arrived thousands of years before Irish monks

[@johndoe-ss9bz]

@@freewheelman68 :: When some of the Monks from Saint Columbanus Monasteries went there it was UN-SETTLED at that time. The Monks stayed until the Vikings came in the 8-9Century.

[@alanwann9318]

2020 They want to return!

[@studebaker4217]

The people were conned to leave by the government - could be 2020.

[@solitairecatnaps4444]

Nearly all have passed away by now, but perhaps their descendants might want to return.

[@barrymcdaid2836]

@@solitairecatnaps4444 they all have passed away. I believe that the last inhabitant died 3 or 4 years ago. The islands are a world heritage site now. The government of the UK would never allow their descendants return.

[@panspermiahunter7597]

The narration was quite condescending towards the islanders in my opinion, where I believe it all went wrong was having a laird for starters and then worse when the young were tempted go where they thought the grass was greener, it turned out it wasn't and a beautiful way of life was lost.

[@solitairecatnaps4444]

@Panspermia Hunter: This kind of migration occurred in many rural communities of the time. You can see the remains of their old homesteads today.

[@panspermiahunter7597]

@@solitairecatnaps4444 Yes I know, look at Skara Brae but that is not what I was saying, the young were lured by the grass being greener on the other side but at the end of the day they realised St Kilda was a slower calmer more enjoyable life. PS: A lot of the empty houses you see are from the clearances not voluntary moving away.

[@mickcarson8504]

This must be around the time of the great Titanic voyage, ...and disaster.

[@beaksofeagles]

lonliest?

[@tsjoencinema]

Modern technology anno 2021 could make St Kilda totally self reliant. But it's now a ruin.

[@user-vg5rv5xf4u]

10:51 ...What's she doing to that bull?

[@themadfarmer5207]

Gosh. That is not a bull. A bull is a daddy. That is a cow . A mammy giving milk. Simple

[@solitairecatnaps4444]

@Urban Fox: leading it along by a rope around its neck. Probably for milking.

[@athame57]

St. Kilda is actually an archipelago, not an island. Hirta is the largest island in St. Kilda.

[@joemccready2726]

Is there any record of how the sy Kilda natives got on after leaving

[@matthewcoombs3282]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/noOYg52tn8qEm5o

[@oOoJonnyoOo]

This is incredible, would love to see this restored by modern technology

[@studebaker4217]

You don't get it, do you. Are you American?

[@oOoJonnyoOo]

@@studebaker4217 I don’t get what?

[@wayinfront1]

Made two years after Queen Elizabeth was born.

[@Dulcimertunes]

Hopefully the Great War passed them by. Thanks for posting

[@michaelboylan5308]

No it didnt pass them by

[@tosgem]

They were all evacuated and abandoned the island in 1930

[@studebaker4217]

Subsequent "wars" haven't - Hirta has been marred by "defence" buildings and missile tracking gear from 1950s to 2020+. The National Trust has been complicit in this desecration.

[@christrickett3291]

Could this island be resettled? I mean, with all the things we have today that they didn't have back then, surely they could find enough people who want to live there.

[@tosgem]

I think it could. There's a military base there now.

[@TheChrisEMartin]

There are a number of other Scottish islands that are actively wanting people to settle. This archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, so not sure they'd want people living there?

[@a11osaurus]

It's to remote and would probably cost to much to build anything there