Home to Mingulay by Cindy Regnier

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to live on a small but beautiful island near Scotland with your only access to anywhere supplied by boats, and then only if conditions were right. That describes the island of Mingulay, a place no one lives nowadays, but scientists go there to study birds, and other wildlife. So what happened to Mingulay and why did its inhabitants leave? Let’s find out.

  From the 15th through 19th centuries Mingulay was considered as part of the lands of Clan MacNeil of Barra. The population of Mingulay were hardy people, surviving by fishing, raising crops and livestock, and catching seabirds on the cliffs. Most of the people were subjects of the Clan MacNeil, but apparently the MacNeils were mostly absent from the island and the people survived in the only ways they knew how.

The evidence remaining of the living conditions on Mingulay suggests that the life of these island people was subject to many hardships. Prolonged periods of bad weather along with the inability to leave or reach the mainland for assistance increased the dangers of illness or medical emergencies. The population reached a peak of 150 in 1881 but fell away rapidly until the last resident left in 1912. 

 Unable to sustain themselves any longer and with no help from the Scottish lords, the final remaining inhabitants sailed for neighboring Vatersay in 1912, leaving behind their village homes. Many of those foundations still stand, reminding us of a way of life now lost to relentless Atlantic elements and absentee landlords.

One interesting story that remains is the story of McPhee’s Hill. As the story goes, When Mingulay was still part of the McNeils land, a rent collector was hired by the name of McPhee. Mr. McPhee was sent to the island to collect the rents from those inhabiting the land, but when he landed there, he discovered everyone in the house he went to was dead. Perhaps there had been an epidemic of some sort. Alarmed, McPhee called to the boat crew that had dropped him off to come back and get him. Fearful of the plague, the crew rowed off and left McPhee to his fate. Mr. McPhee was left on the island for a year while no ship dared to stop there. When he was finally rescued, the McNeils paid him by granting him land on the island. He was not interested, to say the least. That area of the island is still known as McPhee’s Hill. 

 

Mingulay is now owned by the National Trust of Scotland. In certain weather conditions the island can be accessed through boat tours or charters from neighboring islands. Ruins of houses and other buildings remain to attest to the fishing and farming community of previous centuries. The former school building has been renovated by the Trust as a base for the archaeological and biological studies that continue in this harsh environment, but for the most part very little of the Mingulay way of life under their Scottish lord remains.

 

 

Scribbling in notebooks has been a habit of Cindy Regnier since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Born and raised in Kansas, she writes stories of historical Kansas, especially the Flint Hills area where she spent much of her childhood.