Hebridean Voyages : An Anthology of Sea Crossings to the Western Islands of Scotland, 1822-1955

For many years travellers to the Hebrides recorded their journeys by sea. This book includes accounts ranging from 1822, only three years after the first steamship ventured up the west coast, until the 1950s. During those years there was a sense of excitement and adventure, unlike most ferry crossings today, which some may regard as no more than an interruption in a car journey. Collected here are over 125 accounts of voyages, some penned by well-known writers while others have been written anonymously. Read about sea-crossings in fair weather and foul, about fellow travellers and how they passed the time on board. There are descriptions of the ships, their masters and crews. There are tales of sailing to St Kilda, as well as many of the other islands, where often there was no pier, and landing had to be made by small ferryboat, often along with cargo and cattle or sheep.