Book review by John Wright
Friday, October 05 2007'The Islands Of Western Scotland. The Inner And Outer Hebrides'. W.H. Murray. Published By Eyre Methuen. First Published 1973 And Reprinted 1978. 296pp.
I spend lots of time in bookshops but these days everybody seems to be writing guides to somewhere and quality can sometimes be sacrificed for a familiar name on the cover. With that in mind I’ve recently started scouring second hand bookshops and also that modern scourge of the book trade, Amazon, who have a good second hand list of titles. I started off collecting Seton Gordon but recently have found the considered and informative writing of W. H. Murray, who is probably best known as one of the best climbers of the immediate post war years. Right at the outset I must say that this is not a book to buy for the photographs which are all black and white and of dubious quality. In writing the book Murray consulted widely as can be seen from the extensive bibliography and, unusually, he does not give each island its own chapter, preferring to concentrate, as a whole, on the physical conditions, climate, natural history, the sea and then the history comprehensively from 220AD to 1972. However do not mistake the author’s thoroughness as having a lack of soul. As early as the introduction he says that looking out to sea from the top of The Cuillin the sea can take on a deeper, more brilliant blue than he had ever seen in the Mediterranean and by a trick of the light the islands all appeared like curling stones about to slide in to the mainland. Murray is very thorough and despite my wide reading I had never known that the two-handed claymores made on Islay were celebrated throughout Scotland and much sought after. They were made by the family of MacEachern who also created the famous Islay hilt. Their forge was apparently three quarters of a mile to the south east of Kilchoman church, near to the summer palace of the Lords of the isles. However, it is his conclusions that most interested me. He says that The Hebrides are an asset to Britain but wonders if their beauty of environment and way of life can be maintained, and the isles held peopled and prosperous. He says it is important that an affirmative answer be found and that can only be done if the lessons taught by history are learned. He picked out six of these lessons and has ideas on emigration, conservation of land and resources, support from central government, retention of young people, communal work and friendship, trust and sharing and lastly that efficient administration should be left to islanders. Despite being written in the early seventies it seems to me that his ideas still have a lot of relevance and if you agree then it is high time those who serve us in government read this book too!
This story was published with kind permission from The Ileach - Community Newspaper of the year.
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