Editing St Kilda, Scotland (section)

== History ==
[[File:Cleit above Village Bay.jpg|right|thumb|A cleit above Village Bay]]

=== Prehistory ===
It has been known for some time that St Kilda was continuously inhabited for two millennia or more, from the [[Bronze Age]] to the 20th century.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/StKildaCultHerExtractFINALB38477.pdf St Kilda: Revised Nomination of St Kilda for inclusion in the World Heritage Site List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703131509/http://www.kilda.org.uk/StKildaCultHerExtractFINALB38477.pdf |date=3 July 2007 }} (January 2003) (pdf) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2007.</ref> In 2015, the first direct evidence of earlier [[Neolithic]] settlement emerged, [[potsherd|sherds of pottery]] of the Hebridean ware style, found to the east of the village. The subsequent discovery of a quarry for stone tools on Mullach Sgar above Village Bay led to finds of numerous stone hoe-blades, grinders and Skaill knives{{refn|A flaked stone with a sharp edge used for cutting. This neolithic tool is named after [[Skaill Bay]], the location of World Heritage Site [[Skara Brae]] in Orkney.<ref>[http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-103-335-C "Skaill knife"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227193131/http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-103-335-C |date=27 February 2015 }} National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 27 February 2015.</ref>|group="note"}} in the Village Bay ''cleitean'', unique stone storage buildings (see below). These tools are also probably of Neolithic origin.<ref>Fleming (2005) pages 37–56.</ref> 

The potsherds appear to have been made of local material, rather than material brought from other islands in the Hebrides, suggesting that the islands were settled in the [[4th millennium BC]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Copper|first=Michael|date=March 2017|title=Neolithic sherds from St Kilda|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/saj.2017.0079|journal=Scottish Archaeological Journal|volume=39|issue=1|pages=95–100|doi=10.3366/saj.2017.0079|issn=1471-5767}}</ref> Iron Age pottery is also known. Archaeologist Alan Hunter Blair reported that "the eastern end of Village Bay on St Kilda was occupied fairly intensively during the Iron Age period, although no house structures were found".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-55995799 |title=Evidence St Kilda was inhabited 2,000 years ago |date=9 February 2021 |work=BBC News |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote="These few clues tell us that people were well established on St Kilda as part of the wider settlement of the Western Isles." |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209132408/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-55995799 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 13th to 18th centuries ===
The first written record of St Kilda may date from 1202 when an Icelandic cleric wrote of taking shelter on "the islands that are called Hirtir".<ref>Fleming (2005) page 27 quoting Taylor, A.B. (1968) "The Norsemen in St Kilda". ''Saga book of the Viking Society''. '''17'''. 116–43.</ref> Early reports mentioned finds of brooches, an iron sword and Danish coins, and the enduring Norse place names indicate a sustained Viking presence on Hirta, but the visible evidence has been lost.<ref>Fleming (2005) page 63.</ref> In the late 14th century [[John of Fordun]] referred to it as "the isle of Irte (''insula de Irte''), which is agreed to be under the [[Classical compass winds|Circius]] and on the margins of the world".<ref>Maclean (1972) page 34 quoting [[John of Fordun]]'s ''Scotichronicon'' of c. 1380.</ref> The islands were historically part of the domain of the [[Clan MacLeod|MacLeods]] of [[Harris, Outer Hebrides|Harris]], whose steward was responsible for the collection of rents in kind and other duties. The first detailed report of a visit to the islands dates from 1549, when [[Donald Monro (Dean)|Donald Munro]] suggested that: "The inhabitants thereof {{not a typo|ar}} simple poor people, scarce {{not a typo|learnit}} in {{not a typo|aney}} religion, but M'Cloyd of Herray, his {{not a typo|stewart}}, or he {{not a typo|quhom}} he {{not a typo|deputs}} in sic office, {{not a typo|sailes anes}} in the {{not a typo|zear ther}} at midsummer, with some chaplaine to baptize {{not a typo|bairnes ther}}."{{refn|Monro (1549) "Hirta" No. 158. English translation from [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]]: "The inhabitants are simple poor people, hardly educated in any religion, but the steward of MacLeod of Harris, or his deputy, sails there once a year at midsummer with a chaplain to baptise the children".|group="note"}}

Coll MacDonald of [[Colonsay]] raided Hirta in 1615, removing 30 sheep and a quantity of barley.<ref>Fleming (2005) page 28.</ref> Thereafter, the islands developed a reputation for abundance. At the time of [[Martin Martin]]'s visit in 1697 the population was 180 and the steward travelled with a "company" of up to 60 persons to which he "elected the most 'meagre' among his friends in the neighbouring islands, to that number and took them periodically to St Kilda to enjoy the nourishing and plentiful, if primitive, fare of the island, and so be restored to their wonted health and strength."<ref name=Martin>Martin, Martin (1703).</ref>

According to Keay and Keay (1994), until the early 19th century the islanders' "close relationship with nature had taken the ritual form of [[Druidism]]", whilst their understanding of [[Christianity]] shaped their relationships with one another: a combination of "natural devoutness and superstitious character".<ref name=Keay/> [[Kenneth Macaulay (minister)|Macauley]] (1764) claimed the existence of a "druidic" circle of stones fixed perpendicularly in the ground near the Stallar House on [[Boreray, St Kilda|Boreray]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Macaulay, Kenneth |title=The history of St. Kilda |date=1764 |pages=53–58 |url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-history-of-st-kilda_macaulay-kenneth_1764/mode/2up}}</ref> However, by 1875 all trace of this had gone and according to [[John Sands (journalist)|John Sands]] “the St Kildans seem never to have heard of it”.<ref>[https://canmore.org.uk/site/3969/st-kilda-boreray-taigh-stallair "St Kilda, Boreray, Taigh Stallair"]. [[Canmore (database)|Canmore]]. Retrieved 24 March 2024.</ref>

[[Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange]] was held on St Kilda from 1734 to 1741.<ref>[https://www.historyscotland.com/history/winter-storm-exposes-the-secrets-of-lady-granges-house-at-st-kilda/ "Winter storm exposes the secrets of Lady Grange's House at St Kilda"]. ''Historyscotland.com''. 14 February 2022.</ref> The church minister of Harris, [[Kenneth Macaulay (minister)|Kenneth Macaulay]], visited St Kilda in 1759 on behalf of the [[Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge]] (SSPCK), and published in 1764 ''The History of St Kilda, containing a Description of this Remarkable Island, the Manners and Customs of its Inhabitants, the Religious and Pagan Antiquities there found, with many other curious and interesting particulars.''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Macaulay |first1=Kenneth |title=The history of St. Kilda |date=1764 |publisher=T. Becket and P. A. DeHondt |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/b30545225}}</ref>

Visiting ships brought [[cholera]] and [[smallpox]] in the 18th century.<ref name=Smith/> In 1727, the loss of life was so high that too few residents remained to man the boats, and new families were brought in from [[Harris, Outer Hebrides|Harris]] to replace them.{{refn|This is the date provided by Quine (2000) for the marooning of the group on Stac an Armin, (see "Buildings on other islands" above), although Steel (1988) states that the outbreak took place in 1724.|group="note"}} By 1758 the population had risen to 88, and it had reached just under 100 by the end of the century. This figure remained fairly constant from the 18th century until 1852, when 36 islanders, with the help of the [[Highland and Island Emigration Society]], emigrated to Australia on board the ''Priscilla''; reducing the population to 70.<ref name="Zanolla">{{cite book|author=Roberto Zanolla|title=LAND OF BIRD-MEN - History of St Kilda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lMxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT90|date=5 August 2017|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=978-0-244-62212-1|pages=90–}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Among the emigrants was [[Ewen Gillies]]. The laird of St Kilda, Sir John MacLeod, tried to persuade some of the group to return to the island; when they were unconvinced, he paid for their voyage to Australia.<ref name="Zanolla"/> Eighteen of the 36 St Kildans died of sickness on the ship or in quarantine.<ref name="Zanolla"/><ref name="Richards">{{cite journal|issn= 0036-9241|author= Eric Richards|journal= The Scottish Historical Review|issue= 191/192|pages=129–155|publisher= Edinburgh University Press|title= St Kilda and Australia: Emigrants at Peril, 1852-3|volume=71|year=1992|jstor= 25530537}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Highland and Island Emigration Society, HIES "PRISCILLA" |url=https://www.angelfire.com/ns/bkeddy/HIES/priscilla.html |access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref> The island never fully recovered from the population loss.The emigration was in part a response to the [[laird]]'s closure of the church and [[manse]] for several years during the [[Disruption of 1843|Disruption]] that created the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)|Free Church of Scotland]].<ref>Maclean (1977) page 125.</ref><ref>Fleming (2005) page 32.</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{See also|Religion in the Outer Hebrides}}
[[File:Insidestkildachurch.jpg|thumb|The interior of the church at Oiseabhal, St Kilda]]

A missionary called Alexander Buchan went to St Kilda in 1705, but despite his long stay, the idea of organised religion did not take hold. This changed when Rev. [[John Macdonald (Apostle of the North)|John MacDonald]], the "Apostle of the North", arrived in 1822. He set about his mission with zeal, preaching 13 lengthy sermons during his first 11 days. He returned regularly and raised funds on behalf of the St Kildans, although privately he was appalled by their lack of religious knowledge. The islanders took to him with enthusiasm and wept when he left for the last time eight years later. His successor, who arrived on 3 July 1830, was Rev. Neil Mackenzie, a resident [[Church of Scotland]] minister who greatly improved the conditions of the inhabitants. He reorganised island agriculture, was instrumental in the rebuilding of the village (see below) and supervised the building of a new church and [[manse]]. With help from the Gaelic School Society, MacKenzie and his wife introduced formal education to Hirta, beginning a daily school to teach reading, writing and arithmetic and a [[Sunday school]] for religious education.<ref>Maclean (1977) pages 115–6.</ref>

Mackenzie left in 1844.<ref>Maclean (1977) page 116.</ref> No new minister was appointed for a decade and as a result, the school closed on the MacKenzie's departure and although he had achieved a great deal, the weakness of the St Kildans' dependence on external authority was exposed in 1865 with the arrival of Rev. John Mackay. Despite their fondness for Mackenzie, who stayed in the Church of Scotland, the St Kildans declared in favour of the new [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]] during the [[Great Disruption]]. Mackay, the new Free Church minister, placed an uncommon emphasis on religious observance. He introduced a routine of three two-to-three-hour services on Sunday at which attendance was effectively compulsory. One visitor noted in 1875 that: "The Sabbath was a day of intolerable gloom. At the clink of the bell, the whole flock hurry to Church with sorrowful looks and eyes bent upon the ground. It is considered sinful to look to the right or to the left."<ref>[[John Sands (journalist)|John Sands]], quoted in Maclean (1977) page 117.</ref>

Time spent in religious gatherings interfered seriously with the practical routines of the island. Old ladies and children who made noise in church were lectured at length and warned of dire punishments in the afterworld. During a period of food shortages on the island, a relief vessel arrived on a Saturday, but the minister said that the islanders had to spend the day preparing for church on the Sabbath, and it was Monday before supplies were landed. Children were forbidden to play games and required to carry a Bible wherever they went. Mackay remained minister on St Kilda for 24 years.<ref>Maclean (1977) pages 116–9.</ref>

The church and manse have recently been restored and further restoration is planned for the 200th anniversary of the church. Visitors can see how they may have appeared in the 1920s.<ref>https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/st-kilda/highlights/church-and-museum#:~:text=Church%20and%20museum.%20The%20museum,%20which%20is%20in</ref>

=== Way of life ===
[[File:Ropingpeg.jpg|thumb|St Kildans paid some of their rent by collecting seabirds; roping pegs – one of which can be seen in this photo – enabled them to [[abseiling|abseil]] down to the nests.]]

Most modern commentators feel that the predominant theme of life on St Kilda was isolation. When [[Martin Martin]] visited the islands in 1697,<ref name=Martin/> the only means of making the journey was by open boat, which could take several days and nights of rowing and sailing across the ocean and was next to impossible in autumn and winter. According to a St Kilda diarist writing in 1908, vicious storms could be expected at any time between September and March.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/weatherextremes/2014/08/04/st-kilda-extreme-weather-on-the-edge-of-the-world/|title=St Kilda: Extreme Weather on the Edge of the World|author=James|work=University of Nottingham|date=4 August 2014|access-date=2 January 2017|archive-date=3 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103002713/http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/weatherextremes/2014/08/04/st-kilda-extreme-weather-on-the-edge-of-the-world/|url-status=live}}</ref> More modern records from the National Trust for Scotland record gales for 75 days a year with peak winds around {{convert |144 |mph|knots|abbr=on}} whilst peak wave heights on the Scottish west coast have been recorded at {{convert|16|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30402293|title=Power restored as 'weather bomb' storm subsides|work=BBC Scotland|date=11 December 2014|access-date=2 January 2017|archive-date=31 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031101821/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30402293|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the mid 18th century the St Kildans are recorded as speaking a "very corrupt dialect of the Galic adulterated with a little mixture of the Norvegian tongue."<ref>{{cite book |author1=Macaulay, Kenneth |title=The history of St. Kilda |date=1764 |pages=214–215 |url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-history-of-st-kilda_macaulay-kenneth_1764/mode/2up}}</ref>

Separated by distance and weather, the natives knew little of mainland and international politics. After the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746, it was rumoured that [[Prince Charles Edward Stuart]] and some of his senior [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] aides had escaped to St Kilda. An expedition was launched, and in due course British soldiers were ferried ashore to Hirta. They found a deserted village, as the St Kildans, fearing pirates, had fled to caves to the west. When the St Kildans were persuaded to come down, the soldiers discovered that the isolated natives knew nothing of the prince and had never heard of [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] either.<ref>Steel (1988) page 32.</ref>

Even in the late 19th century, the islanders could communicate with the rest of the world only by lighting a bonfire on the summit of Conachair which would, weather permitting, be visible to those on the isles of Harris and the Uists, or by using the "St Kilda mailboat". This was the invention of [[John Sands (journalist)|John Sands]], who visited in 1877. During his stay, a shipwreck left nine Austrian sailors marooned there, and by February supplies were running low. Sands attached a message to a [[lifebuoy]] salvaged from the ''Peti Dubrovacki'' and threw it into the sea.<ref name=Sands>[http://www.widegrin.com/vicmisc/st_kilda.htm "Life in St. Kilda"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929070713/http://www.widegrin.com/vicmisc/st_kilda.htm |date=29 September 2007 }}, an account by J. Sands in Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art, 1877. Retrieved 1 April 2007.</ref> Nine days later it was picked up in [[Birsay]], Orkney, and a rescue was arranged. The St Kildans, building on this idea, would fashion a piece of wood into the shape of a boat, attach it to a bladder made of sheepskin, and place in it a small bottle or tin containing a message. Launched when the wind came from the north-west, two-thirds of the messages were later found on the west coast of Scotland or in Norway.<ref>Maclean (1977) pages 136–8.</ref><ref>[http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/keacam/keacam0109.htm "St Kilda mailboat"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611105325/http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/keacam/keacam0109.htm |date=11 June 2007 }} Glasgow Digital Library. Retrieved 4 March 2008.</ref>
[[File:St Kilda mailboat.jpg|thumb|upright|Launching the "St Kilda mailboat"]]

===Diet===

Another significant feature of St Kilda life was diet. The islanders kept sheep and some cattle, and were able to grow a limited amount of food crops such as [[barley]] and [[potato]]es on the better-drained land in Village Bay; in many ways the islands can be seen as a large mixed farm. [[Samuel Johnson]] reported in the 18th century that [[Domestic sheep#As food|sheep's milk]] was made "into small cheeses" by the St Kildans.<ref>Johnson, Samuel (1775) ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland''. Republished, Chapman & Dodd, London, 1924. Page 121.</ref> They generally eschewed fishing because of the heavy, northern seas and unpredictable weather.<ref>The St Kildans fished from the rocks and even organised fishing trips from their boats from time to time, but these were occasional events, sometimes undertaken to pay rent, rather than crucial aspects of day-to-day island life. See Maclean (1977) pp 102–03, who also quotes J. MacCulloch's 1824 ''Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' as stating "The neglect of fishing proceeds from the wealth of the inhabitants. They possess already as much food as they can consume, and are under no temptation to augment it by another perilous and laborious employment".</ref> The mainstay of their food supplies was the profusion of island birds, especially [[gannet]] and [[fulmar]]. These they harvested as eggs and young birds and ate both fresh and cured. Adult puffins were also caught using [[fowling]] rods.<ref name=Keay/> The method involved the use of a flexible pole with a noose on the end; a flick of the wrist would flip the noose over the puffin's head and it was killed before its struggles could alarm other birds.<ref name=boag>{{cite book |last1=Boag |first1=David |last2=Alexander |first2=Mike |year=1995 |title=The Puffin |publisher=Blandford |place=London |isbn=0-7137-2596-6|pages=112–113 }}</ref> A 1764 census described a daily consumption by the 90 inhabitants of "36 wildfoul eggs and 18 wildfoul" (i.e. seabirds).<ref>BBC News – Census find sheds new light on St Kilda's history (29 December 2016) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-38450471] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505184401/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-38450471|date=5 May 2021}}. London. ''The BBC''. Retrieved 29 December' 2016.</ref>

This feature of island life came at a price. When [[Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham]] visited in 1799 he noted that "the air is infected by a stench almost insupportable – a compound of rotten fish, filth of all sorts and stinking seafowl".<ref name=Cooper>Cooper, Derek (1979) ''Road to the Isles: Travellers in the Hebrides 1770–1914''. London. Routledge & Kegan Paul.</ref> An excavation of the ''Taigh an t-Sithiche'' (the "house of the faeries" – see below) in 1877 by Sands unearthed the remains of gannet, sheep, cattle, and limpets amidst various stone tools. The building is between 1,700 and 2,500 years old, which suggests that the St Kildan diet had changed little over the millennia. Indeed, the tools were recognised by the St Kildans, who could put names to them as similar devices were still in use.<ref>Maclean (1977) page 26.</ref>

[[Razorbill]], [[guillemot]], and [[fulmar]] eggs were collected before the late 1920s in St Kilda's islands by their men scaling the cliffs. The eggs were buried in St Kilda [[peat]] ash to be eaten through the cold, northern winters. The eggs were considered to taste like [[duck eggs]] in taste and nourishment.<ref>The Daily Mail April 18, 1930: article by Susan Rachel Ferguson</ref>

These fowling activities involved considerable skills in climbing, especially on the precipitous sea stacks. An important island tradition involved the "Mistress Stone", a door-shaped opening in the rocks northwest of Ruival over-hanging a gully. Young men of the island had to undertake a ritual there to prove themselves on the crags and worthy of taking a wife. Martin Martin wrote:
[[File:Mistress Stone.jpg|thumb|right|The Mistress Stone]]
{{Blockquote|In the face of the rock, south from the town, is the famous stone, known by the name of the mistress-stone; it resembles a door exactly; and is in the very front of this rock, which is 20 or 30 fathom [{{Convert|120|to|180|ft|m}}] perpendicular in height, the figure of it being discernible about the distance of a mile; upon the lintel of this door, every bachelor-wooer is by ancient custom obliged in honour to give a specimen of his affection for the love of his mistress, and it is thus; he is to stand on his left foot, having the one half of his sole over the rock, and then he draws the right foot further out to the left, and in this posture bowing, he puts both his fists further out to the right foot; and then after he has performed this, he has acquired no small reputation, being always after it accounted worthy of the finest mistress in the world: they firmly believe that this achievement is always followed with the desired success. This being the custom of the place, one of the inhabitants very gravely desired me to let him know the time limited by me for trying of this piece of gallantry before I design'd to leave the place, that he might attend me; I told him this performance would have a quite contrary effect upon me, by robbing me both of my life and mistress at the same moment.<ref name=Martin/>}}

[[File:Machias Seal Island puffins.jpg|thumb|[[Atlantic puffin]] (''Fratercula arctica''). Seabirds were the mainstay of the St Kildan diet.]]
Another important aspect of St Kildan life was the daily "parliament". This was a meeting held in the street every morning after prayers and attended by all the adult males during the course of which they would decide upon the day's activities. No one led the meeting, and all men had the right to speak. According to Steel (1988), "Discussion frequently spread discord, but never in recorded history were feuds so bitter as to bring about a permanent division in the community".<ref>Steel (1988) pages 44–6</ref> This notion of a free society influenced [[Enric Miralles]]' vision for the new [[Scottish Parliament Building]], opened in October 2004.<ref>Balfour, Alan, and McCrone, David (2005) [http://www.alanbalfour.com/books/parliament/chapter1/index.html ''Creating a Scottish Parliament''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828040922/http://www.alanbalfour.com/books/parliament/chapter1/index.html |date=28 August 2008 }} Edinburgh. StudioLR. {{ISBN|0-9550016-0-9}}. Retrieved 4 January 2008. Miralles wrote:
:"Late XIX St Kilda Parliament
:To Remember this is not an archaic activity
:My generation (myself) has experienced that emotion
:Consider how different movements exist in present times
:Architecture should be able to talk about this."</ref>

Whatever the privations, the St Kildans were fortunate in some respects, for their isolation spared them some of the evils of life elsewhere. Martin noted in 1697 that the citizens seemed "happier than the generality of mankind as being almost the only people in the world who feel the sweetness of true liberty",<ref name=Martin/> and in the 19th century their health and well being was contrasted favourably with conditions elsewhere in the [[Hebrides]].<ref>See for example Steel (1988) page 71 quoting Macauley in 1756, MacCulloch in 1819 and Ross in 1887.</ref> Theirs was not a utopian society; the islanders had ingenious wooden locks for their property, and financial penalties were exacted for misdemeanours.<ref>Fleming (2005) pages 107 and 110.</ref> Nonetheless, no resident St Kildan is known to have fought in a war, and in four centuries of history, no serious crime committed by an islander was recorded there.<ref>Steel (1988) pages 33–4.</ref>{{refn|A 19th-century commentator wrote: "If St Kilda is not the Eutopia so long sought, where will it be found? Where is the land which has neither arms, money, care, physic, politics, nor taxes? That land is St Kilda". Maclean, Lachlan (1838) ''Sketches on the Island of St Kilda''. McPhun.|group="note"}}

=== Tourism in the 19th century ===
[[File:St. Kilda, Scotland, circa 1890, by Alexander Hutchison.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the residents by an Edinburgh-based amateur photographer, circa 1890]]
[[Norman Heathcote]] visited the islands in 1898 and 1899 and wrote a book about his experiences.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heathcote|first=Norman|title=St Kilda|date=1900|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/stkilda00heatgoog}}</ref> During the 19th century, steamers had begun to visit Hirta, enabling the islanders to earn money from the sale of [[Tweed (cloth)|tweeds]] and birds' eggs but at the expense of their [[self-esteem]] as the tourists regarded them as curiosities. It is also clear that the St Kildans were not so naïve as they sometimes appeared. "For example, when they boarded a yacht they would pretend they thought all the polished brass was gold, and that the owner must be enormously wealthy".<ref>Rev. Neil MacKenzie, quoted by Fleming (2005), p. 8</ref> The boats brought other previously unknown diseases, especially ''[[Neonatal tetanus|tetanus infantum]]'', which resulted in infant mortality rates as high as 80 per cent during the late 19th century.<ref name=Keay/> The ''cnatan na gall'' ({{lit|flu of the foreigner}}) or boat-cough, an illness that struck after the arrival of a ship off Hirta, became a regular feature of life.<ref name=Sands/><ref name=Cooper/>

By the early 20th century, formal schooling had again become a feature of the islands, and in 1906 the church was extended to make a schoolhouse. The children all now learned English and their native [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]]. Improved [[midwifery]] skills, denied to the island by John Mackay, reduced the problems of [[childhood tetanus]]. From the 1880s, [[Commercial trawler|trawlers]] fishing the north Atlantic made regular visits, bringing additional trade. There was talk of an evacuation in 1875 during MacKay's time as minister, but despite occasional food shortages and a flu epidemic in 1913, the population was stable at between 75 and 80, and there was no obvious sign that within a few years the millennia-old occupation of the island was to end.<ref>Steel (1988), pp. 150–5.</ref><ref>Maclean (1977) p. 140.</ref><ref>Fleming (2005) p. 165.</ref>

=== First World War ===
[[File:Gun Dùn St Kilda.jpg|thumb|The [[QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I – III|4-inch QF gun]] on [[Hirta]] looking towards [[Dùn, St Kilda|Dùn]]]]

Early in the [[World War I|First World War]], the [[Royal Navy]] erected a [[Transmitter station|signal station]] on Hirta, and daily communications with the mainland were established for the first time. On the morning of 15 May 1918, the German submarine [[SM U-90]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mnb.seekrieg14-18.de/MNB_004_IV-2010.htm|title=Das Marine-Nachrichtenblatt|website=mnb.seekrieg14-18.de|access-date=31 March 2013|archive-date=19 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319081434/http://www.mnb.seekrieg14-18.de/MNB_004_IV-2010.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> arrived in Village Bay and, after issuing a warning, started shelling the island. Seventy-two shells were fired and the wireless station was destroyed. The manse, church, and jetty storehouse were damaged, but there was no loss of life.<ref>Steel (1988) p. 167</ref> One eyewitness recalled: "It wasn't what you would call a bad submarine because it could have blowed every house down because they were all in a row there. He only wanted Admiralty property. One lamb was killed... all the cattle ran from one side of the island to the other when they heard the shots."<ref>Neil Gilles, quoted in Steel (1988) p. 167</ref>

As a result of this attack, a [[QF 4-inch naval gun Mk I – III|4-inch Mark III QF gun]] was erected on a promontory overlooking Village Bay, but it never saw action. Of greater significance to the islanders were the introduction of regular contact with the outside world and the development of a money-based economy. This made life easier for the St Kildans but also made them less self-reliant. Both were factors in the evacuation of the island little more than a decade later.<ref>Steel (1988), p. 168</ref>

"Ironically, things improved with the war, which brought a naval detachment and regular deliveries of mail and food from naval supply vessels but when these services were withdrawn at end of the war, the sense of isolation increased. Able bodied young islanders left for a better life, resulting in a breakdown of the island economy".<ref name=Smyth>{{cite web |url=https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/culture/remote-possibilities-when-people-lived-on-st-kilda/ |title=Remote Possibilities When People Lived on St Kilda |date=15 November 2019 |work=Scottish Field |access-date=10 February 2021 |last=Smyth |first=Kirsty |archive-date=3 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503171131/https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/culture/remote-possibilities-when-people-lived-on-st-kilda/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Evacuation and aftermath ===
[[File:Boreray and the Stacs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Boreray, St Kilda|Boreray]], [[Stac Lee]], and [[Stac an Armin]] (left) from the heights of Conachair, the highest cliff in the [[United Kingdom]].]]

Numerous factors led to the evacuation of St Kilda. The islands' inhabitants had existed for centuries in relative isolation until tourism and the presence of the military during the First World War led the islanders to seek alternatives to privations they routinely suffered. The changes made to the island by visitors in the 19th century disconnected the islanders from the way of life that had allowed their forebears to survive in this environment.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame1.htm The Evacuation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831172220/http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame1.htm |date=31 August 2010 }} kilda.org.uk Accessed 2 December 2008</ref> Despite the construction of a small jetty in 1902, the islands remained at the weather's mercy.{{refn|Even in the 21st century this is a problem. The National Trust reported in 2006 that it was cancelling 2007 work parties as "adverse weather conditions resulted in our supplies failing to reach St Kilda and our next opportunity to get supplies out is May 2007."<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame26.htm "Work party information"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002160717/http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame26.htm |date=2 October 2006 }} National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 18 March 2007.</ref>|group="note"}}

After the end of the Great War, most of the young men left the island, and the population fell from 73 in 1920 to 37 in 1928.<ref name=Keay/> After the death of four men from [[influenza]] in 1926, there was a succession of crop failures in the 1920s. Investigations by the [[University of Aberdeen]] into the soil where crops had been grown have shown that there had been contamination by [[lead]] and other pollutants, caused by the use of seabird carcasses and peat ash in the manure used on the fields. This occurred over a lengthy period of time, as manuring practices became more intensive, and may have been a factor in the evacuation.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/latestnews.htm#Poison "Poison in Paradise"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205145818/http://www.kilda.org.uk/latestnews.htm#Poison |date=5 December 2008 }} National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 20 June 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.01.076 |title=Ancient manuring practices pollute arable soils at the St Kilda World Heritage Site, Scottish North Atlantic |date=2006 |last1=Meharg |first1=Andrew A. |last2=Deacon |first2=Clare |last3=Edwards |first3=Kevin J. |last4=Donaldson |first4=Margaret |last5=Davidson |first5=Donald A. |last6=Spring |first6=Christian |last7=Scrimgeour |first7=Charles M. |last8=Feldmann |first8=Jörg |last9=Rabb |first9=A. |journal=Chemosphere |volume=64 |issue=11 |pages=1818–1828 |pmid=16542706 |bibcode=2006Chmsp..64.1818M }}</ref>

The last straw came with the death of a young woman, Mary Gillies, who fell ill with [[appendicitis]] in January 1930 and was taken to the mainland for treatment. She died in hospital, having given birth to a daughter who also died. It was assumed that she had died of appendicitis, but her son Norman John Gillies discovered in 1991 that she had died of [[pneumonia]].<ref>Rix, Juliet (24 March 2012) [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/24/last-man-st-kilda-evacuation?INTCMP=SRCH "St Kilda: On the street where we lived"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829170634/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/24/last-man-st-kilda-evacuation?INTCMP=SRCH |date=29 August 2017 }}. London. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 28 March 2012.</ref> All the cattle and sheep were taken off the island two days before the evacuation by the tourist boat ''Dunara Castle'' for sale on the mainland. However, all the island's working dogs were drowned in the bay because they could not be taken.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/eighty-years-ago-st-kilda-was-evacuated-today-one-of-only-two-survivors-remembers-leaving-the-islands-1-821248|title=Eighty years ago St Kilda was evacuated. Today one of only two survivors remembers leaving the islands.|newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]|date=11 August 2010|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-date=29 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829162733/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/eighty-years-ago-st-kilda-was-evacuated-today-one-of-only-two-survivors-remembers-leaving-the-islands-1-821248|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although the cats were left behind, many did not survive the winter.

On 29 August 1930, the ship [[Anchusa-class sloop|HMS ''Harebell'']] took the remaining 36 inhabitants to [[Morvern]] on the Scottish mainland, a decision they took collectively themselves.

<blockquote>The morning of the evacuation promised a perfect day. The sun rose out of a calm and sparkling sea and warmed the impassive cliffs of Oiseval. The sky was hopelessly blue and the sight of Hirta, green and pleasant as the island of so many careless dreams, made parting all the more difficult. Observing tradition the islanders left an open Bible and a small pile of oats in each house, locked all the doors and at 7&nbsp;am boarded the ''Harebell''. Although exhausted by the strain and hard work of the last few days, they were reported to have stayed cheerful throughout the operation. But as the long antler of Dun fell back onto the horizon and the familiar outline of the island grew faint, the severing of an ancient tie became a reality and the St Kildans gave way to tears.<ref>Maclean (1977), p. 142.</ref>
</blockquote>

One source states that "officials found forestry work for the men, and most of them were settled at [[Lochaline]] near Oban, while other families went to live at [[Strome Ferry]], Ross-shire, [[Culcabock]] near Inverness, and at [[Culross]], Fife".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/features/stories-from-st-kilda |title=Stories from St Kilda |date= |work=National Records of Scotland |access-date=11 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> Barclay visited the resettled islanders and found that some were experiencing difficulties with disillusionment and adjustment, which she reported to the Scottish Department of Health.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women|date=15 October 2018 |editor-last=Ewan |editor-first=Elizabeth|isbn=9781474436298|location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press|oclc=1057237368}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/st-kilda-and-the-seas-of-change-1-465588|title=St Kilda and the seas of change|website=www.scotsman.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-28}}</ref>

In 1931, the remaining cats were shot to protect the native birds and rodents.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://commonplacefacts.com/2024/07/24/the-evacuation-of-st-kilda-a-story-of-isolation-resilience-and-change/|title=The Evacuation of St Kilda: A Story of Isolation, Resiliance, and Change|date=24 July 2024}}</ref>

Also in 1931, the laird, [[Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod|Sir Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod]], sold the islands to [[John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute|Lord Dumfries]], later the 5th [[Marquess of Bute]]. For the next 26 years they saw few people, save for the occasional summer visitors or a returning St Kildan family.<ref>Thompson, Francis (1970) ''St Kilda and other Hebridean Outliers''. David & Charles. {{ISBN|0-7153-4885-X}}</ref><ref>Steel (1988) pp. 229–32.</ref> Lord Dumfries was an [[ornithologist]] and bought the islands to preserve them as a bird sanctuary, leaving them to the [[National Trust for Scotland]] on his death in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|title=5th Marquess of Bute, John Crichton-Stuart (1907–1956)|url=http://www.mountstuart.com/history-and-heritage/bute-family/5th-marquess/|publisher=Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute|access-date=13 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729194336/http://www.mountstuart.com/history-and-heritage/bute-family/5th-marquess/|archive-date=29 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The story of St Kilda has attracted artistic interpretations, including [[Michael Powell]]'s 1937 film ''[[The Edge of the World]]'' and an opera.<ref>McMillan, Joyce (3 March 2007) [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=336112007 "St Kilda the Opera brings out the bully-boys"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102160545/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=336112007 |date=2 November 2007 }}. Edinburgh. ''The Scotsman''. Retrieved 3 March 2007.</ref>

The last of the native St Kildans, Rachel Johnson, died in 2016 aged 93, having been evacuated aged eight.<ref>BBC News – Last surviving St Kildan Rachel Johnson dies (7 April 2016) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35985243] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505175625/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35985243|date=5 May 2021}}. London. ''The BBC''. Retrieved 7 April 2016.</ref>

=== Military occupation ===
[[File:Blotonstkilda.jpg|right|thumb|The tracking tower on [[Mullach Sgar]]]]

The islands saw no military activity during the [[World War II|Second World War]], remaining uninhabited,<ref>Steel (1988) page 234.</ref> but three aircraft crash sites remain from that period. A [[Bristol Beaufighter]] LX798 based at [[Islay Airport|RAF Port Ellen]] on [[Islay]] crashed into Conachair within {{convert|100|m|ft|-1}} of the summit on the night of 3–4 June 1943. A year later, just before midnight on 7 June 1944, the day after [[Normandy Landings|D-Day]], a [[Short Sunderland]] [[flying boat]] ML858 was wrecked at the head of Gleann Mòr. A small plaque in the church is dedicated to those who died in this accident.<ref>Quine (2000), p. 90.</ref>

A [[Vickers Wellington]] [[bomber]] crashed on the south coast of Soay in 1942 or 1943. Not until 1978 was any formal attempt made to investigate the wreck, and its identity has not been absolutely determined. Amongst the wreckage, a [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] cap badge was discovered, which suggests it may have been HX448 of [[Coastal Command Anti U-Boat Devices School RAF|7 Operational Training Unit]] which went missing on a navigation exercise on 28 September 1942. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Wellington is LA995 of [[List of ferry units of the Royal Air Force|303 Ferry Training Unit]] which was lost on 23 February 1943.<ref>Steel (1988), p. 236</ref><ref>Barry, John C. (1980) "Wartime Wrecks on St. Kilda" ''After the Battle''. '''30''' p. 28</ref>

In 1955 the British government decided to incorporate St Kilda into a [[Deep Sea Range|missile-tracking range]] based in [[Benbecula]], where test firings and flights are carried out. Thus in 1957 St Kilda became permanently inhabited once again. A variety of military buildings and masts have since been erected, including a canteen (which is not open to the public), the Puff Inn.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/puffinnstatement.htm "Puff Inn statement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311083300/http://www.kilda.org.uk/puffinnstatement.htm |date=11 March 2012 }}. Provided by QinetiQ, approved by the MOD and published by the [[National Trust for Scotland]]. Retrieved 18 October 2012.</ref> The [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] (MOD) leases St Kilda from the National Trust for Scotland for a nominal fee.<ref>Steel (1988) pp. 238–55.</ref>

Hirta is still occupied year-round by a small number of civilians employed by defence contractor [[QinetiQ]] working in the military base ([[MOD Hebrides]]) on a monthly rotation.<ref name=BBC29810/><ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/visitor-advice.htm "Advice for visitors"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416054436/http://www.kilda.org.uk/visitor-advice.htm |date=16 April 2007 }} (2004) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 18 March 2007. This notes that the name "Puff Inn" is misleading in that it is not open to the public.</ref> In 2009 the MOD announced that it was considering closing down its missile-testing ranges in the Western Isles, potentially leaving the Hirta base unmanned.<ref name=SKday>{{cite news| author=Ross, John| date=31 July 2009| title=Historic evacuation of islands will be commemorated on St Kilda Day| location=Edinburgh| newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]| url=http://news.scotsman.com/inverness/In-1930-the-last-islanders.5511585.jp| access-date=10 August 2009| archive-date=27 October 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027200704/https://www.scotsman.com/news| url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015 the base had to be temporarily evacuated due to adverse weather conditions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ampaipear.org.uk/qinetiq-st-kilda-recovery-plan-already-motion/|title=Qinetiq: St Kilda recovery plan already in motion|date=12 January 2015|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=21 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121181951/http://www.ampaipear.org.uk/qinetiq-st-kilda-recovery-plan-already-motion/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In summer 2018, the MOD facilities were being restored as part of building a new base; one report stated that the project included "replacing aged generators and accommodation blocks".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scotislands.com/st-kilda/|title=ST KILDA|date=12 September 2018|access-date=10 February 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503153748/https://scotislands.com/st-kilda/|url-status=live}}</ref> With no permanent population, the island population can vary between 20 and 70, most living here temporarily. These inhabitants include MOD employees, National Trust for Scotland employees, and several scientists working on a [[Soay sheep]] research project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/what-it-s-like-living-on-st-kilda-1-4693525|title=What it's like living on St Kilda|website=The Scotsman|date=21 February 2018|author=Alison Campsie|access-date=31 December 2018|archive-date=31 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194215/https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/what-it-s-like-living-on-st-kilda-1-4693525|url-status=live}}</ref>