Editing Hirta (section)

==History and lifestyle==
The St Kilda islands were continuously populated from prehistoric times. Archeologists working at the archipelago between 2017 and 2019 confirmed habitation as long as 2,000 years ago. Finds included Iron Age pottery and some [[potsherd]]s that might be from Bronze Age pottery. The director of the project told [[BBC News]] that the work "revealed 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."}}</ref>
[[File:Village, Hirta, St Kilda.jpg|thumb|Abandoned homes on Hirta, built in the 1860s]]
In more recent history, Hirta was inhabited until 29 August 1930, when the 36 inhabitants were removed to the Scottish mainland at their own request.

St Kilda was part of the [[Lord of the Isles|Lordship of the Isles]], then a property of the MacLeods of [[Dunvegan]] from 1498 until 1930.<ref name="electricscotland.com">[https://electricscotland.com/history/stkilda/chapter03.htm St. Kilda, Past and Present Chapter III Early History and Ownership]</ref> There were three chapels on St Kilda, dedicated to [[Saint Brendan]], [[Saint Columba]], and Christ Church, but little remains. There are also the remains of a [[beehive house]], known as the Amazon's House.

According to [[UNESCO]], "St Kilda represents subsistence economies everywhere – living off the resources of land and sea and changing them over time, until external pressures led to decline".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/387/ |title=St Kilda |date=6 February 2018 |work=UNESCO |access-date=11 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> Indeed, the islanders had a tough life, and survived by exploiting the thousands of sea birds living on the islands. An 1885 report by a surgeon who visited Hirta reported that the inhabitants had no fruit or vegetables, except for a few potatoes of poor quality. They ate "oatmeal, salted fowl, and seabird eggs during summer and salted mutton in winter. They obtained tea, sugar, flour and tobacco from tourists and from the owner's factor". Water was obtained from freshwater springs.<ref name="nrscotland.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/features/stories-from-st-kilda |title=Stories from St Kilda |date=20 January 1996 |work=National Records of Scotland |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> 
[[File:St-Kildans.jpg|thumb|The Street, Village Bay (St Kilda Village), 1886]]
A history of Village Bay on Hirta states that some improvements in housing were made in the 1830s by the "landlord and the Rev. Neil MacKenzie". The report adds that "the old village further up the hill was replaced by a crescent of blackhouses ... Those were damaged by a hurricane, and in 1861, 16 new dwellings replaced the blackhouses which were relegated to byres".<ref name="canmore.org.uk">{{cite web |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/9668/st-kilda-hirta-village-bay |title=Stories from St Kilda |date=11 January 2008 |work=Historic Environment Scotland |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> 
[[File:St Kilda Cleit.jpg|thumb|A cleit, used for storing and drying food; 1898 photo]]
Missionaries provided education for many years but by 1872, the state took over; a true school building was eventually built.<ref name="nrscotland.gov.uk"/>

A diary (now owned by the NTS) written by a school teacher who worked in Village Bay shed some light on life here in the early 1900s. One source offers this perspective about the island in that era:<ref name="Scottish Field">{{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 |quote=}}</ref> <blockquote>"relatively speaking, a vibrant, well-connected and economically successful place thanks to a booming tourist trade and a buoyant market for the island’s tweed. Whaling boats brought supplies of coal and the government was able to provide more services for the islanders – visiting doctors had spent the two weeks ... vaccinating its residents – and the frequent presence of English fishing fleets meant they were better linked to the wider world than ever before".</blockquote>

Medical care was always limited. In the late 1890s, there was a single nurse stationed on the island, with limited medical supplies. That level continued until the contingent was increased in 1915.<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>

In 1908, British [[Pathé News]] released a documentary film, ''The Island Of St. Kilda'', which shed light on the lifestyle in Hirta during that era. The film is available for viewing on several Web sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-island-of-st-kilda |title=The Island Of St. Kilda |date= |work=British Pathe |access-date=11 February 2021 |quote=The inhabitants completely isolated from the rest of the world, live on the products which nature furnishes them}}</ref>

A documentary film which included scenes and people in Hirta filmed primarily in 1923, was released in 1928. The summary for ''[[St Kilda, Britain's Loneliest Isle]]'', states: "A voyage from Glasgow to St Kilda, containing scenes of the Western Isles and island life of the crofters on St Kilda". The film is available for viewing on a [[National Library of Scotland]] Web page which also includes a great deal of specifics in the text, in a "Shotlist".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/0418 |title=ST. KILDA - BRITAIN'S LONELIEST ISLE |date=12 February 2008 |work=National Library of Scotland |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=Research suggests scenes on the island of Hirta taken in May 1923, with later footage of the voyage to the St Kilda islands taken c. 1928.}}</ref>

=== Declining population ===
In 1764 (according to the Census),<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/29/1764-census-reveals-st-kilda-residents-feasted-on-1600-seabirds-a-day 1764 census reveals St Kilda residents feasted on 1,600 seabirds a day 29 December 2016]</ref> there were 90 St Kildans, 105 in 1841, and 112 in 1851. The following year, 36 left for Australia, financed by the Highland and Island Emigration Society.<ref>[https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/scotlands-history-emigration-st-kilda Scotland's History: Emigration from St Kilda 27 February 2019]</ref> By the 1861 census, the population was only 71; by 1911 it was 74, and 43 by 1927, declining to 36 by 1930.<ref name="nrscotland.gov.uk"/>

=== 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 the first daily communications with the mainland were established. In a belated response, 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=www.mnb.seekrieg14-18.de}}</ref> arrived in Village Bay on the morning of 15 May 1918 and, after issuing a warning, started shelling the island. One report states that "the wireless station was destroyed. The manse, church & jetty storehouse were damaged, but no loss of life occurred".<ref>[https://www.virtualheb.co.uk/st-kilda-hirta-outer-hebrides-western-isles-islands/ St Kilda - Western Isles - Outer Hebrides]</ref>

Another source offers this perspective about the significance of WW I: "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="Scottish Field"/>

===Evacuation and subsequent years===
Before the evacuation in 1930,  thirteen men, ten women, eight girls and five boys lived in St Kilda, all on Hirta. The 10 households rented cottages from the landowner, with the other six cottages being unoccupied. The evacuation was encouraged by [[Williamina Barclay]], the resident Queen's Nurse, who was very concerned about health issues on Hirta, especially after the deaths of two young women. The islanders finally agreed and the majority signed a petition on 10 May 1930, stating that "it would be impossible to stay on the island another winter." The plan was supported by Dugald Munro, the missionary and schoolteacher, and by Nurse Barclay.<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><ref>[https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//research/StKildaFeature-AF57-26-3Transcription.pdf Petition to Secretary of State for Scotland signed by the islanders of St Kilda requesting government assistance to leave the island, 10 May 1930]</ref>

The evacuation was completed on 29 August 1930, using [[HMS Harebell (1918)|HMS ''Harebell'']] which took them to [[Lochaline]], in the Morvern peninsula.<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/day-1930-evacuation-st-kilda-581945 On this day 1930: The evacuation of St Kilda]</ref> One report provided this summary: 
<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><ref name="scotsman">{{cite web |url=http://heritage.scotsman.com/timelines.cfm?cid=1&id=1652132005 |title=St Kilda and the seas of change |access-date=12 October 2007 |last=Maclean |first=Diane |date=2005-07-20 |work=[[The Scotsman]] |publisher=Scotsman Publications Ltd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710222939/http://heritage.scotsman.com/timelines.cfm?cid=1&id=1652132005 |archive-date=10 July 2007}}</ref>
</blockquote>

A film made by a private individual in summer 1930 includes some scenes of the "preparations and evacuation of the island". It is owned by the National Library of Scotland and available for viewing on their website.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/0793  |title=EVACUATION OF ST. KILDA |date= |work=National Library of Scotland |access-date=11 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

According to the National Records of Scotland, "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 name="Stories from St Kilda"/>

As of 1930, St Kilda was owned by Sir [[Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod]] and sold to the Earl of Dumfries, later [[John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute|Marquess of Bute]], in 1931. He bequeathed it [[National Trust for Scotland]] in 1957.<ref name="Stories from St Kilda"/>  St Kilda was designated as Scotland's first [[World Heritage Site]] in 1987. A few facilities for visitors are available on the island. The [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] established a base on Hirta for tracking missiles fired from the station on [[South Uist]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualhebrides.com/location/kilda.htm |title=St. Kilda / Hirta |access-date=2010-02-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305184414/http://www.virtualhebrides.com/location/kilda.htm |archive-date=2010-03-05 }}</ref>

===Military use===
In 1955, the British government decided to incorporate St Kilda into a missile tracking range based in [[Benbecula]], where test firings and flights are carried out.  A variety of military buildings and masts were erected, including a canteen (which is not open to the public), the Puff Inn. Some of the workers do live on the island throughout the year.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/puffinnstatement.htm "Puff Inn statement"]. 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>

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}}</ref> With no permanent population, the island population can vary between 20 and 70. 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}}</ref>