|
|
Article: Life and death on remote St. Kilda
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- August 19, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
|
ST. KILDA From St. Kilda's clifftops, the tallest in the British
Isles at 1,397 feet, the island men for centuries descended by rope
to harvest the seabirds and eggs that formed the mainstay of their
diet.
It was a dizzying and hazardous occupation that gave rise to the
euphemism for death in this most remote British settlement, some 45
miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides in the North Atlantic.
"He's gone over," was the expression - the vivid image of a
final plunge from life into the crashing surf below.
In 1930, after 2,000 years of habitation, St. Kilda saw its
remaining population of 36 souls "go over." The remnant of a unique
community that had survived in near-isolation since ...