The Hebrides: Their Physical Endowment

As an archipelago, the Hebrides consists of over 100 significant islands plus a vast number of small islets and skerries scattered around their coasts or across the sounds that divide them. Though the bulk of population in the past, as now, was to be found on the larger islands, a substantial number of the smaller islands were also settled, much more so than we find today. Indeed, even offshore islets, barely a hectare or less, were also settled. Further, even some of those that were not settled all year were used for grazing stock or even cultivated. Those who have seen Boreray (Boraraigh) sheep, a breed use to living life at an angle, grazing the precipitous slopes of Boreray close by St Kilda (Hirta) will appreciate how even the most challenging of islands were exploited, without taking into account the birds and eggs that were also seasonally harvested from them. In short, very few parts of the Hebridean archipelago lay beyond what became the habitable or exploitable world of the Hebridean. In this over-view of the region’s environmental character, emphasis will be given to the long-term changes that challenged the its human occupation.