Pabay: An Island Odyssey - Hardcover

Christopher Whatley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 178027579X ISBN 13: 9781780275796

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd, 2019

Synopsis

The tiny diamond-shaped island of Pabay lies in Skye's Inner Sound, just two and a half miles from the bustling village of Broadford. One of five Hebridean islands of that name, it derives from the Norse papa-ey, meaning 'island of the priests'. Many visitors since the first holy men built their chapel there have felt that Pabay is a deeply spiritual place, and one of wonder. These include the great 19th-century geologists Hugh Miller and Archibald Geikie, for whom the island's rocks and fossil-laden shales revealed much about the nature of Creation itself.

Len and Margaret Whatley moved to Pabay from the Midlands and lived there from 1950 until 1970. Leaving a landlocked life in Birmingham for the emptiness of an uninhabited island was a brave and challenging move for which nothing could have prepared them. Christopher Whatley, their nephew, was a regular visitor to Pabay whilst they lived there. In this book, based on archival research, oral interviews, memory and personal experience, he explores the history of this tiny island jewel, and the people for whom it has been home, to create a vivid picture of the trials, tribulations and joys of island life.

About this title

Product Description

Pabay lies in Skye's Inner Sound off the crofting village of Breakish and the small adjoining town of Broadford. One of five Hebridean islands of that name it derives from the Norwegian papa-ey which means island of priests. Many visitors since the first holy man have built their chapel there and felt that Pabay was a spiritual place. The Whatley family moved to Pabay from the Midlands and lived and worked there from 1950 until the 1970s. The author nephew of Len and Margaret Whatley spent long periods on the island experiencing the trials tribulations and joys of island life. In this book he uses his own and his familiy's experiences as conduits into the island's deeper history which has never been told.

Review

'This Odyssey is replete with cases of the past and present colliding, of scandals and skirmishes, pilgrimages and political spats, and it creates a vivid depiction of the many trials, tribulations and joys of island life' -- Neil Drysdale * Press and Journal * 'An island history almost without comparison... one of the finest Highland books of the 21st Century ... There has, to my knowledge, never before been one devoted entirely to the tiny Pabay in Broadford Bay. Nor has there been written quite so good a book, on this or any other Scottish subject' -- Roger Hutchinson * West Highland Free Press *

Edition details

• Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 178027579X
• ISBN 13: 9781780275796
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320