Between the Ears: Island of the Seals

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Island of the Seals

BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, Island of the Seals

A soundscape of the uninhabited island of Eilean nan Ròn, off the north coast of Scotland.

Rob Mackay traces his family roots with an immersive soundscape of the uninhabited island of Eilean nan Ròn, off the north coast of Scotland.

Composer, sound artist and flautist Rob Mackay traces his family roots on Eilean nan Ròn, just off the north coast of Scotland.

In the early 1800s this small island at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue – its Gaelic name translated as “Island of the Seals” – became home to three crofting families, and at its height of population the community flourished to around 70 people. But the island became devoid of human life again by 1938, as the departure of its younger inhabitants prompted a gradual re-location back to the mainland. Since then, apart from a brief period of research into the common cold in the 1950s, Eilean nan Ròn has been home only to the grey seals which give the island its name, a flock of wild sheep, and colonies of seabirds.

The memories created over that century of human inhabitation still linger today though, amongst the ruins of eight abandoned stone houses and their crofts, which dot the dramatic landscape. This story of human life includes the ancestors of Rob Mackay, whose grandfather and great-grandfather lived on the island with their families. 40 years on from his last visit as a child, Rob makes a return trip to search for a closer connection with these family roots, and to understand their self-sustaining way of life, which included fishing for herring, cooking over peat fires and making crowdie. We join Rob as he crosses the short stretch of North Atlantic water to wild-camp next to his grandfather’s house, and uses recorded sound and his own flute playing to tune into the soul of the island’s deserted village.

We hear stories of the island and its people through the voices of Rob’s mum Iona Mackay, his cousins Lina and Donny Mackay, fellow descendent of islanders Ray Richards (archive audio courtesy of Wick Heritage), artist and rower Ruth Macdougall, local school head-teacher and documenter of oral history Katherine Van Voornveld, and Jean Maclean, whose small fishing boat enables Rob and producer Andy to spend 24 hours on the difficult-to-access island. Excerpts from two poems about the island are told by Ray Richards, and storyteller Alex Patience.

Traditional tunes related to the area (The Dark Island, Waters of Kylesku and the Gaelic tune Cailin Mo Rùin-sa) were recorded specially for the programme by fiddler Karen Steven, whose granny was also an inhabitant of the island, with accordionist Alastair Macdonald. Rob’s immersive musical soundscape includes echoes of these fiddle and accordion tunes, field recordings of snapping shrimp and grey seals, and ambisonic recordings from the night on the island.

A BBC Audio production by Andy King with sound mixing by Rob Winter.

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