Monday 12 August 2013

'H' for Holy


The 'H' obviously stands for helipad, here on Eilean Mor, Flannan Isles. The archipelago which is known as 'The Seven Hunters' and at times, 'The Seven Holy Islands', is also associated with that letter of the alphabet. In 1703 Martin Martin refers to the pilgrimages that took place to the chapel on the largest of the group where St Flannan's Chapel (below) is to be found. The pilgrims, in holy anticipation, observed the custom, as they approached the plateau, of removing their hats and turning in a 'sunwise' or 'sunward' direction. This east to west movement was generally considered to be 'the prosperous course'. To turn the other way was to invoke trouble, known in Lowland Scots as 'widdershins'.


Scottish Islands Explorer - fails to contain the letter 'H'

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