by David Yeadon
Iain MacSween at the Stornoway Gazette was my key informant as usual and he was even more upbeat than ever. “Listen—I’ll read you a bit of what we wrote in a piece a week or so ago,” he said with a grin:
“Harris Tweed orders from America and Germany have given a tremendous boost to the industry. Managing Director of the KM Harris Tweed Group Derick Murray said more workers would be taken on and if this continues in the months ahead it will make it a spectacular year for Harris Tweed and the local island economy.
There’s lots more but—what d’y’ think o’ that then?!
“Sounds just like ‘the little island that could’ to me.”
“Absolutely!”
And to hear that the normally modest Derick Murray, owner of the two largest mills on the islands, was finally sounding optimistic, verging on triumphant, was a most unusual—and positive—landmark event.
And, of course, who best to offer the last word and speak for everyone on the island than our “local hero”—he of “Nike” notoriety—the irrepressible Donald John MacKay:
“Och, David—y’wouldna believe how things are going here! It’s buzzin’—really buzzin’ what with all these new orders…. California too—she’s comin’ in strong. Now they’re worried about not havin’ enough weavers! Can y’ believe? We get great news like this and new worries start up! Anyway Derick Murray’s gettin’ some kind of apprentice scheme for new younger weavers so that should help. And last time a’ saw him—a week or so ago—he was actually laughin’! Derick laughin’—high as a kite he was! Haven’t seen that for a long time. Anyway, to sum it all up—it looks like we’re off the cusp for now and rollin’ along the right track—at last—at long last! Och, yes, it’s wonderful—our tweed is finally coming back!”
And so it goes—a little island, now our little island too—floating on into what could be a future of true “sustainable” balance, pride in its enduring traditions, and buoyant optimism.
And I can hear Roddy’s toast: “Na’ that’s certainly something to drink to! Top ’em up David…Slainte! and Ceud mile failte!”
Yes indeed. “Good health” to our island—and a “hundred thousand welcomes” to what could be a fine “future of abundance” here.
Afterword
by Bill Lawson, author of Harris in History and Legend
THE ISLE OF HARRIS, IN the Western Isles of Scotland, is an island of paradoxes.
It is an island, yet it is not an island, being joined by land to the larger Isle of Lewis—though separated by mountains.
It is an island whose east coast is an incredible terrain of rock-strewn wastes—and whose west coast boasts some of the finest sandy beaches in the world.
It is an island on the same latitude as Estonia or Churchill on Hudson’s Bay in Canada, yet we rarely see snow, except on the mountain tops.
It is an island of incredible bleakness in a winter storm, yet the spring and summer coverage of flowers on its machair—the Atlantic shore-lands—is a riot of color, and of perfume.
It is an island whose economy is probably at its lowest ebb, yet where there are expensive new houses being built all the time—though mainly by newcomers, for holiday and retirement homes.
It is an island where the young people have to leave, through lack of economic opportunity, to be replaced by people from all over the world, looking for peace and tranquillity.
It is an island whose culture is being eroded at a frightening pace by the onslaught of modern communications technology and by the replacement of the indigenous people by newcomers, yet it is also a place where visitors come in numbers from all over the world to experience what is left of an older way of life.
It is an island world-famous for the Harris Tweed, yet there are dwindling numbers of weavers left here, and the tweed industry ricochets from crisis to crisis.
It is an island which by all economic measurements ought to be sunk in despondency and depression, and yet has a cheerfulness and ebullience which is a source of wonder to the visitor.
But it is also an island which, if it once gets a hold of you, will stay in your mind—an island which you will wish to visit again and again, to which you will return as to home.
What is the visitor to make of all these facets of the same island? Some come only in the summer, and see the island thronged with tourists, and enjoy summer weather on the beaches and coasts. Others come in the winter, and see an almost-empty island, buffeted by gales and drenched in rain. Some come to see the after-glow of a Celtic twilight, others to hear the Gaelic language in one of its last strongholds. Some come to see a land where virtually nothing has changed for centuries, others to witness the death-throes of a culture under the onslaught of modernity.
Only a few see the island in all its moods, all its weathers, the community in all its strengths and weaknesses. But it is those few who are truly in a position to write about the island as a whole.
David and Anne Yeadon have lived in Harris at all different times of year, in all seasons and in all weathers. They have lived under the shadow of the mountains of North Harris, and beside the sun-white beaches of the Atlantic coast of South Harris, and where they have not lived, they have visited. They have frequented pubs and hotels, they have made the tour of visitor places with the tourists, they have found quiet private places of their own, and above all, they have talked to people—in shops, at the road-side, as guests in their own home, where David is an excellent host, and an excellent chef!
David’s understanding of the world and its remote places has been honed by years of writing travel books and articles for National Geographic and many other magazines, and he has already published a book on the different aspects of a year spent in Basilicata in Southern Italy. It is of great interest to see what he makes of Harris and its paradoxes—and what Harris made of him!
About the Author
DAVID YEADON is the author of Seasons in Basilicata and the bestselling National Geographic Guide to the World’s Secret Places. He has written, illustrated, and designed more than twenty books about traveling around the world. He lives with his wife, Anne, in Mohegan Lake, New York.
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ALSO BY DAVID YEADON
Seasons in Basilicata: A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village
National Geographic Guide to the World’s Secret Places
The Way of the Wanderer: Discovering Your True Self Through Travel
Lost Worlds: Exploring the Earth’s Remote Places
The Back of Beyond: Travels to the Wild Places of the Earth
Backroad Journeys of Southern Europe
Nooks and Crannies of New York
Backroad Journeys of the West Coast States
Hidden Corners of New England
Hidden Corners of the Mid-Atlantic States
Copyright
SEASONS ON HARRIS. Copyright © 2006 by David Yeadon. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition NOVEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780061979934
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