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Belnahua

Coordinates:56°15′N5°41.3′W/ 56.250°N 5.6883°W/56.250; -5.6883
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Belnahua
Scottish GaelicnameBeul na h-Uamha
Meaning of nameThe mouth of the cave
Belnahua from the south
Belnahua from the south
Location
Belnahua is located in Argyll and Bute
Belnahua
Belnahua
Belnahua shown within Argyll and Bute
OS grid referenceNM713127
Coordinates56°15′N5°41′W/ 56.25°N 5.69°W/56.25; -5.69
Physical geography
Island groupSlate Islands
Highest elevation22 m (72 ft)
Administration
Council areaArgyll and Bute
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Demographics
Population0
Lymphad
References[1][2][3][4]

Belnahuais one of theSlate Islands,in theFirth of LorninScotland,known for its desertedslatequarries.The bedrock that underpins its human history is part of the Scarba Conglomerate Formation and its value has been on record since the 16th century.[5][6]Likely uninhabited before commercial quarrying commenced,[7]under the control of the Stevenson family during the 19th century[8]the population expanded to over 150[9]before the island was abandoned again in 1914.[10]

Living on a remote island in the 19th century came with significant hardships and the lives of the quarry workers have been described in unflattering terms by modern commentators, one describing them as in effect "slaves".[11]Today, the ruined buildings and abandoned machinery lie amidst the water filled quarries and are home only to wildlife.[12]There are very strong tidal streams in the area and this a potentially hazardous location for shipping. In 1936 thecargo vesselHelēna Faulbaumswas wrecked on the island, with the loss of 15 lives.[13]

Geography

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Belnahua is in thecouncil areaofArgyll and Buteand liestwo kilometres (1+1⁄4miles) west ofLuingand three kilometres (two miles) east ofDùn Chonnuillin theGarvellachs.[3]The island is roughly 6 hectares (15 acres) in extent.[14]About 500 metres (550 yards) southeast is the islet ofFladda,[3]the lighthouse on which is a "well-known sea-mark in theSound of Luing".[2]

The island has been considerably denuded by quarrying – a process sometimes described as having broken its back.[15]Deep water-filled cuttings and the ruined slate workers cottages remain as a testament to this industry.[16]There was a jetty to the east of the island,[3][17]but it was worn away within the last quarter of the twentieth century.

Belnahua exists amongst sea lanes that have numerous islands and skerries that "swarm like bees on a branch" amongst the "most treacherous seas and complicated channels of the west coast" of Scotland,[15]including theGulf of Corryvreckansome ten kilometres (six miles) to the south.[3]The island is part of theScarba, Lunga and the Garvellachs National Scenic Area.[18]

Geology

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The bedrock of Belnahua is in large part aNeoproterozoicage slate,graphiticpelitereferred to the Jura Slate Member of the Scarba Conglomerate Formation. The Jura Slates are also found along the east coasts of Scarba and of Jura to the south. Like the Easdale Slates found across the Sound of Luing these slates belong to the Easdale Subgroup of theDalradianArgyll Group.Three NNW-SSE aligned tracts ofmetalimestone,assigned to the Ardrishaig Phyllite Formation, are identified in the southern half of Belnahua. Adoleriticigneousdykecuts through the centre of the island and is identified as part of theMull Dyke Swarmof earlyPalaeogeneage, associated with thecentral volcanic complexwhich developed inMull.In common with other shoreline zones in the region, the relatively flat surface of the island is as a result ofmarine planationwhen relative sea levels were higher, the steep sides of the knoll in the west having formed as sea cliffs.[19][5]

History

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Early times

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In the 7th century theCenél Loairnkindred controlled what is today known asLornin the kingdom ofDalriada.[20]From about the mid-9th century Belnahua would then have become part of the NorseKingdom of the Isles.[21]The first written reference to the island appears in the 1549Description of the Western Isles of ScotlandbyDonald Monro.[6]He wrote of "Belnachua" or "Belnachna"; "Narrest the Wolfiis iyle layes ane iyllane, callit in Erische Leid-Ellan-Belnachna, quharin ther is fair skailzie aneuche".[6]In modern English this brief entry reads as "Nearest the Wolf's Iyle lies an island called in theScottish Gaeliclanguage "Ellan-Belnachna", where there is good sufficiency of slate ". Not all of the islands that Monro mentions have been identified and the location of" Wolf's Iyle "or" Ellan Madie "is uncertain.[Note 1]

Slate quarrying

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Ruined cottages on Belnahua

According to theOld Statistical Account,quarrying began on Belnahua in 1632.[8]The island was probably uninhabited prior to that.[7][Note 2]By this time the island may have become part of the Netherlorn estates of theBreadalbanefamily (a branch ofClan Campbell).[24]In 1730 Colin Campbell of Carwhin was appointed to oversee their estates in Netherlorn and was tasked with exploiting the area's natural resources.Easdaleslate had been used from as early as the 12th century using seasonal labour from the Ardmaddy estate.[7]In 1745 Campbell created the Easdale Marble and Slate Company (later shortened to Easdale Slate Company) in order to place extractions from the area on a more commercial basis.[25]At that point Easdale was producing 1 million slates per annum and as further quarries were opened this further increased the company's production to 5 million per annum by 1800.[26]

In the 1790s Belnahua was leased out by the landowners to the Stevenson brothers whose aim was to supply slate for the developing town ofOban.[Note 3]Cottages were constructed for the workers in the south east corner of the island and there was a school and company store. Virtually all the provisions had to be supplied from Luing, including drinking water. Rainwater was collected in reservoirs but it was used to power the steam engines that drove the quarries' pumps. By the early 19th century the Stevenson family were shipping slate from both Belnahua and Fladda toCampbeltowninKintyre.[8]Their lease was eventually passed on to the Shaw family of Luing who hired a quarry master that lived on a 2-storey house on the island. At the height of the activity there were 30 quarry workers and their families living there and a total population of over 150.[27][9]With the commencement ofWorld War Iin 1914 quarry work ceased and the island was completely abandoned and it has been uninhabited ever since.[10]

The Breadalbane estates were sold off in the 1930s[10]and as of 2004 Belnahua was owned by the Carling family.[2]

Life on the island

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Living on a remote island in the 19th century came with hardships. Quarry workers sought employment from around Scotland, some arriving in an area where they would have had few friends or family to support them in times of difficulty. There is no protection from the wind and it can be a "harsh and desolate" location, especially in winter.[9]One writer has gone so far as to suggest that although some islands can suggest a lifestyle of peace and tranquility, that Belnahua "buffeted by the sea and the winds, overshadowed from the south by the lowering cliffs of Scarba, and dominated by the threatening deep maws of the slate quarries at its heart, could surely have engendered little more than tension, fear, agitation and anxiety."[8]

Paul Murtontook a similar view of the islanders' circumstances: "They were paid poorly and forced to rent their homes and buy all their supplies from their feudal superior, the Campbell Marquis of Breadalbane, who kept the workforce in a state of permanent debt and poverty. Effectively, the people of Belnahua were slaves."[11]

Shipwrecks

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Belnahua andFladdafromCullipoolonLuingwith theGarvellachsin the distance.

On 15 August 1900 the 310-tonne (340-short-ton) ironsteamshipApolloran aground on Bono Reeftwo kilometres (1+1⁄4mi) north of Belnahua. She was carrying a cargo of granite cobble stones fromAberdeentoNewport.The wreck lies in a gully some 10 metres (35 ft) down amidst thickkelp.[13]

The 1,770-tonne (1,950-short-ton) unladenLatvianvesselHelēna Faulbaumsleft theMerseyon 26 October 1936 en route forBlyth.Encountering a storm, she headed for the Firth of Lorn seeking shelter although the light load meant that the propeller was ineffective in the high seas. At 7pm her steering failed and captain ordered the anchors to be deployed but they could not hold in the deep waters.[28]The radio operator sent out SOS messages but the storm had disrupted communications and the localcoastguardscould not make contact with the lifeboat station atPort Askaig.The lifeboat was finally launched when a message was broadcast by theBBC.[29]There is an extensive drying reef to the north of Belnahua[3]and at 10pm that night theHelēna Faulbaumsstruck it broadside and foundered, sinking within ten minutes[28]with the loss of 15 lives including two 18-year-old boys.[Note 4]Four sailors managed to scramble ashore and were rescued the next day by theIslaylifeboat and taken toCrinan.[30]The bodies of the other crew members were washed ashore on Luing.[29][31]Seven of the perished were later buried in a widely attended ceremony inCullipoolcemetery on Luing, but the captain of the ship Nikolajs Cughauss was repatriated to Latvia by the wish of his brother. A small monument has also been built at the gravesite.[31][32][Note 5]

The wreck lies in 60 metres (195 ft) of water. There are very strong tidal streams in the area and diving is only possible at slack water.[13]

Wildlife

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Otters and seals are regular visitors to the coast of Belnahua, the latter fishing forling,saitheandcodwhich get trapped in the sea-flooded quarries at low tide. The only land mammal on the island is thefield vole.[33]

The soils are very poor in quality sohorticulturaloptions are "limited or non-existent" and the ruined buildings and abandoned machinery lie amidst "waist high grasses".[12]The aim of the Slate Islands Heritage Trust is to record the island's history but otherwise leave it untouched.[34]

Notes

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  1. ^R. W. Munro offers no suggestion for this island's identity.[22]A derivation ofUlvais from the Old Norseulvøymeaning "wolf island".[23]The tidal Ulva Islands in Loch Sween atNR727824are thus a possibility for "the Wolfiis iyle" although they are by no means "nearest" to Belnahua.
  2. ^Withall states that Belnahua was "probably uninhabited" prior to the formation of the Easdale Marble and Slate Company in 1730,[7]but Pallister quotes the significantly earlier date of 1632.[8]
  3. ^Pallister states that as Belnahua was part of the parish of Jura rather than Kilbrandon and Kilchattan that it never became part of the Breadalbane estates and implies that the Stevensons had set up an independent commercial "empire".[8]
  4. ^Haswell-Smith has the loss of life at 16.[2]
  5. ^SeeTalk:Belnahua#Latvian sources and the Helēna Faulbaumsfor a translation of this article fromBrīvā Zemeinto English.

References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^2001 UK Census perList of islands of Scotland
  2. ^abcdHaswell-Smith (2004),p. 67.
  3. ^abcdefOrdnance Survey.OS Maps Online(Map). 1:25,000. Leisure.
  4. ^Iain Mac an Tailleir."Placenames"(PDF).Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 23 September 2011.Retrieved28 July2007.
  5. ^ab"Kilmartin, Scotland sheet 36, Bedrock and Superficial deposits".BGS large map images.British Geological Survey.Retrieved5 February2020.
  6. ^abcMonro (1549),27.
  7. ^abcdWithall (2013),p. 5.
  8. ^abcdefPallister (2007),Slated.
  9. ^abcWithall (2018),Early Days in the Easdale Practice.
  10. ^abcWithall (2013),p. 11.
  11. ^abMurton (2017),p. 32.
  12. ^abWithall (2013),pp. 50, 69.
  13. ^abcBaird (1995),p. 115.
  14. ^Estimate fromOrdnance Surveymaps.
  15. ^abMurray (1977),p. 124.
  16. ^"Overview of Belnahua".Gazetteer for Scotland.Retrieved28 July2007.
  17. ^"Belnahua slate quarries".Canmore. Retrieved 7 June 2020
  18. ^"National Scenic Areas of Scotland: overview map".(pdf) Scottish Government. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  19. ^"Onshore Geoindex".British Geological Survey.British Geological Survey.Retrieved10 June2020.
  20. ^Fraser (2009),pp. 245–46.
  21. ^Woolf (2007),pp. 99–100, 286–89.
  22. ^Munro (1961),p. 116.
  23. ^Haswell-Smith (2004),p. 102.
  24. ^Withall (2013),p. viii.
  25. ^Withall (2013),p. 6.
  26. ^Withall (2013),p. 7.
  27. ^"Belnahua".Slate Islands Heritage Trust. Retrieved 7 June 2020
  28. ^abBaird (1995),p. 113.
  29. ^abBaird (1995),p. 114.
  30. ^"Helena Faulbaums: Belnahua, Sound Of Luing".Canmore - Quoting the Oban Times of 31 October 1936. Retrieved 7 June 2020
  31. ^ab"Luing recalls tragedy that claimed sailors".The Oban Times.10 November 2016.Retrieved15 May2020– via PressReader.
  32. ^"Šodien gulda Skotijas zemē 7 latvju jūrniekus"[Today 7 Latvian sailors are buried on Scottish soil].Brīvā Zeme.2 November 1936. Archived fromthe originalon 8 January 2021.Retrieved6 June2020.
  33. ^Withall (2013),p. 50.
  34. ^Withall (2013),p. 69.

Bibliography

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