The name Stac an Armin means stack of the soldier/warrior, and evidence remains showing it was used by people living nearby as a hunting grounds. It is not believed to have been inhabited year round, but has hosted some (involuntary) extended stays. Climbing the rocks was once done to collect eggs and has continued in the form of recreational sport. The island was once home to the now extinct great auk, and rules exist to protect the bird habitats and breeding grounds.
Stac an Armin is 400 metres (¼ mi) north of Boreray and near the 172-metre-high (564 ft) Stac Lee. Stac an Armin is separated from Boreray by a channel "so littered with rocks" that it should not be sailed,[8] though sailors write passionately about the views.[9]
Stac an Armin with Boreray to the left and Stac Lee beyond at right
The first written account of the island was Martin Martin's description in the early 18th century. Martin wrote about the island after the Scottish writer had visited St Kilda in 1697 and included a few anecdotes about the stack in his A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland published in 1703. It was the first comprehensive book on the archipelago, to which was appended "A Late Voyage to St Kilda". Martin calls the island "Stack-Narmin."[10]
It was never inhabited full-time, but hunting its bird population helped sustain the way of life of the population of St Kilda, as evidenced by the buildings they left behind. There are no fewer than 78 storage cleitean on Stac an Armin and a small bothy, built by the St Kildans. Martin describes these cleitean as "pyramids" and wrote they were used to "preserve and dry" birds, especially the "solan goose" (northern gannet). Martin observed one harvest that brought in 800 birds.[10] In addition to the geese, the islanders used Stac an Armin for harvesting great auks, gannets, and puffins, as well as their eggs.[11] The numerous birds that lived on the island were an important source of sustenance for the people of St Kilda.[12]
The longest recorded period anyone ever spent on the island was about nine months. Three men and eight boys from Hirta were marooned here from about 15 August 1727 until 13 May 1728. As luck would have it, Hirta suffered a smallpox outbreak while the eleven were on the stack, and thus the islanders were unable to man a boat and retrieve them until the next year.[13] Such temporary accidental occupation of the island may have been a regular event, since Martin Martin also relates, in an anecdote in A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, how a group of some twenty men were stranded on the island for a couple of days after the rope that held their boat broke. They survived by fishing, and communicated to their wives that they were alive and well by lighting "as many fires on the top of an eminence as there were men in number." Martin adds, curiously, that the wives were so overjoyed that they managed to produce a record harvest of corn that year.[14]
The archipelago as a whole was evacuated in 1930, and bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957. Hunting birds is no longer allowed, and the stack is visited only occasionally by scientists, journalists and climbers.
On Stac an Armin, in July, 1840, the last great auk (Pinguinus impennis) seen in Britain[15] was caught and killed. A then 75-year-old inhabitant of St Kilda told Henry Evans, a frequent visitor to the archipelago, that he and his father-in-law with another man had caught a "garefowl," noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days, and then killed it by beating it with a stick, apparently because they believed it to be a witch.[16][17] The last known specimens in the world were killed a few years later either in Eldey, Iceland, or off Newfoundland.
Climbing the stack
Native St Kildans have climbed Stac an Armin and other cliffs in St Kilda for centuries in order to harvest birds and eggs; they climbed alpine-style, barefoot or in thick socks, using ropes pleated of horse hair.[18] Modern ascents are few; some may have been done illegally. Mountaindays.net has no routes, information, or comments;[19] however, chatter among online groups suggests attempts are made.[20] The summit of Stac an Armin was reached by a party of 11 Marilynbaggers on 13 October 2014.[21] Prior to that, the only verifiable modern ascent happened in 1969, when a group which included Dick Balharry and John Morton Boyd made a number of ascents in the archipelago, which included climbing Stac an Armin.[18]
Climbing Stac an Armin (and Stac Lee), though attractive ("St Kilda presents some of the most challenging climbing in Britain"[4]) is complicated by a number of factors. The climb of Stac an Armin itself is described as "little easier than Stac Lee," but the topography makes it a "major expedition" and "the weather can make nonsense of any landing plans."[22] The stack is accessible only with difficulty;[23][24] more importantly, since the entire archipelago is both a national nature reserve and a World Heritage Site (principally for the cliffs and seabird colonies[25]) managed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), climbing is strictly regulated since it potentially disturbs the natural and cultural heritage and particularly the rich birdlife; according to the 2003 Management Plan, "For natural heritage interests, natural processes will normally be allowed to continue without intervention."[26]
The St Kilda archipelago
The 2003 management plan is quite specific about the dangers of climbing in St Kilda: the object of prescription 21.5 is to "Ensure that breeding seabirds are not disturbed by climbing on the cliffs,"[27] though the Plan suggests the allowance of climbing the cliffs under strictly monitored circumstances.[28] Prescription 26.4 states that a policy that satisfies climbers and does not violate the Trust's mission is to be developed.[29] The Trust's strict but preliminary position on climbing was formalized quite explicitly:
Given the difficulty of the climbs, the lack of any rescue or medical facilities on St Kilda and the risk of disturbance to nesting bird on the cliffs, climbing on St Kilda is not permitted without the express permission of the Trust. This is stated formally under the St Kilda Bylaws (No 10).[30] As part of the process of implementing this Management Plan, the Trust will liaise with SNH and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland to review whether any change is merited to this position.[31]
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, in a review of the plan, "recommends that the NTS celebrate the historical importance and the cultural heritage of the climbing on the Islands of St Kilda."[4]
^"Corrections and clarifications". The Guardian. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
^Dawson, Alan (1992). Relative Hills of Britain. Cicerone Press. p. 109. ISBN978-1-85284-068-6.
^The National Trust for Scotland has 191 m. "St Kilda: Fascinating Facts". St Kilda - National Trust for Scotland World Heritage Site. National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
^Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2000). An Island Odyssey: Among the Scottish Isles in the Wake of Martin Martin. Canongate U.S. p. 87. ISBN978-1-84195-082-2.
^Nicolson, Adam (2005). Seamanship: A Voyage Along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles. HarperCollins. p. 134. ISBN978-0-06-075342-9.
^ ab"A Late Voyage to St. Kilda," chapter 2, in Martin, Martin. Donald J. Macleod (ed.). . Archived from the original on 13 March 2007.
^Black, Clair (24 January 2009). "The Ballad of St Kilda". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
^Williams, Huw (18 July 2002). "Islands at the Edge of the World". BBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
^Rackwitz, Martin (2007). Travels to Terra Incognita: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers' Accounts C. 1600 to 1800. Waxmann Verlag. p. 352. ISBN978-3-8309-1699-4.
^Martin, A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland.
^. Mountaindays.net. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^See, for instance, Alan Dawson, "St Kilda (25)": "I have spoken to four people who have been there and who between them have climbed all the St Kilda Marilyns." Dawson, Alan (May 2001). . MARHOFN: The Newsletter for Marilyn Baggers. Marilyn Hall of Fame News. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^"Landing on Stac an Armin is the difficulty, in this case, as the climb itself is reported to be straightforward." St Kilda Management Plan 2003–2008, 102.
^"I doubt if many in the Marhofn 1000-up club will ever climb Stac an Armin or Stac Lee, unless helicopter-assisted." Brown, Hamish (October–November 2002). . The Angry Corrie: Scotland's Heritage Hillzine. 55. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^St Kilda Management Plan 2003–2008, 10. See also p. 66, "It was placed on the World Heritage List in 1986 for its natural characteristics only."
^"St Kilda’s sea cliffs are the highest in the UK and thus offer an attractive challenge to modern day climbers. However, climbing on the sea stacs and cliffs causes disturbance to nesting seabirds and for that reason special permission is required from the Trust and SNH under the terms of the St Kilda bylaws." St Kilda Management Plan 2003–2008, 45.
^"Develop a policy on climbing on St Kilda that ensures rock climbing does not in any way interfere with breeding seabirds, vegetated sea cliffs or wild land quality." St Kilda Management Plan 2003–2008, 45.
^"The St Kilda Byelaws". St Kilda – National Trust for Scotland World Heritage Site. National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN978-1-84195-454-7.
Rackwitz, Martin. Travels to Terra Incognita: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers' Accounts C. 1600 to 1800. Waxmann Verlag, 2007. ISBN978-3-8309-1699-4.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stac an Armin.
stac, armin, scottish, gaelic, stac, Àrmainn, based, proper, scottish, gaelic, spelling, formerly, àrmuinn, stack, kilda, archipelago, metres, tall, qualifying, marilyn, highest, stack, scotland, british, isles, scottish, gaelic, namestac, Àrmainnmeaning, name. Stac an Armin Scottish Gaelic Stac an Armainn based on the proper Scottish Gaelic spelling formerly armuinn is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago It is 196 metres 643 ft tall qualifying it as a Marilyn 4 It is the highest sea stack in Scotland and the British Isles 5 6 7 Stac an ArminScottish Gaelic nameStac an ArmainnMeaning of name Gaelic stack of the warrior LocationStac an ArminStac an Armin shown within the Outer HebridesOS grid referenceNA151064Coordinates57 53 N 8 29 W 57 88 N 8 49 W 57 88 8 49Physical geographyIsland groupSt KildaArea9 9 ha 24 acres Highest elevation196 m 643 ft AdministrationSovereign stateUnited KingdomCountryScotlandCouncil areaOuter HebridesDemographicsPopulation0References 1 2 3 The name Stac an Armin means stack of the soldier warrior and evidence remains showing it was used by people living nearby as a hunting grounds It is not believed to have been inhabited year round but has hosted some involuntary extended stays Climbing the rocks was once done to collect eggs and has continued in the form of recreational sport The island was once home to the now extinct great auk and rules exist to protect the bird habitats and breeding grounds Stac an Armin is 400 metres mi north of Boreray and near the 172 metre high 564 ft Stac Lee Stac an Armin is separated from Boreray by a channel so littered with rocks that it should not be sailed 8 though sailors write passionately about the views 9 Stac an Armin with Boreray to the left and Stac Lee beyond at right Contents 1 History and people 2 The last great auk in Britain 3 Climbing the stack 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksHistory and people EditThe first written account of the island was Martin Martin s description in the early 18th century Martin wrote about the island after the Scottish writer had visited St Kilda in 1697 and included a few anecdotes about the stack in his A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland published in 1703 It was the first comprehensive book on the archipelago to which was appended A Late Voyage to St Kilda Martin calls the island Stack Narmin 10 It was never inhabited full time but hunting its bird population helped sustain the way of life of the population of St Kilda as evidenced by the buildings they left behind There are no fewer than 78 storage cleitean on Stac an Armin and a small bothy built by the St Kildans Martin describes these cleitean as pyramids and wrote they were used to preserve and dry birds especially the solan goose northern gannet Martin observed one harvest that brought in 800 birds 10 In addition to the geese the islanders used Stac an Armin for harvesting great auks gannets and puffins as well as their eggs 11 The numerous birds that lived on the island were an important source of sustenance for the people of St Kilda 12 Boreray with Stac an Armin left and Stac Lee right The longest recorded period anyone ever spent on the island was about nine months Three men and eight boys from Hirta were marooned here from about 15 August 1727 until 13 May 1728 As luck would have it Hirta suffered a smallpox outbreak while the eleven were on the stack and thus the islanders were unable to man a boat and retrieve them until the next year 13 Such temporary accidental occupation of the island may have been a regular event since Martin Martin also relates in an anecdote in A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland how a group of some twenty men were stranded on the island for a couple of days after the rope that held their boat broke They survived by fishing and communicated to their wives that they were alive and well by lighting as many fires on the top of an eminence as there were men in number Martin adds curiously that the wives were so overjoyed that they managed to produce a record harvest of corn that year 14 The archipelago as a whole was evacuated in 1930 and bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957 Hunting birds is no longer allowed and the stack is visited only occasionally by scientists journalists and climbers The last great auk in Britain Edit Mounted great auk Natural History Museum London On Stac an Armin in July 1840 the last great auk Pinguinus impennis seen in Britain 15 was caught and killed A then 75 year old inhabitant of St Kilda told Henry Evans a frequent visitor to the archipelago that he and his father in law with another man had caught a garefowl noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head They tied it up and kept it alive for three days and then killed it by beating it with a stick apparently because they believed it to be a witch 16 17 The last known specimens in the world were killed a few years later either in Eldey Iceland or off Newfoundland Climbing the stack EditNative St Kildans have climbed Stac an Armin and other cliffs in St Kilda for centuries in order to harvest birds and eggs they climbed alpine style barefoot or in thick socks using ropes pleated of horse hair 18 Modern ascents are few some may have been done illegally Mountaindays net has no routes information or comments 19 however chatter among online groups suggests attempts are made 20 The summit of Stac an Armin was reached by a party of 11 Marilyn baggers on 13 October 2014 21 Prior to that the only verifiable modern ascent happened in 1969 when a group which included Dick Balharry and John Morton Boyd made a number of ascents in the archipelago which included climbing Stac an Armin 18 Climbing Stac an Armin and Stac Lee though attractive St Kilda presents some of the most challenging climbing in Britain 4 is complicated by a number of factors The climb of Stac an Armin itself is described as little easier than Stac Lee but the topography makes it a major expedition and the weather can make nonsense of any landing plans 22 The stack is accessible only with difficulty 23 24 more importantly since the entire archipelago is both a national nature reserve and a World Heritage Site principally for the cliffs and seabird colonies 25 managed by Scottish Natural Heritage SNH climbing is strictly regulated since it potentially disturbs the natural and cultural heritage and particularly the rich birdlife according to the 2003 Management Plan For natural heritage interests natural processes will normally be allowed to continue without intervention 26 The St Kilda archipelagoThe 2003 management plan is quite specific about the dangers of climbing in St Kilda the object of prescription 21 5 is to Ensure that breeding seabirds are not disturbed by climbing on the cliffs 27 though the Plan suggests the allowance of climbing the cliffs under strictly monitored circumstances 28 Prescription 26 4 states that a policy that satisfies climbers and does not violate the Trust s mission is to be developed 29 The Trust s strict but preliminary position on climbing was formalized quite explicitly Given the difficulty of the climbs the lack of any rescue or medical facilities on St Kilda and the risk of disturbance to nesting bird on the cliffs climbing on St Kilda is not permitted without the express permission of the Trust This is stated formally under the St Kilda Bylaws No 10 30 As part of the process of implementing this Management Plan the Trust will liaise with SNH and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland to review whether any change is merited to this position 31 The Mountaineering Council of Scotland in a review of the plan recommends that the NTS celebrate the historical importance and the cultural heritage of the climbing on the Islands of St Kilda 4 See also Edit Scottish islands portalList of islands of Scotland List of outlying islands of ScotlandReferences Edit 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland Haswell Smith Hamish 2004 The Scottish Islands Edinburgh Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 454 7 Ordnance Survey a b c St Kilda Management Plan Review The Scottish Mountaineer Mountaineering Council of Scotland 2002 Retrieved 5 February 2009 Corrections and clarifications The Guardian 16 April 2007 Retrieved 5 February 2009 Dawson Alan 1992 Relative Hills of Britain Cicerone Press p 109 ISBN 978 1 85284 068 6 The National Trust for Scotland has 191 m St Kilda Fascinating Facts St Kilda National Trust for Scotland World Heritage Site National Trust for Scotland Retrieved 5 February 2009 Haswell Smith Hamish 2000 An Island Odyssey Among the Scottish Isles in the Wake of Martin Martin Canongate U S p 87 ISBN 978 1 84195 082 2 Nicolson Adam 2005 Seamanship A Voyage Along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles HarperCollins p 134 ISBN 978 0 06 075342 9 a b A Late Voyage to St Kilda chapter 2 in Martin Martin Donald J Macleod ed A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland circa 1695 Archived from the original on 13 March 2007 Black Clair 24 January 2009 The Ballad of St Kilda The Scotsman Retrieved 5 February 2009 Williams Huw 18 July 2002 Islands at the Edge of the World BBC News Retrieved 5 February 2009 Rackwitz Martin 2007 Travels to Terra Incognita The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers Accounts C 1600 to 1800 Waxmann Verlag p 352 ISBN 978 3 8309 1699 4 Martin A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland Rackwitz Travels to Terra Incognito 347 Gaskell Jeremy 2000 Who Killed the Great Auk Oxford UP p 142 ISBN 978 0 19 856478 2 Fuller Errol 2003 The Great Auk The Extinction of the Original Penguin Bunker Hill Publishing p 34 ISBN 978 1 59373 003 1 a b St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 PDF National Trust for Scotland 2003 p 102 Stac an Armin Mountaindays net 2008 Archived from the original on 19 July 2011 Retrieved 6 February 2009 See for instance Alan Dawson St Kilda 25 I have spoken to four people who have been there and who between them have climbed all the St Kilda Marilyns Dawson Alan May 2001 St Kilda 25 MARHOFN The Newsletter for Marilyn Baggers Marilyn Hall of Fame News Archived from the original on 9 January 2009 Retrieved 6 February 2009 BBC News Alan Dawson St Kilda 25 Landing on Stac an Armin is the difficulty in this case as the climb itself is reported to be straightforward St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 102 I doubt if many in the Marhofn 1000 up club will ever climb Stac an Armin or Stac Lee unless helicopter assisted Brown Hamish October November 2002 Letter to the Editor The Angry Corrie Scotland s Heritage Hillzine 55 Archived from the original on 4 February 2012 Retrieved 6 February 2009 St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 10 See also p 66 It was placed on the World Heritage List in 1986 for its natural characteristics only St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 21 St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 41 St Kilda s sea cliffs are the highest in the UK and thus offer an attractive challenge to modern day climbers However climbing on the sea stacs and cliffs causes disturbance to nesting seabirds and for that reason special permission is required from the Trust and SNH under the terms of the St Kilda bylaws St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 45 Develop a policy on climbing on St Kilda that ensures rock climbing does not in any way interfere with breeding seabirds vegetated sea cliffs or wild land quality St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 45 The St Kilda Byelaws St Kilda National Trust for Scotland World Heritage Site National Trust for Scotland Retrieved 6 February 2009 St Kilda Management Plan 2003 2008 103 Bibliography EditHaswell Smith Hamish 2004 The Scottish Islands Edinburgh Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 454 7 Rackwitz Martin Travels to Terra Incognita The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers Accounts C 1600 to 1800 Waxmann Verlag 2007 ISBN 978 3 8309 1699 4 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stac an Armin St Kilda Management Plan Account of an ascent of Stac an Armin Coordinates 57 52 49 N 8 29 51 W 57 88036 N 8 49760 W 57 88036 8 49760 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stac an Armin amp oldid 1147037435, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
