MINGULAY. Cet article n’est pas disponible.MINGULAY

A remote, barren, and ruggedly beautiful island lies at the southern end of the Outer Hebrides, west of Scotland. Its people, loyal for centuries, have abandoned it to time but the beauty and the history of Mingulay remain. Buxton documents the story of a people and of an island. In the last century, Mingulay was home to up to 160 people who lived by crofting, fishing, and by catching seabirds on cliffs which are among the highest in Scotland. Looking back through the annals of history the author uncovers the traditions of a hospitable, close community which thrived under clan rule. But set in a stormy Atlantic ocean with no proper landing place, isolation, absentee landlords, and insufficient fertile land eventually led to the disintegration of the Mingulay culture. By 1912 the evacuation of the island was complete.

Ben Buxton first explored the Barra Isles in the 1970s. Later, while studying for a degree in archaeology, he investigated the archaeology and history of Mingulay. In 1995 Mingulay: An Island and its People was published by Birlinn. This was joint winner of the Michaelis-Jena Ratcliffe Prize for Folklife in 1997. Ben Buxton now lives in Dorset, where he teaches adult education classes in archaeology.