NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 199 



patron saint said to have nourished in the ninth century. Some 

 regard them (the remains of buildings) as Pruidical, and therefore 

 of more ancient date. These small islands are the Insulae Sacrae 

 of Buchanan." Vide also Martin (p. 19) where he relates the fact of 

 these and other remote islands being considered "places of inherent 

 Sanctity." 



MacCulloch gives Flann as meaning red or blood; "possibly from 

 the reddish colour of the cliffs of gneiss. It was," he adds, "also 

 the name of some Irish chieftains. He gives a fair description of 

 these isles, which " are seven in number and lie seventeen miles 

 to the north-west of the Gallan Head in Lewis. * * * The 

 annual rent of the whole is £10." He thus describes their coast 

 line : — "These islands are bounded all round by cliffs cut sharply 

 down to the sea, and almost all bearing the marks of recent 

 fracture and separation; an appearance arising from the little 

 wearing which they undergo from atmospheric action, and from 

 the obstinacy with which they seem to resist the growth of 

 lichens. * * * Their average height appears to be about 100 

 feet." 



Talking of their geology, he says, — "The Flannan isles are all com- 

 posed of gneiss traversed by numerous granite veins of different sizes, 

 and ramified in all directions. * * * Here everything appears 

 as if it had been cut and polished by a lapidary." He remarks 

 upon the utter absence of lichens, so common in most other islands 

 of the Hebrides, and the consequent ease with which the "dis- 

 position of the rocks" can be traced, and the abruptness and 

 sharpness of the rock scenery, indicating, as already noted, recent 

 fracture and separation. 



The late Mr. H. Greenwood, who rented Cam House and shoot- 

 ings in Lewis, wrote me that, in June, 1879, his gamekeeper visited 

 the Flannans for eggs, but, unfortunately, the weather was so bad 

 that he had to leave almost as soon as he landed. He procured 

 several Eider Ducks' eggs, and those of some Peregrines, besides a 

 young Peregrine, and some Razor-bills and Guillemots. He told Mr. 

 Greenwood that the Herring Gull bred there. 



Mr. H. Heywood Jones, lessee of Morsgail shooting in the Lewis, 

 visited the Flannans in 1880. He landed on Eilean Tigh — the same 

 that we landed upon, and his experiences were somewhat similar 

 as regards the unsatisfactory state of the weather, for it began to 

 blow hard about an hour and a half after landing, so that he was 



