lona and Its Sound 



which is supposed also to have been blessed by the saint, 

 whereas on the adjoining lands on either side adders in plenty 

 are to be seen. 



Even now one can visit a bay — Port a' churaich by name 

 — away at the southern end of the island where are said to 

 lie the remains of the boat which brought Columba from 

 Ireland, and see the long grass-covered mound under which 

 the craft was buried. Near it are many heaps of stones of 

 various sizes, supposed to have been gathered together by 

 the monks as penances, the heaps varying in size according 

 to the greatness of the offence committed, and built while the 

 monk was on his hands and knees. 



Concerning the origin of the name lona, nothing certain 

 is known. It is said that the name, as it stood in the original 

 Gaelic, was I-Challum-Cille, or the Island of Saint Columba. 

 In the Gaelic of the present day " island " would be trans- 

 lated by "eilean," or " innis," but the "I " is said to be a 

 shortening of the word "innis." 



None, I think, who have crossed the sound on a fine day of 

 summer will ever forget the scene, for the Sound of lona has 

 at all times a charm that is peculiarly its own. It may be that 

 there yet broods here the spirit of the saint and his followers, 

 or that the intangible influence of their personality and of 

 the many good deeds wrought here still persists. 



I shall always remember vividly the first occasion on 

 which I crossed the sound. The season was near the shortest 

 day, and incessant storms had swept in day after day from 

 the Atlantic, so that the swell was strong on the rocks. But 

 as the ferry-boat pushed out from the little harbour of Fion- 

 phort the wind was not too fresh, and we soon covered the 

 mile of sea and made lona without difficulty. Toward 

 sunset the wind veered to south-west, increasing momentarily 

 in force, with a wild sky of green framed in black storm- 

 clouds to windward. When the boat set sail, with every reef 

 in, on the return passage, a gale was sweeping the waters, so 

 that some of those in the boat — and there were many crossing 



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