FARNE ISLANDS AND THEIR BIRDS 161 



" The Staples," and on others as " Fern Islands " ; 

 but Fame Islands is their popular name. The 

 largest of the group is Fame Island itself, and 

 this is about two and a half miles from the main- 

 land. On its eastern side are precipitous black 

 basaltic cliffs between eighty and ninety feet high ; 

 the north-west is open to the sea, and a small 

 sandy bay forms a convenient landing-place. The 

 main island is about sixteen acres in area. Along 

 the whole of one side is the lighthouse, with its 

 adjacent buildings. Just above the bay stands a 

 small chapel, supposed to be about seven cen- 

 turies old ; and near this is St. Cuthbert's Tower, 

 built about the year 1500. The small chapel 

 and its immediate surroundings are full of interest ; 

 a low wall surrounds the two buildings. The 

 chapel stands on the supposed site of the hut 

 in which St. Cuthbert lived from the year 676 

 until 685. He then left the island and went a 

 little farther north to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, 

 for a short period ; but yearning for solitude he 

 again returned, and died on Fame or House Island 

 on the 2Oth of March, 687, in the small hut which 

 had been built with his own hands. His body 

 was removed to Lindisfarne, and remained there 

 until 875, when the monks, fleeing from the 

 fury of the Danes, carried the coffin on -their 

 shoulders. After many wanderings it found a 



