Edinburgh: Canongate Books Ltd., 1998
Hardcover, 518 pages
A Clear-Eyed View of Islands
Imagine there was a book — a not-too-imposing but thorough book on your favorite group of islands. Imagine that this book belonged to an artist, a geologist, a historian and a sailor before it came to you. And that somewhere along the way, a botanist, a hill walker and several local business people annotated the text. To top it all off, a lover of animals — both wild and domestic, chipped in a few remarks.
The Scottish Islands is a bland name for such a book, but the name is the only thing ordinary about the second edition of this marvelous volume by Hamish Haswell-Smith. It is truly a life’s work, as it wouldn’t be possible or practical for anyone to just sit down and suddenly try to put it all together. It appears to have emerged alongside Mr. Haswell-Smith during his years as he sailed the Scottish islands on holiday. What must have started out as personal notes and memories has become, in the words of the Sunday Times, “the acknowledged Rosetta stone of island hopping”.
Mr. Haswell-Smith is philosophical, too, and doesn’t shy away from difficult questions such as “What is an island?” His answer is practical and tested, and I had to agree with him although I was sorry to see my beloved Skye eliminated from this beautiful narrative, due to the construction of the controversial bridge at Lochalsh.
The Scottish Islands is both scientific and intimate, with the narration slipping gently back and forth between personal observation and careful research. He approaches each island as a prism, and sees different characteristics from each angle. The details range from references to Ordnance Survey and Admiralty maps, to population and ownership history, to personal recollections of footpaths and vistas. Instead of slathering the pages with gaudy photographs, he visually unites the book with hundreds of his own watercolors, pen-and-ink drawings and sketches. None of these illustrations is very large, and the effect is to evoke a sense of place rather than coldly capture a vista that you, too, might find on a visit. Mr. Haswell-Smith, a retired architect, has previously exhibited other work in Britain and Europe.
While objectively scholarly, the book is also full of secrets. The Gaelic names of places are explained, moorings and approaches are enumerated, and there is a vast inventory of ancient sacred sites. Whether you sit down for a good read about one of the 167 islands and island groups in the book, or if you just start flipping casually through the pages, the book draws you in. There is an astonishing amount of material, and you quickly become jealous of the person who collected it.
But there is nothing patronizing in the writer’s tone, and he even offers challenges to would-be island hoppers. “Collect them all!” or set yourself the goal of playing golf on each of the remote island courses he describes. While on other parts of our planet, hikers and hill walkers can join the “4,000 Foot Club” or “bag all the Munros,” Haswell-Smith teases you with island statistics arranged in neat tables of the largest and the highest. How about a journey to those islands that issue their own postage stamps, and send yourself a letter from each one? In the end, this book is both inspiring and humbling to read. It is part of the compelling message we receive from all our islands. Haswell-Smith doesn’t have to tell you these islands are precious — that message swells up from the pages. He doesn’t have to tell you that it is important to value and understand the world around you — the book wouldn’t exist if he didn’t feel that way. He doesn’t have to tell you that he has seen beautiful things, incredible things, maybe things that a mere handful of other humans may ever see altogether. In its highest form, science becomes truly spiritual.
Hamish Haswell-Smith has spoken clearly as an advocate for these islands without romanticizing them. In doing so, he has shown us something magnificent that he has held in his hand, without ever diminishing it.
A former resident of a New England island, Dorna Caskie is writing and living in Edinburgh, Scotland.