Voices, Sounds and Artefacts - St Kilda
Discover the archipelago through its voices, songs and artefacts.
Sona gach ni ‘s a’ ghaoth na tàmh
Everything is peaceful when the wind is at rest
St Kilda’s story is carried not only in history books, but in the voices, sounds and memories passed down through generations. This collection brings together music, diaries, broadcast moments and lived experience - fragments that let us step closer to the people who once called Hiort home.
Chan ann a-mhàin ann an leabhraichean eachdraidh a chithear sgeulachd Hiort ach anns na guthan, na fuaimean agus na cuimhneachain a chaidh a thoirt seachad tro ghinealaichean. Tha an cruinneachadh seo a’ toirt còmhla ceòl, leabhraichean-latha, amannan craolaidh agus eòlasan beò - pìosan a leigeas leinn ceum nas fhaisge air na daoine a bha uaireigin a’ fuireach ann an Hiort.
This podcast uses the handwritten diaries of Alice MacLachlan, a schoolteacher who lived on the islands from August 1906 to May 1909, we get a really personal glimpse into the challenges and extraordinary experiences of island life.
Kate Macleod takes viewers to St Kilda with her. Listen to the beautiful Gaidhlig singing.
A rare glimpse into music that might otherwise have disappeared, preserved through memory, chance, and a single care-home piano.
A year in the life of Rev. Neil Mackenzie at St Kilda.
Waulking
Waulking was a shared tradition among women of the Outer Hebrides and St Kilda - a communal way of working woollen cloth that bound labour, rhythm and song together. As the cloth was beaten and shrunk to make it strong enough to wear, women sat around the waulking board, moving in time with one another. Gaelic waulking songs, passed down orally through generations, set the pace of the work. Led by a single voice and answered by the group in rhythm and refrain, the songs carried both the labour and the social life of the women who sang them.
Artifacts & Archives
You can find more information about artefacts, photographs and archival material relating to St Kilda in the care of Outer Hebrides Heritage Services here. Their collection offers valuable insight into island life, material culture and the stories connected to Hiort, helping to deepen understanding of St Kilda’s past and its continuing presence in the Outer Hebrides.