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.
The Hebridean Mermaid visits St Kilda
The Hebridean Mermaid visits St Kilda. Listen to the beautiful Gaidhlig singing.
Diary excerpt from life on St Kilda
The Lost Songs of St Kilda is a collection of eight piano pieces linked to St Kilda, remembered and played by a retired Edinburgh schoolteacher named Trevor Morrison.
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.