Links probably do not work anymore.
St. Kilda 'Mail-Boat'
Mail from this isolated island -- about 100 miles
from the Scottish Mainland -- was often sealed
in a tin canister placed in a hollow block of wood
roughly shaped as a toy boat.
It was decked over by a flat piece of wood
inscribed 'ST KILDA -- Please open', and launched.
Wind and tide cast these singular post carriers
ashore or they were picked up by passing vessels.
The island was evacuated on 28 August 1930.
In 1957 the island was reoccupied by the armed
forces, and since then mail has occasionally been
dispatched by 'tin-can mail', the covers so
transmitted bearing an appropriate cachet.
- R. J. Sutton 6th edition revised by K. W. Anthony
The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia
Published 1966
Notes:
The sad tale of the St Kildans is well known -
from the early privations of isolation and enforced
self-sufficiency to the final departure of the entire
population of 36 souls in August 1930 on the
'Harebell' - leaving behind their culture, and a
way of life that the twentieth century had long
consigned to history.
[The last sheet of registration labels in use at
St. Kilda at the time of the Evacuation in 1930.
A single label from St. Kilda is a major rarity -
but a part sheet of 30, complete with marginal
inscriptions - wow! ]
http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_i...eg_Label.jpgIn 1931 the island was sold to the Marquess of
Bute, and is now a bird sanctuary.
Cinderellas appeared later to cover a privately
run mail service to the mainland.
http://www.cifr.it/St%20_kilda.jpghttp://www.gm3vlb.com/qsls_stamps/i...lda_gm5k.jpghttp://www.gm3vlb.com/qsls_stamps/i...lda_gm5k.jpg>From a CD entitled
An Long Hirteach - St Kilda Mail-Boat -
Songs from St Kilda - Evacuated 1930
>From the SLEEVE NOTES
St Kilda, with its jagged cliffs and boiling
seas, is Britain's remotest inhabited island
group. It lies 52 miles to the west of Harris
in the Outer Hebrides. The principal island
is known in Gaelic as Hiort or - more
properly - Hirt. Gaelic-speaking
communities lived in Hirt until their
evacuation in 1930. According to the
Skyeman Martin Martin, who visited the
islands in 1697, about 180 people lived in
Hirt and they were an exceptionally lively
and musical people.
The St Kildans fished the seas, grew barley
and oats, and kept cattle and sheep - both
on Hirt and on the neighbouring islands,
Soay and Boreray: dark-coloured Highland
sheep, hardy and agile as goats on the
rocks. But the main source of food and oil
were the seabirds - gannets, fulmars and
puffins. During the breeding season from
March to September the young men were
suspended over the cliffs on hand-made
ropes, carrying nooses on rods with which
to catch the birds.
For centuries the St Kildans had little
contact with the outside world apart from
the agent sent annually by their distant
landlord MacLeod of Dunvegan, in Skye,
to collect the rent (mostly in kind -
feathers and oil) and ministers who came
from time to time to baptise infants and
marry courting couples. It was not until
the 19th century that a permanent church
and school were built, and ministers and
teachers imported for the enlightenment
of the people. And thereafter, under the
influence of a succession of well-meaning
Presbyterians, the St Kildans grew devout,
their singing confined to the worship of
God or the excusable outpourings of the
bereaved.
The 19th century heralded other outside
influences too. Summer cruises brought
steamer-loads of tourists to stare at the
inhabitants and buy the handicrafts they
made; folklorists sailed in on the lookout
for stories, and photographers made
lasting records of the people - pictures
like the Aberdonian George Washington
Wilson's famous "St Kilda's Parliament",
in which the men line the one "street"
of the Village Bay township to stare at
the camera.
Publicity label showing the St Kilda's
Parliament.
http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/images/588684.jpgBoats that came to fish in St Kildan
waters began bringing supplies to the
islanders: food, fuel, building materials
and furniture. The islanders began
gradually to lose the self-sufficiency and
worldly innocence (for want of a better
word) which has tempted some
commentators to portray the precarious
St Kildan way of life as Utopian. In any
event, the seeds of discontent were sown.
In 1852 thirty-six St Kildans emigrated to
Australia, and though many died on the
voyage, there is to this day a thriving
suburb of Melbourne named St Kilda.
1889 - St. Kilda (Victoria) card
The post code of St. Kilda (Vic) is now 3182.
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/ima...june9116.jpghttp://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/ima...june9117.jpgIn the early 20th century a variety of
factors conspired to undermine
St Kildan morale: the continued
emigration of its young men; influenza
and other imported illnesses; food
shortages; and above all a new
awareness of their own isolation and
vulnerability.
During the First World War the islands
suddenly gained strategic importance
for the distant British Government. But
after the War the naval supply ships
ceased to call leaving the islanders with
a heightened sense of abandonment.
On May 10th 1930 a petition was penned
by the school-teacher / missionary Dougald
Munro, requesting Scottish Office
assistance to evacuate St Kilda and transfer
the remaining thirty-six inhabitants
"elsewhere, where there would be a better
opportunity of securing our livlihood" (sic).
The letter was signed by all the indigenous
islanders and counter-signed by another
concerned incomer, Williamina Barclay
(Queen's Nurse). Soon afterwards Munro
entered his last comments into the school
register:-
"June 13th: perfect attendance this week.
June 20th: attendance good. Donald Gillies
lost two attendances through having to help
at the sheep shearing. June 27th: attendance
perfect for last week. School closed today
with a small 'treat' which the children
seemed thoroughly to enjoy. Today very
probably ends the school in St Kilda, as all
the inhabitants intend leaving the island this
summer. I hope to be away soon."
On 29th August the St Kildans sailed away
on the Government sloop Harebell, taking
with them some of their furniture, looms
and spinning wheels, and all their memories
and language; leaving only the vestiges of a
once-robust way of life and, of course,
the birds. A Bible was left open in each
house, along with a small heap of oats.
In one house the Bible was open at Exodus.
In 1931 St Kilda was sold to the
Marquess of Bute, a keen ornithologist.
He bequeathed the islands to The
National Trust for Scotland in 1957.
Recently it became Scotland's first
World Heritage Site, in recognition
not so much of its significance to
Gaelic culture as of its importance
as a bird sanctuary.
The first "St Kilda mailboat" was sent out
as a distress signal in 1876, when food
was short and a visiting journalist wanted
to be "rescued". A letter was placed in a
watertight container, with a sheep's
bladder to act as a float, and set loose to
sail wherever the prevailing Atlantic
currents would carry it. Since then St Kilda
mailboats have been launched from time to
time, more for the amusement of visitors
than as a genuine signal of distress; many
have been washed ashore in Scotland or
Scandinavia.
We send our mailboat forth on behalf of the
Gaelic-speaking people who once lived in Hirt.
And we hope it may reach, and be enjoyed by,
some of their descendants across the world -
and of course those who love music and
culture everywhere.
For although the St Kildans' songs ceased
long before mechanical recording (indeed,
long before Hirt itself was evacuated) and
were written down by people with widely-
differing agendas, Rhona, Eddie and I have
utilised every ounce of our understanding
of Gaelic culture in creating these 21st
century interpretations of what remains.
The culture which emerges was clearly
vigorous, hardy, full of human follies and
foibles, laughter and sorrow, and
unmistakably Gaelic. And it was without
doubt exceptional in the sweetness and
uniqueness of its music.
More St. Kilda related items.
Tin Can Mail cover
http://www.cifr.it/St_Kilda%20cover...n%20mail.jpghttp://www.footystamps.com/images/2...heritage.jpgSt.Kilda (Vic) Local Post cover
http://www.footystamps.com/images/2...da%20Saints/Other/b_sttocb.jpg
Posted 02/20/2017 1:26 pm
Never heard of St. Kilda, N.B. (New Brunswick, Canada) !! and I am from N.B.
