Rum to Skye.

Rum is as different from the Muck and Eigg as they are from each other. After a long history of settlement by a variety of different peoples it was 'cleared' of its population in the early 18 hundreds by the landowner who wanted to use the land sheep.

The crofters were forcibly removed from their stone houses and shipped to Nova Scotia. The landscape is still dotted with the 'black houses' so called because of the effect of the peat fires.

The sheep herds proved commercially unsuccessful and only lasted a few years before the Island was up for sale.     

Rum was purchased by a wealthy Lancashire mill owner who used it as a country retreat. It was at the time fashionable to own a Scottish Estate, and his son then built the above Kinloch Castle as a hunting lodge. Deer herds and small game were introduced. The family only visited the Island for a few weeks each year but tales of their opulent life style and outrageous parties are still rife.
The Island was at that time inhabited by staff and their families to look after the castle. When the last owner died his wife sold the Island to Scottish Nature and for the next fifty it was a nature reserve. Only people with special permission and a scientific reason for going there were allowed to land.
So Rum is a beautifully unspoilt home to rare wildlife and plants that are still being studied to this day.    
The Castle was not cleared before being sold and is furnished exactly as it was when last used. It has a Marie Celeste feel to it as the personal belongings of the last owner lay about as if waiting for him to return.

We left Rum in good weather but a worsening forecast and sailed first to Malliag, a fishing port where we decided not to linger, had a quick look at the lovely Loch Nevis and then a sail with the tide (a stream of 7 knots) up to Skye.
We are safely moored in Kyleakin waiting for a series of 7/8s to go through and have hired a car to explore the Island, which currently looks a little cloudy. The picture below was taken at mid-day!