A Brief History of the Isle of Tiree, Scotland
For such a small island, now home to a population of just over 600 people, the Isle of Tiree has a vast history that dates back thousands of years. Like much of the Hebrides, its rich and varied occupation is visible in many of the stone buildings and features that dot the island.
From the Picts, descendants of the original occupiers of Tiree, to the 1941 RAF base built on Tiree at the start of the Second World War, this little island has often been at the heart of both national and global events. It became part of a trading route from Norway to Island, the epicentre of much of west coast sea travel, and then hundreds of years later went on to be a crucial defence against German military. The history of the Isle of Tiree can be seen in much of its architecture and culture, from ruins left from Early Christian occupation to the crofts still worked today.
It has fascinated us, and we were very eager to learn more about how our island has grown and flourished into ‘The Hawaii of the North’. All its incredible and vast history, and all the stories that have shaped the island, are important and we believe they deserve to be told.
Because the Isle of Tiree has such a varied past, we have divided the history of Tiree into period categories. These are the periods that seemed most significant in the islands history:
· The Occupation of The Picts, until the 5th Century.
· Irish and Gaelic Rule
· The Norse Invasion
· The Isle of Tiree becomes part of Scotland.
· The Land Battle under Bruce
· The 18th Century and 19th Century.
· The First and Second World Wars
The history of the Isle of Tiree is one that celebrates and relishes in immigration. Other than the Picts, thought to be descendants of Scotland’s first inhabitants, every population that has occupied the island has come far and wide to settle here. Whether for land battles, or for its nutrients-rich soil, the history of Tiree has shaped the island that we love and cherish today. Remnants of building relics can still be found along our coastlines, and the infamous black houses that make up our villages are a tried and trusted design that are centuries in the making.
1. The Early Days and The Pict Population
The first known inhabitants of Tiree were the Picts. As a people, they have left no written accounts of their history and so much of what was known about them has come from Roman or Scottish writers, or from images they carved into stone.
For decades, it has been assumed by historians that the Picts ‘arrived’ in Scotland not long before their mention in Roman history, but modern interpretations now offer a much earlier date – In-fact, it would seem the Picts were the descendants of the first people to in-habit what would go on to be known as Scotland. Historian Stuart Hardy has gone as far to write that ‘the Picts were in fact the indigenous population of this part of the world.’
So the history of the Isle of Tiree starts with the ancestors of the Picts, potentially up to 8000 or 9000 years ago. It is thought this occupation of Tiree lasted until the 5th Century, when the Picts were displaced by Gaelic speaking Scots from Ireland.
One of the first mentions of Tiree historically, and the Pict population, is in a poem from 200BC. The poem described the exploits of Labraid Loingsech, a high king of Ireland, and spoke of how eight towers were destroyed in Tiree. This could mean the Pictish Brochs, imposing stone towers build as early as 500BC, the remnants of which still dot the island coastline.
The Isle of Tiree has always had rich and fertile land, making it ideal for human occupation. It’s no surprise to us, then, that a tribal population such as the Picts would make their home on this beautiful island. With its mild weather, wildlife-dense seas, and grassland it would have been ideal for hardy Hebridean survival.
2. Irish and Gaelic Rule
It’s the 5th Century, and the Dal Raita have invaded the Isle of Tiree. These Gaelic Speaking Scots crossed to Argyll from the North of Ireland in around 500AD. It was at this point, as the Picts were displaced, that Christianity was first brought to the Island – With it came several early Christian sites, the remains of which can still be found on Tiree today.
St Brendan was the first Irish missionary that landed on the Island, in 514AD, and the Isle of Tiree suddenly found itself at the heart of the early Celtic church in Scotland. It is thought that Soroby was the place of a monastic settlement, created on Tiree in the 6th Century by St Columba. According to our research, this is often thought to be near Soroby Graveyard, where there used to be a church.
The remains of another monastery can be found at Teampal Phàraig, at the hollow below Kenavara at the end of Balephuil beach. All that is still standing is the gable end of a small chapel, a cross marking the doorway, with the rocky remains of the monk’s tiny cells.
3. The Norse Invasion
The Isle of Tiree only remained in Irish rule for around 300 years, and then the Norse attacked – The Vikings raided the Shetland Islands, the Orkneys and many of the Western Islands before landing on Tiree. A new style of boat, and one the Norse are famous for, was long and fast and very shallow – meaning they could land on the island’s beachy shores in fast and deadly summer raids. The Vikings are thought to have first attacked the Isle of Tiree shortly after 795AD, ransacking the island and carrying home treasure before the worst of the winter storms could hit.
Again, like the Picts and the Scottia before them, the Norse returned home with stories of flourishing grasslands and nutrients-rich soil. Settlers came from Norway, establishing a home for themselves on the island, and Tiree itself became the centre of a huge trading route that stretched all the way from Dublin back through the Orkneys and on to what is now mainland Europe
Did you know: Up until the 1700s, the sea was the quickest way to travel around Scotland and Tiree was at the very heart of west coast trading and economy.
The Norse rule in the Southern Isles (Tiree and the surrounding islands made up the Southern Isles, where the Northern Isles were Shetland and the Orkneys) was one often fraught with conflict. Hostility between the kings of the Isles, and intervention by the ruling crown of Norway, was not uncommon and the largely independent overlordship was one not easily controlled from afar. The islands, and the Isle of Tiree, did come under direct Norwegian rule for a short period in the late 11th century but the kings of the Isles quickly asserted their power and took control once more – until around 1266.
The archaeological evidence for this period is very inconclusive and, unlike the monasteries before them that had documented many of the historic events, written records for the Norse control of the Isle of Tiree are hard to find. As a result, we know extraordinarily little about the daily lives of settlers that lived on the island during this time.
Evidence from Bornais on South Uist suggests that settlers in the Southern Isles were more prosperous than those in the Northern, and we know they paid taxes using the ounceland system (a traditional Scottish measurement), but otherwise our understanding of the lifestyles and conditions for islanders is limited.
4. The Isle of Tiree Becomes Part of Scotland
With the Battle of Largs in 1266 Tiree formerly became part of Scotland and was controlled by the clan MacDougall’s. This shift reinstated Gaelic rule, but historically it is thought that the change of power had truly little impact on the common islanders of Tiree.
One of the most interesting, and surprising, facts we have found whilst hunting through the history of the Isle of Tiree is that extraordinarily little Norse genetics infiltrated the Gaelic population in the Hebrides during their long rule. According to a fascinating book by Gene Donald Lamont, titled ‘They Came from Tiree’ DNA results imply around 7-8% Viking intrusion in the Southern Isles as opposed to 20% in Shetland.
The Gaelic language and cultures can still be found on the Isle of Hebrides, and this might provide an answer as to why it prevailed so strongly in the face of 400 years of Norse rule. After the Isle of Tiree passed back into Gaelic rule, the Norse minority was completely absorbed.
According to our research, what came next in the history of the Isle of Tiree was one of the most infamous battles in Scottish History.
5. Robert the Bruce, and his battle for the Scottish throne.
The MacDougall’s opposed Bruce in his struggle for Scottish rule, and mustered 2000 men at the pass of Brander in 1309. They suffered a huge defeat – It is not known exactly how many islemen were present at the battle, but their chief escaped in the galley of a war ship, so it can be assumed that at least some islemen, and perhaps even Tiree inhabitants were fighting for the MacDougall’s. Whatever Tiree’s role in the great battle for Scotland, the history of this little island was changed forever by its outcome.
When Robert the Bruce won the throne, he forfeited the MacDougall holdings along much of the West Islands to his supporters. Tiree, Mull, Coll and Ardnamurchan all went to Angus Og of Islay, who had led a branch of the Macdonald Clan in support of Bruce. And so the Isle of Tiree passed, once more, into another rule and another owner.
In 1517 the island was passed from the MacDonald’s to the MacLean’s and in 1674 to the Campbells.
In 1674, the Isle of Tiree was sold by the Maclean of Duart after bankruptcy and was passed to Archibald Campbell. Archibald Campbell was the eighth earl of Argyll. The islands MacLean’s, in keeping with Tiree’s tradition for conflict, did not go without a fight. The hostilities went on for over four years and ended with the MacLean’s holed up in a castle – The Campbell forces’ only choice was to lay siege, which they inevitably eventually won. The Isle of Tiree has been owned by Campbell lineage ever since.
6. The Isle of Tiree and the 18th century.
By the 1700s, our research suggests Tiree actually had a much larger resident population than it does today. Evidence points to around 1500 people living on the island, surviving on healthy diets of oats, barley, potatoes, milk, and fish. Today there are just over 600, less than half that of 300 years ago.
The Isle of Tiree was, as it is now, a flourishing economy which provided a beautiful place to live. The island is naturally rich in Kelp, a resource that boomed in the 1700-1800s. The ashes of dried and burned kelp can be used to make glass and soap, which become a much sought-after commodity during the Napoleonic wars.
On Tiree, to make the most of the Kelp trade, the Duke of Argyll actively encouraged immigration to the island – and the population doubled again! 3000 people, a community, living and working together on this beautiful island.
At the end of the Napoleonic war, trade with Spain opened again. Spain could produce kelp ash for a fraction of the price of Scottish, and that put a stop to Tiree’s seaweed industry. The last kelp ash was made on Isle of Tiree in 1847. If you’re wanting to see some of the island’s kelp heritage in person, the stone mounds used to dry the seaweed can still be spotted on the shores all around the coastline.
Keen to keep making money from the new inhabitants of the Isle of Tiree, in the early 1800s the Duke split the land into small holdings and crofts. These days, the crofts that make up the island are quite large, a population of 600 sharing land that was once owned by triple that. But at the time, each crofter might get 4 or 6 acres – they were all also given a years free rent, to help them with the cost and work of moving. Where other islands were being cleared by landowners for their sheep farming potential, on the Isle of Tiree the population was encouraged to stay.
The Isle of Tiree was booming, the population was thriving, and the Duke was making more money with every family that decided to move to the island – so we found ourselves asking; if it wasn’t the clearances that moved everyone off the island, what was it?
Surviving the Hardships of the 19th Century:
Undeniably, the 19th century was difficult for many people across Britain. The Isle of Tiree was no different. Whilst delving into the depths of the history of our island, we found starvation, unemployment and poverty became rife throughout the 19th century. Starting with the drop in the Kelp trade, and with an influx of new islanders, the island and its resources couldn’t cope. There just wasn’t enough work, or food, to sustain everyone that had moved to Tiree.
Tiree is an incredibly fertile island and has the perfect conditions for crops and cattle alike, but unfair rents, a lack of jobs and little land for cotters meant that many on the island seriously struggled to survive. By 1811, potatoes made up 80% of the population’s diet. It was an easy vegetable to grow on the overcrowded island, and even cotters (who owned no land) could grow them in small patches of land that they were granted access to in exchange for work.
According to ‘The Island of Two Harvests’, a fantastic and very insightful book on the history of the Isle of Tiree, in 1846 it was this reliance on potatoes that would lead to unfortunate disaster. The island had lost more of its income in kelp trading and, whilst recovering, was struck by potato blight.
Potatoes made up such a large proportion of the islanders’ diets that a potato famine would induce large scale starvation on the community. Famine relief was offered from the mainland but the able-bodied and healthy were expected to work before they would receive any aid – evidence of this work can still be seen in the stone walls in the centre of the island.
Many families and inhabitants of the island began to emigrate, seeking their fortunes (or just desperate to get away from their devastating futures) in countries such as Canada and New Zealand. In the five years from 1846-1851, quatre of the island’s population emigrated.
It’s now thought that there are over 2 million people worldwide with Tiree ancestry.
The hardships that islanders faced throughout the 18th and 19th century is something we have always been very aware of - a part of the islands history that truly proves how hardy and strong the inhabitants were and have been for hundreds of years. We’re big believers that this resilience in the face of the almighty odds, that can be seen in the buildings and architecture around the island, is one of the many reasons the Isle of Tiree is such a unique and special place.
In 1886, the then Scottish Government passed the Crofters Act, and this was one of the first times things once again started to look up for the inhabitants of Tiree. The conditions on the island are more than ideal for crofting, fertile soil, and nutrients-rich grassland in abundance. With fair and protected rent, secure tenure, and the ability to pass the croft on to whoever they liked, it become a much easier profession and place to live.
The crofts survived, as a result, and as of 2008, on the Isle of Tiree there were 292 crofts, with 92 active crofters, and 6 farms. They remain an especially important part of our culture to this day.
7. The World Wars and The 20th Century:
Throughout both the first and second world wars, the Isle of Tiree sacrificed a great deal in its efforts to support the war effort. Throughout the first world war of the 290 soldiers from Tiree that fought and served, 66 died. In the 1911 census, the population of the Isle of Tiree was recorded as just over 1800 – including the children of married women for the first time in census history. Just over a sixth of the island’s population left to fight, of those a fifth didn’t return.
World War Two brought a very new experience to the island – Soldiers weren’t sent to war; the war came to Tiree. In 1941, land now known as The Reef (where you can find the Tiree Airport if you’re ever flying on to the island) was requisitioned by the Ministry of War. The Isle of Tiree found itself on the frontline, a classified area, in the fight against Atlantic sea warfare and RAF Tiree was officially opened in late November of 1941.
The island has a longstanding relationship with flight, and its role in the first and second world wars deserve an article in their own right – but it is worth noting that without the Isle of Tiree, the United Kingdom would have found defending itself from Atlantic Ocean attacks inarguably more challenging.
How Our History Has Shaped Tiree
The Isle of Tiree has a rich and varied history, one that we, as islanders, are proud to be a part of. The island has always been inhabited by passionate and hardy people, and through the centuries these are the very people that have shaped the towns, villages and roads that map Tiree.
It has a long-standing history of welcoming newcomers, and of paving the way for international defence and trading – providing a crucial link to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite being so small in size, it has proven to be a nationally important gateway to the Isles throughout its occupied history. The history of Tiree is incredible, unique, and a honour to be a part of - for everyone that lives here and everyone that visits.