Scarp, Scotland

Scarp has an area of {{convert|1045|ha|acre|0}}, divided into 16 crofts. The majority of the land is rocky and uncultivated, and is dominated by two hills, of which the higher reaches {{convert|308|m|ft|0|abbr=off}}. There is a small area of low-lying fertile land in the south-east corner of the island, and here, closest to Harris, is where the inhabitants of the island once lived. The population of Scarp peaked at 213 in 1881, and as recently as the 1940s it was reported to be over 100. The island was settled by eight farming families in 1810, and the population rose, following clearances on Harris, to over two hundred. This population could not be supported as there is little cultivatable land and no all-weather harbour, resulting in many families drifting away. Even in the 1950s the economy was still basic, relying on potatoes, cabbages, oats, turnips, milk, fish, and some lobster fishing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12285468.scarp/|title=Scarp}} Scarp was one of several Scottish islands, including St Kilda and Handa, where all the men of the island would gather every morning in a so-called "parliament", to agree the work to be done on that day.Duncan A, A Hebridean Island: Memories of Scarp (Birlinn, 2005) Such meetings would sometimes last for many hours, and on these occasions no work would be done, except by the women of the island.

File:Hushinish slipway view of Scarp in distance.jpg

Crofting was the way of life on the island, mainly comprising sheep and dairy cattle rearing and fishing, in latter years principally lobster fishing, which provided an income for around 12 families.

Islanders were deeply religious and a Church of Scotland Mission House was the focal point for Sunday worship and weekly prayer meetings.

The 1950s and 1960s saw a further decline in the island's population. The closure of the primary school in 1967 and the post office in 1968 were final blows and by the time of the 1971 census the population had dwindled to 12. By the end of 1971, the last permanent inhabitants of Scarp had moved to Harris. However, a few houses on the island are still in occasional use as private holiday homes.

The island is reached by a short boat crossing across the Kyle of Scarp from Hushinish, but the sea here is very shallow and landing on Scarp can be difficult when there is a swell.

Scarp was the site of an experiment by German inventor Gerhard Zucker to deliver the island's post by rocket mail.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmhebrides.com/folio/rocket/story/ |title=The Real Life Story of Gerhard Zucher |publisher=Film Hebrides |access-date=10 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828222919/http://www.filmhebrides.com/folio/rocket/story/ |archive-date=August 28, 2008 }}{{cite web| url=http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/blog-images/73-Sketch-diagram-of-rocket.jpg/view| title=Sketch diagram of rocket, 1934| publisher=British Postal Museum & Archive| access-date=10 October 2009| archive-date=8 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308114404/http://postalheritage.org.uk/blog-images/73-Sketch-diagram-of-rocket.jpg/view| url-status=dead}} In July 1934 Zucker made two unsuccessful attempts at firing rocket mail between Scarp and Harris.{{cite web| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/coast/programmes/07-west-coast-scotland.shtml| title=Western Scotland - The Coast and Western Isles| publisher=BBC - Coast Series 1| access-date=10 October 2009}} Singed envelopes from the exploded rocket can still be seen at the island museum.{{cite web| url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1958.html | title=Overview of Scarp| publisher=Gazetteer for Scotland| access-date=10 October 2009}}

A fictionalised account of the rocket mail experiment was used as the basis of the film, The Rocket Post, filmed on Harris and Taransay and directed by Stephen Whittaker, which was finally released in 2006.{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337708/| title=The Rocket Post| date=24 November 2006| publisher=Imdb| access-date=25 September 2013}} The film was originally intended to be filmed on location on Scarp but the owner later refused permission and location was moved to Taransay.

The artist Norman Adams bought a croft house on the island in 1963 with his wife Anna and two sons, and painted many of his well-known works there in his distinctive style over the next ten summers.

There are many references to the grave of Donald John MacLennan, who is buried at Scarp Burial Ground, in the book Not Forgotten (2006) by author Neil Oliver. Donald John died on 18 March 1917 when his ship {{ship|PS|Duchess of Montrose}} struck a mine and was lost near Dunkirk during the First World War.{{cite web|title= CWGC: Casualty Details, MacLennan D J| url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/327757| publisher=The Commonwealth War Graves Commission| access-date=18 September 2008}}

Scarp was bought by a Panamanian company for £100 in 1978 as a speculation, sold in 1983 for £50,000 to Libco Ltd, then resold almost immediately to Orbitglen Ltd for £500,000. The last two deals were financed by the now-failed BCCI bank. Nazmudin Virani, a Ugandan businessman who was a director of BCCI, brokered the deals. Virani was jailed for fraud{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/going-for-broke-ruined-virani-as-the-former-control-securities-chief-faces-a-prison-sentence-after-1433615.html |title=Going for broke ruined Virani: As the former Control Securities chief faces a prison sentence after being convicted of deceiving BCCI's auditors, John Willcock examines the reasons behind the Ugandan exile's success and failure in the City |first=John |last=Willcock |date=3 May 1994 |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |issn=0261-3077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013223911/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/going-for-broke-ruined-virani-as-the-former-control-securities-chief-faces-a-prison-sentence-after-1433615.html |archive-date=13 October 2016 |url-status=dead}} and when BCCI collapsed the property was resold in 1995 for £155,000 to Mr Anderson Duke Bakewell who is the current owner.{{cite web |url=http://www.isleofharris.com/discover-harris/past-and-present/comings-and-goings |title=Past & Present: Comings and Goings|date= |website=isleofharris.com}}

{{Portal|Scottish islands}}

• List of islands of Scotland

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book| last=Adams| first=Anna| title=Island Chapters}}
• {{cite book| last=Duncan| first=Angus| title=Hebridean Island: Memories of Scarp| publisher=Birlinn| year=2005| isbn=1-84158-394-4}}
• {{Haswell-Smith}}
• {{Gaelic Placenames}}

{{Lewis and Harris}}

{{Hebrides (uninhabited)}}

{{Islands of Scotland}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|58|1|32|N|7|7|29|W|region:GB|display=title}}

Category:Harris, Outer Hebrides

Category:Islands off Lewis and Harris

Category:Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides