Sunday, March 11, 2007
Duncan Carse, it seems, was a man obsessed with the Island of South Georgia, way down in the southern Atlantic Ocean. He died in 2004 aged 90, and his obituary in the Telegraph reported that he wished to be remembered for his survey of South Georgia.
Having just read Stephen Venables book, Island at the Edge of the World, I have learnt some things that are worth passing on here.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Michael Powell, the film director (1905-1990) loved islands of Scotland and undertook film projects which involved island stories.
His first film to use the island theme was The Edge of the World and released in 1935. This is a story based on the evacuation of St Kilda that happened in 1930.
Michael Powell also to Scotland (The Orkneys) to film Spy in Black (1939), but the Hebrides were the setting for I Know Where I’m Going! - a film released in 1945.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
In the 1930's and 40's there was a feeling that remote Scottish islands could be sources of peace and inspiration. Whether it was for a study of nature or just an attempt to reach out to the further reaches of the British Isles.
My own desire to visit remote islands started with a read of Frank Fraser Darling's Island Years (1940) and Island Farm (1948). In these books, Frank Fraser Darling describes his experience in living on several uninhabited Scottish islands. Fraser Darling was an ecologist before the word was in public use. His studies in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are what started his distinguished career.
Early references to islands in Celtic myth and lore, and legends of islands at the ‘edge of the world’ and the continuum of island literature and narratives from early times show that the concept of the island is embedded into human consciousness.
Random Image from Islomania:
