Morvern Lines 5 November 2015

We haven't heard much about Canna in the Oban Times recently until the
week before last when it featured in two places and both on the subject of
light! The first was an intimation that an application had been received by
Highland Council to build six large wind turbines on Sanday and the second,
an in-house advert, announcing that anyone taking out a subscription to this
newspaper would receive, a free, luxurious, hand crafted and organic candle
from the Isle of Canna. If you think I am in danger of becoming flippant read
on. This is serious.
Canna is one of the most beautiful of all the Scottish islands and has played a
prominent part in the story of the Hebrides for well over a thousand years. In
1938 it and the nearby islands of Sanday, Heisker and Humla, was bought by
the Gaelic-speaking John Lorne Campbell (JLC) a distinguished Celtic scholar
and linguist whose writings changed forever our knowledge of the history and
culture of these parts. JLC was also an environmentalist long before SNH was
invented. He combined farming with conservation and showed what could be
achieved by an egalitarian laird on an island free from the anglicising
influence of what is known as 'the Big House' which usually goes hand in
hand with land ownership in Scotland.
In 1981 JLC generously gave Canna and his unique scholarly collections to
the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). It was a condition of the gift that the
Trust maintain a flourishing Hebridean community through a viable and
sustainable agricultural regime, preserve the special nature of the property,
particularly its archaeology, flora and fauna, butterflies and moths and most
importantly, establish a centre for advanced studies for Scottish Gaelic and
language based in Canna House. Thirty four years later it is not unreasonable
to ask if any of these conditions have been fulfilled and what benefits, if any,
this particular development will bring.
The applicant, the Isle of Canna Community Development Trust, has
commissioned Wind and Sun Ltd, a Herefordshire company specialising in
renewable energy solutions, to upgrade the existing electricity system on the
island. The design report, which forms part of the application, based on a two
day visit, ticks most of the right boxes, except for example, the number of
nationally important archaeological sites that could be destroyed if it goes
ahead. More worryingly, little in it sits comfortably alongside any of JLC's
aspirations. The Development Trust say they are exploring options to enable
the local community to expand and maximise the island's potential as a viable
tourist destination and as a location for educational and activity retreats. If that
is the case why, in 2010, did its residents reject Marine Harvest Scotland's
plans for a large new fish farm off its shores by eight votes to seven? Had it
gone ahead it would have provided long term, all the year round employment,
kept the school open (which has just closed for the second time in recent
years) and facilitated the erection of several new houses - all of which any
other small island in Scotland would have welcomed with open arms.

Where exactly is the National Trust for Scotland in all this? As the owners of
Canna they should be working with JLC's trustees and taking the lead in
ensuring that the conditions of their windfall are met or are they backpedalling
in the hope that one day they will be able to abrogate their responsibilities
altogether in favour of a community buyout?
What of the centre for Gaelic studies which was to be created around JLC's
library and archive of unparalleled richness in the field of Gaelic culture and
language? Fortunately the NTS, with help from the National Sound Archive,
have at least seen to it that much of the 18,000 hours' worth of sound
recordings and photographs dating from 1935-69, have been scanned and
transferred to digital format while the library and manuscript collection is being
fully catalogued.
Canna was special while John Lorne Campbell and his wife, the distinguished
musician and folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw, lived there and dispensed their
legendary brand of hospitality to visitors and friends from around the world.
When they passed away a light went out on the island which can never really
be rekindled. Perhaps the time has come for NTS to transfer the Canna
Collections, on loan if need be, to Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the National Centre for
Gaelic Language and Culture, on nearby Skye? Here they would become part
of the University of the Highlands and be more easily accessible to a far
greater number of students of Celtic history than they will ever be on Canna. I
understand only eight people have visited Canna to study JLC's papers since
his death in 1996. Does that not tell us something?
If The Highland Council approves the construction of this huge development
and its ugly infrastructure, which I note will be determined by an official with
delegated powers and not the full planning committee, the sheer beauty of
Canna's delicate, cultural landscape as well as its unique atmosphere, which
is the envy of the Hebrides, will be seriously compromised. It deserves better.
Iain Thornber
iain.thornber@btinternet.com