Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
TherewerescepticsoftheideaoflittlepeopleinhabitinganypartofLewis,however.
In addition to John Morison's dismissal of the bones as wild fowl in 1680, Dr John
McCulloch published his
Highlands and Islands
handbook in 1877. In the handbook
McCulloch disputed that any such Pigmie Isle actually ever existed and also criticised
George Buchanan's account of it in his
History of Scotland
(Buchanan had relied on
Dean Monro's account for his version). In his article, W.C. Mackenzie felt that McCul-
loch's dismissal of the 'Pigmie Isle', and thus Monro's reputation, had been called into
question, he.Mackenzie therefore feltdutyboundtorestore Monro'sreputation asare-
liable witness and writer.
Mackenzie, along with his brother C.G. MacKenzie and his cousin Dr Mackenzie,
set about trying to find the Isle of Pigmies themselves. As a starting point they used
the description of the Isle given in the manuscript of Captain Dymes which had origin-
ally been written in 1630. As mentioned previously, Captain Dymes had drawn a map,
which made locating the isle easier. W.C. MacKenzie himself was not physically in-
volvedinthesearch.Heleftthistohisbrotherandcousintocarryoutbecausetheyboth
lived nearby in Stornoway. The map drawn by Captain Dymes aided them greatly and
theywereabletofindboththePigmieIsleandthechapel.Theislelaytothenorth-west
of the lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis and had a length of roughly 80ft and a width of
roughly 70ft. It was cut off from the Isle of Lewis by very high tides. A conspicuous
feature of the landscape of the island was the short, deep-green seagrass that covered
the surface.
Despite their obvious delight at finding the isle and chapel, the hope of finding any
direct link to the pigmies themselves was disappointing. Dr Mackenzie drew up a list
of their discoveries but these were handmade glazed and unglazed pottery, some bones
and a small quantity ofpeat ash. With their disappointment over the lack ofevidence of
pigmies, they nevertheless felt that the chapel was of some relevance as it was purpor-
tedtohavebeenusedbythem.DrMacKenziedescribedthevisiblepartofthestructure
which he had seen as follows:
Ifoundonlytheoblongportion,partially exposedtoview.Thewallsofthisportionare
composed of flat and neatly-laid stones, unmortared. They are 2 feet in thickness, and
standfromtheirfoundationsatageneralheightof2feet.Aboutthemiddleofthesouth
wall, there is a shallow opening, 18 inches wide, forming part of the two sides and bot-
tom of a square. It appears to have been used as a window. Its sill is 18 inches from the
foundation line of the walls.
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The visible portion of the structure found by Dr MacKenzie was the same part which
had been seen by Monro in 1549 and by later enquirers. Dr Mackenzie, like the earlier
visitors, dugupthe floorofthe chapel. Hefoundbonesandpatterned pottery which lay
