Hebridean Hop 6: Rodel

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Thursday 2nd August 2018

St Clement’s Church, Rodel

On our first full day in Harris we followed the main road to its end at Rodel (Roghadal) and St Clement’s Church. Built in 1520, the church saw only 40 years of service before the Protestant Reformation, after which it fell into ruin. Rescued 250 years later by Captain Alexander Macleod, who then owned Harris, it is now maintained by Historic Scotland.

The Macleod tombs inside are richly carved, especially that of Alasdair “Crotach” (“humpback”) Macleod who had the church built. The carvings behind his tomb are intricate and include a birlinn (highland galley) setting sail and an angel casting incense to the winds.

Outside, there are interesting carvings too, including bulls’ heads, a man wearing a precursor of the kilt and a squatting female figure which looks more pagan than religious, perhaps a “sheela na gig”. Readers of a sensitive disposition need not follow the link!

This was the first of many graveyards we spent time in. Some of the stories told on the stones are heart-breaking. Here lies John (Iain) Morison, a noted hymn-writer. Later in the day, we visited Seallam! Visitor Centre, another excellent small museum with a large section on emigration (both voluntary and enforced). One of the panels tells the story of what happened to his widow and children after his death in 1852.

Or what about the MacDonald family with one son drowned at 11 and two of his siblings lost in young adulthood? Or Angus MacLean, pre-deceased by two wives and two children? Life was hard.

What next? A walk out to Renish Point. Here I am climbing away from the church. Perhaps you can detect a tiny bit of reluctance in my body language already? It looks clear enough here, but it was starting to rain.

From the top of the first hill, we could see our destination. Renish Point is the longer of the two headlands below.

The natives seemed friendly. Just as well, I don’t like the look of those horns.

For trudging over the boggy, tussocky headland, we were rewarded with extensive views as you can see. Or not.

Here I take my hat off to fellow blogger Andrew of An Oldie Outdoors who preceded us to the Outer Hebrides, but in the opposite direction and on foot. The weather was not always kind to him and he made the ironic phrase “extensive views” his own. Many of the walks we did were on the Hebridean Way and tended to be as boggy as this one. I could not do this day after day carrying my belongings and knowing I had to rely on my feet to get me to my bed for the night. I use the word “bed” in a fairly loose way. I don’t count beds in tents as beds.

As for us, we got ourselves back to Rodel as quickly as possible, stopping to admire its small harbour before we left. Our guidebook refers to the “former” Rodel Hotel here, but we were pleased to see it was being restored – another indication of the upsurge of tourism and increase in prosperity on the islands.

Returning to the car, we made that stop at Seallam! mentioned earlier. (Seallam means welcome in Gaelic, and it certainly was.)

Then it was back to Scarista House to dry out, eat a delicious dinner and sleep in those comfy, comfy beds again. No, roughing it is definitely not for me!

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68 Comments »

  1. Pingback: April Squares: extensive views – The Glasgow Gallivanter

  2. Roughing it is certainly not for me either Anabel! What hard lives those people had back in the day – such tragedy too. Of course I had to follow that link – you certainly learn something new each day!

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  4. Those are unusually detailed headstones – fascinating but sad. I wish all headstones provided that much information, especially the one for my grandpa’s older brother, who died at the age of 5, which I discovered the last time I was home. I’m trying to work out what he died from (which I know could be just about anything in pre-antibiotic days), because he’s surrounded by other young children who died around the same time, but I haven’t been able to find evidence of any particular epidemic in Cleveland that year.

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  11. Of course, I clicked the link!
    Also, your picture (to my untrained eyes) looks like it is a female holding a baby. It seems clearer further out rather than zoomed in. What do you think? It’s definitely eroded so it’s hard to tell, but there does appear to be breasts on the figure. You are probably right about the Sheela na gig – it’s the first time I’ve ever come across one.

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  12. I was finally able to catch up on your Hebridean Hop posts! I enjoyed every one. Looks like you had a wonderful trip and were able to take in many meaningful sites. So much history! It’s difficult to even imagine that time period.

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  13. Found that post very interesting especially the Sheela na gig Link. That info was new to me yet I knew the name from somewhere else then realised I had the PJ Harvey LP with the song on it from way back. Never play vinyl now although I still have around 100 vinyl LPs. I do consider a tent luxury accommodation after a night without one and no carry-mat either to lie on. After that anything else is a step up.

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  14. Lovely photos of Rodel. The church is always worth a visit and there used to be a long ladder that gave access out onto the top of the church tower, It wasn’t for the faint hearted but it was some view out across the Sound of Harris!

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  15. I just loved your ram with the big horns but wouldn’t fancy entering into an argument with him. I was pleased to follow the link and learn more about the Sheela na Gigs, especially when I read that there are more in Ireland than anywhere else. I lived my early life there but never saw one. Perhaps they had been hidden by the church authorities?

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  16. You were brave to keep going, and the people who lived here in previous centuries extraordinary, but then i guess they didn’t know any different.

    Thanks for the link, I was thinking how strange it was that mostly men had attempted to interpret the Sheela-na-gi, and fascinated by their repeated choice of negative language. And then I got to the last paragraph which offers an alternative and much more positive view.

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  18. Thank you very much for the kind mention. Harris is great and I remember thinking Scarista House looked nice as I trudged past it. Wonderful location with those beaches. One of the things that most struck me in the OH’s is how hard life was for the people there until very recent times. Extraordinary place. bw A

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    • There certainly is! There is a small village just before you set off onto the headland with some very nice houses (including two holiday homes that I looked up for future reference and immediately dismissed because of the eye-watering cost!) Even with all those mod cons it would be an isolated place to live – I tried to imagine it 100 years ago and how hard it would have been.

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  22. There is something about the bleakness of the landscape that manages to make it so attractive.
    I had heard of sheela na gig, but had forgotten until I checked out the link. In all my travels throughout Europe, I can’t believe I’ve managed to never see one!!

    I had to laugh at the comment in Wikipedia that said “They often are positioned over doors or windows, presumably to protect these openings.” Yeah – just what every woman wants over her front door 🤣

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  24. Hi Anabel – gosh it does look bleak when its misting or worse … but beautiful too. Gravestones tell sad, but interesting tales of times gone by … so glad to see Seallam … and then your bed – bliss! Cheers Hilary

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  26. The weather is certainly not why one would visit any parts of Scotland. It does get a bit rainy. But it is such a beautiful land with such wonderful people that one still take the chance of going crossing fingers that you will be among the lucky ones who gets good weather. Lovely images despite the rain. Truly enjoying your tours of the Hebrides. (Suzanne)

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  27. I’m with you on the comfy beds! My camping days are long over. Love to have a wander around an old churchyard, some of the headstones really make you think about the past.

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  29. A lot to be a said for a comfy bed. We saw lots of back packing cyclists, some nearly getting blown off their bikes on Uist then having to put a tent up. I definitely admire the hikers and cyclists who do this! X

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