Steamships to St Kilda

John McCallum, Martin Orma, and the Life and Death of an Island Community

by Donald E. Meek

Donald Meek, who has recently retired from his Professorship at Edinburgh University, is best known for his Gaelic scholarship. But another passionate interest, nurtured from his boyhood days in Tiree, is Hebridean sea transport and particularly the steamships which have played such an important part in shaping island life. In this booklet, published to mark the 80th anniversary of the evacuation, Donald looks at the wonderful steamships which served St Kilda for over a century, particularly the well-loved SS Dunara Castle and SS Hebrides. His research has uncovered important new material relating to the seminal role played by McCallum, Orme and Company Ltd, including the first ever published photographs of Captain John McCallum. Beautifully illustrated, this will be of absorbing interest to all St Kilda and ship enthusiasts.

Published: 2010