Foula
Encyclopedia
Foula in the Shetland Islands of Scotland
is one of Great Britain
’s most remote permanently inhabited island
s. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World
. RMS Oceanic
was wrecked on the nearby Shaalds of Foula.
Foula is a bleak, yet spectacular island in the Atlantic Ocean
, 20 miles west of Walls
in Shetland. The island is about 2.5 miles (4 km) by 3.5 miles (5.6 km), with a low-lying coastal strip along the east side. With an area of 4.9 square miles (12.7 km²), it is the seventh largest and most westerly of the Shetland Islands. It rises from low broken cliffs in the east to precipitous 150 to 365m cliffs on the west. The island has five peaks, rising to 418m (1371 feet) at The Sneug and 376m (1220 feet) at The Kame. At the north end is Gaada Stack a natural arch
. Foula lies on the same latitude as Saint Petersburg
.
Foula has a population of 31 people, living in Hametown and Ham, Shetland. Islanders previously made a living from fishing - first for white fish, then lobster. Today, most islanders are crofters with income from sheep farming
and ornithological
tourism
.
A hidden reef, the 'Hoevdi Grund' or the terrible 'Shaalds of Foula', lies just over two miles (3 km) east of Foula between the island and the Shetland mainland. The reef comes to within a few feet of the surface and poses a major threat to shipping.
and Scalloway
on the Shetland Mainland
, and flights head from Foula's airstrip
to Tingwall Airport
.
There is little shelter for boats on the island. The only beach is at the head of Ham Voe on the east coast. Local boats, including the mail boat are hauled out of the water.
s, Red-throated Diver
s and Great Skua
s.
and Foula became the property of Alv Knutsson. However, the Ciskes were Norwegian, and as Scotland had annexed Shetland a few decades before, there were confusing and conflicting claims of ownership.
Foula remained on the Julian calendar
when the rest of the United Kingdom
adopted the Gregorian calendar
in 1752. Foula adhered to the Julian calendar by keeping 1800 as a leap year, but did not observe a leap year in 1900. As a result, Foula is now one day ahead of the Julian calendar and 12 days behind the Gregorian, observing Christmas Day
on January 6 Gregorian and New Year
on January 13 Gregorian.
In 1720, a smallpox
epidemic
struck the 200 people living on Foula. Because the islanders were so isolated from the rest of the world, they had no immunity
, unlike most north European peoples at that time. Ninety percent of the island's population died in the epidemic.
The writer and journalist John Sands
lived on Foula and Papa Stour
for a while during the late nineteenth century. He fought hard against the prevailing truck system
and created political cartoons lampooning its deficiencies. In one he drew Foula as a beautiful young woman being strangled by a boa-constrictor labelled 'landlordism' watched by other reptiles called 'missionary', 'laird
' and 'truck'.
The island was also one of the last places where Norn
was used as a first language
(although it is claimed that Walter Sutherland
of Skaw
on Unst
was the last speaker), and the local dialect is strongly influenced by Norse
. The island was also the last place in Scotland where Udal Law
was used.
hit the Shaalds of Foula, becoming a wreck within two weeks. Holbourn's remarkable luck with steamship travel held through the following May, when he embarked upon the RMS Lusitania
.
The professor's grandson, Robert Holbourn, a Naval architect
, acted as the island's "Peet Marshal" for many years. Peat
is valuable and scarce resource for heat and fuel in Shetland. Its cutting requires skill, taking several years to master. The most able islanders become known as the 'Cutters' and, in the spirit of a long standing Foula tradition, all able-bodied men are now and then 'bid to the banks' of women who 'didn't have a cutter in the house.'
Simon Martin, who stayed on the Isle of Foula for five years during his prolonged claim upon the wrecked Oceanic, describes the island as follows:
The Holbourns of Foula are descended from John of Westby
(Westbie), Lincolnshire
, who was the father of John of Westby, Churchwarden
of that village.
A lighthouse
at the southern tip of the island was built in 1986. Originally powered by acetylene
gas, it has been converted to solar
and wind power.
's poem Da Sang o da Papa men about the fishermen of Papa Stour
includes an insistent chorus chant, "Rowin Foula Doon". This refers to the fishermen's practice of rowing their open fishing boat out to sea until the high cliffs of Foula were no longer visible. This entailed the boat being some 96 kilometres (59.7 mi) west of Papa Stour.
made The Edge of the World
in 1937. This film is a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last thirty-six inhabitants of the remote island of St Kilda
on 29 August 1930. St Kilda lies in the Atlantic Ocean
, 64 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist
in the Outer Hebrides
; the inhabitants spoke Gaelic
. Powell was unable to get permission to film on St Kilda. Undaunted, he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 on the island of Foula, in the Shetland Isles. Despite the fact that the Foula islanders speak the Shetlandic
dialect
, the film loses none of its power.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
is one of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
’s most remote permanently inhabited island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World was the first major project by British filmmaker Michael Powell.-Plot:The film is the story of the de-population of one of the isolated, outer islands of Scotland as, one by one, the younger generation leaves for the greater opportunities offered by the mainland, making it...
. RMS Oceanic
RMS Oceanic (1899)
RMS Oceanic was a transatlantic ocean liner, built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 6 September 1899 and, until 1901, was the largest ship in the world...
was wrecked on the nearby Shaalds of Foula.
Geography
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, 20 miles west of Walls
Walls, Shetland Islands
Walls, known locally as Waas, Walls, known locally as Waas, Walls, known locally as Waas, (Old Norse: Vagar = "Sheltered Bays" (voes) - the Ordnance Survey added the "ll" as they thought it was a corruption of "walls"...
in Shetland. The island is about 2.5 miles (4 km) by 3.5 miles (5.6 km), with a low-lying coastal strip along the east side. With an area of 4.9 square miles (12.7 km²), it is the seventh largest and most westerly of the Shetland Islands. It rises from low broken cliffs in the east to precipitous 150 to 365m cliffs on the west. The island has five peaks, rising to 418m (1371 feet) at The Sneug and 376m (1220 feet) at The Kame. At the north end is Gaada Stack a natural arch
Natural arch
A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural geological formation where a rock arch forms, with an opening underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until...
. Foula lies on the same latitude as Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Foula has a population of 31 people, living in Hametown and Ham, Shetland. Islanders previously made a living from fishing - first for white fish, then lobster. Today, most islanders are crofters with income from sheep farming
Sheep husbandry
Sheep husbandry is a subcategory of animal husbandry specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. Sheep farming is primarily based on raising lambs for meat, or raising sheep for wool. Sheep may also be raised for milk or to sell to other farmers.-Shelter and...
and ornithological
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
.
A hidden reef, the 'Hoevdi Grund' or the terrible 'Shaalds of Foula', lies just over two miles (3 km) east of Foula between the island and the Shetland mainland. The reef comes to within a few feet of the surface and poses a major threat to shipping.
Transport
Ferries sail from Ham to WallsWalls, Shetland Islands
Walls, known locally as Waas, Walls, known locally as Waas, Walls, known locally as Waas, (Old Norse: Vagar = "Sheltered Bays" (voes) - the Ordnance Survey added the "ll" as they thought it was a corruption of "walls"...
and Scalloway
Scalloway
Scalloway is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic coast of Mainland, Shetland with a population of approximately 812, at the 2001 census...
on the Shetland Mainland
Shetland Mainland
The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections....
, and flights head from Foula's airstrip
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
to Tingwall Airport
Tingwall Airport
Tingwall Airport , also known as Lerwick/Tingwall Airport, is located in the Tingwall valley, near the village of Gott, northwest of Lerwick on the mainland island of the Shetland, Scotland....
.
There is little shelter for boats on the island. The only beach is at the head of Ham Voe on the east coast. Local boats, including the mail boat are hauled out of the water.
Wildlife
The island's 370 metre-high (1200 ft) cliffs are home to birds, including Arctic TernArctic Tern
The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
s, Red-throated Diver
Red-throated Diver
The Red-throated Loon or Red-throated Diver is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. It breeds primarily in Arctic regions, and winters in northern coastal waters. It is the most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family. Ranging from in length, the Red-throated...
s and Great Skua
Great Skua
The Great Skua, Stercorarius skua, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. In Britain, it is sometimes known by the name Bonxie, a Shetland name of unknown origin.-Description:...
s.
Prehistory
Foula was first inhabited as far back as 5000 years ago. Between 2006-2008, the Bath & Camerton Archeological Society took several trips to the Island of Foula to study prehistoric standing stones. A particular sub-circular stone circle of interest, was discovered in 2006 at "Da Heights" on the north of Foula. A further investigation launched in 2007 revealed that the sub-circular stone construction was manmade, elliptical in shape, with the axis pointing towards the mid-winter solstice, built before 1000 BCE. http://www.bacas.org.uk/foula/Foula2007FinalReport.pdf15th to 19th centuries
In 1490, the Ciske family's estates were divided and VailaVaila
Vaila is an island in Shetland, Scotland, lying south of the Westland peninsula of the Shetland Mainland. It has an area of , and is at its highest point.Vaila is home to an organic sheep farm and is also known for its mountain hares....
and Foula became the property of Alv Knutsson. However, the Ciskes were Norwegian, and as Scotland had annexed Shetland a few decades before, there were confusing and conflicting claims of ownership.
Foula remained on the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
when the rest of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
adopted the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
in 1752. Foula adhered to the Julian calendar by keeping 1800 as a leap year, but did not observe a leap year in 1900. As a result, Foula is now one day ahead of the Julian calendar and 12 days behind the Gregorian, observing Christmas Day
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
on January 6 Gregorian and New Year
New Year
The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....
on January 13 Gregorian.
In 1720, a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
struck the 200 people living on Foula. Because the islanders were so isolated from the rest of the world, they had no immunity
Immunity (medical)
Immunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide...
, unlike most north European peoples at that time. Ninety percent of the island's population died in the epidemic.
The writer and journalist John Sands
John Sands
John Sands of Ormiston was a Scottish freelance journalist and artist who also had an interest in archaeology and folk customs, especially the way of life on Scottish islands...
lived on Foula and Papa Stour
Papa Stour
Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares , Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland...
for a while during the late nineteenth century. He fought hard against the prevailing truck system
Truck system
A truck system is an arrangement in which employees are paid in commodities or some currency substitute , rather than with standard money. This limits employees' ability to choose how to spend their earnings—generally to the benefit of the employer...
and created political cartoons lampooning its deficiencies. In one he drew Foula as a beautiful young woman being strangled by a boa-constrictor labelled 'landlordism' watched by other reptiles called 'missionary', 'laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
' and 'truck'.
The island was also one of the last places where Norn
Norn language
Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots and on the mainland by Scottish...
was used as a first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
(although it is claimed that Walter Sutherland
Walter Sutherland (Norn)
Walter Sutherland of Skaw on the island of Unst in Shetland was reported to be the last native speaker of Norn, a Germanic language which had once been spoken throughout Shetland, Orkney and Caithness...
of Skaw
Skaw
Skaw is a tiny settlement on the Shetland island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom...
on Unst
Unst
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third largest island in Shetland after the Mainland and Yell. It has an area of .Unst is largely grassland, with coastal cliffs...
was the last speaker), and the local dialect is strongly influenced by Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
. The island was also the last place in Scotland where Udal Law
Udal Law
Udal law is a near-defunct Norse derived legal system, which is found in Shetland and Orkney, Scotland and in Manx law at the Isle of Man. It is closely related to Odelsrett....
was used.
20th century
Professor Ian S. Holbourn, the last Laird of Foula, describes the disaster of 8 September 1914, when the White Star Line RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic (1899)
RMS Oceanic was a transatlantic ocean liner, built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 6 September 1899 and, until 1901, was the largest ship in the world...
hit the Shaalds of Foula, becoming a wreck within two weeks. Holbourn's remarkable luck with steamship travel held through the following May, when he embarked upon the RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
.
The professor's grandson, Robert Holbourn, a Naval architect
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
, acted as the island's "Peet Marshal" for many years. Peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
is valuable and scarce resource for heat and fuel in Shetland. Its cutting requires skill, taking several years to master. The most able islanders become known as the 'Cutters' and, in the spirit of a long standing Foula tradition, all able-bodied men are now and then 'bid to the banks' of women who 'didn't have a cutter in the house.'
Simon Martin, who stayed on the Isle of Foula for five years during his prolonged claim upon the wrecked Oceanic, describes the island as follows:
- "Foula, or Ultima ThuleThuleThule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
, as it was known as far back as the RomanAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, rises impurely out of the water, and from the Shetland Isles mainland its five peaks, the Noup, Hamnafield, the Sneug, Kame and Soberlie stand out starkly and characteristically. The cliffs on the west side vie with those of St KildaSt Kilda, ScotlandSt Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
as the highest sheer cliffs in Britain, 1200 feet (365.8 m) of solid rock towering from the sea.
- "Foula, or Fughley as it was once also known, means literally 'Bird Island', with an estimated half million birds of various breeds sharing the rock with the inhabitants. The island’s surface largely consisting of a peat bog on rock."
The Holbourns of Foula are descended from John of Westby
Westby, Lincolnshire
Westby is a hamlet in the civil parish of Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, located about south east of the town of Grantham....
(Westbie), Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, who was the father of John of Westby, Churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
of that village.
A lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
at the southern tip of the island was built in 1986. Originally powered by acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
gas, it has been converted to solar
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
and wind power.
Rowin Foula doon
VagalandVagaland
Vagaland , is arguably the greatest Shetland poet of the 20th century, was born Thomas Alexander Robertson at Westerwick at the southern tip of the parish of Sandsting, his mother’s home. He was the second son of Thomas Robertson of Skeld and his wife Andrina Johnston...
's poem Da Sang o da Papa men about the fishermen of Papa Stour
Papa Stour
Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares , Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland...
includes an insistent chorus chant, "Rowin Foula Doon". This refers to the fishermen's practice of rowing their open fishing boat out to sea until the high cliffs of Foula were no longer visible. This entailed the boat being some 96 kilometres (59.7 mi) west of Papa Stour.
The Edge of the World
Michael PowellMichael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
made The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World was the first major project by British filmmaker Michael Powell.-Plot:The film is the story of the de-population of one of the isolated, outer islands of Scotland as, one by one, the younger generation leaves for the greater opportunities offered by the mainland, making it...
in 1937. This film is a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last thirty-six inhabitants of the remote island of St Kilda
St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
on 29 August 1930. St Kilda lies in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, 64 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist
North Uist
North Uist is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.-Geography:North Uist is the tenth largest Scottish island and the thirteenth largest island surrounding Great Britain. It has an area of , slightly smaller than South Uist. North Uist is connected by causeways to Benbecula...
in the Outer Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
; the inhabitants spoke Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
. Powell was unable to get permission to film on St Kilda. Undaunted, he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 on the island of Foula, in the Shetland Isles. Despite the fact that the Foula islanders speak the Shetlandic
Shetlandic
Shetlandic, usually referred to as Shetland by native speakers, is spoken in the Shetland Islands north of mainland Scotland and is, like Orcadian, a dialect of Insular Scots...
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
, the film loses none of its power.
- The Edge of the WorldThe Edge of the WorldThe Edge of the World was the first major project by British filmmaker Michael Powell.-Plot:The film is the story of the de-population of one of the isolated, outer islands of Scotland as, one by one, the younger generation leaves for the greater opportunities offered by the mainland, making it...
(1937) dramatises the evacuation of the Islands and the ensuing tragedy. - Return To The Edge Of The World (1978) was a documentary capturing a reunion of cast and crew of 1937's The Edge Of The World, forty years after the fact, as they revisit the island.