Jura, Scotland

Jura
Gaelic name  Diùra 
Norse name Dýr-ey/Hjǫrt-ey
Meaning of name Old Norse for 'deer island'
Location
Jura
Jura shown within Argyll and Bute
OS grid reference NR589803
Physical geography
Island group Islay
Area 366.92 km2 (142 sq mi)
Area rank 8 [1]
Highest elevation Beinn an Òir 785 m (2,575 ft)
Political geography
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country Scotland
Council area Argyll and Bute
Demographics
Population 196[2]
Population rank 31 [1]
Population density 0.5 people/km2[2][3]
Largest settlement Craighouse
References [3][4]

Jura (/ˈdʒʊərə/ JOOR-ə; Scottish Gaelic: Diùra [ˈtʲuːɾə]) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Compared with its fertile and more populous neighbour, Jura is mountainous, bare and infertile, covered largely by vast areas of blanket bog, hence its small population. In a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas ranked by population it comes thirty-first. It is in the council area of Argyll and Bute.

History

Evidence of settlements on Jura dating from the Mesolithic period was first uncovered by the English archaeologist John Mercer in the 1960s. There is evidence of Neolithic settlement at Poll a' Cheo in the southwest of the island. The modern name "Jura" dates from the Norse-Gael era and is from the Old Norse Dyrøy meaning "beast [wild animal] island".[5]

In the sixth century, it is believed that Jura may have been the location of Hinba, the island to which the Irish founder of the Christian Church in Scotland Saint Columba retreated for prayer and contemplation from the monastic community which he founded on Iona.[6]

The Vikings

The Viking occupation of the Hebrides began in the ninth century, and was formalised when sovereignty was secured in 1098. From this point, Norse rule continued until 1266, when the Hebrides, together with Kintyre and the Isle of Man, were ceded to Scotland in the Treaty of Perth. A key figure during the Norse period was the warlord Somerled, whose descendants, for around 150 years from the mid-fourteenth century, styled themselves Lords of the Isles.

The Lords of the Isles

The Lordship of the Isles was dominated by Clan Donald, whose seat was at Finlaggan on Islay. The Lordship came to an end in 1493, but Clan Donald continued to rule the southern part of Jura, through the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg. The north of the island, however, was owned by this time by Clan Maclean, whose seat was at Aros Castle in Glengarrisdale. In 1647, this was to be the site of a notable battle between the Macleans and the Campbells of Craignish. For many years in the twentieth century, a human skull stood on a ledge in a nearby cave, and it was traditionally said to have been the remains of a Maclean who had been killed in this battle.[7] The skull is no longer there, but the latest editions of Ordnance Survey maps still mark the location as 'Maclean's Skull Cave'.

The Campbells

The demise of the Lords of the Isles at the end of the fifteenth century was shortly followed in 1506 by the Treaty of Camas an Staca, which removed MacDonald rights on Jura and gave them to the Campbells.[8] Despite this, the sixteenth century was a period of skirmishing between the warring clans: McDonalds, Campbells, MacLeans and others. Then in 1607 the Campbells finally bought the island from the MacDonalds. This was the beginning of some three hundred years during which the island was ruled and largely owned by eleven successive Campbell lairds. The north of the island, however, remained in MacLean hands until 1737, when it was sold to Donald MacNeil of Colonsay.

Emigration

From the mid-eighteenth century, long before the notorious Highland Clearances of the nineteenth century, there were a number of waves of emigration from Jura. In 1767, fifty people left Jura for Canada, and from that point the population gradually shrank from over a thousand to its twentieth century level of just a few hundred. Mercer notes [9] that although relatively few forced clearances were recorded as taking place on Jura, the emigrations were far from voluntary, and were the result of factors such as hunger and spiralling rents.

Recent and current ownership

During the first half of the twentieth century the Campbells gradually sold the island as a number of separate estates, and the Campbell connection with Jura ended in 1938 with the sale of Jura House and the Ardfin Estate. There are now seven estates on Jura, all in separate ownership, with six of the seven held by absentees: Ardfin, Inver, Jura Forest, Tarbert, Ruantallain, Ardlussa, and Barnhill.[10] There is also a relatively small area owned by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Barnhill was the home of British novelist George Orwell, who lived there intermittently from 1946 until his death in 1950, and who completed his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four while living there. Despite its isolation, Barnhill has in recent years become something of a shrine for his readers.[11]

The Ardfin Estate is situated at the southern tip of the island, between Feolin and Craighouse. For some seventy years from 1938, Ardfin belonged to the Riley-Smith family, brewers from Tadcaster in Yorkshire. In 2010 the estate was bought by Greg Coffey, an Australian hedge-fund manager.[12] and since then the famous walled garden of Jura House, which had previously been a popular tourist attraction, has been closed to the public. Having also wound up the estate's farm, Mr Coffey then submitted proposals for the construction of a private 18-hole golf course on the estate, which received planning consent from Argyll and Bute Council in May 2014.[13]

North of Ardfin, and flanking the Paps of Jura, lie the estates of Forest and Inver. Forest Estate, on the east side of the Paps, belongs to Samuel, 3rd Baron Vestey, Chairman of the food and farming business Vestey Group Ltd, and Master of the Horse of the Royal Household. Below the west slopes of the Paps lies Inver Estate, which belongs to Sir William Lithgow, Vice-Chairman of the Glasgow shipbuilding group Lithgows.

North of the Corran River, and stretching as far as Loch Tarbert, is the Tarbert Estate. Prime Minister David Cameron has visited the estate on several occasions.[14] It is sometimes reported that the 20,000-acre estate is "owned by his wife's stepfather Lord Astor"[14] although the ownership of the Tarbert Estate is in the hands of Ginge Manor Estates Ltd based in Nassau in The Bahamas and there is "no means of verifying" who the beneficial absentee owners are.[15] North of Loch Tarbert is Ruantallain, which was created when the northern half of the Tarbert Estate was sold off in 1984. It is owned by businessman Lindsay Bury, who is a former president of the influential wildlife charity Flora and Fauna International. The north of Jura belongs to two members of the Fletcher family. The owner of Ardlussa[16] is Andrew Fletcher, who lives at Ardlussa House with his family - they are the only estate owners to be permanently resident on Jura. And at the northernmost tip of Jura, overlooking the famous Corryvreckan Whirlpool is the Barnhill Estate,[17] which is owned by Jamie Fletcher.

Geography

Satellite picture of Jura

With an area of 36,692 hectares, or 142 square miles (368 km2), and only 196 inhabitants recorded in the 2011 census,[2] Jura is much less densely populated than neighbouring Islay and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland. Census records show that Jura's population peaked at 1,312 in 1831,[18] and that, in common with many areas of western Scotland, the island's population declined steadily over the ensuing decades. However, there has been a small increase since 2001.[19] During the same decade Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.[20] Alongside the long-term decline in Jura's population has been a decline in the number of Gaelic speakers. The 1881 census reported that 86.6% (out of 946 inhabitants) spoke Gaelic. In 1961, for the first time less than half (46.9%) spoke the language and by 2001, this figure had dropped to 10.6%.

The main settlement is the village of Craighouse on the east coast. Craighouse is home to the Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single malt whisky.[21] The village is also home to the island's only hotel, shop and church.

Between the northern tip of Jura and the island of Scarba lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan where a whirlpool makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide. The southern part of the island, from Loch Tarbert southwards, is one of 40 National Scenic Areas in Scotland.[22]

Geology

The isle of Jura is composed largely of Dalradian quartzite, a hard metamorphic rock which provides the jagged surface of the Paps. Throughout the western half of the island the quartzite has been penetrated by a number of linear basalt dikes which were formed during a period of intense volcanic activity in the Lower Tertiary period, some 56 million years ago. These dikes are most apparent on the west coast where erosion of the less-resistant rock into which they are intruded has left them exposed as natural walls. The west coast is also home to a number of raised beaches, which are regarded as a geological feature of international importance.[23]

Economy

In an economic survey published in 2005 by the now-defunct Feolin Study Centre on Jura,[24] the gross turnover of the island was estimated to be just over £3.2 million. This figure covered production and services only, and took no account of public expenditure by government or local authority. In terms of financial size, the Jura distillery was the largest, and it was also the biggest individual employer, but the island's seven estates, taken together, employed the most full and part-time staff. The distillery is owned by Whyte and Mackay, which since 2007 has been part of the United Breweries Group of India, so very little of its considerable profits remain on Jura. The estates provide deer stalking and other field sports, together with forestry and a diminishing amount of agriculture. Tourism is the only other significant area of economic activity, and in 2005 over 20% of the island population was directly or indirectly employed in the tourist industry. The distillery, field sports and Jura House Gardens were listed as the main tourist attractions, although the gardens have since been closed to the public.

In 2013 Jura Development Trust secured financial support from the Big Lottery Fund and other sources to purchase the island's only shop, which re-opened as a community-owned business in 2014. [25]. The trust is also exploring renewable energy options.

Transport

Jura lies close to the Scottish mainland, and yet it is often described as "remote";[26] the island's most distinguished resident, George Orwell, famously described it as "extremely ungetatable."[27] This may be because it has no direct air or ferry link to the mainland, apart from a seasonal passenger ferry service which runs (in the summer only) from the village of Tayvallich near Lochgilphead.[28] Most travellers to Jura go by CalMac car ferry from Kennacraig on the Kintyre Peninsula to Islay, and then cross to Jura from Port Askaig on Islay by the MV Eilean Dhiura, a small vehicle ferry which is run by ASP Ships on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council. Islay can also be reached by air: Islay Airport is served by daily flights from Glasgow and twice weekly from Oban.

Jura has only one road of any significance, the single-track A846, which follows the southern and eastern coastline of the island from Feolin Ferry to Craighouse, a distance of around eight miles. The road then continues to Lagg, Tarbert, Ardlussa and beyond. A private track runs from the road end to the far north of the island. A local bus service on the island is operated by Garelochhead Coaches.[29]

Wildlife

The island has a large population of red deer and it is commonly believed that the name Jura is derived from hjǫrtr, the Old Norse word for deer. (In Old Norse dýr was a euphemism for hjǫrtr, as this was a sacred and tabooed word.) Through browsing, the deer prevent the vegetation on the island from turning back to woodland, which is the natural climax community; indeed an alternative explanation of the island's name is that it derives from 'the great quantity of yew trees which grew in the island'[30] in earlier times.

Jura is also noted for its bird life, and especially for its raptors, including buzzards, golden eagles, white-tailed eagles and hen harriers. Since 2010 Jura has been designated by Scottish Natural Heritage as a Special Protection Area for golden eagles.[31] Like many other parts of the Hebrides and western Scotland, the shores of Jura are frequented by grey seals, and the elusive otter is also relatively common here, as is the adder, the UK's only venomous snake.

Two of the Paps of Jura taken from above Caol Ìla on Islay
The scree-covered peak of Beinn an Òir
Beinn Shiantaidh from the south

Paps of Jura

Main article: Paps of Jura

The island is dominated by three steep-sided conical quartzite mountains on its western side – the Paps of Jura – which rise to 785 metres (2,575 ft). There are three major peaks:

The Paps dominate the landscape in the region and can be seen from the Mull of Kintyre and, on a clear day, Skye and Northern Ireland. The route of the annual Isle of Jura Fell Race includes all three Paps and four other hills.

These hills were the subject of William McTaggart's 1902 masterpiece The Paps of Jura,[33] now displayed in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.[34]

Literary accounts

In 1549, Donald Monro, Dean of the Isles wrote that the island was "ane ather fyne forrest for deire, inhabit and manurit at the coist syde", with "fresche water Loches, with meikell of profit" and an abundance of salmon.[35][Note 1]

However, when the soldier and military historian Sir James Turner visited Jura in 1632, he was less impressed, reporting that '[it is] a horride ile and a habitation fit for deere and wild beastes'.[36]

But at the end of the seventeenth century, the writer and traveller Martin Martin went there and concluded that 'this isle is perhaps the wholesomest plot of ground either in the isles or continent of Scotland, as appears by the long life of the natives and their state of health'. Martin noted some extraordinary examples of longevity, including one Gillouir MacCrain, who was alleged to have kept one hundred and eighty Christmasses in his own house. And he was impressed by the good health of the inhabitants: 'There is no epidemical disease that prevails here. Fevers are but seldom observed by the natives, and any kind of flux is rare. The gout and agues are not so much as known by them, neither are they liable to sciatica. Convulsions, vapours, palsies, surfeits, lethargies, megrims, consumptions, rickets, pains of the stomach, or coughs, are not frequent here, and none of them are at any time observed to become mad.'[37]

Culture

Like all inhabited Hebridean islands, Jura has its own indigenous tradition of Gaelic song and poetry.[38][39] Since 1993 it has also been the home to the Jura Music Festival,[40] which takes place annually in September.

Towards the north end of Jura, some miles beyond the end of the metalled road, is Barnhill, a remote house where the novelist George Orwell spent much of the last three years of his life. Orwell was known to the residents of Jura by his real name, Eric Blair. It was at Barnhill that Orwell finished Nineteen Eighty-Four, during 1947–48 while critically ill with tuberculosis.[41] He sent the final typescript to his publishers, Secker and Warburg, on 4 December 1948, who published the book on 8 June 1949.[42]

Jura is also known for an event that took place on 23 August 1994, when Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, known then as the music group The KLF, filmed themselves burning £1 million in banknotes in the Ardfin boathouse on the south coast of the island.[43]

Jura is featured in the plot of the 2003 novel A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin, the 2007 novel The Careful Use of Compliments by the Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith and is a setting for some of the narrative and action in Anne Michaels' 2008 novel The Winter Vault.

In music, Jura is mentioned in: "Crossing to Jura", a song by R. Kennedy and D. MacDonald, recorded in 1997 by JCB with Jerry Holland on the album A Trip to Cape Breton; "The Bens of Jura", a song by Capercaillie; and "Isle of Jura", a song by Skyclad.

The 2010 album Poets and Lighthouses by Tuvan singer Albert Kuvezin of the band Yat Kha was recorded and produced by the British musician Giles Perring on Jura, with some of the performances being recorded in the forest at Lagg. The album reached Number 1 in the European World Music Charts in January 2011.[44]

Notes

  1. ↑ Translation from Scots: "another fine deer forest, manured and inhabited at the coast" and "freshwater lakes, with much profit".

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands >20ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  2. 1 2 3 National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013) (pdf) Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland - Release 1C (Part Two). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland’s inhabited islands". Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 47
  4. ↑ Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9
  5. ↑ The place-name element dyr is often erroneously interpreted as 'deer' (on account of the Modern English cognate - see following). In Old Norse, dyr meant "beast, wild animal" (c.f. Old English dēor 'beast /wild animal'). This clearly contrasts with Old Norse hjarta 'deer' (c.f. Old English heort [Modern English 'hart']). Modern English is unique amongst the Germanic Languages in that the semantic domain of 'deer' has become restricted to the antler-bearing animal, rather than any animal - c.f. Dutch dier - 'animal'
  6. ↑ "The Road North". undiscoveredscotland.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "Jura, Maclean's Skull". scotlandsplaces.gov.uk.
  8. ↑ "Isle of Jura - Island of Deer". Southern Hebrides of Scotland.
  9. ↑ Mercer, J: Hebridean Islands (1974) ISBN 0 216 89726 2
  10. ↑ "Who Owns Scotland". whoownsscotland.org.uk.
  11. ↑ Paul McHugh (March 15, 2009). "Finding Orwell's Source of Hope in Jura, Scotland". Washington Post.
  12. ↑ "Nocookies". The Australian.
  13. ↑ http://publicaccess.argyll-bute.gov.uk/publicaccess/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MWI92BCH06C00
  14. 1 2 "David Cameron suffers 'phenomenally bad back'. " BBC News. (19 August 2013) Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  15. ↑ Ross, David (22 August 2013) "Cameron urged to clarify estate ownership".
  16. ↑ "Ardlussa Estate Isle of Jura - Isle of Jura Accommodation - Ardlussa House". ardlussaestate.com.
  17. ↑ "Escape to jura". escapetojura.com.
  18. ↑ Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 41
  19. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Scotland's Census 2001 – Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Scotland's 2011 census: Island living on the rise". BBC News. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  21. ↑ isleofjura.com Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  22. ↑ "National Scenic Areas". SNH. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.
  23. ↑ "West coast of Jura". scottishgeology.com.
  24. ↑ 'The Jura Economic Survey' (Feolin Study Centre, 2005)
  25. ↑ http://www.juracommunityshop.co.uk/home/4578943479
  26. ↑ Tim Jonze. "Jura: a brief guide to David Cameron's remote holiday retreat". the Guardian.
  27. ↑ Maev Kennedy. "Maev Kennedy: People". the Guardian.
  28. ↑ "home - Jura Passenger Ferry". jurapassengerferry.com.
  29. ↑ "Home - Garelochhead Coaches". garelochheadcoaches.co.uk.
  30. ↑ Statistical account of Scotland - Account of 1791-99 vol.12 p. 318
  31. ↑ Bird of prey
  32. ↑ Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 50
  33. ↑ "William McTaggart". Machrihanish Online. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  34. ↑ "Kelvingrove Art Gallery". planetware.com. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  35. ↑ Monro (1549) "Duray" No. 15
  36. ↑ "The island‐parish of Jura - Scottish Geographical Magazine - Volume 84, Issue 1". tandfonline.com.
  37. ↑ Martin, Martin. "A description of the Western Islands of Scotland (1697)". appins.org.
  38. ↑ Simon Ager. "Toirt m' aghaidh ri Diùra". Omniglot. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  39. ↑ "Da Thaobh Loch Seile". all celtic music. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  40. ↑ "Jura Music Festival". Jura Music Festival.
  41. ↑ Bowker, Gordon (2004). George Orwell. London: Abacus. ISBN 0-316-86115-4.
  42. ↑ Bowker (2004) p. 383, 399.
  43. ↑ Reid, J., "Money to burn" (25 September 1994) London. The Observer.
  44. ↑ "Mongolian throat singer Kuvezin is the latest pride of Jura". Herald Scotland.

References

External links

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Coordinates: 56°5′N 5°45′W / 56.083°N 5.750°W / 56.083; -5.750

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