St Kilda is an isolated archipelago situated 64 kilometres (40 mi) 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; three other islands were also used for grazing and seabird hunting. The islands are administratively a part of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar local authority area.
Hirta is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names Hiort and Hirta have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a permanent resident population, the island had nearly all of St Kilda's population of about 180 residents in the late 17th century and 112 in 1851. It was abandoned in 1930 when the last 36 remaining inhabitants were evacuated to Lochaline on the mainland.
The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare (250-acre) island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds.
Soay is an uninhabited islet in the St Kilda archipelago, Scotland. The name is from Old Norse Seyðoy, meaning 'island of sheep'. The island is part of the St Kilda World Heritage Site and home to a primitive breed of sheep. It is the westernmost point in the United Kingdom, if disputed Rockall is excluded.
Stac Lee is a sea stack in the St Kilda group off the west coast of Scotland. An island Marilyn, it is home to part of the world's largest colony of northern gannet.
Stac an Armin, based on the proper Scottish Gaelic spelling, is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago. It is 196 metres (643 ft.) tall, qualifying it as a Marilyn. It is the highest sea stack in Scotland and the British Isles.
St Kilda was continuously inhabited for two millennia or more, from the Bronze Age to the 20th century.
Stac Biorach is a sea stack, 73 metres tall, situated between Hirta and Soay in the St Kilda archipelago of Scotland. It lies west of Stac Shoaigh (61 metres).
Stockinish Island is an uninhabited island off Harris, in the Outer Hebrides.
Haskeir, also known as Great Haskeir is a remote, exposed and uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It lies 13 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist. 1 km southwest lie the skerries of Haskeir Eagach, made up of a colonnade of five rock stacks, and 40 km (25 mi) northwest is St Kilda.
The Boreray, also known as the Boreray Blackface or Hebridean Blackface, is a breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. The breed was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. The Boreray is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.
The flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides in northwest Scotland comprises a unique and diverse ecosystem. A long archipelago, set on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, it attracts a wide variety of seabirds, and thanks to the Gulf Stream a climate more mild than might be expected at this latitude. Because it is on the Gulf Stream, it also occasionally gets exotic visitors.
Stac Levenish or Stac Leibhinis is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago in Scotland. Lying 2.5 kilometres off Village Bay on Hirta, it is part of the rim of an extinct volcano that includes Dùn, Ruaival and Mullach Sgar.
The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the first sheep brought to Europe by early farmers, and for thousands of years they were the only type of sheep kept in Northern Europe. They are hardy sheep, adapted to harsh environments, but they are small and have been replaced in most areas with later types of larger, long-tailed sheep.
The Scottish Dunface, Old Scottish Short-wool, Scottish Whiteface or Scottish Tanface was a type of sheep from Scotland. It was one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it was probably similar to the sheep kept throughout the British Isles in the Iron Age. By the mid-nineteenth century it had mostly been displaced by the Scottish Blackface and it became extinct on the mainland of Scotland in the late nineteenth century. However, several local types of Dunface survived on islands around Scotland, giving rise to or contributing to existing breeds including the Shetland, North Ronaldsay, Hebridean and Boreray.
A cleit is a stone storage hut or bothy, uniquely found on the isles and stacs of St Kilda; whilst many are still to be found, they are slowly falling into disrepair. There are known to be 1,260 cleitean on Hirta and a further 170 on the other St Kilda-group islands.
John Norman Heathcote was a British author, watercolourist and photographer, who wrote the book St Kilda, published in 1900, about the Scottish Hebridean archipelago of St Kilda.
The Lost Songs of St Kilda is an album by James MacMillan and Trevor Morrison, released in 2016 by Decca Records. The album contains modern recordings of traditional songs taught to Morrison as a boy by a resident of St Kilda, Scotland. Alongside MacMillan, the album features arrangements by Craig Armstrong, C Duncan, Rebecca Dale and Francis MacDonald. The album reached the top of the classical music chart and, because it was released after Morrison's death in 2012, became the fastest selling posthumously released debut album in chart history.
