Читать книгу Walking on Rum and the Small Isles. Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna, Coll and Tiree онлайн

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From the early Medieval period Rum was noted for its deer and ‘excellent sport’ and was probably used as a hunting reserve by the nobility. By the mid-16th century Rum was in the possession of the MacLeans of Coll, then in 1588 the Small Isles were assaulted when Lachlan Maclean of Duart led a raiding party including 100 Spanish marines from a galleon of the defeated Armada anchored at Tobermory. The islands’ settlements were torched and their inhabitants murdered. In 1593 King James VI received a report indicating that Clanranald had re-occupied the island, but despite these temporary setbacks the Macleans of Coll kept possession of Rum for more than three centuries.

By the late 17th century Rum’s status as a hunting reserve had declined and the human population had increased. The inhabitants caught fish, grew barley and potatoes and raised Black cattle for export to the mainland. Conditions were primitive and the dearth of viable farming land stretched resources. The needs of a growing population led to the extermination of the native red deer during the latter half of the 18th century.