History
[edit]
An Tràigh Bhàn, Kiloran Bay
Mesolithic food industry[edit]
In 1995 evidence of large-scale Mesolithic nut shelling, some 8,000 years ago, was found in a midden pit at Staosnaig on the island's sheltered east coast, in a large, shallow pit full of the remains of hundreds of thousands of burned hazelnut shells. Hazelnuts have been found on other Mesolithic sites, but rarely in such quantities or concentrated in one pit. The nuts were radiocarbon dated to 7720±110 BP, which calibrates to c. 6000 BCE. Similar sites in Britain and its dependencies are known only at Farnham in Surrey and at Cass ny Hawin, near Ballasalla on the Isle of Man.
This discovery gives an insight into communal activity and forward planning of the period. The nuts were harvested in a single year and pollen analysis suggests that the hazel trees were all cut down at the same time. The scale of the activity, unparalleled elsewhere in Scotland, and the lack of large game on the island, suggests that Colonsay's inhabitants were largely vegetarian. The pit was originally on a beach close to the shore, and there were two smaller stone-lined pits whose function remains obscure, a hearth, and a second cluster of pits.
Early history[edit]
The Riasg Buidhe Cross
There are a variety of ruined hill forts on the island such as Dùn Cholla and Dùn Meadhonach. The 8th-century Riasg Buidhe Cross has been re-erected in the gardens of Colonsay House. St Cathan's Chapel may date from the 14th century. The ruins of the Chapel of St Mary are little more than foundations and may date to an even earlier period. in 1549 Dean Monro wrote that Colonsay was "seven myle lange from the northeist to the southwest, with twa myle bredthe, ane fertile ile guid for quhit fishing. It hath ane paroch kirke. This ile is bruikit be ane gentle capitane, callit M'Duffyhe, and pertened of auld to Clandonald of Kyntyre."
A Viking grave at Kiloran Bay, including a boat and silver burial goods, was discovered in 1882 on land belonging to John MacNeil.
Ownership[edit]
During the 18th century the lairds of the island were McNeils and included Archibald MacNeil. Colonsay House was first built by the McNeil family in 1722. In 1904 the estate of Colonsay was bought by Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal from the trustees of the late Major-General Sir John Carstairs McNeill V.C. Since then Colonsay House has been the property of the Barons Strathcona and Mount Royal family. Colonsay House is currently occupied by Alexander Howard, 5th Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal and his family.
Today, in addition to estate land, the ownership of Colonsay is a mixture of owner-occupied housing, social housing, public and community-owned land and businesses, holiday homes and crofting land.
Services[edit]
The telephone exchange used until 1974 when Subscriber Trunk Dialling was introduced. This exchange on show in the Colonsay and Oronsay Heritage Trust Museum.
A sub-post office was established in 1871 with mail conveyed to the island by the steamer Dunvegan Castle. A new post office was constructed in 1881 by the harbour in Scalasaig. In 1893 islanders petitioned the Postmaster-General to provide a telegraph service to the islands. The islanders were unable to raise the £120 guarantee required by the Post Office. Later a new arrangement was agreed and a guarantee of £60 was provided. Telegraphic submarine cables were laid to Port Askaig in Islay and connected with the mainland on 2 August 1897. In 1905 a telephone was installed in Colonsay House requiring new poles and wires routed from the Post Office. Subscriber Trunk Dialling was introduced in 1974 and the old telephone exchange was made redundant.
The Scotland Hydro-Electric Board developed plans to provide the island with electricity, but this was dropped when local generation of electricity began in 1952 with a scheme funded by Colonsay Estate. Scalasaig, Glassaird, Kiloran and Colonsay House had local generators installed by Messrs Scott of Glasgow.
In 1983 the island was connected to the National Grid with a 11,000 volt 13.5-mile (21.7 km) under-sea cable from Islay.
