New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-01
IONA
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOLY ISLE.
PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS OF IoNA-EvERYDAf
1FE-oHURcH, SCHOOL, AND LIBRARY
MoNAsTIo REMAINs-sT. CokUMBA
-RELEIG DRAIN.

MONAsTIC REMAINs-sT. CohCMbA
-RELEIG DRAIN
PROM STAFF CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNE
Oban, October 1.
Iona Is three miles long and at Its Widest
mint a mile anil half wide, and 1t contains
about two thousand ncres Of land. of which aoout
q quarter is under cultivation. for oats, hay'
vegetables and flowers. Threc-onartels OF IL
are devoted to pasture. There are ""hih i,S
limits of CATTLE horses, sheep and other animals
about thousand The colly dog ana the mouse.
hold cat are frequently encounterec, ana you wiz
not stroll far upon the MOODS without meeting ''e
dark and stately Highland bull. l counted about
fifty dwellings. The population Is small Inc
minister Of Iona, the Rev. Archibald Macmillan,
u,hoso friendly acquaintance I had the pleasure
and privilege to gain. told NE that his parish
which comprises Iona and section Of the west
ern end OF the Ross ~ Mull,-contains about hve
hundred and fifteen persons, of whom about three
hundred dwell in Null The church Is the
Presbyterian Church Of Scotland, but there is also
a. free church. One of the buildings is the
Manse Another is the Schoolhouse. All the
houses ore mode Of stone and some of them have
roof of thatch which is hell in it's place oy
clamps, superintendent timber,, and heavy
weights of iron or stone. There are two hotels
one the ST. COLUMBIA, kept by. Captain Rifcme'
the other, the Argyll Arms, kept by John Mac
donad,-the official guide to Iona, as his father
was before him. The crcfters. all OF whom are
prosperous, live in little stone cottages, rarely
more than one story high The village consists OF
n single street. with those humble huts ranged
upon one side Of it-their doors and windows fac
ing eastward toward the Sound. The postoftcc
is also shop, and there are two or three
shops beside. Three times week little steam
boat sailing out of Buncssan.--a town of Null.
sheltered in Loch-na.K eal calls at Iona. if she
can and takes away the mail, and leaves It,
touching by means Of skiff, at st. Romans Bay.
The settled part Of Iona is gentle slope upon it's
eastern shore, not distant from the northern en-
tremty-a region protected by the hills from
those westerly and southerly gales which are the
scOurge OF this island There only y few roads,
but the pedestrian may readily make his way al
most anywhere, without fear of trespass. The
Inhabitants are generally religious. ard are or
derby, courteous. and gentle. No doctor dwells in
the place and no one there is ever sick. Death
may come by drowning or by other accident, but
as rule, the people live until they are worn out,
and so expire naturally. from extreme age The
Gaelic language, although it is dying away in the
Highlands, is still spoken there The minister.
preaching on alternate Sundays at Iona and ut
Bunessan, speaks in English first. and then repeats
his discourse in Gaelic, ne rrvcrses this order.-
and for both sermons he has audience. 1t
my good fortune to hear him September
%, together with about fifty other persons. seated
on wooden benches in whitewashed room, and
have never heard speaker more devout. earnest,
sincere and simple. The school is largely fol-
lowed,-the present attendance being nearly
seventy pupils, and in the schoolhouse / found
library of nearly five hundred volumes there
are four hundred and fifteen titles in the cat
alogue partly collected through the friendly min
istrations of the Rev. Leigh Richmond who
visited Iona in SEQ, and partly contributed by
Mr.. Thomas Cook, of London, the organizer OF
Cooks Tours. Shakespeare Scott. Macaulay,
Hume, Smolet Tyler, Dickens Sidney Smith.
Cowper, John Wilson, and j. r. Green. are among
the authors represented. Several volumes of
Cooks Voyages are there and so are ten volumes
Of Chambers's Encyclopedia. Far too many ser
mOns, however, appear in that collection, together
with far too many tones of the order OF the
everlasting JOsephus-whom everybody venerates
and nobody reads. Among the bencfactors TO the
Iona Library are the Rev. Dr. S Dwycr, G. Gallie,
of Glasgow; A Philip, of Butte; F. Clapp Of Ex
eter Rev. G. F. w. Munby, of Turvey Miss Cope
land Of Dumfres; Miss Roberts; and the Directors
paper Is published at Iona but there is a little
printng-ofiice near the st. COLUMBIA Hotel. and
from this germ may be expected one day OF another,
such practical growdhs Of enterprise and Of broad
ening thought as commonly follow in the track Of
the Press. The Presbyterian house Of worship was
built in $50 and it is decayng structure Of the
most primitive description; but in every quality
that should appertain to the character of clergy
&c tint do tn
church in the kingdom. Iona is owned by the
Duke of Argyll to whose family it was granted
by Charles the First Before that time il had long
been held by the chieftains of the great house
of Maclean. When DIR. johnson came there, with
Boswell, in 1913, Maclean was their companion,-
then the lord of the clan,-and both Johnson and
Boswell have borne fervid testimony to the I'M
stinted hospitality with which they were received,
notwithstanding that the Campbells were In
possession of the land. The sturdy old
Doctor was obliged indeed. 10 sleep on
the hay in a barn, with his portmanteau Tor a
pillow; but that was the best accommodation at
tainable on the island, and the Macean slept
beside him. There is greater comfort to be found
in Iona now, but there is no luxury. Nor is this
a place for luxury. Here you are cut off from
the world. Here you are alone. Here you are
brought face to face with eternity. Here, ac-
cOrdingly II anywhere on earth, the mind would
be inspired, the heart would be Clean and life
would be simple and pure. On one Of those storm
stricken days l stood alone upon the Hill OF
Angels and looked off at the grim desolation of
the dark Atlantic plain and could not wonder
as | felt the overwhelming solitude and grandeur
Of the place, at the old supersttious belief that
when Saint Columbia stood there, thirteen cen.
turies ago, the white-robed beings of another
world came floating down from heaven to talk
with their brother upon earth.
1t is perhaps tritc history that COLUMBIA came
from Ireland to Iona in the year $685. bringing
Christianity to the Picts of the Western Islands,
and that he made Iona the fountain-head of re-
ligion and learning for northern Europe,-dying