Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-11
THE ISLAND OF IONA
NEW HOME FOR MONKS OF THE
GRAND CHARrREUsE.
Carthusians Will Distill Their Green
and Yellow Cordial In
Scotland.
From the New York Tribune.


Rose: Where Is Duncsn's body,
Macduf: Carried to Colmes Kill
The sacred storehouse OF his predecessors,
And CUR rdian OF their bones.-Macbeth.
The Carthusian monks negotiating for
new home. and the green and the yellow
Chartreuse may become a Scotch instead OF
French liqueur. Driven from their old
home in the French Alps. these priestly
dstillers are trying to buy the Island OF
Iona in the Hebrides, and a few miles from
the Island of Null of the west coast OF
Scotland. When the report of n sale was
announced all England was fairly as
founded.
WAS not Iona as sacred as Westminster
Abbey?"
WAS the cemetery of monarchs to be
turned into a distillery?'
Would not the shades OF forty-eight
kings of Scotland. eight kings of Norway
and four kings of Ireland rise up from their
graves?"
These We're some of the questions which
proud Britishers asked one another.
Graves of Sixty Kings.
But the sixty dead monarchs who. ac-
cording to tradition, have been buried at
Iona need not tremble at the coming of
the Carthusians. for the monks are not 60
ing to disturb the sacred associations OF the
island. The ruins of the ancient abbey
church. the relics of st. COLUMBIA, who first
established there missionary station In
the sixth century, and the royal tombs are
TO be preserved with religious solettude-
Such are the terms of the sale. IL II should
be consummated as stipulated by the Duke
of Argyle, the owner of the Island Ihat
the duke Is certain of imposing such condi-
lions before he closes the bargain may pc
seen from the sentiments OF his family. IN
the book entitled Iona" printed In 1911,
which was written by his father. are these
words:
"Columba's body has been resolved Into
indistingushable dust But what ne uio
and said has acquired permanent place
in the history of that being for whom the
sea has been made and the dry land pre-
pared"
For one who desires to live apart from
the world both physically and spirit
ualIy, Iona offers exceptional opportuni-
ties William Winter visited the Island In
September. 1891 and was stormbound there
for several days.
stone ledge that serves for pier at Iona"
writes Mr.. Winter in 'Old Shrines and
Ivy" should not be prepared to remain
upon that island as long as he likes, but
as long he must. In the Hebrides the
weather is sovereign. At any moment the
storm wind may sweep over them. The
present pilgrim landed at Iona about noon
on September p, intending to return to
Oban the next morning. Five days have
passed, and there is but faint prospect OF
| his escape. Postal communication with the
mainland-regularly occurrent but once
every forty-eight hours in fair weather.
has practically ceased. Resting. however,
in such a homelike haven the st. Co.
lumba Hotel and cheered by conpanlonship
with the kind Highland hearts who dwell
there. the practice of patience should not
be difficult"
Once Called Icolmkill.
Iona Island once called Icolmkill,
which means the Island of Columba's Call
CL,,N> c4ro,f arta nf
mile wide separates its craggy. precipitous
shores from the Island of Null to the east
ward and enables one in approaching il to
view its rugged mountains OF Laurentian
gneiss, which is the Oldest sedimentary rock
in the world.
Iona is three miles long. and at it's wild
Mr.. Winter land it contains about 1000
acres of land. of which about a quarter is
under cultivation for oats. hay, vegetables
and flowers. Three quarters of II Is de-
voted to pasture. There are within its linn
It's, of cattle, horses. sheep and other ami
mails, about thousand The collie dog and
the household cat are frequently encoun-
tered, and you will not stroll far upon the
moors without meeting the dark and stately
Highland bull / counted about fifty dwell
ings. The population is small-about 1.50O
persons. of whom 300 dwell in Null. The
church is the Presbyterian Church of Scot
land. but there is also free church. One
of the buildings is the manse. Another is
the school house. All the houses are made
of stone, and some of them have a roof of
thatch which is held in its place by clamps
Superincumb bent timberS and heavy weights
of stone iron.