Stac an Armin ( gd, Stac an Àrmainn), based on the proper
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...
spelling (formerly ''àrmuinn''), is a
sea stack
A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorpholog ...
in the
St Kilda archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
. It is 196 metres (643 ft.) tall, qualifying it as a
Marilyn
Marilyn may refer to:
* Marilyn (given name)
* Marilyn (singer) (born 1962), English singer
* Marilyn (hill), a type of mountain or hill in the British Isles with a prominence above 150 m
* 1486 Marilyn, a Main-belt asteroid
* ''Marilyn'' (1953 ...
.
It is the highest sea stack in Scotland and the British Isles.
The name Stac an Armin means stack of the soldier/warrior, and evidence remains showing it was used by people living nearby as a hunting grounds. It is not believed to have been inhabited year round, but has hosted some (involuntary) extended stays. Climbing the rocks was once done to collect eggs and has continued in the form of recreational sport. The island was once home to the now extinct
great auk
The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, w ...
, and rules exist to protect the bird habitats and breeding grounds.
Stac an Armin is 400 metres (¼ mi) north of
Boreray and near the 172-metre-high (564 ft)
Stac Lee. Stac an Armin is separated from Boreray by a channel "so littered with rocks" that it should not be sailed, though sailors write passionately about the views.
History and people
The first written account of the island was
Martin Martin
Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (-9 October 1718) was a Scottish writer best known for his work '' A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703; second edition 1716). This book is particularly noted for i ...
's description in the early 18th century. Martin wrote about the island after the Scottish writer had visited St Kilda in 1697 and included a few anecdotes about the stack in his ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland'' published in 1703. It was the first comprehensive book on the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
, to which was appended "A Late Voyage to St Kilda". Martin calls the island "Stack-Narmin."
["A Late Voyage to St. Kilda," chapter 2, in ]
It was never inhabited full-time, but hunting its bird population helped sustain the way of life of the population of St Kilda, as evidenced by the buildings they left behind. There are no fewer than 78 storage
cleitean on Stac an Armin and a small
bothy
A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...
, built by the St Kildans. Martin describes these cleitean as "pyramids" and wrote they were used to "preserve and dry" birds, especially the "solan goose" (
northern gannet
The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird i ...
). Martin observed one harvest that brought in 800 birds.
In addition to the geese, the islanders used Stac an Armin for harvesting
great auk
The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, w ...
s,
gannet
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies.
Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the ...
s, and
puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids ( auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in c ...
s, as well as their eggs. The numerous birds that lived on the island were an important source of sustenance for the people of St Kilda.

The longest recorded period anyone ever spent on the island was about nine months. Three men and eight boys from
Hirta
Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...
were marooned here from about 15 August 1727 until 13 May 1728. As luck would have it, Hirta suffered a
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...
outbreak while the eleven were on the stack, and thus the islanders were unable to man a boat and retrieve them until the next year. Such temporary accidental occupation of the island may have been a regular event, since Martin Martin also relates, in an anecdote in ''A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'', how a group of some twenty men were stranded on the island for a couple of days after the rope that held their boat broke. They survived by fishing, and communicated to their wives that they were alive and well by lighting "as many fires on the top of an eminence as there were men in number." Martin adds, curiously, that the wives were so overjoyed that they managed to produce a record harvest of corn that year.
The archipelago as a whole was
evacuated in 1930, and bequeathed to the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...
in 1957. Hunting birds is no longer allowed, and the stack is visited only occasionally by scientists, journalists and climbers.
The last great auk in Britain

On Stac an Armin, in July, 1840, the last
great auk
The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, w ...
(''Pinguinus impennis'') seen in Britain was caught and killed. A then 75-year-old inhabitant of St Kilda told Henry Evans, a frequent visitor to the archipelago, that he and his father-in-law with another man had caught a "garefowl," noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days, and then killed it by beating it with a stick, apparently because they believed it to be a witch. The last known specimens in the world were killed a few years later either in
Eldey
Eldey () is a small island about off the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland. Located west-southwest of Reykjavík, the island of Eldey covers an area of about , and rises to a height of . Its sheer cliffs are home to la ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
, or off
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
.
Climbing the stack
Native St Kildans have climbed Stac an Armin and other cliffs in St Kilda for centuries in order to harvest birds and eggs; they climbed
alpine-style, barefoot or in thick socks, using ropes pleated of horse hair.
Modern
ascents are few; some may have been done illegally. Mountaindays.net has no routes, information, or comments; however, chatter among online groups suggests attempts are made. The summit of Stac an Armin was reached by a party of 11
Marilyn
Marilyn may refer to:
* Marilyn (given name)
* Marilyn (singer) (born 1962), English singer
* Marilyn (hill), a type of mountain or hill in the British Isles with a prominence above 150 m
* 1486 Marilyn, a Main-belt asteroid
* ''Marilyn'' (1953 ...
baggers on 13 October 2014. Prior to that, the only verifiable modern ascent happened in 1969, when a group which included
Dick Balharry
Richard Balharry (3 September 1937 – 22 April 2015) was a Scottish Conservation movement, conservationist, writer, and wildlife photographer.
Early life
Balharry was born and brought up in Muirhead, near Dundee. In 1954, after a year of tech ...
and
John Morton Boyd
John Morton Boyd CBE FRSE (31 January 1925 – 25 August 1998) was a British zoologist, writer and conservationist. He was a pioneer of nature conservation in Scotland.
Life
Boyd was born in Darvel, Ayrshire, the son of Thomas Boyd, master ...
made a number of ascents in the archipelago, which included climbing Stac an Armin.
Climbing Stac an Armin (and
Stac Lee), though attractive ("St Kilda presents some of the most challenging climbing in Britain"
) is complicated by a number of factors. The climb of Stac an Armin itself is described as "little easier than Stac Lee," but the topography makes it a "major expedition" and "the weather can make nonsense of any landing plans." The stack is accessible only with difficulty; more importantly, since the entire archipelago is both a
national nature reserve and a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
(principally for the cliffs and seabird colonies) managed by
Scottish Natural Heritage
NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an Scottish public bodies#Executive NDPBs, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, ...
(SNH), climbing is strictly regulated since it potentially disturbs the natural and cultural heritage and particularly the rich birdlife; according to the 2003 Management Plan, "For natural heritage interests, natural processes will normally be allowed to continue without intervention."

The 2003 management plan is quite specific about the dangers of climbing in St Kilda: the object of prescription 21.5 is to "Ensure that breeding seabirds are not disturbed by climbing on the cliffs," though the Plan suggests the allowance of climbing the cliffs under strictly monitored circumstances. Prescription 26.4 states that a policy that satisfies climbers and does not violate the Trust's mission is to be developed.
["Develop a policy on climbing on St Kilda that ensures rock climbing does not in any way interfere with breeding seabirds, vegetated sea cliffs or wild land quality." ''St Kilda Management Plan 2003–2008'', 45.] The Trust's strict but preliminary position on climbing was formalized quite explicitly:
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, in a review of the plan, "recommends that the NTS celebrate the historical importance and the cultural heritage of the climbing on the Islands of St Kilda."
See also
*
List of islands of Scotland
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
*
List of outlying islands of Scotland
The outlying islands of Scotland are not part of the larger archipelagos and island groups of Scotland—the Hebrides, the Northern Isles or the Islands of the Forth and Clyde estuaries. None of these islands are currently inhabited and few ...
References
Bibliography
*
*Rackwitz, Martin. ''Travels to Terra Incognita: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers' Accounts C. 1600 to 1800''. Waxmann Verlag, 2007. .
External links
St Kilda Management PlanAccount of an ascent of Stac an Armin
{{coord, 57.88036, -8.49760, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NA151064), display=title
St Kilda, Scotland
Marilyns of Scotland
Mountains and hills of the Scottish islands
Mountains and hills of the Outer Hebrides
Stacks of Scotland
Seabird colonies
Climbing areas of Scotland
Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides