AN ELDERLY woman who was brought up on a now long-uninhabited island off Sutherland's north coast, this week paid a nostalgic return visit to her former home. The trip by 89-year-old Kitty Ann MacQueen, who now lives in Norfolk, marked the 70th anniversary of the year the last inhabitants of Eilean nan Ron left for good. Life for members of the close-knit Gaelic-speaking community on the mile-long island had become just too difficult and the evacuation was organised in the late 1930s. The island, lying to the east of the mouth of Tongue Bay about four and a half miles north-west of Bettyhill and six miles north-east of Tongue, has since become an important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with its rocky shore supporting a breeding colony of grey seals each autumn. But widowed mother-of-three Mrs MacQueen, now thought to be the last surviving former resident of Eilean nan Ron, never forgot her island upbringing and hankered over the years to visit her childhood home. She returned a number of times, the last occasion being in 2006 when she made the crossing in a small boat on rough seas. She toured the derelict houses, including her own old home. She revealed that following that visit she had told her daughter she would not go back because the steps going into the harbour were in such a dangerous condition. But this week's journey was made possible by the independent television company Caledonian TV which is filming the trip for a programme due to be broadcast later this year. The company provided a helicopter to take Mrs MacQueen, who was accompanied by her daughter Margaret and a friend, on an aerial tour of the island before landing. She said it was the first time she had ever been in a helicopter and she was delighted to have a bird's eye view. Borgie photographer Mike Roper crossed to Eilean nan Ron by boat to be there when Mrs MacQueen landed. He said the group were on the island from 11am to 2.30pm during which time they enjoyed a picnic lunch provided by the television company. "It was a beautiful sunny day and Kitty was quite amazing. She put a lot of us to shame the way she trotted round the island. We were walking on rough ground, but she never had any problem," said Mr Roper. "She gave interviews at various points along the way and was very clear and lucid. She is obviously a very intelligent woman and has a very good memory. "She could remember lots of little details and stories. At each location she came up with a story about life on the island. It was obvious that she had really enjoyed her life there. "She visited the old schoolhouse where she used to teach and her own house where she used to live. She got quite emotional when she got to the schoolhouse and asked that she be left alone for a moment. There was definitely a tear in her eye when she came out, but she carried on like a trouper." Mrs MacQueen was one of five children born on a croft on the island. She learned English at school went on to train as a teacher and taught on the island for several years. She recalls a close community where everyone would help out, but where residents had to be independent and self-sufficient to endure the winter. "In the winters you would try to stock up with large quantities of everything you needed for emergencies. There could be ten days when the boat wouldn't be able to sail because of storms," she said. She was one of a number of people who left the island shortly before the final exodus in December 1938. According to records the first settlers on Eilean nan Ron were people evicted during the Clearances in the early 19th century. Some 73 people lived on Eilean nan Ron in 1881 but 50 years later that number had dropped dramatically. Only 12 inhabitants remained when the island was finally evacuated.
