The wedding itself was scheduled for 5pm, and was only a little delayed by the inability of the bridal party to operate the ignition key of Alex's Mercedes. A lone piper, Dugie Gardiner, a long-standing friend of the bride, was waiting to play her into the church, and Fr. Dominic Milroy O.S.B. , former headmaster of the groom, was there to officiate. The service was simple and very moving and Fr. Dominic's homily was well-received.

The reception in the magnificent new Village Hall was utterly dependent upon the warmhearted, enthusiastic and highly professional services of all who assisted, and could not have been bettered. We now know that 151 people can be catered for, and in some comfort and style. Hazel took charge of everything, Angus and John saw to the drinks (no mean feat), Jane and Leone and Claire saw to the table decorations - it is hopeless to list everyone, but they did a magnificent job. After the meal, Hector MacFadyen and his band had everyone on their feet and kept them there - despite all sorts of good resolutions, there were folk still dancing at three in the morning. Charlie made sure that there were no ill consequences - he provided a bus service for one and all, right to the very end.

Sunday was another lovely day, and by ten o'clock pedestrians were crossing to Oransay, where more than one hundred people gathered for an eleven o'clock mass and blessing at the Priory. Mrs. Colburn made everybody very welcome and had kindly provided flowers and every facility for Fr. Dominic. Afterwards, there was a picnic and barbecue on the strand at Machrins, in beautiful sunshine; it was a lively and convivial gathering, and some of the hardier types even went swimming. By five o'clock the action had moved to the pier and there was a lot of emotion as the ferry arrived and - by all accounts - the voyage up to Oban was pretty emotional as well. Lots of people were visiting Colonsay for the first time, and it is thought that many are determined to return.

Sophie and Nico's honeymoon is in Namibia. They wish to thank all their friends and relations for being at their wedding, and to thank everyone in the island for everything that was done for them.

The Magazine Section

"THE GAELIC OF ISLAY : A Comparative Study

Review of "THE GAELIC OF ISLAY : A COMPARATIVE STUDY", by Seumas Grannd (University of Aberdeen, 2000, £9.00)

Seumas Grannd, who surely must be known as James Grant to at least some of his friends, has produced a solid piece of research on the particular features of Gaelic as it is spoken on Islay, backing up his findings by comparing Islay Gaelic with that of neighbouring areas, including Colonsay.

This is not a book for the general reader, nor for those wishing merely to dabble in the study of Gaelic. It has the feel of a PhD thesis, which no doubt it originally was. After briefly explaining his method of working, Grannd launches straight into his examination of 13 "major features" and no fewer than 76 "minor features" of Islay Gaelic, most of which are clearly and handsomely illustrated by a series of 80 maps of Argyll showing the area over which particular words or pronunciations are used. In his conclusion he limits himself to a statistical analysis of the degree of correlation between Islay and neighbouring dialects, and discovers - not very surprisingly - that Colonsay, Jura, Kintyre and Arran are the areas that show the closest resemblance to Islay Gaelic. What is perhaps more surprising to learn is that Rathlin Island, off the coast of Northern Ireland, shares many similarities with Islay in terms of the Gaelic (or Irish) used there.

Grannd has obviously travelled widely throughout Argyll and beyond when collecting his material between 1980 and 1985. His sole informant for Colonsay Gaelic was the late (and fondly remembered) Neil Darroch. Oddly enough, although he is meticulous in recording the forms used elsewhere in Argyll, noting differences between the North and South of Jura for example, he seems to treat Islay Gaelic itself as a homogeneous entity. Are we to understand that there are no differences of pronunciation or usage between Portnahaven, where the vast majority of his Islay informants lived, and say, Port Ellen or Bowmore?

It is also curious that Grannd seems unaware of the very scholarly work done on Islay a generation ago by Nils Holmer, although he correctly quotes Holmer as a source for both Kintyre and Arran Gaelic. It would have been interesting to know what aspects of Islay pronunciation and usage had altered since Holmer's day.

Many of the "features" he identifies will ring true with anyone who is familiar with Gaelic as spoken on Colonsay, although he is wrong when he states that the verb mandaidh mi is used for "I can" on Colonsay, or that the word crannag (pulpit) is not used - the craggy hill overlooking the Golf Course at Machrins is known as A' Chrannag. However, it is not clear why he chooses these particular features over others, nor why he chooses to begin by working through his 76 "minor features" before going on to the major ones. In fact the ordering of the work appears to follow no very logical pattern. It would surely have been better to start with the features which immediately strike a Gaelic-speaker from elsewhere as typical of Islay, before moving on to points of detail.

Grannd correctly identifies the pronunciation of "a" as "e" in the presence of a nasal consonant as being among the hallmarks of the Islay dialect - as it is of Colonsay as well. Those of us who learned our Gaelic in Colonsay are well used to having our legs pulled for pronouncing math (good) as "meh". But he fails to mention the use of the glottal stop before "r", "l" and "n", which most Gaelic-speakers would consider a prominent feature of Argyll dialects, and especially characteristic of Islay. Nor does he make any reference to the intonation pattern of Islay speech, which gives the effect of a Lowland drawl, whereas Colonsay Gaelic, though it uses much the same words as Islay, sounds much more Hebridean. It would also have been interesting to learn more about the influence of English on Islay Gaelic, and the dynamics of how the language is surviving in an increasingly English-dominated culture.

That said, there is no denying the quality and integrity of the work itself. As more and more areas of the Highlands and Islands cease to be actively Gaelic-speaking, there is a pressing need to record and analyse their particular characteristics. Islay for the time being is still relatively strong in this respect, but in the neighbouring districts of Kintyre and Arran, Gaelic is virtually extinct, and in Jura and Colonsay it is on the way out. This work, published at the symbolically significant date of 2000, will be seen as an important landmark in the recording of Argyll dialects. What is now needed is for a similarly detailed study of the local Gaelic dialect to be carried out in a place like Colonsay, where twenty years from now it will be too late.

Alastair M. Scouller

World War II and Colonsay:The "Arandora Star"

A recent note from Francis Troup corrected and amplified some information which had been provided as a footnote to the Graveyard Inscriptions, which the editor had transcribed. On foot of the correction, the entry now reads:

Francis Troup's information prompted one to make further enquiries. It has always been said locally that the victims of the incident had been badly lacerated by barbed wire, which had been used to imprison the internees. Renewed enquiry this week confirmed that recollection, and one was also reminded that some of the remains were so badly polluted by oil and tar that no attempt at identification had been possible. Francis Troup mentioned that the internees had been aboard the "Arandora Star", and the following information is from survivors' recollections at the time.

Liverpool, June 30th , 1940
The ship had the appearance of a troop carrier being painted battleship grey and having the rear promenade decks and the lower decks boarded up completely. All portholes were boarded up shutting out all daylight and the ship was armed. The boarded up promenade decks were separated from the other parts of the ship by double fences of barbed wire reaching from floor to ceiling. The only means of communication between the aft and forepart and to the boat-decks was through the lower cabin gangways which were closely guarded by sentries.

Accommodation of first arrivals, Italians, refugees from Seaton, Paignton Group, was in two and three berth cabins with four and five men to each cabin, two sleeping on the floor on palliasses. The German Internees from Swanwick, who came last, were put in the ballroom aft, where they had to live and to sleep. Approximately 120 of them had palliasses but the remainder had to sleep on the bare floor; but no blankets were supplied to any of this group. Lavatory accommodation for these 242 men consisted of four WCs and four washbasins. The internees were only allowed to enter these in small successive groups closely guarded by sentries. On the next day at 6.00 PM the greater part of the Swanwick group was transferred to cabins on the B deck and the Italians who had been living there had to take the ballroom as living and sleeping quarters.

The Arandora Star carried 14 lifeboats, which on average hold 50 to 60 persons each. In addition there were the usual number of life rafts. There was no official issue of lifebelts, but belts of various designs were lying about and it was left to everybody to provide himself with such a belt if thought necessary. No instructions whatever were given for the possible event of being shipwrecked; i.e. no boat drill was held, no one was instructed in the proper use of a lifebelt, no instructions were given as to how to proceed in the event of an emergency.

The ship sailed without escort or convoy and on Monday July 1st she was pursuing a short but continuous zigzag course. All outer lights were extinguished and the ship was absolutely dark. With the numerous sentries on deck and the guns silhouetted against the sky the ship had the definite appearance of an armed merchantman troop carrier and she looked sinister, like a veritable coffin.

On July 2nd at 7.05 AM a torpedo hit the Arandora Star below the waterline shaking her by a violent explosion. The light in the cabins and inner gangways went out a few seconds afterwards. Apparently the electrical installation was put out of order immediately; no alarm was sounded and whoever was able to do so went from cabins and living quarters to the decks to reach one of the lifeboats.

Everyone tried to save his life as best as possible. There was no visible attempt made, however, to organise the evacuation of the ship, but officers and men of the SS Adolf Woermann who were between the internees from Swanwick lowered the last six boats in good order. From the 14 lifeboats that were carried by the Arandora Star, one was destroyed by the explosion when the ship was hit, one could not be lowered and went down with the ship, two were smashed during the process of lowering, either the gear being in bad condition, or due to misproper handling. Four boats got down safely but with very few survivors in them, as it seemed to be the desire of the people lowering the boats to get these away from the ship as quickly as possible.

The last six boats that the Woermann crew handled were filled almost to capacity, two or three of them almost exclusively with British soldiers. Captain Burfeind of the Woermann who supervised and organised the lowering of these boats stayed with others of his crew at his post and lost his life. He had the situation well in hand and it is due to his endeavors that many were saved.

Many rafts, boards, benches, etc., were thrown into the water, but certainly not all that were available for this purpose, and those people that could not get to the boats mostly jumped overboard, to hang on to them as best they could. In the disorder that occurred, it happened that some people who were already in the water and making for the rafts were hit by rafts that were thrown down and became injured some of them fatally.

Many people, especially sick and older ones, and those from the lower part of the ship could not reach the open decks or could not make up their mind to jump overboard. The majority of these stayed onboard and finally went down with the ship, clinging to the railings, and in this way many lives were lost. There were many Italians between them, as they were mostly of middle age or older.

It must be said that the lifeboats and tackle were in a neglected condition, which caused two boats to become useless, another filled with water because the stoppers were missing, and two of the motor boats did not operate through lack of petrol. There were petrol canisters in these boats, but they were found to be empties. As mentioned before, several boats were lowered with less than 10 occupants but all the boats did their best to pick up survivors from the water and from wreckage pieces to which they were clinging. The boats were handled by crew and survivors, but none of the boats had its proper crew. The boats kept together to the best possible extent within short distance from the Arandora Star.

The ship was settling with an increasing lift and it appeared that she broke in two by a second, apparently a boiler, explosion, before she finally sank. It was a dreadful sight as many people were still on the upper decks holding on to the railings. The Arandora Star sank at about 7.40AM.

The sea was fairly calm with slight swell and occasional drizzle. At 11.00AM a seaplane appeared and the lifeboats lit red flares. After circling several times the plane made off and returned shortly afterwards when it dropped a message that help would be coming soon.

At about 2.30PM a destroyer HMCS 83m St. Laurent, approached and at once started to take on board survivors off the rafts, while the boats were making for the destroyer, which had also lowered its own motor-launch. This picked up survivors who were swimming in the water or clinging to the rafts. The swell had increased, but in spite of this the difficult operation of taking the survivors on board was capably carried out by the crew of the destroyer without any mishaps.

On board the destroyer everything was done to make survivors as comfortable as possible. Many of them were very exhausted, as they had been in the water for up to seven hours, but also those from the lifeboats suffered from cold and exposure, as they were very scantily clad, mostly in pajamas. Quite a number of survivors were black over their whole body from bilge or fuel oil, and these were cleaned immediately. Hot rum and cocoa and biscuits were shared out and clothes and blankets were provided, so everyone could get warmed up and revived. All those needing medical attention were taken care of by the ship's doctor who did his utmost to help. It must be said that the treatment of all survivors regardless what they were, or where they came from, by officers and crew, was excellent in every way, and every one of the survivors will thank them in his heart for their kindness.

On Wednesday, July 3rd , at 8.45AM, Greenock, on the Clyde, was reached. After disembarkation of crew and soldiers from the Arandora Star, the internees were put ashore in three groups. Germans, Italians, and sick people. The Italians and Germans were marched off. The sick remained on the quay for full two hours without shelter, and had to march then to a first-aid station, where they had to wait another 2½ hours. During the last hours, cups of tea and biscuits were served. Finally ambulances arrived which brought them to Mearnskirk Hospital, Newton Mearns. They arrived there at 2 pm, and were treated as hospital patients in an excellent way. No preparations had been made for the accommodation of the other group of survivors that was marched off from the quay, most of them barefoot, to a factory building ½ a mile distant. No blankets were available, and no food whatsoever was given before 1 o'clock, when they received a slice of bread with corned beef and a cup of tea, which was all the food issued that day. No water was given for washing until late in the evening or the next day, lavatory accommodation was two WC's, for 250 men, there were no beds or palliasses and hardly any blankets. All those survivors were in bad need of a hot shower, and of some accommodation to get a good night's rest, and of some proper hot food as well as warm clothes. Instead of this they had to endure another night and day of exposure in their torn and oily clothes, or better said rags. As a result of this a further number of internees became so exhausted that they too had to be taken to hospital.

As far as we can make out the numbers of survivors were as follows:
Italians: 266 out of 740
Germans from Swanwick: 206 out of 242
Germans from Seaton 82 out of 184
Germans from Paignton: 32 out of 50
Total: 586 out of 1,216

We wish to put on record that all reports about unpleasant incidents of fighting between the shipwrecked during the period of rescue are untrue and lack basis or foundation. The ship's crew and the internees assisted each other in a most friendly and helpful spirit, and when taking people into the boats from rafts, wreckage, or those who were swimming, no differentiation whatsoever was made.

Signed:
B Fehle for Swanwick Group
C Kroning for Seaton Group
Kreauzer for Paignton Group
R. Vicki-Borghese for Italian Group
Mearnskirk Hospital, Newton Mearns, July 10th 1940."


N.B. Since Walfrido Sagramati is buried alongside six people who perished on the "Transylvania", sunk on 10th August, it will be necessary to refer to official records to clarify the ship with which he was lost, but there is no doubt that Edmondo Armando Sottocarnola was from the "Arandora Star". When weather conditions permit a November landing on Eilean nan Ron, it has been the practice to place a small memorial cross and Poppy on his grave for Remembrance Day; now that Francis Troup has given us the name, it might be possible to arrange a modest but more permanent marker. The editor has not managed to find lists of victims for either vessel as yet, and would welcome any help.

Website to Explore

The site mentioned last week was discovered at random, and contains extensive lists of early family groups in both Colonsay and Jura. I said that "It must have taken a great deal of work to prepare, but an email seeking the background has not yet met with a response. The author has edited some of the names and has run into one or two slight difficulties which could only have been resolved through local contacts, but this is an extraordinarily useful resource. In case it suddenly disappears, serious researchers might think it worthwhile to download for reference." Unfortunately, one reader reported that the link did not work, so I am trying again; please let me know if it works for anyone - it seems fine to me! Go to