Stac Biorach (

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 as ...

: "the pointed stack") 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 geomorphology. ...

, 73 metres tall, situated between

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 ...

and

Soay Soay (pronounced "soy") is the name of several Scottish islands. It is Sòdhaigh (sometimes anglicised "Soaigh") in Scottish Gaelic, and comes from the Old Norse ''so-ey'' meaning "island of sheep". It may refer to: * Soay, Inner Hebrides off sout ...

(in the "Sound of Soay") 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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It lies west of Stac Shoaigh (Soay Stac) (61 metres).

History

The stack has never been permanently inhabited, but has contributed considerably to the local economy by supplying the St Kildans with

sea birds Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine (ocean), marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ev ...

and their eggs. Rev. Neil MacKenzie, a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

minister who resided on St Kilda from 1830 to 1844, observed the islanders collecting eggs from here in baskets like flat-bottomed bee hives, each basket holding about 400 eggs. Like the other islands in the St Kilda archipelago, Stac Biorach is extraordinarily rich in birdlife, and boasts the highest colony of

guillemot Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family (part of the order Charadriiformes). In British use, the term comprises two genera: ''Uria'' and ''Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species are c ...

s in the archipelago. Recreational

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

on the stack seems to have started in the early 1880s. It appears that the first non-St Kildan to climb the stack was

Richard Manliffe Barrington Richard Manliffe Barrington (Fassaroe near Bray, 1849 – Dublin, 15 September 1915) was an Irish naturalist. Barrington was a farmer and land valuer. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin where he gained an M.A. He wrote reports on the ...

; he ascended Stac Biorach in 1890, calling it the most dangerous climb he ever undertook. Today climbing in all of the St Kilda archipelago is subject to the permission of 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 organ ...

(which rarely, if ever, grants it), The stack is quite difficult to climb, "one which only a few of the natives could lead."According to one source, the stack was climbed by an "outsider," R.M. Barrington, only once, in 1929. Maclean
''St. Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World''
103.

References

St Kilda, Scotland Landforms of the Outer Hebrides Stacks of Scotland {{WesternIsles-geo-stub

History

See also

References