Staffa, a tourist destination with its remarkable geology.
William Daniell's aquatint of Staffa, an engraving dated 1821.
Until 1772, Staffa, and its remarkable geology was unknown to all but a few. In that year, Joseph Banks, the naturalist, visited the island on his way to Iceland, and quickly spread the word of what he had found there. The first geologist to visit the island was Faujas de Saint Fond, a Frenchman. Following the realisation that the centre of their country contained a number of extinct volcanoes, scientists from France were keen to understand the nature of igneous rocks. One theory was that the basalt columns that form such a striking terrain at Staffa were solidified bamboo shoots!
The engravings that accompany the accounts of Faujas's tour in 1784 are among the first printed images of the island.
Isle de Staffa, from the account of the visit of Faujas de Saint Fond to the island, " Voyage en Angleterre en Ecosse et aux Iles Hebrides" published in 1797."
Faujas was hugely impressed by Fingal's Cave, saying "I have never found anything which comes near this...It is therefore not at all surprising that tradition should have made it the abode of a hero."
Faujas de Saint Fond's engraving of the entrance of Fingal's Cave.
It was, he thought, "a superb monument of a grand subterranean conflagration....a veritable marvel."
View of the Basaltic Island of Boo-Schala, Adjoining to Staffa.
One early visitor to Staffa was Dr. Thomas Garnett, who took a tour of Scotland after the death of his wife in 1798. He thought the island "grand beyond conception", and the view from the south reminded him "of an immense Cathedral, whose mossy roof was supported by stupendous pillars, formed with all the regularity of art."
Staffa, an engraving after W.H. Watts, from Thomas Garnett's 'Observations on a Tour through the Highlands...' published in 1800.
As for Fingal's Cave, he thought it "one of the most magnificent sights the eye ever beheld. It appears like the inside of a Cathedral of immense size, but superior to any work of art in grandeur and sublimity, and equal to any in regularity....the scale so immense as to make all the temples built by the hand of man, hide their diminished heads."
Fingal's Cave, an engraving after W.H. Watts.
Garnett was a doctor by profession, and 'Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in the Royal Institution of Great Britain', and keen therefore to understand how the island was formed. To his amusement, the 'interpreter' on the boat thought it had been built by St Columba, though others thought it the work of Fion-mac-Cool. Garnett mentions, too, the theories of the Irish concerning the Giant's Causeway, who suggest it is the work of a "regular mole" going into the sea, under the direction of the giant, Fion-mac-Cool. Garnett himself can offer only "what may be called a plausible hypothesis", but he devotes several pages to "mineralogical remarks." The fact that he was a scientist of some note makes his Tour of particular interest.
The engravings in the book are after drawings by his companion on the trip, W.H. Watts. They were sketched on the boat "which our boatman with some difficulty kept nearly stationary, till my friend had executed his drawing."
Bending Pillars in Staffa, an engraving after W.H. Watts.
Another early visitor to the island was John Stoddart, whose tour round Scotland was just a little later than Garnett's, in 1799-1800. He had heard that "something curious" was to be seen at Staffa, but was thwarted on his first attempt owing to rough weather. The next day saw an improvement, and his party were able to land on the island, the expedition costing them fifteen shillings, and two bottles of whisky for the boatmen. Stoddart was duly impressed, thinking "its parallel is nowhere to be found, unless perhaps in the Giant's Causeway, in Ireland....[but] Staffa is much more magnificent."
Fingal's Cave, Staffa. An engraving after Nattes, published in 1801 in "Remarks on Local Scenery & Manners in Scotland...." by John Stoddart.
From Necker de Saussure's "Voyage en Ecosse et aux Iles Hebrides" published in 1821.
Two interesting prints of Staffa and Mull were issued in the Atlas Encyclopedique contenant les cartes et les Planches relatives a la Geographie Physique by M. Desmarest and M. le Colonel Bory de St. Vincent. They were engraved by Ambroise Tardieu.
The engraving on the right, titled "Cirque Volcanique d'Ashna Crogs (ile de Mull)" is almost certainly near Grass Point, on the east of Mull opposite Kerrera. The area is now marked on the map as Auchnacraig. It had been visited by Faujas St Fond on his tour in 1784. In his account he describes the inn at Grass Point as "wretched and smoky", but the landlord was "a good sort of man" and he describes 'Achnacregs' as "a little haven." One morning, he walked "about a mile and a quarter" from the inn, and arrived "at the foot of one of the most astonishingproductions of volcanic combustion that I ever had the opportunity of observing. It presented the appearance of an ancient circus, formed of natural walls of basaltes, rising perpendicularly with so regular a construction, that at first view, the spectator cannot avoid thinking it to be the production of human industry and art."
My thanks to James Westland of Mull, who informed me of both the site of this formation, and the account of it in Faujas's tour. It seems to have excited the man almost as much as Staffa did, and I think an excursion there today is called for, to find out what remains of the 'circus' that so thrilled him. Westland suggests it lies some 1.5 miles south of Grass Point.
The Swiss geologist, Necker de Saussure, made a number of trips to Scotland between the years 1806 - 1808. One of his images, published in his account of 1821, looks out to the Ocean from inside Fingal's Cave. He was joined there by a bagpiper, whose "instrument well accorded with the character of the scene, and the notes prolonged by the echoes, produced an effect altogether analogous to that of an organ pealing through the vaulted aisles of a cathedral"(from "A Voyage to the Hebrides..." published in 1821).
The celebrated island soon became a desirable destination for the 19th century tourist.
An image by Sydney Hall, from the Graphic Magazine, July 1892. Conditions had to be very calm for boatloads like these to enter the cave.
Keats, on his visit to Scotland in 1818, was unwilling to pay the high price that was originally demanded for the boat trip, but he eventually found an option at a "bargain". In his poem "On visiting Staffa", he calls the island "The Cathedral of the Sea....Here mighty waters play Hollow organs all the day..." The image of Staffa as a vast cathedral seems to have occured to all these early visitors.
Mendelssohn added to the fame of Staffa with his "The Hebrides" Overture, though in fact he gained little pleasure from his visit as he was badly seasick on his trip to the island.
Few who visited could resist sketching what they saw. Below is an anonymous drawing on lovely embossed paper.
"Fingal's Cave in the Isle of Staffa, Hebrides." Unsigned, and no date.
This next example is a particularly attractive work, complete with a beautifully designed title "Fingal's Cave."
An original painting by P. Townsend, drawn at Belmont House, and dated 1860.
Photographers began selling images of the island commercially in the 1880s. This is an example by James Valentine.
In fact, Valentine published a number of such images in 1889, showing that even as early as that time it was possible to doctor photographs. Below are three postcards using the same image of the island (code 10983), but with three different ships approaching!
Three postacrds by James Valentine registered in 1889, using the same image of the island but with different steamers approaching.
Later, in 1898, he played the same trick with these two images, looking out from the cave.
Two images by Valentine, using the same base image (27809) but with different ships. The one on the right was posted in 1908.
He also took this interesting shot, titled "The Herdsman, Staffa" the seated figure with his bottle by his side. "Herdsman" refers to the formation, not the figure.
The Herdsman, Staffa, by James Valentine. 1889.
Thomas Garnett with his companion, on Staffa in 1798, had come across a herdsman's wife, who presented him with some milk in a wooden bowl "so heavy that we could scarcely lift it to our mouths...their manner of life is extremely simple, their food consisting chiefly of milk and potatoes, with now and then a little fish." He noted that they lived in one of "two wretched huts built with fragments of basaltic pillars and rude pieces of lava." Maybe the man photographed here was also a herdsman after all?
In 1889 Valentine published these images of the nearby Clamshell Cave.
The Clamshell Cave on Staffa, two images published in 1889 by Valentine.
Here is another view, on a late 19th century stereoview.
From a stereoview card. An earlier photograph c1870, probably by George Washington Wilson.
George Washington Wilson was not to be outdone by Valentine.
Two images by George Washington Wilson, the upper one titled "West side of Staffa", and the lower one "Cormorant Cave, Staffa", a less well-known site.
"Causeway and Bending Pillars, Staffa" by G.W. Wilson. A good view of the remarkable geology on the island.
It is hardly surprising that the island is still a popular destination for today's tourist.
"Island of Staffa" by George Washington Wilson.
The approach to Staffa. A Reliable Series postcard posted in 1914.
I finish with this remarkable image. A postcard, said to date c.1915, bought from a reputable dealer who called it Staffa because of its appearance, and because it came with a number of cards from that area. It certainly looks like Staffa, but the land rising to the right does does fit with what I think should be there if this is a view of Fingal's Cave. Also, the image shows a sloping beach up to the cave. The question is, is this Staffa? The back of the postcard gives no clues, neither location nor publisher. If anyone can help me identify the location, I would be most grateful.