This cleit (a beehive-type dwelling) is said to be the house in which Lady Grange was confined when banished to the island of Hirta. There is, however, no evidence to support this. Lady Grange (1682-1745) was married to James Erskine, the Scottish Lord Advocate. After the couple separated in 1730 she began to spread rumours that he was a Jacobite sympathiser. He claimed she was insane and, later, that she was dead. While her funeral was staged in Edinburgh she was abducted and imprisoned on North Uist before being taken in 1734 to St Kilda. While there, she was not completely isolated - she had a constant supply of provisions and a woman to wait on her. She managed to alert friends to her circumstances by sending a letter to Edinburgh, but they were unable to rescue her. After eight years she was eventually moved to Skye. The date of her death is given variously as 1742 and 1746.
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Questions
- What is a cleit.
- Describe how Lady Grange came to be on the island of St. Kilda?