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New book tells tales about life on the isle of Muck

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Tales about life on the remote isle of Muck are the subject of a new book by rural author Polly Pullar, which is to be launched on the island next month.

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Ms Pullar and around 60 people will be making the pilgrimage from Arisaig in Lochaber to the Small Isles on Wednesday August 13 for the launch of her latest publication, which is entitled A Drop in the Ocean – Lawrence MacEwen & the Isle of Muck.

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The writer, photographer and field naturalist described writing this book as “an extraordinary project” and “the most fascinating tale”.

She said: “Lawrence MacEwen’s family have owned Muck since 1896 and he is as far removed from a feudal laird as it is possible to be. He is a working farmer and the island is surprisingly fertile.

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“His story from his arrival on the island as a baby till now, is a fascinating wealth of social history, from the days of the coal puffers and loading livestock onto Caledonian MacBraynes, to the present day when they advertise from time to time for new families.

“It is about the battles for electricity – they were one of the last places in the UK to have 24-hour power finally in 2013, a new hall, pier, school, and so on.

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“The community is thriving but, as well as much hilarity, such as escapee bulls through the herring shanty town at Mallaig years ago, and extraordinary sailing trips off to Soay from Muck to woo a wife, the island has had its share of tragedy.

“The whole story is unique and is liberally punctuated with humour.”

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A Drop in the Ocean is described in the foreword by BBC broadcaster and presenter of Radio Scotland’s popular Out of Doors programme, Mark Stephen, as “a treasure of a book dominated by liberal quantities of humour, as well as mind-numbing tragedy.”

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He writes: “Lively, entertaining and at times incredibly heart-rending, against a fabulous backdrop of brilliant Hebridean seascapes and wildlife, Polly Pullar leads Lawrence MacEwen to unveil his island’s unique story.

“A Drop in the Ocean is destined to become a valuable record of Scottish social history, as well as a thoroughly entertaining read on a par with Whisky Galore and other Highland treasures.”

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The book is published by Birlinn of Edinburgh, which also published one of her earlier books – Fauna Scotica – Animals & People in Scotland.