Isle of Eigg

For about 17 or 18 years, I've visited the island of Eigg at irregular intervals. It's a small isle, measuring 5 miles north to south and 3 miles east to west - at its broadest point. Its highest point is An Sgurr, Gaelic for The Rocky Peak, 393 metres above sealevel [1294 feet]. Population is in the 70s, and served by ferry from Mallaig, 15 miles to the northeast on the mainland.

Its recent history has been nothing short of chequered, but has repercussions that reverberate in Lewis today.

Over the last few weeks, I've mentioned that the Galson Estate, in the north of Lewis, was taken into community ownership. Eigg was the second privately owned estate in the Highlands and Islands to go down that route in the 1990s. The way that came about is actually beyond belief.

After being owned by shipping magnates, the Runciman family, Eigg was sold in 1966 to the first of a series of madcap private landlords. One had the idea to establish a school for disadvantaged children on the island. The idea fell through because the man in question couldn't get the idea off the ground. The second fellow grandly called himself a Captain, but his captaincy stemmed from a stint in the fireservice. By 1975, the island was falling into decay and heading for depopulation. Along came Keith Schellenberg, a member of the UK bob-sleigh team in the 1964 Olympics in Rome. He turned Eigg into his private playground, organising mock-ups of Jacobites vs Hannoverian battles (a reflection of the Battle of Culloden in 1746), using tennis balls. He would drive his friends round the island 5 mile road system in a 1927 Rolls Royce car. On the positive side, Schellenberg promoted tourism and got quite a few new residents to move to Eigg. They were crafts people, from various parts of the UK and beyond.

As so often, Mr Schellenberg's private life caught up with him, when, in 1992, his then wife filed for divorce and wanted her cut. He had to sell Eigg - which he did, to one of his own companies. The relationship between Keith and his islanders deteriorated rapidly when he ordered a family with 5 children to move out of one of the estate's main houses. The islanders rose in revolt, and he retracted the order, saying he hadn't meant it like that. Unfortunately, the bad blood was out. One January morning, the island's firecrew was called to the pier to extinguish a blaze. A shed, containing Schellenberg's vintage car, was consumed in flames. The island meanwhile, was in a state of neglect and stagnation. Schellenberg's spirit was broken, as far as Eigg was concerned, and he sold the island.

To whom? To Marlin Eckhardt Maruma. He was a fire artist. You load a gun with paint, fire it at a canvas, and set the paint alight. Mr Maruma bought Eigg for £2m, an amount he had loaned - secured on the island. He promised much, but delivered nothing. When it turned out that Maruma, who only visited Eigg twice, had nothing to show for his 2 million pound debt, the creditors called in their loan and placed the island on the market.

In the years 1996 and 1997, the islanders of Eigg collected £2 million by private subscription and bought it for their own community. And they haven't looked back since.