Emigration from Berneray
There is a book available from the Berneray Historical Society concerning the people who have left the island. Here are some details: ‘The book contains eleven clearly written chapters detailing events in the island of Berneray starting with the earliest Neolithic arrivals moving through to the present. Various listed data are accompanied by stories of human events and sketched illustrations. The book is attractively presented, readable and informative. While the writing is without excess sentiment, tales of tacksmen’s and landlords’ treatment of the local people make for sometimes painful reading, and copies in the booklet of letters both to and from Berneray emigrants give a moving testimony of the island people’s efforts to make new lives in strange lands. There are two appendices where emigrations are detailed, and a thorough bibliography of historical sources used.’