The Blackhouse

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to offer my grateful thanks to those who gave so generously of their time and expertise during my researches for The Blackhouse. In particular, I’d like to express my gratitude to pathologist Steven C. Campman, MD, medical examiner, San Diego, California; Derek (Pluto) Murray, Gaelic actor and broadcaster; Detective Sergeant George Murray, Northern Constabulary, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis; John ‘Dods’ Macfarlane, Angus ‘Bobby’ Morrison and Angus ‘Angie’ Gunn, guga hunters from Ness, Isle of Lewis; Calum ‘Pugwash’ Murray and Murdo ‘Beag’ Murray, skipper and first mate of the Heather Isle, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis; Donald Macritchie, teacher of maths and geography at Lionel School, Ness, Isle of Lewis; Evelyn Coull, Gaelic actress and broadcaster; Dr Brian Michie, general practitioner, police surgeon and locum pathologist, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis; An Comunn Eachdraidh, the Ness Historical Society, Ness, Isle of Lewis. I must also offer thanks and congratulations to John Beatty for his book Sula, The Seabird-Hunters of Lewis, which provided me with a wonderful photographic and written record of the annual pilgrimage made by the men of Ness to cull 2,000 guga on the island of Sula Sgeir. And I would like to give a special thanks to the people of the Isle of Lewis for their generosity and warmth during my five years filming on the island, and during my researches for this book.