The Islands that Roofed the World

This text contains a comprehensive history of the slate industry in the west of Scotland, complete with a detailed and vivid account of the communities on the Atlantic bound islands of Easdale, Seil, Luing and Belnahua. The author is the Easdale Island Folk Museum archivist.

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The Slate Islands lie off the west coast of Argyll. Slate has been taken from these shores from their earliest recorded history and the richness and quality of the deposits meant that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries slate quarrying was one of the most important industries in Scotland.


The Breadalbane family owned the land of Easdale and its surrounds for over 400 years and of course roofed their own buildings in slate as well as may important buildings, including Cawdor Castle in Inverness-Shire and Glasgow Cathedral.


The geology, the industry, the people and their way of lie: this is the story of the Slate Islands past, present and future.