National Geographic : 1947 May
Lundy, Treasure Island of Birds BY COL. P. T. ETHERTON With Illustrations from Photographsby J. Allan Cash AOUT a dozen miles off the coast of north Devon, looming out of the At lantic, is the solitary island of Lundy, strangest and perhaps least known of the islands of Britain. This strategic sentinel commands the shipping lane from Bristol and the west country and has a history as ro mantic and swashbuckling as anything in Stevenson's Treasure Island. Here is the island of the storybooks, where you land in a sunny cove with no sounds save the swish of oars against the bow and the cries of hundreds of sea birds. Here is a beach which has figured vividly in many a story; this is the island of ad venture, with an ancient tower, above the cove, which must have been a pirate's lookout. Below it are caves where treasure could be buried and the pirate might count his pieces of eight, with pistol and cutlass by his side. As one looks out, there is a singularly fine seascape-waters of iris blue, dotted along the shore with splashes of amber from the sea weed. A Floral Revue Strangely beautiful is this island with its little glens and ravines painted by Nature's own hand. Here, before the birds on the mainland have heralded the arrival of spring, Lundy has already said it with flowers. As the months go on, the floral revue continues, for the island specializes in wild flowers. I crossed to Lundy in a naval patrol boat from Bideford and was landed in the sunny southeast cove. With me were officers and men of the United States Army in Europe, for the overlord of Lundy has always welcomed our transatlantic cousins and allies. A thou sand birds curved across the clouds and cried out at our intrusion (map, page 679). We climbed up and up by a rocky path flanked by rhododendron, veronica, hydran gea, and wild flowers to the "king's" house (pages 676, 677). It was built more than a hundred years ago, a 12-room house equipped on up-to-date lines. Most of the windows look down the path and out over the Bristol Channel to the north Devon coast. Here lives Mr. Martin Coles Harman, the only king outside of royalty in the British Isles, a staunch believer in private enter prise and ownership, and with the individual taste for liberty so dear to Englishmen. He is a vigorous personality, a good raconteur, and owes allegiance only to King George. Lundy has been privately owned throughout historical times, and various charters and let ters of authority have been granted it by kings of England. In the earliest recorded period of its story the island is found in the possession of the Montmorency family, the Irish and English branches of which were called De Marisco. The first to come to Lundy was Sir Jordan de Marisco, about 1150, and this notorious family, members of which frequently occur in the annals of England as filling important offices under the Crown, ruled over Lundy for about 135 years. Unfortunately, we cannot be certain of dates, as the early records of Lundy, which apparently were kept at Cleeve Abbey on the mainland, were sent to London, where they were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Because of these feudal charters, Lundy boasts sovereign rights and semiroyal prestige. Its overlord has rights and privileges which sound strange to modern ears. He has his own stamps, can remove anyone he wishes from his domain, and can land any cargo free of restraining customs or excise. He can deny anyone the right to land, and he controls all fishing and marine catches for a specified distance offshore. No tax of any kind is levied, and fishermen are not allowed without permission. Besides being an overlord by right of tenure of this Lilliputian strip of heather- and fern covered land, he possesses the hard asset of some of the finest granite in the world, used in early Victorian days in the construction of the Victoria Embankment along the Thames. Census Shows Eleven People Human habitations are limited on Lundy a house, a few cottages, and the lighthouses. There are three lighthouses, but one of these is now used as a wireless station and can ob tain advance notice of Atlantic weather. Only one store, where certain foods may be bought, serves the island. A Lundy directory would contain the names of only eleven people, six of these being lighthouse men. Mr. Harman told me how, besides weather forecasts, this island was responsible for intro ducing rabbits into Great Britain.