Futility Closet

1930 saw the quiet conclusion of a remarkable era. The tiny population of St. Kilda, an isolated Scottish archipelago, decided to end their thousand-year tenure as the most remote community in Britain and move to the mainland. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the remarkable life they'd shared on the island and the reasons they chose to leave. We'll also track a stork to Sudan and puzzle over the uses of tea trays. Intro: Reportedly the 3rd Earl of Darnley believed he was a teapot. Henry Hudson's journal records a 1610 encounter with a mermaid. Sources for our feature on St. Kilda: Charles MacLean, Island on the Edge of the World: The Story of St Kilda, 1972. Tom Steel, The Life and Death of St. Kilda: The Moving Story of a Vanished Island Community, 2011. Andrew Fleming, St Kilda and the Wider World: Tales of an Iconic Island, 2005. Alexander Buchan, A Description of St. Kilda, The Most Remote Western Isle of Scotland, 1741. Martin Martin, A Voyage to St. Kilda, 1749. Geor