The Lost Lights of St Kilda - Facts

A great part of the book takes place in St Kilda. St Kilda  is a remote archipelago situated 65 kilometres west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom.

The people on the island lived in bothies. A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Scotland, Northern England, Ulster, and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands.

In 1930 the island is abandoned. After the end of the Great War, most of the young men left the island, and the population fell from 73 in 1920 to 37 in 1928. After the death of four men from influenza in 1926, there was a succession of crop failures in the 1920s.  The last straw came with the death of a young woman, Mary Gillies, who fell ill with appendicitis in January 1930 and was taken to the mainland for treatment. 

One of the real characters is the nurse Williamina Barclay. Williamina McIntosh Barclay  (5 March 1883 – 15 July 1975) was a nurse who was one of the main initiators of the evacuation of the Scottish archipelago St Kilda. As of 1930, thirteen men, ten women, eight girls and five boys lived in St Kilda, all on Hirta. The 10 households rented cottages from the landowner, with the other six cottages being unoccupied. The evacuation was encouraged by Barclay who was very concerned about health issues, especially after the deaths of two young women. The islanders finally agreed and the majority signed a petition on 10 May 1930.

The people of St Kilda belonged to the Free Church of Scotland. The Free Church of Scotland (is a conservative evangelical Calvinist denomination.

The island belong to the McCleods, and one of their homes was Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. Dunvegan Castle  is located 1.6 km to the north of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. 

Fred is invited to ceilidh when he lives that summer on the island. A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish and Irish social gathering that often features live Gaelic folk music and dancing. While originally a simple social visit, modern ceilidhs are festive events with group dances, often led by a "caller" who guides participants through the steps. They are popular for being inclusive, welcoming people of all ages and dance experience levels. 

The characters mention Dunkirk. The Dunkirk evacuation was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940.

When Fred runs away, he is helped by the resistance. One was Nancy Fiocca. Nancy Fiocca was t a decorated Australian-born spy who was a leader in the French Resistance during World War II. As the "White Mouse," she was highly effective at evading the Gestapo, helping over a thousand Allied servicemen and Jewish refugees escape, and later leading a 7,000-member guerrilla force before the war's end. 

Another was REverend Donald Caskie. Rev Dr Donald Caskie helped thousands of prisoners of war escape a hilltop fort during World War Two. He and his French Resistance colleagues masterminded the rescue of RAF personnel under the noses of German soldiers through a sewer system at Fort de la Revère in 1942.

Fred is eventually sent to a camp in Miranda de Ebro. 

At the end of the book Archie is buried in Kilmuir. Kilmuir is a village on the west coast of the Trotternish peninsula in the north of the island of Skye.