Tesco row shows Sundays are still sacred on Hebridean islands

Islanders on Lewis spend their Sundays in a means the remainder of Scotland – and the UK – haven’t seen in a long time.

Swimming swimming pools and sports activities centres are closed and most companies are shut.

Like the remainder of the Western Isles there isn’t any public transport on Sundays.

There’s a sturdy custom of Christian church-going on Lewis – and neighbouring Harris – with the Church of Scotland and Free Church predominant.

According to the latest Census figures, Church of Scotland (35.3%) was the commonest spiritual group within the Western Isles.

But a row over the seven-day opening of a Tesco in Stornoway, Lewis, has introduced this conventional lifestyle into focus. And when the primary prospects filed into the shop after 12:00 on Sunday it marked a historic change.

Devoted observance of the Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, is embedded within the tradition of Lewis and Harris.

In accordance the Bible’s Ten Commandments, the Sabbath is a non secular time for worship and relaxation from work and play.

Prior to now, islanders did not grasp washing outdoors as a mark of respect for the Sabbath – and on events some church-goers even chained up youngsters’s swings to assist guarantee peace and quiet.

Dr James Eglinton is a a senior lecturer in Reformed Theology at Edinburgh College and has household from Lewis.

He mentioned chaining swings had change into a trope utilized by individuals who do not perceive island tradition.

Dr Eglinton added: “It is very a lot projected on to that tradition and that type of stuff makes the Sabbath sound very dour, killjoy and peculiar.

“What you will have on Lewis is a dwelling instance of a neighborhood tradition that practices a day of relaxation as a neighborhood.

“On mainland Scotland individuals suppose that is fairly odd, nevertheless it’s a traditional factor throughout continental Europe.”

The Rev Hector Morrison, who’s from Lewis and is principal of Highland Theological School UHI, mentioned one motive for the longevity of Lewis and Harris’ Sunday traditions had been evangelical revivals.

These had been occasions when communities felt dedicated to a really pious means of Christianity.

The Rev Morrison says components of Lewis and Harris skilled revivals each 10-15 years up till not less than the Nineteen Seventies.

He has fond reminiscences of rising up in Lewis and says the Sabbath by no means appeared dour.

The previous minister provides: “I imagine that Sunday will stay particular for Lewis and Harris individuals not primarily as a result of it’s so deeply embedded within the island’s tradition, however so long as the gospel itself stays important and powerfully at work in these islands.

“Every new technology which comes to like the Lord, will need to hold the Lord’s commandments.”

Different religions throughout the Western isles embrace Catholic, significantly within the southern isles together with Barra, and there’s a mosque in Stornoway.

For Lewis and Harris the final 20 years have seen important adjustments to Sundays.

Inns’ eating places have opened and there’s a petrol station with a store buying and selling on Sundays.

The island’s first industrial flights began in October 2002.

About 60 campaigners gathered to satisfy the airplane when it landed at Stornoway.

They stood in quiet protest and handed out leaflets saying travelling on the Sabbath was a sin and damaging to an individual’s soul and island life.

A younger oil trade employee was among the many passengers on that first flight.

He told the BBC on the time a Sunday air service provided him an opportunity to steadiness working away from dwelling and getting again to spend high quality time along with his household.

Seven years later the primary ferry – a lifeline type of transport within the Western Isles – sailed from Stornoway to mainland Scotland on a Sunday.

A small group prayed and sang a psalm as vehicles boarded the boat, however a number of hundred different individuals stood and clapped as a present of assist for the crusing.

Among the many protestors was Govan-born Free Church minister Rev Angus Smith.

He led an indication in opposition to Skye Sunday ferries in 1965 and was eliminated by police after sitting in entrance of vehicles ready to board.

Then in 2018, a screening of Star Wars: The Final Jedi marked the primary time a cinema was open on a Sunday in Lewis. There was a small protest outdoors.

With regards to Tesco islanders have blended views.

Lizzie Aucott-Corridor mentioned: “The city has a number of different issues open on a Sunday anyway so why not Tesco?

“If the place was shut I might perceive nevertheless it’s not.

“If I can go and purchase a pint of beer I ought to be capable to purchase a pint of milk.”

However Ruth Pickard will not be in favour of the transfer.

She informed BBC Information: “I am completely in opposition to it. We moved up right here from Yorkshire 34 years in the past and one of many attraction was the peace and quiet and the lifestyle.

“What you’ll be able to’t purchase six days every week, I do not know what you want on a Sunday.”

Lewis-based BBC journalist Donald Lamont mentioned the controversy will not be a easy one.

He informed BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “It is not as straight ahead as these of a non secular persuasion versus those that are usually not. It is extra nuanced than that.

“There are lots of people expressing disappointment, lots of people are ambivalent and there are those that are happy with the information.”