Bradastac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Bradastac below the northern crags of Hirta | |
 Interactive map of Bradastac | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | St Kilda |
| OS grid reference | NA105010 |
| Type | Stack |
| Archipelago | St Kilda |
| Highest elevation | 63 m (207 ft) |
Bradastac (Scottish Gaelic: "Steep stack") is a sea stack in the St Kilda archipelago, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.[1] It is just north of Hirta and has a height of 63 meters.[2] The stack's name means "Steep stack" from Old Norse: bratti-stakkr.[3]
The stack has never been inhabited but has contributed to the local economy by supplying the St Kildans with sea birds and their eggs. In the 19th century the St Kildans were observed collecting eggs from stacks in baskets like flat-bottomed bee hives, each of 17 baskets holding about 400 guillemot eggs.[4]
Bradastac was specifically used by St. Kildans to collect fulmars and their eggs. To do this St. Kildans would lower themselves on ropes over the cliffs of Conachair, the highest point of Hirta and the archipelago. They would then abseil down the cliffs and onto Bradastac, collecting fulmars and their eggs as they went, which they then brought back up the cliffs in baskets.[5]