History

Like the other Small Isles, Muck holds traces of its ancient past, with several Bronze Age burial cairns dotted across the landscape. For centuries, it was part of the vast territories of the Lords of the Isles. After the clans lost their power, the island passed through the hands of various owners. Its population was small but stable until the mid-19th century when, like so many other places in the Highlands and Islands, its people suffered from the potato famine and the subsequent Highland Clearances, which saw many families emigrate to Canada and Australia.

In 1896, the island was purchased by the Weir family, and it is their descendants, the MacEwen family, who own and farm the island to this day. The family has carefully nurtured the island’s farming heritage while supporting the small, lively community that is essential to its future. Muck’s history is less about grand battles and more about the quiet, enduring relationship between a people and their small patch of land.