The Guardian offers a picture essay on four Scotland hermits, in “Splendid Isolation: In Search of Scotland’s Hermits.” Two of the hermits may be familiar: Jake Williams and Sara Maitland; the other two less familiar: Davy McDonald and Ken Smith.
Sara Maitland on solitude
A feature of The Guardian on the coronavirus lockdown is an interview with Sara Maitland, author of The Book of Silence and How To Be Alone. he article is titled “Sara Maitland: Savour solitude – it is not the same as loneliness.”
Excommunicated hermits – Scotland
In an item titled “Excommunicated Hermits — and Their Cats — Finally Find Peace,” Religious News Service reports on three Scottish hermits who have been excommunicated by the Catholic Church for their outspoken attacks on the pope and the practices of the contemporary church. The hermits maintain traditionalist views. “We have broken from a false pope, a false magisterium, at the moment, and a false Curia and false bishops and cardinals,” Stephen De Kerdrel told Religion News Service.
The other hermits are Damon Kelly and Sister Colette Roberts. De Kerdrel and Kelly were both Capuchin monks before leaving their order over twenty years ago. Colette Roberts was formerly a medical professional.
URL: https://religionnews.com/2020/02/07/excommunicated-hermits-and-their-cats-finally-find-peace/
Scotland’s hermit sites
The Scotsman offers a photographic essay titled “Scotland’s hermit hideaways: the caves, castles and hideaways once home to those seeking a solitary life.”
“Caves, old bothies and even islands have been used by those needing space, sanctuary and shelter over the years. From the former bank worker from Dundee who lived in a cave for more that 20 years to the little castle on a Highland beach by an architect needing some time out, here we look at the stories of nine hermits and the places that they called home.” Here are nine photos of historical interest.
Scottish hermit “rescued”
The Telegraph reports on a Scottish hermit living in a remote forest rescued after he pressed the emergency button on his personal locator beacon. The device, his only piece of technology, signaled a medical emergency. Roger Milliard, in his seventies, “built his simple home, which has a gravel floor, in the mid-1980s near a remote loch … [he] has no running water or electricity in the log cabin, but a stream runs beside it and he bathes by lighting a fire under an outdoor bath.”