Siobhan

A Tale of Historical Tragedy on the Isle of Eigg

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Audio Book

Siobhan

“Fly free, ma little angel.”

Set on the Isle of Eigg in western Scotland, this story follows Siobhan, a fourteen-year-old farm worker at Kildonnan Farm. Unaware of adult realities due to her youth and poverty, Siobhan is coerced into a physical relationship by a farmhand named Hector MacKinnon, who entices her with extra food and sweets.

When Siobhan becomes pregnant, Hector leaves the island for work on the Isle of Muck. Siobhan’s mother quietly coordinates with Roisin, a local woman known for taking care of unwanted infants. Following a difficult childbirth, Siobhan secretly tracks Roisin to the Singing Sands beach, where she discovers her newborn child buried and deceased. In her grief, she unearths her infant and releases the body into the sea.

The historical postscript contextualizes the story within Victorian-era practices of baby farming and infanticide in nineteenth-century Britain. Rigid religious expectations, social stigma around illegitimacy, and severe poverty often forced unwed young mothers into desperate situations, leaving many suspicious infant deaths uninvestigated by historical authorities.

Read the full document in the interactive flipbook below.

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