Long-term readers of this blog may recall my great fondness for Scotland’s dispersed populations of feral goats, several groups of which have featured here over the years, from those on the Oa in Islay to the famous goats of Inversnaid (who inspired accompanying designs). To this group of goaty encounters, I can now add one with the herd who inhabit the intriguing tidal island off Carradale Point, in Kintyre, whose Gaelic name is (appropriately) Eilean nan Gobhar (goat island).
Carradale Point – to which we had taken a walk to visit a vitrified Iron Age fort – is accessible at low tide by picking one’s way over the rocks and brackish pools that line the shore. Imagine my excitement as we rounded the corner and came across a group of 30 or so nonchalant goat buddies hanging out in this wee cove!
I took charge of the dogs while Tom photographed our goat friends….
As Angus Martin (one of my all-time favourite Argyll writers) puts it: “in the presence of humans, goats will exhibit a degree of confident detachment uncommon among sheep. They will not start away immediately . . . but will coolly regard the oncoming intruder and make an orderly and timely retreat.”*
There are thought to have been goats on goat island for perhaps two or three centuries (as the old Gaelic name for this part of Carradale Point might attest), though when Martin was writing back in the 1980s, the population had significantly declined, due to (horror of horrors!) goat trophy hunters.
It was heartening to see, 40 years after Martin’s account, the herd of Carradale goats in such fine fettle, nibbling at the seaweed, and leaping nimbly over rocks.
If you enjoy goats and / or Iron Age archaelogy, Carradale Point is definitely worth a visit!
*Angus Martin, Kintyre: The Hidden Past (1984). A book with many things to recommend it – including a whole chapter about local goats!
KDD & Co 
Wonderful post! I had no idea these beauties inhabited an island in Scotland. I love their luxurious coats and understandably arrogant manners.
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I had to google “vitrified.” I know far less about European archaeology than I would like to!
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Thankyou for your lovely stories.
I remember visiting a goat farm on Islay in the mid 80s . The farm had gone next time I went there but the goats survive.
Jenni in the Scottish borders
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Vitrified forts, feral goats and tidal islands, my perfect holiday! And knitting, of course
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of course!
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Hello, what a great post. I did buy one of Tom’s photos of goats and it is in my hall. See it every day and enjoy looking at it.
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Oh the perfection of a Chicago morning as summer begins its serrated transition to fall AND I get a Kate Davies essay – with pictures – and goats!
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Goat Island! Another destination to add to my list.
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As ever, a lovely little article giving me, the reader, a real feel for the experience – and, if course, Tom’s great photos……I might never get to Scotland again, but you bring it to my living room. Thank you 🙃
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Hurrah for the goat-buddies! These photos are fantastic and Angus Martin’s description is absolutely accurate. I love the unflustered way in which wild goats observe oncoming humans! We have only seen them once or twice, but the Loch Lomond goat we met in 2009 left a deep impression. Reeking like a pungent goaty cheese, regal in his long fleece, and crowned with horns, he was impressively unbothered when we saw him near the path. There are so many animals that we spot because they are frantically running away but with goats there is a lovely moment of noticing them before they make their exit.
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Thank you Kate for enlivening my day with this hearty herd. We too have feral goats here, at a place called The Mound Rock near Rogart, East Sutherland, barely a dozen miles south from me.
poem to ah “browse” upon at: https://writingpresence.com/2022/05/30/poetic-challenge-from-dverse-8-feral-iii/
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Thank you as always, Kate, for your fascinating stories on such a variety of subjects, and for Tom’s stunning photography.
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