By Cedric Pulford

First published November 12, 2003 by Observer News Service. Copyright Pulford Media Ltd. This article may not be reprinted or distributed either electronically or on hard copy without permission]

Sundays were once 'special' on the isolated island of Lewis in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, but first they unchained children's swings, then they allowed airline flights and now, two bars are being allowed to open. Cedric Pulford reports on the end of a Christian tradition

THE SCOTTISH island of Lewis and Harris is rocky and windswept, the landscape relieved here and there with trees the size of bushes. The island is home to rugged tweeds and an equally rugged bible-based Christianity, which practises strict Sabbath observance avoiding business and social activities.

The remote island (Lewis is the northern part and Harris the south), is part of the Hebrides group off Scotland's west coast, and has a combined population of 20,500, mostly in Lewis. They are strongholds of the protestant Free Church of Scotland, nicknamed the 'Wee Frees'. But now the 'Sabbath shutdown' will never be the same, in Lewis at any rate. The Western Isles Licensing Board has allowed two bars in Stornoway, the main town in Lewis, to open on Sundays for the first time.

This leaves Harris, to the south and linked to Lewis by a narrow isthmus, as the only area in the United Kingdom to remain dry on Sundays, according to the Lord's Day Observance Society. The same licensing board covers both parts of the island so it may be Harris's turn next, ending a tradition that was once common in Britain.

'It's an erosion of a way of life that is very special. Many people here, not only church-goers, want to see it kept,' said Iver Martin, minister-elect of Stornoway Free Church. 'People value the peace of the one day in seven. It's God's way of saying, "This is my stress relief".'

David Murray, minister at the breakaway Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), said: 'We can expect more pub applications to come flooding in. It's a sad day. Money rules.'

Church-going is the main Sunday activity on offer on the island. The Stornoway Free Church typically has up to 800 worshippers and the alternative free church has about 250. With other Christian denominations included, this is much higher church attendance than on the British mainland - at least until now.

For the Wee Frees of Lewis, October was a bad month. The licensing board decision coincided with the first anniversary of scheduled Sunday flights into Stornoway airport despite bitter opposition.

Three inbound and three outbound flights now operate on Sundays, and Nat Anderson, a spokesman for Highlands and Islands Airports, said it has become among the busiest days of the week. The aircraft are flying at about 60 per cent capacity, which the industry considers good for the first year. Numbers, however, are small. In October, an average of 135 passengers per Sunday used the airport.

A far greater breach of the Sabbath would be for the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to the Scottish mainland to run on Sundays. Such a move would be seen as a serious affront by religious campaigners.

Supporters of a more permissive approach point out that Sunday activities can only exist because people support them, and even before present developments the Sabbath shutdown in Lewis was not total.

Private flying was allowed before the scheduled flights started, said Anderson.

The decline of the Sabbath, as seen by the Wee Frees, began with the decision to leave children's swings unchained on Sundays, according to the Glasgow-based Sunday Herald newspaper. It was 'the harbinger of change now evident in Lewis'. Chaining the swings had invited 'ridicule from the mainland and abroad', the newspaper added.

Lesley McDonald, a lawyer and clerk to the Western Isles Licensing Board, pointed out that, despite the Sabbath shutdown, the thirsty had previously been able to find drinks in hotels. 'The two public houses (pubs) are the first to be able to open on Sundays, but this is not the first opportunity to buy alcohol,' she said.

The board's response to the controversy over Sunday opening is to argue that its hands are tied by law. Asked how he felt about contributing to the end of a unique way of life, the chairman, Councillor Donald Maclean, said: 'I'm not prepared to answer that. My views don't matter. I can only go according to the law.'

Lesley McDonald explained that pub applications could be turned down only on specific grounds, not on a general religious or lifestyle objection. One of the grounds - causing undue nuisance - was open to a wide interpretation, she acknowledged.

'In rural Lewis it could be argued that on Sundays the area was quieter than the rest of the week [and therefore a pub would cause undue nuisance].'

Religious campaigners say the same argument applies to Stornoway, but they failed to persuade enough of the board.

For outsiders, one of the greatest surprises is that Free Church ministers are not joyless, as their stance on Sunday observance might suggest. Often they are cheerful people. They just happen to believe, following the bible's command, in keeping Sundays special.

Meanwhile, Stornoway's Sabbath shutdown was further eroded when a shop decided to open. With that, the critics ask, can the familiar pattern of Sundays in the rest of the UK - the supermarket expeditions, golf games, pub lunches, football matches, car boot sales, almost anything except going to church - be far behind?

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