“When he heard that the ship had gone down, my grandfather, an old fisherman, had without being told where the Iolaire had struck, said: “Is ann air na Biastan a chaidh i.” Local knowledge that might have saved the yacht had island men been up on the bridge.”

“He was the sole survivor of a ship torpedoed in the Mediterranean in October 1917. He had a terrible experience before he was rescued having been nearly 36 hours in the sea until washed ashore in Algeria. Pathetic in the extreme it is to think that this powerful seaman after so miraculous an escape in the Mediterranean, perished within a few feet of his native soil.”

“Tha man's son was there, and I remember he was so handsome that I could have said he was not dead at all. His father went on his knees beside him and began to take letters from his son's pockets. And the tears were splashing on the body of his son. And I think it is the most heart-rending sight I have ever seen.”

“Tha 'n cogadh nis thairis ‘s a' bhuaidh leis na fiùrain
Tha nochd ri tighinn dhachaigh, tha ‘n Iolaire gan giùlain.

“Raoir reubadh an Iolaire, bait fo sgiathaibh tha h-àlach
O na Hearadh tha tuireadh gu ruig Nis nam fear bàna.”

“Cò an cridh' tha blàth a' bualadh nach leagh le truas rim beud? Cò an t-sùil a chunnaic luaidh air nach sileadh bhuaip' an deur? An uair bu chinntich sàbhailteachd, ‘s iad làimh rin dachaigh fhèin, ‘S e am bàs a rinn am fàilteachadh ‘s a bhàth iad ris a' Bhèist.”