The long tradition of strict Sabbath observance on the Western Isles took a step closer to abeyance yesterday when the first ferry on a Sunday sailed into Harris.
To the fury of many islanders, at 9am a Caledonian MacBrayne boat made the one-hour journey from Berneray across the sound to Leverburgh, ending the island's Sunday isolation.
Although the days are long gone when Free Presbyterian ministers tied up children's swings on Sundays, the Sabbath is still strictly observed in many parts of the Isles and Harris islanders are considering taking legal action against the sailing.
There were no protesters there to meet the first passengers (to protest on a Sunday would be to break the Sabbath) but a poster saying Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy was displayed at the ferry terminal in Berneray, and yellow Keep Out tape had been pinned across the dock at Leverburgh.
The Western Isles remain the last bastion of fundamentalist Calvinism in Britain, and the Free Church of Scotland, known as the Wee Frees, and the more hardline Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland - nicknamed the Wee Wee Frees - are the focus of religious worship. About 700 people on Harris signed the protest. But the Uists have a much larger Catholic population, which does not observe the Sabbath so strictly, and islanders on North Uist had been keen for CalMac to increase the frequency of the sailings, from six to seven days a week.
Morag Munro, the councillor for Harris West, said two-thirds of the community on Harris were against the Sunday sailing. "We are investigating whether there is a legal option to protect us from this imposition. It is not just church people who are opposed but also those who have come to appreciate a day of relaxation with their families for one day."
Strict Presbyterianism has been the dominant way of worship on Harris for generations. There is no music in church services and in the Wee Wee Frees women do not wear trousers. Even so, Sabbath observance is on the wane in the Western Isles. Even some pubs now open on a Sunday.
But for some islanders yesterday's sailing was a journey too far. Donald MacDonald, a local councillor and opponent of Sunday sailing, was so enraged by the ferry crossing that he left the island for a week. "He is disillusioned and extremely disappointed," said his wife.
Lawrie Sinclair, CalMac's managing director, said a seven-day service fulfilled the company's "responsibilities to the ... whole chain of islands", the Outer Hebrides.