Rum has no landing dock worthy of the name. Instead. this small blue boat runs out from the shore to alongside the CalMac ferry. Passengers embarking for Rum are led to a port-door where one by one they step gingerly aboard the bobbing and rolling blue boat. On the day of our visit, 80 people came ashore. We were told it was a record; three separate trips were needed, delaying the ferry schedule by a full hour.

The castle built by George Bullough, 19th century industrial magnate and owner of Rum during the Edwardian era. Massive week-long parties were held on Rum, partly for hunting, but mostly for general fun. The castle's interior is sumptious and overpoweringly masculine, with its woodwork and red walls, hunting trophies, gaudy treasures from the Far East, and other eccentricities. It was also state of the art, equipped with electric lighting, the first such residence in Britain, thanks to power from a small dam, which is still the island's only power source. Yet it was only used a week or so out of each year.