The ‘Coll Warbler’

Victor MacEachern is credited with producing the first ever Coll magazine.

Victor was the brother of Coll’s Church of Scotland Minister, Dugald MacEchearn, who instigated the building of the big church above Arinagour in 1907, a fine example of Arts and Craft style.

When Victor lived at Clabbach with his brother and family before leaving Coll and becoming a minister in his turn, he decided to produce a home-printed magazine. He fancied himself as a writer and called it ‘The Coll Warbler’, a pun on a ubiquitous songbird in an island known for its abundant bird population. However, this single-handed endeavour was not without its challenges as Victor recalls in his memoirs.

‘There was a round mahogany table on which I did my printing. I used a cyclostyle which was a complete success. On the first occasion, however, as I was not acquainted with the instrument, the pages became hopelessly mixed up. The result was embarrassing; for when the issue appeared, the article on one page didn’t coincide with what had gone before. For instance, after reading about the good qualities of Mrs So-and-So’s baby, the next page says, ‘...it should be wrapped in a floured cloth and boiled for two hours and a quarter, when it is ready for the table!’

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