The island of Tiree,off the west coast of Scotland, is windswept and treeless. But venture there in August and you will bump into famous artists, or Britain’s best chefs and a slew of politicians. Bella Bathurst heads to the smart set’s Hebridean hideawayThe first rule of Tiree is that no one talks approximately Tiree. Ever. It just doesn’t happen. Nobody talks approximately it so it doesn’t exist. An island 18km long with 650 inhabitants completely dematerialises. There is no Tiree so there is no discussion of Tiree; in the space west of Mull,there’s now only sea.
Perhaps once in a while, whether you happen to hang around in Edinburgh’s New Town or near the fancier restaurants in London, or you might chance on a couple of initiates trading code words (“lobster”,“ferry charge”) on city benches. Otherwise, silence. Try bringing the subject up and people reach over all peculiar. They discontinue returning your calls. whether they enact pick up the phone, and they give a stagey sort of gasp and say,“I’m not supposed to talk to you!” whether you’re persistent, then they remember urgent holidays. Old friends advise you to drop the subject, or are conspicuously out when visibly in. Twenty-year friendships start to look a bit rickety. This is the law of omerta: starts with ostracism,ends with baseball bats.
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Source: theguardian.com