The 19th century saw a series of spiritual movements sweeping through the Isle of Skye as well as other Hebridean Islands. These were times of ferment and change as well as years of hunger, desperation and emigration. Out of a population of some 25, 000 in Skye in 1842 - it is said that hardly a home was not affected by the spiritual movement taking place at the time. This was to have a transformation effect on the population, socially as well as spiritually and, as a result of large scale emigration, in other parts of the world, especially the Maritime Provinces of the Canadian Atlantic Coast. Smaller but significant movements have also occurred in more recent times, the last being in 1980.

Much of the material here was published, in an abridged form, some 20 years ago in the book 'The Skye Revivals'. It has been out of print for some time. This new book includes over twice the volume of information contained in that book and is fully annotated.