The St Kilda (Scottish Gaelic: Hiort) archipelago, in the North Atlantic is at the outermost limits of the British Isles.
The name St Kilda is believed to be derived from the Norse word skildir, meaning "shields." One suggestion is that a mark on an early map made the Norse word "Skilda" look like "S.kilda" and a previously unknown saint was created.
St Kilda had been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, but the population dwindled with emigration to the United States and Australia; between 1830 and 1843, moreover, 80% of the children died in infancy of tetanus as a result of bad midwifery practice, and such deaths continued at a lesser pace until 1891.
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