The people who lived on St Kilda had their own culture. They lived off seabirds and were excellent climbers. An overhanging ledge above a jawdroppingly exposed cliff is known as the 'Lover's Stone.' Any man who wanted to take a wife had to prove his bravery and surefootedness by standing, on one leg, at the very end of this stone, with a 400m drop to the sea, until the elders were satisfied that he had what it would take to provide for a family in such a harsh environment. The ruler of St Kilda was always the oldest woman on the island, and people could be cut off from the outside world for months at a time by fierce winter storms.