The Scottish island keeps losing in population (the young ones keep leaving for the mainland), the winters are increasingly becoming unbearable, steam trawlers from the mainland place Foula’s survival as a fishing port in jeopardy and to boot the poor harvests have left the crofters with not much food or peat for keeping warm. This hardship has divided the residents: the father of Andrew’s, James Gray (Finlay Currie), and the 24-year-old best friend of Andrew’s and twin brother of his love interest, Robbie Manson (Eric Berry), strongly suggest they go to the mainland that “it’s every man for himself,” but Andrew and Robbie’s father Peter (John Laurie) wish to stay and stick together to overcome their obstacles. Andrew and Robbie decide to settle it in a traditional macho style, by a race to see who makes it up the 1,300-foot-high sea cliff first. Unfortunately Robbie falls and dies. Peter bears a grudge against Andrew and refuses to allow his daughter Ruth (Belle Chrystall) to marry him. With that, the frustrated Andrew leaves for the mainland. Later Andrew learns that Ruth’s pregnant and returns to find the baby ill and must be taken to a doctor on the mainland. The residents at last admit that their way of life has come to an end and agree to be evacuated to the mainland. Peter feels compelled to make one last climb up the cliff for rare eggs, but falls to his death.