Portal:Scottish islands
The Scottish Islands Portal
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Looking from the Isle of Mull towards Ardnamurchan peninsula as the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry MV Clansman sails past the Rubha nan Gall lighthouse -
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Tombolo connecting St Ninian's Isle to Mainland, Shetland -
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View from Elgol on the Isle of Skye across to the Cuillin -
The Cuillin, Isle of Skye -
Portree Waterfront, Isle of Skye -
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Seilebost on Harris
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Scotland has around 900 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of fresh water in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree. The largest island is Lewis and Harris which extends to 2,179 square kilometres, and there are a further 200 islands which are greater than 40 hectares in area. Of the remainder, several such as Staffa and the Flannan Isles are well known despite their small size. Some 94 Scottish islands are permanently inhabited, of which 89 are offshore islands. Between 2001 and 2011 Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.
The geology and geomorphology of the islands is varied. Some, such as Skye and Mull, are mountainous, while others like Tiree and Sanday are relatively low lying. Many have bedrock made from ancient Archaean Lewisian Gneiss which was formed 3 billion years ago; Shapinsay and other Orkney islands are formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is 400 million years old; and others such as Rùm from more recent Tertiary volcanoes. Many of the islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world. Other strong tides are to be found in the Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney, and another example is the "Grey Dog" between Scarba and Lunga. (More on Scottish islands...)
Selected picture
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Baile Mòr, the village on IonaCredit: Clydecoast
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Aerial view of the ruins of a hermitage on CannaCredit: Peter Van den Bossche
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The Bruichladdich distillery, one of eight on Islay; single-malt whisky is a major product of the islandsCredit: Bdcl1881
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The ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye has run for 400 years; the present boat, MV Glenachulish, is the only hand-operated turntable ferry still in operationCredit: Wojsyl
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The Neolithic farmstead of Knap of Howar on Papa Westray, Orkney, dates from 3700 BC and might be the oldest surviving stone dwelling in northern EuropeCredit: Me677
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Duart Castle, a 13th-century castle on Mull, the historical seat of Clan MacleanCredit: Philippe Giabbanelli
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Barra Airport is the only one in the world to use a beach as a regular runwayCredit: Steve Houldsworth
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Shetland mouse-ear, a rare plant species unique to Shetland and found only on two serpentine hills in the Keen of Hamar reserve on the island of UnstCredit: Melvin Grey
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Neist Point Lighthouse on Skye was designed by David Alan Stevenson and dates from 1909Credit: Lionel Ulmer
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The Corryvreckan Whirlpool in the narrow Gulf of Corryvreckan between Jura and ScarbaCredit: Walter Baxter
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Rubha nan Gall lighthouse, Tobermory, Mull, built in 1857 by David and Thomas Stevenson, with a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry in the backgroundCredit: Colin
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Skye Bridge, opened in 1995; the toll was lifted in 2004Credit: Gene Selkov
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Eilean Donan Castle at the confluence of three sea lochs, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch AlshCredit: Diliff
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Alasdair Crotach MacLeod is the first McLeod not to be buried on Iona; his tomb on Harris dates from 1528, and is among the finest of this period in ScotlandCredit: Gvdwiele
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Kilarrow Parish Church, known as the Round Church, is a Georgian building in Bowmore on IslayCredit: Ronsteenvoorden
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White-tailed eagle fishing off Mull, one of several islands to which the birds have been successfully re-introducedCredit: Jacob Spinks
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The tied island of St Ninian's Isle is joined to the Shetland Mainland by the largest tombolo in the UKCredit: ThoWi
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Wildflowers in machair, a coastal dune grassland found in the Outer Hebrides and elsewhereCredit: Jon Thomson
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The 1st-century Dun Carloway on Lewis is a well-preserved example of an Iron Age broch, a type of complex Atlantic roundhouse only found in ScotlandCredit: Morris R. Maciver
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Blackhouses were the traditional form of house across the Hebrides and the Highlands; this example is at Arnol, LewisCredit: LornaMCampbell
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The cliffs of Eshaness, North Mainland, ShetlandCredit: ThoWi
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The Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, Orkney was built from two Nissen huts by Italian prisoners of war during World War 2; the interior frescoes are by Domenico ChiocchettiCredit: Renata
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Selected island group
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about 80 km (50 mi) to the northeast of Orkney, 170 km (110 mi) from mainland Scotland and 220 km (140 mi) west of Norway. They form part of the border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. Their total area is 1,466 km2 (566 sq mi), and the population totalled 22,920 in 2019. The islands comprise the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament. The local authority, the Shetland Islands Council, is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The islands' administrative centre, largest settlement and only burgh is Lerwick, which has been the capital of Shetland since 1708, before which time the capital was Scalloway.
The archipelago has an oceanic climate, complex geology, rugged coastline, and many low, rolling hills. The largest island, known as "the Mainland", has an area of 967 km2 (373 sq mi), and is the fifth-largest island in the British Isles. It is one of 16 inhabited islands in Shetland.
Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period. Picts are known to have been the original inhabitants of the islands, before the Norse conquest and subsequent colonisation in the Early Middle Ages. During the 10th to 15th centuries, the islands formed part of the Kingdom of Norway until they were annexed into the Kingdom of Scotland due to a royal dispute involving the payment of a dowry. In 1707, when Scotland and England united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, trade between Shetland and continental Northern Europe decreased. The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland's economy, employment and public-sector revenues. Fishing has always been an important part of the islands' economy. (Full article...)
News
- 12 February: The BiFab construction yard at Arnish near Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, is purchased by InfraStrata.
- 11 February: Wild fires occur in Benbecula; and at Achmore and Sildinish in the Isle of Lewis; Horsaclete in Harris; Brevig in Barra; and Eubhal in North Uist.
- 19 January: Barra and Vatersay are put under tier-4 restrictions after an outbreak of Covid-19.
- 18 January: The Shetland Space Centre submits plans for a spaceport on Unst (proposed site pictured), Shetland, including three rocket launch pads.
- 8 January: Distilleries in Orkney and South Uist receive government grants to research ways of reducing their CO2 emissions.
- 4 January: After the UK leaves the European Union, the Northern Celt, an Irish fishing boat based out of Greencastle, County Donegal, is ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of Marine Scotland.
- 1 January: A total of 72 cases of Covid-19 are recorded in an ongoing outbreak in Shetland.
- 9 December: A review by a committee of MSPs into the commissioning and building of two new dual-fuel Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, MV Glen Sannox and "hull 802", criticises CMAL, Transport Scotland and the Scottish government, as well as the ship builders, Ferguson Marine.
- 3 December: North-east Lewis, Sea of the Hebrides and Shiant East Bank are designated Marine Protected Areas, while East Mainland Coast Shetland, Sound of Gigha, Coll and Tiree, Rùm, the west coast of the Outer Hebrides, and the waters off St Kilda and Foula are designated Special Protection Areas.
- 30 November: Michael Russell, MSP for Argyll and Bute, and David Stewart and John Finnie, MSPs for the Highlands and Islands region, will stand down at the 2021 election.
- 17 November: Phytophthora ramorum-infected larch trees in Arran are to be felled over a 543-acre area, to prevent the fungus-like pathogen from spreading.
- 4 November: The Scottish Wildlife Trust objects to a proposed salmon farm in the Marine Protected Area of Wester Ross, near Horse Island, Summer Isles, because of the potential impact on kelp forests and maerl beds.
Selected fauna
The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) descended from a population of feral sheep on the 100-hectare (250-acre) island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds.
It remains physically similar to the wild ancestors of domestic sheep, the Mediterranean mouflon and the horned urial sheep of Central Asia. It is much smaller than modern domesticated sheep but hardier, and is extraordinarily agile, tending to take refuge amongst the cliffs when frightened. Soays may be solid black or brown, or more often blonde or dark brown with buffish-white underbelly and rump (known as lachdann in Scottish Gaelic, which is cognate to the Manx loaghtan); a few have white markings on the face.
In the early twentieth century, some Soay sheep were relocated to establish exotic flocks, such as the flock of "Park Soay" at Woburn Abbey, established by the Duke of Bedford in 1910, and selected for "primitive" characteristics. A number of Soay sheep were translocated from Soay to another of the St Kilda group, the island of Hirta by the Marquess of Bute in the 1930s, after the human population and their sheep were evacuated. The name of the island is from Old Norse Seyðoy, meaning "Island of Sheep". The breed was introduced to and live wild on Holy Isle off Arran.
Soay sheep were introduced from St Kilda to Lundy, an island in the Bristol Channel, by Martin Coles Harman soon after he purchased the island in 1925. There is also a small population living wild in and around the Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. The breed was used in experimental archaeology at Butser Ancient Farm because it closely resembles British prehistoric breeds. (Full article...)
Selected history & culture article
Whisky Galore! is a 1949 British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson. It was the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick; the screenplay was by Compton Mackenzie, an adaptation of his 1947 novel Whisky Galore, and Angus MacPhail. The story—based on a true event, the running aground of the SS Politician—concerns a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island, the inhabitants of which have run out of whisky because of wartime rationing. The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, some of which they salvage, against the opposition of the local Customs and Excise men.
It was filmed on the island of Barra; the weather was so poor that the production over-ran its 10-week schedule by five weeks, and the film went £20,000 over budget. Michael Balcon, the head of the studio, was unimpressed by the initial cut of the film, and one of Ealing's directors, Charles Crichton, added footage and re-edited the film before its release. Like other Ealing comedies, Whisky Galore! explores the actions of a small insular group facing and overcoming a more powerful opponent. An unspoken sense of community runs through the film, and the story reflects a time when the British Empire was weakening.
Whisky Galore! was well received on release. It came out in the same year as Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets, leading to 1949 being remembered as one of the peak years of the Ealing comedies. In the US, where Whisky Galore! was renamed Tight Little Island, the film became the first from the studios to achieve box office success. It was followed by a sequel, Rockets Galore!. Whisky Galore! has since been adapted for the stage, and a remake was released in 2016. (Full article...)
Selected island
Stroma is an uninhabited island in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and the mainland of Scotland. It forms part of the civil parish of Canisbay in Caithness, in the council area of Highland. The name comes from the Old Norse Straumey, meaning "island in the current".
Ancient stone structures testify to the presence of Stroma's earliest residents, while a Norse presence around 900–1,000 years ago is recorded in the Orkneyinga Saga. It has been politically united with Caithness since at least the 15th century. Although Stroma lies only a few miles off the Scottish coast, the savage weather and ferociously strong tides of the Pentland Firth meant that the island's inhabitants were very isolated, causing them to be largely self-sufficient, trading agricultural produce and fish with the mainlanders.
Most of the islanders were fishermen and crofters; some also worked as maritime pilots to guide vessels through the treacherous waters of the Pentland Firth. The tides and currents meant that shipwrecks were frequent—the most recent occurring in 1993—and salvage provided an additional though often illegal supplement to the islanders' incomes. A lighthouse was built on Stroma in 1890 and still operates under automation.
Stroma is now abandoned, with the houses of its former inhabitants unoccupied and falling into ruin. Its population fell gradually through the first half of the 20th century as inhabitants drifted away to seek opportunities elsewhere, as economic problems and Stroma's isolation made life on the island increasingly unsupportable. From an all-time peak of 375 people in 1901, the population fell to just 12 by 1961 and the last islanders left at the end of the following year. Stroma's final abandonment came in 1997 when the lighthouse keepers and their families departed. The island is now owned by one of its former inhabitants, who uses it to graze sheep. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that despite being located in the Orkney Islands, the sand lining of the Scar boat burial (plaque from site pictured) matches no known Scottish sand?
- ... that Gofraid Donn was blinded and castrated by a follower of his uncle, and later jointly ruled the Kingdom of Man and the Isles with his uncle?
- ... that Prirazlomnaya oil platform on the Prirazlomnoye field is equipped with the topsides of the former Hutton oilfield's platform Hutton TLP, which was the first Tension Leg Platform ever built?
- ... that Breachacha crannog was originally an artificial island located in the middle of a Scottish loch, but today it stands in the middle of an arable field?
Selected portrait
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Puffins and guillemots on Lunga in the Treshnish Isles, with Bac Mòr (known as Dutchman's Cap for its distinctive shape) in the backgroundCredit: Simaron
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The Standing Stones of Stenness, near Stromness, Orkney, started by 3100 BC and possibly Britain's oldest henge siteCredit: Fantoman400
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Scottish Gaelic speakers in the 2011 census; the Outer Hebrides, Tiree, Raasay, Skye and Lismore have the highest proportion of speakersCredit: SkateTier
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The North Carr Beacon at low tide; the unlit beacon was built between 1813 and 1821 by Robert Stevenson to warn shipping of the North Carr Reef near Fife NessCredit: Kathrinpassig
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The 8th-century Kildalton Cross, Islay, one of the best-preserved Celtic crosses in ScotlandCredit: Tom Richardson
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Seals hauled out by Lyrie Geo on HoyCredit: Claire Pegrum
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Columba was a 6th-century Irish-born saint who spread Christianity in Scotland and founded Iona Abbey, where he is commemorated in this stained-glass windowCredit: Vegansoldier
Selected geography article
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ([ˌs̪ɔɫ̪ ˌmoɾ ˈɔs̪t̪ɪkʲ]) (Great Barn of Ostaig) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Partner in the federal University of the Highlands and Islands. Its sole medium of instruction on degree courses is Scottish Gaelic.
Since its foundation in 1973 Sabhal Mòr Ostaig has played a crucial role in the linguistic and cultural renaissance of Gaelic in Scotland. The college enjoys an international reputation for the study of the history and literature of the Gàidhealtachd, past and present; for research into political, educational, and community aspects of minority language maintenance and revitalisation; and for its engagement with Gaelic creative arts, as well as with broadcast and online media.
Sabhal Mòr's research base has been further strengthened to take in sociolinguistics, through the Soillse initiative; corpus planning and historical lexicography, through the Stòrdata Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig/Gaelic Terminology Database and the Faclair na Gàidhlig/Dictionary of Scottish Gaelic projects; and toponomy, through the Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba/Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland advisory partnership, all based at the college. Research capacity is underpinned by the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Library with its internationally important collections of material related to Gaelic and to the Highlands, and further complemented by the proximity of two major Highland archives: those of MacDonald of Sleat in the Museum of the Isles by Armadale Castle, and the MacLeod papers in Dunvegan Castle. Through academic collaboration and student exchanges, the college maintains close links with partner institutions in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Nova Scotia.
With established residencies for writers, artists, musicians, and dramatists; its prominent degree courses in media and traditional music; its hosting of the national folklore digitisation project Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches; and Fàs, its £8-million centre for creative industries, Sabhal Mòr fulfils an important cultural remit both in the Highlands and in Scotland more generally. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Sorley MacLean (Scottish Gaelic: Somhairle MacGill-Eain; 26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996) was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics". Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney credited MacLean with saving Scottish Gaelic poetry.
He was raised in a strict Presbyterian family on the island of Raasay, immersed in Gaelic culture and literature from birth, but abandoned religion for socialism. In the late 1930s, he befriended many Scottish Renaissance figures, such as Hugh MacDiarmid and Douglas Young. He was wounded three times while serving in the Royal Corps of Signals during the North African Campaign. MacLean published little after the war, due to his perfectionism. In 1956, he became head teacher at Plockton High School, where he advocated for the use of the Gaelic language in formal education.
In his poetry, MacLean juxtaposed traditional Gaelic elements with mainstream European elements, frequently comparing the Highland Clearances with contemporary events, especially the Spanish Civil War. His work was a unique fusion of traditional and modern elements that has been credited with restoring Gaelic tradition to its proper place and reinvigorating and modernizing the Gaelic language. Although his most influential works, Dàin do Eimhir and An Cuilthionn, were published in 1943, MacLean did not become well known until the 1970s, when his works were published in English translation. His later poem Hallaig, published 1954, achieved "cult status" outside Gaelic-speaking circles for its supernatural representation of a village depopulated in the Highland Clearances and came to represent all Scottish Gaelic poetry in the English-speaking imagination. (Full article...)
Related portals
Selected panorama
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Iona AbbeyCredit: Oliver-Bonjoch
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Small freshwater islets on Loch AssyntCredit: Vincent
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Eilean DonanCredit: Stefan Krause
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Categories
The main category is Islands of Scotland, with subcategories
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