Portal:Scottish islands
The Scottish Islands Portal
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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...)
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St Kilda (Scottish Gaelic: Hiort) is a remote archipelago situated 64 kilometres (40 mi) west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom; three other islands (Dùn, Soay and Boreray) were also used for grazing and seabird hunting. The islands are administratively a part of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar local authority area.
The origin of the name St Kilda is a matter of conjecture. The islands' human heritage includes numerous unique architectural features from the historic and prehistoric periods, although the earliest written records of island life date from the Late Middle Ages. The medieval village on Hirta was rebuilt in the 19th century, but illnesses brought by increased external contacts through tourism, and the upheaval of the First World War, contributed to the island's evacuation in 1930. The story of St Kilda has attracted artistic interpretations, including Michael Powell's film The Edge of the World and an opera.
Permanent habitation on the islands possibly extends back two millennia, the population probably never exceeding 180; its peak was in the late 17th century. The population was 112 in 1851. According to the 1861 census, there were 71 inhabitants at that time; over subsequent years, the population ebbed and waned, eventually dropping to 36 as of May 1930. Virtually all of the population lived on Hirta. The entire remaining population was evacuated from Hirta, by then the only inhabited island, in 1930.
The islands house a unique form of stone structure known as cleitean. A cleit is a stone storage hut or bothy; while many still exist, they are slowly falling into disrepair. There are known to be 1,260 cleitean on Hirta and a further 170 on the other group islands. Currently, the only year-round residents are military personnel; a variety of conservation workers, volunteers and scientists spend time there in the summer months. (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.
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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...)
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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
Ulva (/ˈʌlvə/; Scottish Gaelic: Ulbha) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Cenozoic basalt rocks, which are formed into columns in places.
Ulva has been populated since the Mesolithic period, and there are various Neolithic remains on the island. The Norse occupation of the island in the Early Middle Ages has left few tangible artefacts but did bequeath the island its name, which is probably from Ulvoy, meaning "wolf island". Celtic culture was a major influence during both Pictish and Dalriadan times as well as the post-Norse period when the islands became part of modern Scotland. This long period, when Gaelic became the dominant language, was ended by the 19th-century Clearances. At its height, Ulva had a population of over 800, but by May 2019, this had declined to 5; some increase in the number of residents was expected in future, with the re-population plan that was to commence in 2020.
Numerous well-known individuals have connections with the island including David Livingstone, Samuel Johnson and Walter Scott, who drew inspiration from Ulva for his 1815 poem, The Lord of the Isles. Wildlife is abundant: cetaceans are regularly seen in the surrounding waters and over 500 species of plant have been recorded. Today there is a regular ferry service and tourism is the mainstay of the economy. In March 2018 the Scottish Land Fund pledged £4.4 million towards a community buyout of the island, and the North West Mull Community Woodland Company took ownership of the island on 21 June 2018. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that the ships MV Coelleira (pictured), MFV Elinor Viking, SS Ben Doran, and SV Illeri were all wrecked on the Ve Skerries in Shetland?
- ... that despite her membership in two of Scotland's largest land-owning families, philanthropist Lady Victoria Campbell dedicated her life to helping those who lived on the islands of Argyll?
- ... that mass graves in the Orkney and Shetland islands might contain bodies from a tsunami 5,500 years ago?
- ... that the child queen Margaret, Maid of Norway, died before reaching Scotland, so her place in the list of Scottish monarchs is in dispute?
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Selected geography article
Shawbost (Scottish Gaelic: Siabost) is a large village in the West Side of the Isle of Lewis. The village of Shawbost has a population of around 500 and lies around 20 miles (30 kilometres) west of Lewis's capital Stornoway. Shawbost is within the parish of Barvas. A recent development in the village was the renovation of the old school into the new community centre. The scattered settlement is split into three sections: North Shawbost (Siabost bho Thuath), South Shawbost (Siabost bho Dheas) and New Shawbost (Pàirc Shiaboist). There is a small museum of folk life and nearby is a small stone circle. The village is overlooked by a small hill named Beinn Bhragair, 261 m high. Shawbost is a prominent village on the Isle of Lewis, due to the school, community centre, beach and Harris Tweed mill.
In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, 72% of people in Shawbost reported being able to speak Scottish Gaelic. (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...)
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