Archaeology
There are several possible chapel sites. The first may have been dedicated to St Columba and have been on the west side of Garbh Eilean, perhaps at Àirighean na h-Annaid - the name Annaid means Old Church. There is also evidence of a more recent church, dedicated to the Virgin, near the present cottage on Eilean an Taighe. [7]
A gold torc was dredged up by some Scalpay scallop fishermen south-west of the islands. This beautiful object dates from perhaps 1200BC, and while similar such torcs have turned up elsewhere in UK, this is by far the furthest north. [7] It is possible to speculate endlessly about the provenance of such a find, and whether it got there by shipwreck, or as a votive offering.
Wildlife
The Shiants are a major seabird breeding ground due to their location next to good feeding grounds and lack of predators. Huge numbers of puffins breed in burrows on the slopes of Garbh Eilean, as well as significant numbers of guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags, gulls and great skuas. Although St Kilda has more puffins, the sheer density on the Shiants is greater. [5] [8]
Until 2018 the island had a population of black rats, which may originally have come ashore from a shipwreck. Analysis of their stomach contents showed that the Shiant rats did eat seabirds, but it was impossible to tell if they preyed on live birds or simply scavenged remains. [9] These rats are now rare in the UK. On the Shiants their numbers have been controlled in and around the house for some time, and a comprehensive wildlife project has now extinguished the population. [3]
The Small Isles are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan – the most westerly point of mainland Scotland.
The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, sometimes known as Innse Gall or the Long Isle/Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority.
Ross and Cromarty, sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latter of which is 8,019 square kilometres in extent. Historically there has also been a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a local government county, a district of the Highland local government region and a management area of the Highland Council. The local government county is now divided between two local government areas: the Highland area and Na h-Eileanan Siar. Ross and Cromarty border Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south.
Gigha ; Scottish Gaelic: Giogha; Scots: Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average sunshine hours and the soils are fertile. The main settlement is Ardminish.
Rona, sometimes called South Rona to distinguish it from North Rona, is a small inhabited island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies between the Sound of Raasay and the Inner Sound just north of the neighbouring island of Raasay and east of the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. It has a total area of 930 hectares (3.6 sq mi) and a population of 3.
The Shiant Islands or Shiant Isles are a privately owned island group in the Minch, east of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They are five miles southeast of the Isle of Lewis.
The Flannan Isles or alternatively, the Seven Hunters are a small island group in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of the Isle of Lewis. They may take their name from Saint Flannan, the seventh-century Irish preacher and abbot.
Ross-shire is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of numerous enclaves or exclaves scattered throughout Ross-shire's territory. Ross-shire includes most of Ross along with Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Dingwall is the traditional county town. The area of Ross-shire is based on that of the historic province of Ross, but with the exclusion of the many enclaves that form Cromartyshire.
Eilean nan Ròn is an island near Skerray, in the north of Sutherland, Scotland. An estimated 350 seal pups are born here annually.
Eilean Mhuire is the most easterly of the Shiant Islands in the Outer Hebrides.
Bayble Island lies at the southern end of Bayble Bay. It consists of two islands, but these appear as a single island from most directions. The hamlets of Upper and Lower Bayble overlook the island and bay.
The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.
Eilean an T(a)ighe, meaning "House Island", is one of the Shiant Islands. It is joined to Garbh Eilean by an isthmus and both form part of a single island.
Garbh Eilean is a forested island in Loch Maree, Wester Ross, Scotland.
The flora and fauna of the Outer Hebrides in north west Scotland comprises a unique and diverse ecosystem. A long archipelago, set on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, it attracts a wide variety of seabirds, and thanks to the Gulf Stream a climate more mild than might be expected at this latitude. Because it is on the Gulf Stream, it also occasionally gets exotic visitors.
The Western Rocks are a group of uninhabited skerries and rocks in the south–western part of the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom, and are renowned for the numerous shipwrecks in the area and the nearby Bishop Rock lighthouse. In 1971, the rocks and islands were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their breeding sea birds. Landing on the islands is both difficult and discouraged and there are few published records of visits by naturalists.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
