Staffin
| |
---|---|
Location within the Isle of Skye | |
OS grid reference | NG483684 |
Council area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Portree |
Postcode district | IV51 9 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
Staffin (Scottish Gaelic : Stafain) is a township with the Gaelic name An Taobh Sear, which translates as "the East Side", on the northeast coast of the Trotternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye. [1] [2] It is located on the A855 road about 17 miles (27 kilometres) north of Portree and is overlooked by the Trotternish Ridge (including the Quiraing). The township forms part of a parish comprising 23 townships. From south to north: Rigg, Tote, Lealt, Lonfearn, Grealin, Breackry, Culnancnoc, Valtos, Raiseburgh, Ellishadder, Garafad, Clachan, Garros, Marishader, Maligar, Stenscholl, Brogaig, Sartle, Glasphein, Digg, Dunans, Flodigarry and Greap.
The Kilmartin River flows northwards through the village and outflows as the Stenscholl River at Stenscholl. To the east at An Corran a seasonally exposed rippled wave cut platform contains at least 18 dinosaur footprints, measuring up to 50 cm in length, attributed to a large theropod akin to Megalosaurus. [3] The footprints date to the Middle Jurassic (approximately 170 million years ago) and occur above an igneous platform - with natural cracks often mistaken for dinosaur footprints. An Corran was also a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site dating to the 7th millennium BC - one of the oldest archaeological sites in Scotland. [4] Its occupation is probably linked to that of the rock shelter at Sand, Applecross on the coast of Wester Ross. [5]
Today, Staffin and its surrounding townships retain a strong Gaelic identity, with 61 per cent of the local population recorded as speaking the language in 2001. [6] In September 2010, Comunn na Gàidhlig named Staffin as their "Gaelic Community of the Year", in the first year this competition has run. [7] Also in September 2010, Highland Council announced the launch of a consultation into a plan to convert the local primary into a Gaelic medium school. This would be the second such conversion in Scotland, after Bun-sgoil Shlèite. Only 5 out of the school's thirty pupils have English as their only language, with the remainder being bilingual English and Gaelic speakers. [8]
In 2011, Staffin Island is one of the last in Scotland where the old tradition of having cattle swim between grazings is still carried out. Crofter Iain MacDonald, who used to swim with the animals, used a boat to encourage them to swim from Staffin Island to Skye in early spring and back again in October. [9]
In December 2013, Staffin Community Trust (SCT) was awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery for the Skye Ecomuseum - also known as the Druim nan Linntean (Ridge of Ages). The Skye Ecomuseum is an outdoor museum set in the Trotternish landscape spanning between Loch Langaig (Flodigarry) and An Stòrr (Old Man of Storr) aiming to engage visitors with local natural history and heritage through the improvement of local paths/infrastructure (including a viewing platform at Lealt Gorge) and establishment of informative signage. [10]
Currently, the SCT are improving the infrastructure at Staffin Harbour and building the Crofters' Memorial, Sùil nam Brà, at Kilt Rock. [11]
In popular culture, the An Corran dinosaur footprints are referenced as an Easter egg in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla. [12]
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares. Skye, Mull, and Islay are the three largest, and also have the highest populations. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling. In modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi), and had a population of 18,948 in 2011. The population density is therefore about 4.6 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Portree is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is a civil parish and lies within the Highland council area, around 74 miles (119 km) from its administrative centre of Inverness.
Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan MacDonald of Sleat. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Slèite, which in turn comes from Old Norse sléttr, which well describes Sleat when considered in the surrounding context of the mainland, Skye and Rùm mountains that dominate the horizon all about Sleat.
Trotternish is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, spanning in length from Portree to Rubha Hunish. The Trotternish escarpment runs almost the full length of the peninsula, some 30 kilometres, and contains landmarks such as the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing. The summit of The Storr, overlooking the Old Man, is the highest point of the peninsula at 719 m above sea level. The north-eastern part of the peninsula around Quiraing is designated as a National Scenic Area and the entire escarpment is a Special Area of Conservation.
The Royal National Mòd is an Eisteddfod-inspired international Celtic festival focusing upon Scottish Gaelic literature, traditional music, and culture which is held annually in Scotland. It is the largest of several major Scottish Mòds and is often referred to simply as the Mòd.
Duntulm is a township situated on the northwest coast of the Trotternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye, and is made up of Shulista and South Duntulm. It is located on the single-track A855 road about 24 miles north of Portree. The township is noted for its long fortified headland, which the ruins of Duntulm Castle presently sit.
Tarskavaig is a crofting village on the west coast of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It sits in a glen which meets Tarskavaig Bay and lies opposite the Isles of Eigg, Rum and Canna. It is often said that Tarskavaig has the best view of the Cuillin in Skye.
There are many small islands in Scotland called Flodday or similar and this list provides a guide to their location. The derivation of the name is from the Old Norse floti meaning "raft" or "float". The similar island names Fladda and Flotta are also from the Norse flatr and mean "flat island". Usage is not always consistent in external sources.
Portnalong is a small village on north west of the Isle of Skye on the shore of Loch Harport. Portnalong is Gaelic for "harbour of the ships". It was founded by crofters from Lewis and Harris in 1921.
Brogaig, Norse for Burgh Bay, is a small coastal village, on the northwest coast of the Trotternish peninsula, close to Staffin and Stenscholl, in the Isle of Skye in Scotland and is in the council area of Highland. It is sometimes possible to see sea mammals in the bay. Brogaig is well known for excellent cycling routes.
Lealt is a crofting township, on the western coastline of the Sound of Raasay on the Trotternish peninsula of Skye, in the Highlands of Scotland and the council area of Highland. The Lealt River which gives its name to Lealt, passes through on the way to the Sound of Raasay.
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country. Although Sgitheanach has been suggested to describe a winged shape, no definitive agreement exists as to the name's origin.
Drumfearn is a small crofting township, lying at the head of the Sleat peninsula, at the head of Loch Eishort, on the isle of Skye in the Highalnds of Scotland and is in the Scottish council area of Highland.
Glendale is a community-owned estate on the north-western coastline of the Duirinish peninsula on the island of Skye and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. The estate encompasses the small crofting townships of Skinidin, Colbost, Fasach, Glasphein, Holmisdale, Lephin, Hamaraverin, Borrodale, Milovaig, Waterstein, Feriniquarrie, Totaig, Hamara, and others.
Ellishadder is a crofting township, situated close to the north shore of the freshwater Loch Mealt, on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Ellishadder is one of 23 townships making up the district area of Staffin.
Staffin Island is an uninhabited islet off the east coast of the Trotternish peninsula of Skye in Scotland.
Mary MacPherson (née MacDonald), known as Màiri Mhòr nan Òran or simply Màiri Mhòr, was a Scottish Gaelic poet from the Isle of Skye, whose contribution to Scottish Gaelic literature is focused heavily upon the Highland Clearances and the Crofters War; the Highland Land League's campaigns of rent strikes and other forms of direct action. Although she could read her own work when it was written down, she could not write it down herself. She retained her songs and poems in her memory and eventually dictated them to others, who wrote them down for publication. She often referred to herself as Màiri Nighean Iain Bhàin, the name by which she would have been known in the Skye of her childhood.
Reverend Alasdair MacGriogair (1806–1881) was a Scottish writer and minister.