Island of Eigg, as seen from a ferry

An Sgurr

Eigg is one of the Small Isles, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the isle of Skye, and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is 9 kilometres long from north to south, and five kilometres east to west. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3956x2517, 1228 KB) Scanned from a slide photography taken 2003-08-28. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3956x2517, 1228 KB) Scanned from a slide photography taken 2003-08-28. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 888 KB) Summary An Sgurr, Eigg. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 888 KB) Summary An Sgurr, Eigg. ... An Sgurr is the highest hill on the Inner Hebridean island of Eigg, Scotland. ... The Small Isles are a group of islands considered part of the British Isles, lying in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The Inner Hebrides are a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. ... The Old Man of Storr, Skye The Isle of Skye, usually known simply as Skye (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgiathanach) is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. ... Ardnamurchan is a 50 mile long peninsula in North West Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. ...

After decades of problems with absentee landlords, the island was bought in 1997 by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, a partnership between the residents of Eigg, the Highland Council, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. At the time, the population was around 60; in 2005 it was 87. 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Highland Council area (Roinn na Gàidhealtachd in Gaelic) is the largest administrative region in Scotland. ... The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a Scottish conservation charity. ...

The first major project of the Heritage Trust was An Laimhrig, a new building near the jetty to house the island's shop and Post Office, a tearoom, craft shop, toilet and shower facilities. The next project is to provide a mains electricity grid, powered from renewable sources. At present, individual crofthouses have wind, hydro or diesel generators. The Post Office in Oxford. ... TEA Shop is the name for the Training and employment service in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. TEA stands for Training, Employment, Advice. ... Transmission lines in Lund, Sweden Electric power transmission is one process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ... A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofters dwelling thereon. ... A tall tower holds a wind turbine aloft where winds are consistently stronger. ... Hydroelectricity is electricity obtained from hydropower. ...

There is a sheltered anchorage for boats at Galmisdale in the south of the island. In 2004 the old jetty was extended to allow a roll-on roll-off ferry to dock. The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry "Loch Nevis" sails a circular route from Mallaig around the four "Small Isles" - Eigg, Canna, Rùm and Muck. There is also a small passenger ferry, the M V Shearwater which operates between Eigg and Arisaig on the mainland. A RO-RO ships Starboard side, the stern ramp is much more robust and cabable of holding a tank such as an Abrams RORO and ro-ro are acronyms for Roll On/Roll Off; a type of ferry, cargo ship or barge that carries wheeled cargo such as automobiles... The Pride of Burgundy, a P&O Ferries car ferry on the Dover-Calais route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ... A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat. ... Caledonian MacBrayne (usually shortened to Cal-Mac) is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland of Scotland and all major islands on Scotlands West coast. ... Mallaig is a port on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. ... This article is about the Scottish island of Canna. ... Rùm (a Scottish Gaelic name which is usually anglicised to Rum) is one of the Small Isles, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. ... Muck is the smallest of the Small Isles, part of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. ... Arisaig is a small village in the Highlands on the west coast of Scotland. ...

The main settlement on Eigg is Cleadale, a fertile coastal plain in the northwest. It is known for its quartz beach, called the "singing sands" on account of the squeaking noise it makes if walked on when dry. Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earths continental crust. ... 90 mile beach Australia A beach or strand is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles such as sand, shingle, cobble, or even shell along the shoreline of a body of water. ...

The centre of the island is a moorland plateau, rising to 393 metres at An Sgurr, a dramatic stump of pitchstone, sheer on three sides. Walkers who complete the easy scramble to the top in good weather are rewarded with spectacular views all round, of Mull, Coll, Muck, the Outer Hebrides, Rùm, Skye, and the mountains of Lochaber on the mainland. Heaths are anthropogenic habitats found primarily in northern and western Europe, where they have been created by thousands of years of human clearance of natural forest vegetation by grazing and burning on mainly infertile acidic soils. ... In geology and earth science, a plateau (also tableland, plâteau) is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat open country if the uplift was recent in geologic history. ... An Sgurr is the highest hill on the Inner Hebridean island of Eigg, Scotland. ... Pitchstone ridge An Sgurr, Isle of Eigg, Scotland Pitchstone is a dull black glassy volcanic rock formed when lava cools swiftly. ... Tobermory with 700 people, the largest settlement on Mull, is home to the only whisky distillery on the island. ... Coll shown within Argyll Coll is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, west of Mull. ... Muck is the smallest of the Small Isles, part of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. ... The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles (officially known by their Gaelic name, Na h-Eileanan Siar, changed under The Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997) comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. ... Rùm (a Scottish Gaelic name which is usually anglicised to Rum) is one of the Small Isles, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. ... The Old Man of Storr, Skye The Isle of Skye, usually known simply as Skye (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgiathanach) is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. ... Lochaber (Scottish Gaelic, Loch Abar) refers to a large area of the central and western Scottish Highlands. ...

History

Bronze age and iron age inhabitants have left their mark on Eigg. The monastery at Kildonan was founded by an Irish missionary, St. Donnan. He and his monks were massacred in 617 by the local Pictish Queen. In medieval times the island was held by Ranald MacDonald. A lengthy feud with the MacLeods led to the massacre of the island's entire population. They had taken refuge in a cave on the south coast, and they were suffocated by a fire lit at the entrance. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The Tikse monastery in Ladakh, India A monastery is the habitation of monks, derived from the Greek word for a hermits cell. ... Events Sui Gong Di succeeds Sui Yang Di as emperor of China. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Donald Clan Crest. ... MacLeod Crest Clan MacLeod is a Scottish clan. ...

The Cruise of the Betsey (1858)

By the nineteenth century, the island had a population of 500, producing potatoes, oats, cattle and kelp. When sheep farming became more profitable than any alternative, land was cleared by compulsory emigration - in 1853 the whole of the village of Gruilin, fourteen families, was forced to leave. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3000x2419, 715 KB) Summary Title page of 1858 edition of Cruise of the Betsey by Hugh Miller with handwritten inscription by owner dated 1858. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3000x2419, 715 KB) Summary Title page of 1858 edition of Cruise of the Betsey by Hugh Miller with handwritten inscription by owner dated 1858. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (plural form: potatoes) (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, grown for its starchy tuber. ... Species References ITIS 41455 2002-09-22 Oats are the seeds of any of several cereal grains in the genus Avena. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Families Alariaceae Chordaceae Laminariaceae Lessoniaceae Phyllariaceae Pseudochordaceae Kelp are large seaweeds, belonging to the brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales. ... Species See text. ... The Highland Clearances were part of a process of agricultural change throughout the United Kingdom, but the late timing, the abruptness of the change from the Clan System in the Scottish Highlands and the brutality of many of the evictions gave the Highland Clearances particular notoriety. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

The Scottish geologist and writer Hugh Miller visited the island in the 1840s and wrote a long and detailed account of his explorations in his book The Cruise of the Betsey published in 1858. The book includes a description of his visit to the Cave of Frances (Uamh Fhraing) in which the whole population of the island had been smoked to death by McLeods from Skye some hundred years earlier. Miller was a self-taught geologist; so the book contains detailed observations of the geology of the island, including the Scuir and the singing sands. He describes the islanders of Eigg as "an active, middle-sized race, with well-developed heads, acute intellects, and singularly warm feelings". Hugh Miller (1802 - 1856) was a Scottish geologist and writer. ... // Events and Trends Technology First use of anaesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long War, peace and politics First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Old Man of Storr, Skye The Isle of Skye, usually known simply as Skye (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgiathanach) is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. ... Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history and the processes that shape it. ... Singing sand is sand that emits sounds of either high or low frequency under pressure. ...

External links

• The island's website
• BBC Radio 4 - Open Country
• BBC Action Network - My story: Bringing power to the people

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Nuttall Encyclopaedia is an early 20th century encyclopedia, edited by Rev. ...