Entrance to Fingals cave, 2004

Entrance to Fingals cave, 1900 (Showing a lower tide)

View from the depths of the cave with the island of Iona visible in the background, 2004

Fingal's Cave is a sea-cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland.^[1] It is formed entirely from hexagonally-jointed basalt, similar in structure to (and part of the same ancient lava flow as) the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Its size and naturally arched roof,^[2] and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name, Uamh-Binn, means "cave of melody".^[3] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1105 KB) Subject Fingals Cave 2004, Isle of Staffa, Scotland Photographer Hartmut Josi Bennöhr (user:josi / de:user:josi) Source fotographed in July 2004 File links The following pages link to this file: Fingals Cave ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1105 KB) Subject Fingals Cave 2004, Isle of Staffa, Scotland Photographer Hartmut Josi Bennöhr (user:josi / de:user:josi) Source fotographed in July 2004 File links The following pages link to this file: Fingals Cave ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x769, 230 KB) Scotland, isle Staffa, Fingals Cave. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x769, 230 KB) Scotland, isle Staffa, Fingals Cave. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 112 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Fingals Cave Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 112 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Fingals Cave Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... A Grotto is a small cave, usually near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide. ... Fingals Cave around 1900 View from West to East Staffa (Norse for staff, column, or pillar island), an island of the Inner Hebrides in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. ... The Hebrides (Inner Hebrides in red) The Inner Hebrides are a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... The standard of the NTS The National Trust for Scotland, or NTS, describes itself as The conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotlands natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy. ... A regular hexagon In geometry, a hexagon is a polygon with six edges and six vertices. ... Basalt Columnar basalt at Sheepeater Cliff in Yellowstone Basalt (IPA: ) is a common gray to black volcanic rock. ... The Giants Causeway is an area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns resulting from a volcanic eruption. ... Motto: [citation needed] (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair... ECHO is a German music award granted every year by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie (an association of recording companies). ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... // Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ...

The cave was "discovered" by 18th-century naturalist Sir Joseph Banks in 1772.^[3][4] It became known as Fingal's Cave after classical composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote Die Hebriden (in English, Fingal's Cave Opus 26), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave.^[5][3] (Fingal, Fionn mac Cumhaill, was the eponymous hero of a poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson).-1... Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks (February 13, 1743 - June 19, 1820) was the British naturalist and botanist on Cooks first great voyage (1768-1771) and some 75 species bear Banks name. ... Felix Mendelssohn at the age of thirty Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Mendelssohns original sketch of the overture, contained in the letter to Fanny, 1829. ... Fionn mac Cumhaill (pronounced /fuN mə ku:L/, /fiN mə ku:L/, /fu:n mə ku:l/ or /foun mə ku:l/ according to dialect)(earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, later Anglicised to Finn McCool) was a hunter-warrior of the Gaelic... James Macpherson (October 27, 1736–February 17, 1796), was a Scottish poet, known as the translator of the Ossian cycle of poems (also known as the Oisín cycle). ...

Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination.^[3][4] Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne, poets William Wordsworth, John Keats and Alfred, Lord Tennyson,^[1] and impressionist artist Joseph Turner, who painted "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" in 1832.^[6] The playwright August Strindberg also sets scenes from his play A Dream Play in a place called "Fingal's Grotto." Queen Victoria also made the trip.^[3][1] Jules Verne. ... William Wordsworth, English poet William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads. ... δе|}:Keats redirects here. ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... Big Joe Turner (May 18, 1911 - November 24, 1985) was an American blues singer from Kansas City, Missouri. ... August Strindberg Portrait of August Strindberg by Richard Bergh   (January 22, 1849 – May 14, 1912) was a Swedish writer, playwright, and painter. ... A Dream Play was written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright, August Strindberg. ...

Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingal's Cave as "…one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it …composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description."^[7] For the first Premier of Saskatchewan see Thomas Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott (August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe. ...

The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea; however, boats cannot enter.^[3] Several local companies include a pass by the cave in sightseeing cruises from April to September.^[2][3] However, it is also possible to land elsewhere on the island and walk to the cave overland, where a row of fractured columns form a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot.^[7] From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the sacred island of Iona across the water.^[2] Iona village viewed from a short distance offshore. ...

The dimensions of the cave

• Wood-Nuttal Encyclopaedia, 1907: 69 m (227 ft) deep, 20 m (66 ft) high.^[8]
• National Public Radio: 45 m (150 ft) deep; 22 m (72 ft) high.^[9]
• Show Caves of the World: 85 m (279 ft) deep; 23 m (75 ft) high.^[3]

External links

• Formation of basalt columns

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