The Isle of Skye (Scottish Gaelic by Edwin Kooren

About "The Isle of Skye (Scottish Gaelic"

by Edwin Kooren

About the artwork

The Isle of Skye (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Sgitheanach) is the largest and also northernmost island of the Inner Hebrides.

Etymology
The Scottish Gaelic name comes from the Norse loanword Eilean, meaning island, and from the Gaelic sgiath, meaning winged. This refers to the island's shape: the multiple peninsulas like Sleat, Minginish, Waternish and Trotternish give the island the shape of a double wing.

The island's English name is said to come from Old Norse Skið = "ski".

Geography and geology
With an area of 1656 km², Skye is the second largest Scottish island; only the island of Leòdhas agus Na Hearadh (Lewis and Harris), part of the Outer Hebrides, is larger. The island is comparable in size to the entire Dutch province of Zeeland. In the south of the island is the Cuillin mountain range. The highest mountain on the island is the 992-metre-high Sgurr Alasdair. The south-west of Skye consists of a number of peninsulas such as Sleat, Strathaird, Minginish and Duirinish. The peninsulas of Waternish and Trotternish are in the northwest. The main fjords are Loch Dunvegan and Loch Snizort in the north, and Loch Harport in the west. Islands near Skye include Raasay, Scalpay and Rona in the northwest, Soay, Canna, Rum and Eigg in the south.

On the Trotternish peninsula is Bearreraig Bay, which is geologically important because of the fossils that can be found there. The bay is surrounded by 150-metre-high cliffs formed in a shallow tropical sea during the Jurassic period. Jurassic dinosaur remains and fossilised footprints have been found in this area.

The main settlements are linked by the A87, Portree, Sconser and Broadford in the north-east, and Uig in the north-west.