Day 223 - Muck'ing about

While climbing to the top of a mountain may be one way to take in the views of Skye and the surrounding islands, particularly with the spectacular weather we've been having, I think the best way to see the grandeur of the place is with a view from the sea. So, today Phil and I decided to take the Small Isle Ferry journey. The actual island destinations vary with the day of the week so that each island can be guaranteed some form of contact with the outside world. Today, the ferry journey went from the town of Mallaig and onto the wonderfully named isles of Muck and Eigg. Including the ferry journey from Skye over to Mallaig, our total travel time would be about a wonderfully relaxing 7 hours.

Leaving Skye from Armadale ferry dock

On our trip across to the "mainland" of Scotland the sun was still low enough to be making the sea sparkle like diamonds. It was a beautiful site to behold, particularly with the haze casting a painter-like glow over the mountains in the background. It was mesmerizing, and soon had me relaxed to the point that I felt I might becoming one with the paint on the rail against which I was leaning.

At Mallaig, we only had to wait a few minutes before our next ferry was ready to board. Not quite sure what to expect in the way of dining options, Phil had jaunted off to the local Co-op shop to buy a couple of sandwiches for our long day out, while I purchased the "non-landing" tickets that would let us stay on board for the ferry's entire day out. As it turned out, the ferry had a really lovely cafe lounge area, where we enjoyed a latte or two during the journey.

As the MV Lock Nevis prepared to leave port, the captain announced over the PA system that we had a glorious day of sailing ahead of us. It was nice to hear that even he was excited at the spell of sunny weather they have been having in this part of Scotland.

Interestingly, our journey took us past Eigg and then into the small harbour at Muck, where a large number of the people on the ferry disembarked. The island had a population of 27 in the 2011 census, and I think far more people got off than live there. The island is owned entirely by one family. Most people live near the Port Mòr harbour, while the only other settlement is 2.5 kms away and is a farm.

Muck is  known for its seal population, and for the porpoises in the surrounding waters. In fact, it is an old word for porpoises -- mereswine -- from which it is thought the island gets its name, with the  Gaelic word  for swine being Mouach.

The harbour at Port Mor, Muck

True to it's name, we saw a pod of porpoises (or perhaps dolphins, given the beak that appears in my rather quick photograph) as we made the next leg of our journey back to Eigg. They were racing beside the ferry jumping in and out of the water. We also saw several seals and caught quick glimpses of a couple of whales, but they gave the ferry a wide berth.

Eigg (prounced with a long 'a' sound) is about five miles long by three miles wide, with a population of about 100 people. It's owned by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, a community group that bought it in 1997. The Trust includes several subsidiaries. One is Eigg Electric, which provides the island with electricity from renewables -- and we did spot an unobtrusive wind farm on the island.

The island gets its name from Eag, an Old Norse word meaning notch or wedge. It refers to the distinctive shape of the Sgurr that dominates the landscape. The Sgurr was actually born 58 millions years ago when a volcano formed on the neighbouring island of Rum. The pitchstone lava flowed into a river bed through a basaltic plateau that existed at the time. The basalt eroded faster than the pitchstone, and then the glaciers came to carve out the magnificent formation. (And I trust my geologist husband will be okay with me taking the liberty of writing that last bit!)

The Isle of Eigg with Rum's beautiful silhouette in the background.

As we passed the south coast of the island, we noted several cave entrances. One has a rather brutal tale associated with it. In 1577, the Clan Ranald hosted a group of MacLeods who became over-amorous with the local women. In response, the Ranalds rounded up the MacLeods, and set them adrift in the sea. In revenge, the MacLeods decided to attack. Spotting them coming, all but one of the 400 islanders hid in a cave that had a small entrance hidden by moss and a waterfall. After several days of searching, the MacLeods were about to leave when they spotting someone leaving the cave. They followed, redirected the waterfalls and started a fire at the cave's entrance. All 400 were trapped by the smoke and died.

Many of the bones in the cave were stolen over the years by souvenir hunters until the local had them buried in the island cemetery. So, over time, it became unsure if the Massacre at Eigg was just a tale. However, bones were found in the cave in 2017 and were dated back to the time the killings were thought to have occurred.

The island has a long history that reads like a Game of Thrones script, but I will leave that for you to discover.

As we left Eigg, a female piper began to play at the end of the pier. Perfect!

It's been so unusually sunny and warm in Scotland, even the cattle decided to
spend the day at the beach.

From Eigg we travelled back to Muck to pick up the day tourists and a utility van that had been on the island to do repairs. Then it was the lovely journey back to Mallaig and home to our cottage in Ardvasar.