Muck, Scotland

Muck
Location
Muck
Muck shown within Scotland
OS grid reference	NM408794
Names
Gaelic name	Eilean nam Muc (help·info)
Meaning of name	"sea pig", from Gaelic muc, "pig", a short form of muc-mhara, "whale".
Area and summit
Area	559 ha (2.2 sq mi)
Area rank	70
Highest elevation	Beinn Airein 137 m (449 ft)
Population
Population	30[1]
Population rank	60 out of 97
Main settlement	Port Mòr
Groupings
Island group	Small Isles
Local Authority	Highland
References	[2][3][4]
If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census.

Muck (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean nam Muc, pronounced [ˈelan nə ˈmuʰk]) is the smallest of four main islands in the Small Isles, part of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It measures roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) east to west and has a population of around 30, mostly living near the harbour at Port Mòr. The other settlement on the island is the farm at Gallanach. The island's only road, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, connects the two.

Geography

Port Mòr, from the harbour.
Photo: David Crocker

A causeway and slipway were built at Port Mòr in 2005. This allows vehicles to be driven on and off the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, MV Lochnevis, which links Muck and its neighbouring Small Isles of Canna, Rùm and Eigg, with the mainland port of Mallaig (2½ hours away). However, visitors are not normally permitted to bring vehicles to the Small Isles. During the summer months the islands are also served by Arisaig Marine's ferry MV Sheerwater from Arisaig, 10 miles south of Mallaig.

The island's main hill is Beinn Airein (137m). Muck is also known for its seal population, and for the porpoises in the surrounding waters. The name may derive from the Gaelic word for porpoise. An earlier owner, who disliked the name, attempted to persuade Samuel Johnson and James Boswell that the authentic name was Isle of Monk.

The island has an hotel known as Port Mor House.^[5] and is featured in the on-line newspaper the West Word.^[6]

History

In 1549, Dean Monro wrote: " Be ane haffe myle of sea to this ile, lyes ane ile of twa myle lang, callit in Erische Ellannaneche, that is the Swynes ile, and very fertill and fruitful of cornes and grassing for all store, and verey guid for fishing, inhabit and manurit, a good falcon nest in it. It perteynis to the Bishope of the iles, with ane guid heighland haven in it, the entrey quherof is at the west cheik".^[7] He also stated of the offshore islet of Eilean nan Each that it was "in Englishe the Horse ile, guid for horse and uther store, perteining to the Bishope of the iles."^[8]

Muck's main landowners are Lawrence and Ewen McEwen, whose family have owned the island since 1896.^[2]

Notes

1. ^ General Register Office for Scotland (28 Nov 2003) Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands Retrieved 9 July 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. pp. 132-4. ISBN 1841954543. 
3. ^ Ordnance Survey
4. ^ Iain Mac an Tailleir. "Placenames". Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/gaelic/pdfs/placenamesK-O.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-28. 
5. ^ "Isle of Muck" road-to-the-isles.org.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
6. ^ "West Word" road-to-the-isles.org.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
7. ^ Monro (1549) "Swynes Ile" no. 102
8. ^ Monro (1549) "Horse Iyle" no. 101

References

Monro, Sir Donald (1549) A Description Of The Western Isles of Scotland. Appin Regiment/Appin Historical Society. Retrieved 3 March 2007. First published in 1774.

External links

• Isle of Muck website
• http://www.islemuck.com/history.htm Isle of Muck History

Coordinates: 56°50′3″N 6°14′56″W / 56.83417°N 6.24889°W / 56.83417; -6.24889