Skye and the Small Isles - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 267

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Skye and the Small Isles
For many visitors the Isle of Skye (An t-Eilean Sgiathanach) is the Highlands
in miniature. With its shapely summits and shifting seascapes, its superb
hiking routes, wildlife and crofting villages, it crams much of the region's
appeal into one manageable island. It even has classic Highlands weather.
According to one theory, Skye is named after the Old Norse for “cloud” ( skuy ),
earning itself the Gaelic moniker Eilean a' Cheò (Island of Mist). Despite
unpredictable weather, tourism has been an important part of the economy
since the railway reached Kyle of Lochalsh in 1897. The Edwardian
bourgeoisie swarmed to its mountains, whose beauty had been proclaimed
by the Victorians ever since Sir Walter Scott visited in 1814, arguably the
most successful tourism PR campaign in Scottish history. People still come in
droves, yet Skye is deceptively large. You'll get the most out of it - and
escape the worst crowds - if you explore the remoter parts of the island.

The Clearances saw an estimated thirty thousand indigenous Sgiathanachs (pronounced
“ski-anaks”) emigrate in the mid-nineteenth century; today, the population is just over
nine thousand. Tourism is now by far the island's biggest earner and has attracted
hundreds of incomers from the rest of Britain over the last couple of decades, including
an increasing quota of artists. Nevertheless, Skye remains the most important centre for
Gaelic culture and language outside the Western Isles. Over a third of the population is
fluent in Gaelic, the Gaelic college on Sleat is the most important in Scotland, and the
Free Church maintains a strong presence.
In contrast to the crowds on Skye, the so-called Small Isles - the improbably named
Rùm, Eigg, Muck and Canna - to the south only receive a trickle of visitors. Each
with a population of fewer than a hundred and with its own identity, they are easily
accessible by ferry from Mallaig and Arisaig, though limited accommodation means an
overnight visit requires planning.

Skye
Skye ranks among Scotland's most visited destinations, with all the summer coach
tours that suggests. Yet the island also has twenty Munros to bag and year-round hikers
and climbers pay homage to the Cuillin ridge, whose peaks dominate the island; you'll
need experience and determination to explore them. For years, the hiking-and-heather
view of Skye was all you'd get, but over the last decade a new generation of islanders,
including an influx of younger settlers, has introduced a vibrant arts and crafts scene
and updated the food and accommodation. Nowadays, Skye holds its own against
anywhere in Scotland. In fact, so sophisticated is some of the relaxation on offer that
the island is no longer the preserve of hikers and coach tours. The former congregate
around Cuillin or the impressive rock formations of the Trotternish peninsula, the

Walking in the Cuillin p.276
Flora MacDonald p.283

Raasay in history p.285
Hiking in the Rùm Cuillin p.288