Melvaig is a remote village on the coast of western

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...

and is in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

. It is a cliff top village in

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to t ...

dating back to Viking days. The village is accessed from

Gairloch Gairloch ( ; gd, Geàrrloch , meaning "Short Loch") is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a go ...

, which is 10 miles to the southeast. It adjoins

Aultgrishan Aultgrishan (Gaelic: ) is a small crofting community near Gairloch, Ross-shire. It adjoins Melvaig, within Highland region and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Aultgrishan is reached from the main B8021 single-track B-road that fo ...

, and the crofting village of

North Erradale North Erradale is a remote coastal crofting village on the western coast of Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. The villages of Melvaig lies 4 miles to the north, along the coast road, with the village ...

lies 4 miles to the south, along the coast road, with the village of

Big Sand Big Sand ( gd, Sannda Mhòr) is a small remote crofting village in Highland, Scotland. It is situated on the shores of the Gair Loch and is from Gairloch village. As the name suggests it is situated beside a large, unspoiled beach. Longa Island ...

lying directly south. Melvaig is the final village at the north of the peninsular leading to

Rua Reidh Lighthouse Rua Reidh Lighthouse stands close to the entrance to Loch Ewe in Wester Ross, Scotland. History The name "Rua Reidh" is a semi-anglicisation of "Rubha Rèidh" meaning a flat headland. A lighthouse on Rubh'Re Point was first proposed by David ...

. The Gaelic word for Melvaig is ''Mealabhaig'' meaning 'bent grass bay' probably derived from the Norse. As the township sits in cliff top position facing the Atlantic this is an apt name. In 1805, John M'Callum crashed his schooner full of herrings into the rocks a distance of one mile from the shores of Melvaig. All hands on deck perished save one. A Melvaig resident named John Smith stole the sea boots off of one of the bodies washed along the shore. A box containing 400 pounds was lost during the shipwreck and recovered by a resident, never to be returned. By 1895, a

boat slip A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

was constructed by the government in the wrong location, this rendered the

Dock A dock (from Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The exact meaning va ...

useless for the local fishermen and had to be altered in later years after a parliamentary inquiry. Melvaig has a long history of smuggling goods, with the many caves along the shoreline hidden by the diversion of streams which create waterfalls blocking view of the cavity. Both the production and smuggling of alcohol was an important part of life for many residents, with many tactics of subterfuge.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Ross and Cromarty