Isle of Skye UK relief location map labels

Strathaird is a peninsula on the island of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

, Scotland, situated between Loch Slapin and Loch Scavaig on the south coast. W. H. Murray said that "Skye is sixty miles long, but what might be its breadth is beyond the ingenuity of man to state". Strathaird is however a straightforward triangular shape with the apex to the south where the lochs meet. Its base to the north is less clear-cut and is contained within the complex of the

Cuillin The Cuillin () is a range of mostly jagged rocky mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The main Cuillin ridge is also called the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuillin ('), which lie to the east of Glen Sligachan.R. Anderson & ...

range of mountains. The

Munro A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

Blà Bheinn Blà Bheinn or Blàbheinn, also known as Blaven, is a mountain on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is usually regarded as an outlier of the Black Cuillin range. It is a Munro with a height of . North of the summit is the ridge of Clach Glas, w ...

that reaches is within Strathaird. It is the smallest and least populous of Skye's main peninsulas, containing only the hamlets of Elgol, Kirkibost, Kilmarie, Drinan and Glasnakille, which are accessed via the B8083 road. The ruins of the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort

Dun Ringill Dun Ringill (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Dùn'', 'fort', ''Ringill'', 'point of the ravine') is an Iron Age hill fort on the Strathaird peninsula on the island of Skye, Scotland. Further fortified in the Middle Ages, tradition holds that it was ...

are east of Kirkibost on the shores of Loch Slapin. The Strathaird peninsula was historically a heartland of

Clan Mackinnon Clan MacKinnon ( ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan from the islands of Isle of Mull, Mull and Skye, in the Inner Hebrides. Popular tradition gives the clan a Dal Riada, Dalriadic Gaelic origin. The 19th-century historian W. F. S ...

and tradition holds that Dun Ringill was once the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the clan. The Strathaird Estate was bought by musician

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

, the frontman for Jethro Tull, in 1978. Anderson started a salmon farming business at Strathaird, which expanded throughout Scotland. The business was reportedly worth over £10 million by the mid 1990s, though much of it has now been sold off. Anderson sold the estate to the

John Muir Trust The John Muir Trust (JMT) is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust runs an environmental award scheme, manages several estates, mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scot ...

in 1994, for around £750,000. The Trust also own the neighbouring estates of Torrin and Sconser.

Notes

References

* Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London; Heinemann. {{Skye Landforms of the Isle of Skye Peninsulas of Scotland Highland Estates Protected areas of Highland (council area) Clan Mackinnon

See also

Notes

References