Ullinish (

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

: Uilfhinis) is a

crofting township Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century Township (Scotland), townships, individua ...

Loch Bracadale Loch Bracadale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Bhràcadail'') is a sea loch on the west coast of Skye in Scotland. It separates the Minginish Peninsula in the south from the Duirinish Peninsula in the north. Loch Bracadale and its associated inner loc ...

, on the southwest coast 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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The only

promontory fort A promontory fort is a fortification, defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the Rampart (fortification), ramparts needed. The oldest kno ...

on Skye is located at Ullinish. It is situated to the west of Struan and just south of the hamlet of Ebost. Historically, Ullinish is associated with the MacLeod family. Of literary note,

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's views and denunciation of

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

's ''

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

'' were confirmed while Johnson was in Ullinish.

Etymology

The name Ullinish is from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''úlfa-nes'', meaning "promontory of the wolves". In Gaelic, it is sometimes spelt as ''Uilinis'' or ''Uilbhinis''.

Geography

Located on the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

, Ullinish lies on a small peninsula, with a

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

ending at Ullinish Point. Loch Caroy is situated between Ullinish Point and

Harlosh Island Harlosh Island is one of four islands to be found in Isle of Skye, Skye's Loch Bracadale. Harlosh Island is from the coast of the Duirinish, Skye, Duirinish Peninsula and from the coast of the Minginish peninsula. At low tide it is only about ...

. The small

tidal island A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being ...

Oronsay Oronsay (), also sometimes spelt and pronounced ''Oransay'' by the local community, is a small tidal island south of Colonsay in the Scottish Inner Hebrides with an area of . The island rises to a height of at Beinn Orasaigh and is linked t ...

is joined to Ullinish Point at low tide, and separated by a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

. The town is overlooked by the low,

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

cliffs of the Cuillin Hills, and MacLeod's Table. Knock Ullinish is a small hill east of Ullinish.

Fauna and flora

The

common teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

nests in Ullinish. Other avifauna include the

common raven The common raven or northern raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all Corvidae, corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. There are 11 accepted subspecies with little variatio ...

long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...

hen harrier The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Palearctic, Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. It bird migration, migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian ...

merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large Aves, bird in the grouse family. It is a Bird migration, sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in m ...

, and

bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

Landmarks

The largest building in the area is the Ullinish Country Lodge, a historic hotel which contains six rooms. Originally a farmhouse, it was built in 1757. The building is sheltered by a small

brae :''"Brae" is also the Lowland Scots language word for the slope or brow of a hill.'' Brae (Old Norse: ''Breiðeið'', meaning "the wide isthmus") is a village on the island of Mainland in Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom. In it had a popula ...

and surrounded on three sides by

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

and Doctor Johnson stayed in the farmhouse between September 21–23, 1773 during their famous literary tour of the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

, documented in ''

The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides ''The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.'' is a travel journal by Scotsman James Boswell first published in 1785. In 1773, Boswell enticed his English friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through the hig ...

'' that was published in 1775. While in Ullinish, Johnson's views and denunciation of Macpherson's ''Ossian'' were confirmed. Here, too, Boswell remarked that the mountain view reminded him of those seen in

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. After two nights in Ullinish, they departed by boat for

Talisker Talisker () is a settlement on the Minginish peninsula in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. History Talisker was for centuries a possession of the Clan Macleod. For nearly two hundred years it was associated with a cadet branch of the chiefly line, f ...

. Remains of a chambered

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

consisting of a

denuded Denudation is the geological process in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interchang ...

circle of boulders are found just north of the lodge. Also of archaeological interest is a partly destroyed

Earth house An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely burie ...

on the east side of the northern extremity of Knock Ullinish.

Notable people

*Sergeant Donald McLeod (June 20, 1688-?) *Mary MacLeod also known as Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh "Ullinish/ Of white-hoofed cattle/ Where in my youth/ I was reared" *Sheriff Alexander MacLeod, one of the first Sheriffs Principal in Skye

References

External links

Official site of Ullinish Country Lodge
{{Skye Populated places in the Isle of Skye