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Handa Island

Coordinates: 58°22′51″N 5°11′11″W / 58.38083°N 5.18639°W / 58.38083; -5.18639
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Not to be confused with Sanda Island or Honda.

Handa Island
Scottish Gaelic nameEilean Shannda
Old Norse nameSandey
Meaning of namesand isle[1][2]
Location
Handa Island is located in Sutherland
Handa Island
Handa Island
Handa Island shown within Sutherland
OS grid referenceNC138480
Coordinates58°22′48″N 5°11′10″W / 58.380°N 05.186°W / 58.380; -05.186
Physical geography
Island groupInner Hebrides/Islands of Sutherland
Area309 hectares (1+3⁄16 sq mi)
Area rank87= [3]
Highest elevationSithean Mòr 123 m (404 ft)
Administration
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Demographics
Population0
Lymphad
References[4][5][6]

Handa Island (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Shannda) or usually Handa, is an island in Eddrachillis Bay off the west coast of Sutherland, Scotland. It is 309 hectares (760 acres)[2] and 123 metres (404 ft) at its highest point.[6]

The island is of national importance for its birdlife and maritime vegetation, and is a Scottish Wildlife Trust nature reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and a Special Protection Area (SPA).[7][8] Notable seabirds include guillemots, great skuas, puffins and razorbills.[9] Handa also forms part of the North-West Sutherland national scenic area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland.[10]

A small ferry sails to Handa from Tarbet on the mainland and boat trips operate to it from Fanagmore. The island receives five thousand visitors per annum.[11]

Etymology

The island's name is of mixed Gaelic and Norse origin. The Norse name was Sandey meaning "sand isle" from Old Norse: sandr.[12] It was recorded in Joan Blaeu's 1654 Atlas of Scotland as "Ellan-Handey"[12] with the addition of the Gaelic Eilean (meaning simply "island") and the Norse form having become Handey and ultimately "Handa" due to due to aspiration in Gaelic.[13] MacBain and Haswell-Smith support the derivation of "sand isle",[1][2] although Mac an Tàilleir translates the modern Gaelic of Eilean Shannda as "island at the sandy river".[14][Note 1]

Geography and geology

The Great Stac of Handa

Handa is composed of Torridonian red sandstone[2] and surrounded by cliffs covered with birds. In the north is a hill with two peaks, with the south and east being lower lying. The north and west have 100-metre-high (330 ft) cliffs, and there are beaches in the south and east. The Sound of Handa separates it from the mainland and smaller islands around Handa include Glas-Leac to the south, Eilean an Aigeach to the north east and Stac an t-Sealbhaig to the north.

The Great Stac of Handa was first climbed in 1876 by Donald McDonald,[15] a native of St Kilda,[16] who crossed the 24m gap between the stack and Handa "swinging hand-over hand from a rope".[11] It was first climbed from the sea in August 1969 by Graeme Hunter, Hamish MacInnes and Douglas Lang.[17] The height of the stack, which is one of the tallest in Scotland, is variously recorded as 72 metres (236 ft),[18] "about 107m"[19] and 115m.[11] The nearby Stacan Geodh Bhrisidh is 40 metres (130 ft) high[20] and was also first climbed by that trio in the same year.[19]

Flora and fauna

Handa is noted for its birdlife, which includes puffins, razorbills and guillemots. The SPA designation lists six priority species: fulmar, great skua, guillemot, kittiwake, and razorbill.[21] The breeding colonies of razorbills and guillemots on Handa are the largest in the UK, representing 11% and 9% of the total British population respectively. The arctic skua and kittiwake populations are also of national importance, representing >1% and 2% of the British population respectively.[22] Other birds at Handa include eider ducks and oystercatchers, and seals and otters can often be seen at Boulder Bay on the island's southern coast. Dolphins, basking sharks and several species of whale regularly visit the seas surrounding Handa.[23]

Handa is also of national importance for its maritime vegetation. The exposed cliff tops are home to maritime grassland species that can tolerate salt, such as thrift, sea plantain and Festuca rubra. In less exposed areas can be found herb-rich grasslands which support species such as Yorkshire fog, bluebell and Scots lovage. Heather and crowberry are also widespread across the island.[22]

History

In the past the island was used as a burial place, and there are still the remains of a chapel in the south east, commemorated in the name Tràigh an Teampaill (Beach of the Temple). The use of Handa as burial place is thought to be due to the fact that wolves would dig up graves on the mainland so frequently that the inhabitants of Eddrachillis resorted to burying their dead on the island:[24]

On Ederachillis’ shore
The grey wolf lies in wait,—
Woe to the broken door,
Woe to the loosened gate,
And the groping wretch whom sleety fogs
On the trackless moor belate.
Thus every grave we dug
The hungry wolf uptore,
And every morn the sod
Was strewn with bones and gore:
Our mother-earth had denied us rest
On Ederchaillis’ shore
— The Book of Highland Minstrelsy, 1846[25]

It had a population of 65 in 1841[2] butfollowing the 1847 Highland Potato Famine the inhabitants emigrated to Nova Scotia.[23] In some ways this is surprising, since it is recorded that the islanders had a fairly varied diet including oats, fish and seabirds, rather than depending heavily on a potato crop. The islanders had a parliament, similar to that of St Kilda, which met daily, and the oldest widow on the island was considered its "Queen".[2]

The island is now part of the Scourie Estate, owned by Dr Jean Balfour (until her 2023 death) and J.C. Balfour.[26] The Balfours leased Handa to the RSPB for 25 years, however this lease was not renewed, because the Balfours wished a Scottish-based body to run the island; as a result the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) took it over.[2] Under the SWT the island is managed by one warden and a handful of volunteers during the summer months.[27]

  • Stacah Geodh Bhrisidh
    Stacah Geodh Bhrisidh
  • Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) at Handa Island
    Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) at Handa Island
  • Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at Handa Island
    Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at Handa Island
  • Great skua (Stercorarius skua) at Handa Island
    Great skua (Stercorarius skua) at Handa Island
  • Sign for the breeding birds' protected area
    Sign for the breeding birds' protected area
  • Quinag and Scourie across the Sound of Handa
    Quinag and Scourie across the Sound of Handa

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The nearest river is the Laxford the outflow of which into Loch Laxford is some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) away.[6]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b MacBain 1922, p. 15.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Haswell-Smith 2004, p. 199.
  3. ^ Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  4. ^ General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Scotland's Census 2001 – Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  5. ^ Haswell-Smith 2004, pp. 199–201.
  6. ^ a b c "Handa Island". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Handa Island SSSI". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Handa SPA". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  9. ^ "The Scottish isle you can only visit on a day trip". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  10. ^ "National Scenic Areas" Archived 11 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. SNH. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.
  11. ^ a b c Haswell-Smith 2004, p. 201.
  12. ^ a b Gammeltoft 2006, p. 77.
  13. ^ Crawford 1987, p. 97.
  14. ^ Mac an Tàilleir 2003, p. 61.
  15. ^ "Handa Island, In more detail". northcoastseatours. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  16. ^ Mellor 2020, p. 9.
  17. ^ "Doug Lang". The Herald. (18 May 2011) Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  18. ^ "Great Stac of Handa". Themountainguide.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  19. ^ a b Mellor 2020, p. 149.
  20. ^ "Stac a'Bhrisidh". Themountainguide.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Site Details for Handa SPA". Scottish Natural Heritage. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Handa Island SSSI Citation". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  23. ^ a b "Handa Island Wildlife Reserve: Visitor Leaflet" (PDF). Scottish Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  24. ^ Wildlife in Britain and Ireland by Richard Perry, published by Taylor and Francis, 1978
  25. ^ Ogilvy, Eliza Ann H. (1846) The Book of Highland Minstrelsy. G.W. Nickisson. pp. 256-58
  26. ^ "Property Page: Scourie Estate". Who Owns Scotland. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Handa Island reserve". Retrieved 28 March 2013.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Handa Island.

58°22′51″N 5°11′11″W / 58.38083°N 5.18639°W / 58.38083; -5.18639

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