Coomb Island
(Eilean na Coomb, Neave Island or Eilean na Naoimh)

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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E

llan-na-Coomb or Ellan-na-Naoimh, a small island of Tongue parish, Sutherland, separated from the mainland by the strait of Caol Bean, 1 furlong wide at the narrowest, a little W of Torrisdale Bay, and 9 furlongs E by S of Ellan-nan-Ron. With utmost length and breadth of 4 ½ and 3 ¼ furlongs, it rises to a height of 231 feet, contains traces of an ancient chapel and cemetery, and is so tunnelled and perforated on the S side that half-flood tide, during a north-westerly gale, throws up from it a jet d'eau 30 feet high, followed by a detonating sound like the report of cannon.—Ord. Sur., sh. 114, 1880.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer.

©2013 The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland
Supported by: The Robertson Trust,  The Royal Scottish Geographical Society,
  School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh.