Ellan-nan-Ron (Gael. ` seal island '), an inhabited island of Tongue parish, N Sutherland, to the E of the entrance to the Kyle of Tongue, 5 ½ miles NNE of Tongue church. Measuring 1 mile by 61/2 furlongs, and rising to a height of 247 feet above the sea, it is parted on the NW by a narrow channel from Ellan-Iosal ( ½ mile x 2 1/3. furl.; 171 feet), and is girt with high precipitous rocks, deeply channelled on the N side by narrow fissures. On the N side, too, is a noble natural arch, 150 feet high and 70 wide; whilst towards the middle of the island is a large round hole, which is supposed to communicate with the sea by a natural tunnel. The fissures of its cliffs are swept, with great violence, by winds impregnated with saline matter, and, leaving deposits of salt, so are used, without any artificial appliance of salt, for curing fish.Ord. Sur., sh. 114, 1880.
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