Scalpay

(Scalpaigh)

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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Scalpa or Scalpay, an island in the Harris district of the Hebrides. It lies at the entrance of East Loch Tarbert, ½ mile from the northern, and 3 miles from the southern, headland. It measures 2 ⁷/8 miles in extreme length, and 1½ mile in extreme breadth; but is much indented, and cut into small peninsulas, by the sea. It is low and heath-clad, and consists of irregular protuberances of gneiss. A bed of serpentine, generally placed at a high angle, and often having a vertical position, traverses a promontory in the extreme E. Near the western extremity are two of the best natural harbours in the Hebrides. Pop. (1841) 31, (1861) 388, (1871) 421, (1881) 540.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

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