Strait of Corryvreckan


(Gulf of Corryvreckan)

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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Corrievrechan (Gael. `Brecan's cauldron'), a strait between the Argyllshire islands of Jura and Scarba. Scarcely a mile across, it lies about 2 miles W of the route of the Oban steamers, and is seldom traversed by boats, never by ships. The tides-running sometimes 13 miles an hour-here meet round a steep pyramidal rock, which rises from a depth of 100 fathoms to within 15 feet of the surface, and cause a whirlpool, dangerous enough to small craft in stormy weather and at floodtides. This whirlpool by fancy has been exaggerated into another Malström, the haunt of strange and horrible sea-monsters. Also of mermaidens, for Leydon's version of the Gaelic legend tells how Macphail of Colonsay, passing the Corrievrechan, was carried off by one, and for years kept in pleasant durance in a cavern beneath the sea. According to Joyce's Irish -Names and Places (2d ser. 1875), the name Corrievrechan was first applied to a whirlpool in the sound between Rathlin Island and the coast of Antrim, and was thence transferred to the Scotch locality, most likely by the monks of Iona.

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

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