Staffin Island

Staffin Island
Scottish Gaelic nameEilean Stafainn
Old Norse nameFladdaidh(?)[1]
Meaning of nameNorse for "flat island".[2]
Staffin Island from The Quirang
Staffin Island from The Quirang
Location
Staffin Island is located in Isle of Skye
Staffin Island
Staffin Island
Staffin Island shown relative to Skye
OS grid referenceNG491693
Coordinates57°38′24″N 6°12′18″W / 57.64°N 6.205°W / 57.64; -6.205
Physical geography
Island groupSkye
Area22 ha[3]
Highest elevationc. 10 metres (33 ft)[4]
Administration
Council areaHighland
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Demographics
Population0
Lymphad
References[4]

Staffin Island[4][5] (possibly also known as Stenscholl Island[1]) is an uninhabited[6] islet off the east coast of the Trotternish peninsula of Skye in Scotland.

The Norse name may have been Fladdaidh[1] meaning "flat island". The Gaelic name Eilean Stafainn has the same meaning as the modern English name which is taken from the nearby settlement of Staffin.[7]

In 2011 it was reported that the island may be the last in Scotland where the old tradition of having cattle swim between grazings is still carried out. Crofter Iain MacDonald, who used to swim with the animals, now uses a boat to encourage them to swim from Staffin Island to Skye in early spring and back again in October.[8]

"The Hut on Staffin Island" is a tune composed by Phil Cunningham.[9]

  1. ^ a b c "Fladdaidh" Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine Staffin Community Trust. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  2. ^ Orkney placenames. Orkneyjar. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  3. ^ Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Ordnance Survey. OS Maps Online (Map). 1:25,000. Leisure.
  5. ^ Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 174
  6. ^ "Staffin Island". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  7. ^ Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 107
  8. ^ "Skye crofter 'last' to swim his cattle between grazings" (11 February 2011) BBC News. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  9. ^ "The Hut on Staffin Island" nigelgatherer.com. Retrieved 12 February 2011.