Eigg ( ; ) is one of the Small Isles in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the island of Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With an area of just over it is the second-largest of the Small Isles after Rùm. The highest eminence on Eigg is An Sgùrr, which is formed from the Sgurr of Eigg Pitchstone Formation, which erupted into a valley of older lavas during the Eocene epoch.
There are numerous archaeological sites dating from the prehistoric period of human occupation with the earliest written references relating to the Irish monk Donnán who arrived on Eigg around 600 AD. Commencing in the early 9th century, Norse settlers established the Kingdom of the Isles throughout the Hebrides. The 1266 Treaty of Perth transferred the territories of the Kingdom of the Isles to King Alexander III of Scotland. From the late 14th century, the island became a possession of Clanranald, during which time a notorious massacre took place during a period of clan warfare. After more than four centuries in Clanranald's hands, the island was sold during the 19th century, and the new laird evicted many of his tenants en masse and replaced them with herds of sheep.
There were then a series of owners until the island was purchased by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust in 1997. The trust is a form of community ownership and another stakeholder, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, manages the island as a nature reserve. Eigg now generates virtually all of its electricity using renewable energy. In April 2019, National Geographic discussed the island in an online article, estimating the average number of annual visitors at 10,000.
Geology
thumb|left|Geological map of Eigg
The larger part of the island is formed from olivine-phyric basalt flows erupted during the Palaeocene epoch. Together with flows of hawaiite and mugearite, these form the Eigg Lava Formation. The Sgùrr is formed from the Sgurr of Eigg Pitchstone Formation, a porphyritic rhyolitic pitchstone that erupted into a valley eroded into the older lavas during the Eocene epoch. It displays columnar jointing formed as the lava cooled.
In the north of the island are a series of sedimentary rocks of Middle Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous age. The oldest of these, and hence lowest from a stratigraphic perspective is the fossiliferous Bearreraig Sandstone which is calcareous in nature. It is overlain by the Lealt Shale which consists of a lower and an upper grey shale (respectively the Kildonnan and Lonfearn members) separated by a thin band of algal limestone. The shale is overlain by the thicker Valtos Sandstone which contains concretions. It is found along the east coast northwards from Poll nam Parlan and around the northern end and down the eastern side of the Bay of Laig. This in turn is overlain by the bivalve-rich limestone and shale of the Duntulm Formation and lastly the dark shales and ostracod-bearing limestones of the Kilmaluag Formation. A fossilised limb bone, considered most likely to be from a Middle Jurassic stegosaurian dinosaur, was discovered at a coastal exposed Valtos Sandstone Formation in 2020; it is the first confirmed dinosaur fossil to be found in Scotland away from the Isle of Skye. The Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) age Strathaird Limestone Formation is the youngest part of the Mesozoic sequence preserved beneath the unconformity at the base of the Eigg lavas and its found in a strip along the coast just west of the bay of Laig.
Geography
left|thumb|
<!-- Infobox template for pronunciation-->
{| class="collapsible infobox collapsed" width="280" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
!colspan="2" bgcolor="#efefef"|Pronunciation
|- class="note"
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|style="width: 40%;"|
!colspan="2" bgcolor="#efefef"|
|-
|Scots Gaelic:|| An Laimhrig
|-
|Pronunciation:||
|-
!colspan="2" bgcolor="#efefef"|
|-
|Scots Gaelic:|| Clèadail
|-
|Pronunciation:||
|-
!colspan="2" bgcolor="#efefef"|
|-
|Scots Gaelic:|| Eige
|-
|Pronunciation:||
|-
!colspan="2" bgcolor="#efefef"|
|-
|Scots Gaelic:|| Uamh Fhraing
|-
|Pronunciation:||
|-
|}
Eigg measures and is by sea from the nearest port of Mallaig. The centre of the island is a moorland plateau, rising to at An Sgùrr, a dramatic stump of pitchstone which is the "most memorable landmark in the Hebridean seas". Walkers who reach the top can, in good weather, take in views of Mull, Coll, Muck, the Outer Hebrides, Rùm, Skye, and the mountains of Lochaber on the mainland.
The plateau in the northern part of the island, at Beinn Buidhe, drops to a fertile coastal plain on its western side, containing Cleadale, the main settlement on Eigg. At the southern end of the plain, in the centre of the island, lies the bay of Laig, known for its quartz beach, called the "singing sands" on account of the squeaking noise it makes if walked on when dry. The first written description of this effect was penned by Hugh Miller in the 19th century:
<blockquote>I struck it obliquely with my foot, where the surface lay dry... [which] elicited a shrill sonorous note... I walked over it, striking it obliquely with each step and with every blow the shrill note was repeated.</blockquote>
The plateau is cleaved by a central valley, stretching from the vicinity of Laig, in the north, to Galmisdale at its southeastern end, which forms the main port. Beyond the southeast coast lies the small islet of Eilean Chathastail. Other historical names have been Ega, and Ego. The Gaelic Eige means "notch" probably with reference to "the marked depression that runs across the middle of the island". A 2013 study also suggested a possible Norse origin.
Eigg was also known as Eilean nam Ban Móra - "the island of the great women". (Local tradition claims that the dun at Loch nam Ban Mora (see below) was once inhabited by unusually large women.
Some of the island settlement names are of Norse origin. Cleadale () may mean "valley of the ridged slope". The first element of Galmisdale is possibly a personal name. Laig may derive from "muddy bay". Grulin is of Gaelic origin, meaning "stony land".
History
Early history
thumb|left|Slope down to Galmisdale near the metalworking site<!--there isn't a closer picture of the Bronze Age site in commons-->
At Rubh' An Tangaird, near Glamisdale on the southern coast, there are the remains of an oval house, with thick walls, and an upright stone at each side of the doorway. There are comparable structures in Shetland such as at Scord of Brouster, which suggests a Neolithic date.
Evidence for the island having been occupied in the Bronze Age includes two axes and a cache of flints, one of them being thumbnail scraper found near Galmisdale, together with significant metalworking debris. A barbed-and-tanged flint arrowhead of uncertain date was found to the south of Kildonnan.
Iron Age
thumb|The coast at Kildonnan
Early Iron Age hut circles are found throughout the island. One located near the northeast coast near Sron na h-Iolaire is close to a cave to which walls have been artificially added; several hammerstones are located in the cave and surrounding vicinity, some with concretions of crushed shells stuck to them. The cave site is difficult to reach leading archaeologists to speculate that the site may have been used for hermitic purposes.
Later in the Iron Age, the inhabitants of Eigg chose to fortify the island. Small fortifications restrict access to rocky knolls at Garbh Bealach west of Galmisdale and Poll Duchaill on the northwest coast and on the promontory of Rudha na Crannaig south of Kildonnan. More substantial duns existed at Galmisdale Point, and at Loch nam Ban Mora, the latter of which is located on an island.
Early Christianity
The Irish missionary activity which caused Columba to found a monastery on Iona also brought the Irish monk Donnán to Eigg around 600 AD, where he established a monastery, at Kildonnan. Columba had warned him of the dangers of settling in Pictish territory and Donnan was murdered on Eigg along with 52 of his monks in 617.
thumb|left|The Bay of Laig
By the following century, the monastery was significant enough for the death of its superior, Oan, to be mentioned in the Annals of Ulster. The monastery, which was excavated in 2012, was located within an oval enclosure, surrounded by a ditch, housing a rectangular chapel in the centre, and with a handful of smaller buildings either side. A handful of early inscribed stone slabs were located there, of which one bears a Pictish design, comprising a hunting scene, with a cross on its obverse.
On the coast at the opposite side of the island, are 16 or more quare cairns, lined up neatly into groups; they are each between square, most being bordered by a stone kerb, and some having upright cornerstones. This form of cairn is usually associated with the Pictish kingdoms of the first millennium AD. The site may thus have some connection with the contemporary monastery at Kildonnan.
Kingdom of the Isles
thumb|Viking sword hilt found in a tumulus at Dail Sithean
Commencing in the early 9th century Norse settlers established the Kingdom of the Isles throughout the Hebrides. A silver/bronze sword handle from the beginning of this period was found in 1830, buried in a field named Dail Sithean near Kildonnan, together with an iron axehead, leather belt, buckle, wollen cloth, and a whetstone. Wetlands near Laig, (which became peat-bog, during later centuries) appear to have been used for storing partly finished boat parts, as was common in Viking Scandinavia. A few oak posts, in length, for the stern of a longship were found there. A simple bronze brooch was found at a nearby site.
thumb|left|The in about 1200: the lands of the [[Crovan dynasty and the descendants of Somerled]]
By the late 11th century the Isles were controlled by the Crovan dynasty but the dictatorial style of Guðrøðr Óláfsson (aka Godred the Black) appears to have made him very unpopular with the Islesmen, and the ensuing conflicts were the beginning of the end for Mann and the Isles as a coherent territory under the rule of a single magnate. The powerful barons of the isles began plotting with an emerging and forceful figure – Somerled, Lord of Argyll. Godred engaged Somerled's forces in the naval Battle of Epiphany in 1156. There was no clear victor, but it was subsequently agreed that Godred would remain the ruler of Man, the northern Inner Hebrides and the Outer Hebrides, whilst Somerled's young sons would nominally control the southern Inner Hebrides, Kintyre and the islands of the Clyde under their father's supervision.
By the mid 13th century the Small Isles were in Lordship of Garmoran, a possession of Clan MacRory founded by Somerled's grandson Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill. At this point the islands was nominally subject to Norway but in 1266, the Treaty of Perth transferred the territories of the Kingdom of the Isles to Alexander III of Scotland and Dubhghall mac Ruaidhrí, Lord of Garmoran, found that he had a new overlord. He, and others who had supported the Norse, had the opportunity to emigrate under the terms of the treaty and Dubhghall died in 1268, possibly in exile.
By 1337 the sole MacRory heir was Amy of Garmoran, who in that year married John of Islay, Lord of the Isles,
However, when Ranald died in 1386 at Castle Tioram, Godfrey seized his lands, leading to violent disputes between his heirs (the Siol Gorrie) and those of Ranald (Clanranald). In 1427 James I arrested the leaders and declared the Lordship of Garmoran forfeit.
thumb|Central and northern Eigg
Ranald Bane MacAllan, leader of Clanranald, refused to support the rebellion of Donald Dubh against James IV. In 1505, after the rebellion was defeated, he was "now in high favour at Court". In 1520, Ranald Bane's son Dougall, the 6th chief of Clanranald, was assassinated by his own clansmen in part for his lack of opposition to the crown. Leadership of Clanranald then passed not to his sons but to the Moidart branch of the clan. In 1534 John Moidartach, 8th of Clanranald, managed to obtain from the king a charter confirming his position as laird of Eigg and Morar.
Writing in 1549, Donald Munro, High Dean of the Isles wrote of "Egge" that it was: "gude mayne land with ane paroch kirk in it, with mony solenne geis; very gude for store, namelie for scheip, with ane heavin for heiland Galayis".
Massacre cave
thumb|left|The entry to Uamh Fhraing
Uamh Fhraing, also known as the Cave of Francis or the Ribbed Cave, lies on a raised beach on the south coast of Eigg. The entrance is low and narrow but the interior is about long and wide. In 1577, according to Clan MacLeod historians, a MacLeod galley was forced ashore by bad weather at Eilean Chathasteil. Led by a foster-son of Alasdair Crotach the 30 men roasted some cattle and "molested" the young girls who were tending them. The local men then arrived on the islet and massacred most of the MacLeods, sparing only a few leaders whose legs and arms were broken and who were then cast adrift in the Minch. They were however either rescued by MacLeods from elsewhere or perhaps drifted back to Dunvegan. In the MacDonald version of the story the girls were raped and the MacLeods were asked to leave. Looking for revenge, a large group of MacLeods led by Alasdair Crotach landed on Eigg, but had been spotted by the islanders, all but one of whom decided to hide in the cave.
thumb|The entrance from a short distance away
The traditions go on to say that the MacLeods conducted a thorough but fruitless search for the inhabitants. They found only an old lady at the singing sands who they spared and left the island after 3 days. Just as they were leaving they saw a scout outside the cave and were able to follow their footprints in the snow to the entrance. The MacLeods piled thatch and heather at the cave entrance, and set fire to it. Water from a waterfall nearby dampened the flames, so that the cave was filled with smoke, asphyxiating the 395 people inside. Human remains inside the cave have been reported many times over the centuries. Most of the remains were removed from the cave and reburied by 1854
However, serious doubts remain about the veracity of the tale. MacPherson wrote of it that "it is curious to find how difficult it is to determine its date or to decide with certainty on whom the odium of this deed should lie." The difficulties include that both Alasdair Crotach and his son Uilleam died long before 1577 and that similar stories are related about both Coll and Ardnamurchan. Furthermore, Privy Council papers from 1588 describe massacres on all the Small Isles perpetuated by Lachlan MacLean of Duart and 100 Spanish soldiers from the crew of an Armada vessel that sank off Tobermory. The idea that two such massacres occurred on Eigg within eleven years has thus been questioned.
Jacobite risings
Clan Ranald took part in the Jacobite rising of 1689 against William II. The following year a boat had gone from Eigg to Armadale on Skye and found that the Royal Navy ship the Dartmouth was anchored there. A brawl broke out and one of the Cameronian soldiers was killed. The captain ordered the Dartmouth to Eigg and pillaged the island. The soldiers also took an island girl on board and returned her the next day with her hair shorn.