Luing ( ; ) is one of the Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about south of Oban. The island has an area of and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of around 200 people, mostly living in Cullipool, Toberonochy (Tobar Dhonnchaidh), and Blackmillbay.
Geology
The larger part of the bedrock of Luing is provided by the Neoproterozoic age Easdale Slate Formation, a pyritic, graphitic pelite belonging to the Easdale Subgroup of the Dalradian Argyll Group. Thin bands of quartzite are also present. Zones of metamorphosed intrusive igneous rocks occur within the northeast of the island. Luing is cut by NE-SW aligned Siluro-Devonian felsite dykes and by numerous later NW-SE aligned basalt and microgabbro dykes which form a part of the ‘Mull Swarm’ which is of early Palaeogene age.
Raised marine deposits of sand and gravel occur widely around the margins of the island, a legacy of late Quaternary changes in relative sea-level.
Economy and culture
A regular ferry service crosses the Cuan Sound which separates Luing from the neighbouring island of Seil, which is in turn connected by bridge to the mainland. They are a breed of red beef cattle, produced by the Cadzow family in 1947 from a cross between Beef Shorthorn and Highland cattle.
Etymology
According to Haswell-Smith (2004) the name "Luing" may derive from the Old Norse lyng, meaning "heather" or long meaning ship.
The graveyard at the ruined church of Kilchattan documents the lives of past islanders, with quarriers, sailors and crofters side by side. Gravestones of note include those of Covenanter Alexander Campbell.