Inhabited, west coast Scottish islands - Eigg
The Isle of Eigg is the second largest, after Rùm, of the Small Isles. It is also the most easterly and only about ten miles west of the Scottish mainland. It is roughly triangular in shape with a bite out of the coast (the Bay of Laig) which faces north westwards towards Rùm. There seems to be some dispute if the name has Gaelic or Norse roots although it probably means ‘notched’. Does that definition refer to the ‘notch’ created by the Bay of Laig or the ‘notch’ in the skyline created by An Sgurr (see below) - or is the name derived from something completely different? It would seem that there is no definitive answer to that so it looks like everyone can decide for themselves. That aside, Eigg is roughly 5 miles long, north to south, and 3 miles wide, east to west. Running down the centre of the northern end of the island is Beinne Bhuide, which appears to be reasonably flat on top but surrounded on three sides (not the south) by almost vertical cliffs with grassy slopes below them