Skye in the context of "Rum layered intrusion"

The Inner Hebrides (/ˈhɛbrɪdiːz/ HEB-rid-eez; Scottish Gaelic: na h-Eileanan a-staigh, lit. 'the Inner Isles') is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares (74 acres). Skye, Mull, and Islay are the three largest, and also have the highest populations. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling. In modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km (1,594 sq mi), and had a population of 18,948 in 2011. The population density is therefore about 4.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (12 inhabitants per square mile).

There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. In the historic period the earliest known settlers were Picts to the north and Gaels in the southern kingdom of Dál Riada prior to the islands becoming part of the Suðreyjar kingdom of the Norse, who ruled for over 400 years until sovereignty was transferred to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266. Control of the islands was then held by various clan chiefs, principally the MacLeans, MacLeods and MacDonalds. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had a devastating effect on many communities and it is only in recent years that population levels have ceased to decline.

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) is a travel narrative by Samuel Johnson about an eighty-three-day journey through Scotland, in particular the islands of the Hebrides, in the late summer and autumn of 1773. The sixty-three-year-old Johnson was accompanied by his thirty-two-year-old friend of many years James Boswell, who was also keeping a record of the trip, published in 1785 as A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. The two narratives are often published as a single volume, which is beneficial for comparing two perspectives of the same events, although they are very different in approach---Johnson focused on Scotland, and Boswell focused on Johnson. (Boswell went on to write a famous biography of Johnson.) In that biography, Boswell gave the itinerary of the trip as beginning at Edinburgh after landing at Berwick upon Tweed, then to St Andrews, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Fort Augustus. From there they went on to the islands of the Hebrides: Skye, Raasay, Coll, Mull, Inch Kenneth, and Iona. Returning to the mainland in Argyll they visited Inverary, Loch Lomond, Dumbarton, Glasgow, Loudoun, Auchinleck in Ayrshire (Boswell's family home), and Hamilton, and then finished the journey by returning to Edinburgh. Boswell summarised the trip as, "[Johnson] thus saw the four Universities of Scotland, its three principal cities, and as much of the Highland and insular life as was sufficient for his philosophical contemplation."

MacAskill, also spelt Macaskill, MacCaskill, McAskill and McCaskill is a surname. It is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic Mac Asgaill, meaning "son of Asgall". The Gaelic name Asgall is a reduced form of the Old Norse personal name Ásketill, son of Torquil. Asketil was the last Viking King of Dublin, Ireland. He died circa 1171–2, resisting the English invaders of Ireland under King Henry II. He had placed his family under the protection of the Norse King of Man, and his grandson, Gilbert MacAsgaill, led a party sent by the King of Man to occupy and hold Dunscaith Castle, on the Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye. These are the first members of the name we can find in Scotland. The name is borne by a noted family on Skye, the MacAskills of Rubha an Dùnain, who historically followed the MacLeods of Dunvegan, possibly serving them as early as the fourteenth century (although documentation is lacking). In Gaelic the MacAskills are known as Clann t-Ascaill, and Clann t-Asgaill. In Scottish Gaelic, the surname is rendered MacAsgaill. In Irish, the surname is rendered Mac Ascaill. Early forms of the name on record in Scotland are Mackaiscail (in 1766), Mackaiscal (in 1769), and Macaiskill (in 1790). An early form of the name in England is Mac A skil (in 1311).

The Isle of Mull or simply Mull (Scottish Gaelic: Muile [ˈmulə] ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.

Covering 875.35 square kilometres (337.97 sq mi), Mull is the fourth-largest island in Scotland. Between 2011 and 2022 the population increased from 2,800 to 3,063. It has the eighth largest island population in Scotland. In the summer, these numbers are augmented by an influx of many tourists. Much of the year-round population lives in the colourful main settlement of Tobermory.

The Minch (Scottish Gaelic: A' Mhaoil) is a strait in north-west Scotland that separates the mainland from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as Skotlandsfjörð ("Scotland's firth") in Old Norse.

The Minch's southern extension, which separates Skye from the middle islands of the Hebridean chain, is known as the Little Minch. It opens into the Sea of the Hebrides.

Robert William Seton-Watson FBA FRHistS (20 August 1879, in London – 25 July 1951, in Skye), commonly referred to as R. W. Seton-Watson and also known by the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was a British political activist and historian who played an active role in encouraging the breakup of Austria-Hungary and the emergence of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia during and after the First World War.

He was the father of two eminent historians, Hugh, who specialised in 19th-century Russian history, and Christopher, who worked on 19th-century Italy.

The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is a travel journal by Scotsman James Boswell first published in 1785. In 1773, Boswell enticed his English friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through the Scottish Highlands and western islands of Scotland. Johnson was then in his mid-sixties and well known for his literary works and his Dictionary. The two travellers set out from Edinburgh and skirted the eastern and northeastern coasts of Scotland, passing through St Andrews, Aberdeen and Inverness. They then passed into the highlands and spent several weeks on various islands in the Hebrides, including Skye, Coll, and Mull. After a visit to Boswell's estate at Auchinleck, the travellers returned to Edinburgh. Johnson published his Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland on 18 January 1775.

It was widely read, discussed and criticised, especially for some sceptical remarks Johnson made questioning the authenticity of the Ossian poems, which were then all the rage. After Johnson's death in 1784, Boswell published his Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. This work was based on a diary Boswell had kept during the 1773 tour and included detailed descriptions of where he and Johnson had gone and what Johnson had said.