Freshwater Islands Of Scotland
The freshwater islands in Scotland include those within freshwater lochs and rivers – including tidal areas, so the islands may not always be surrounded by freshwater. It has been estimated that there are at least 31,460 freshwater lochs in Scotland and that 1.9% of the land surface is covered by fresh waters. The distribution has a north west to south east gradient with the highest concentrations occurring in the islands of the Outer Hebrides.
The more notable freshwater islands include Lochindorb Castle Island, Loch Leven Castle Island, St Serf's Inch, and Inchmahome, each of which have had a role to play Scottish history. Inchmurrin, the largest freshwater island in the British Isles, is in Loch Lomond, which contains thirty or more other islands.
Various names are used repeatedly. "Inch" or Innis is a Scots word that can mean "island" (although it is also used for terra firma surrounded by marsh). Similarly, Eilean is the Gaelic for "island". "-holm" is a common suffix for offshore islands in the north of Scotland and is derived from the Old Norse holmr, meaning "a small and rounded islet". This list excludes artificial crannógs and the numerous small freshwater islands with no recorded name.
Read more about Freshwater Islands Of Scotland: Larger Islands, In Mainland Lochs, On Offshore Islands, In Rivers
Famous quotes containing the words islands and/or scotland:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.”
—James I of England, James VI of Scotland (1566–1625)