Hirta
| Gaelic name | Hiort |
|---|---|
| Meaning of name | Uncertain |
| Location | |
 Hirta
Hirta, in the St Kilda archipelago of Scotland
|
|
| OS grid reference | NF092998 |
| Coordinates | 57°48′N 8°38′W / 57.80°N 8.63°W |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | St Kilda |
| Area | 670 ha (2.6 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 65 |
| Highest elevation | 430 m (1,410 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Council area | Na h-Eileanan Siar |
| Demographics | |
| Population | abandoned in 1930 |
 |
|
| References | |
Hirta (Scottish Gaelic: Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names "Hiort" (in Scottish Gaelic) and "Hirta" (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago.
The island measures 3.4 kilometres (2.11 mi) from east to west, and 3.3 kilometres (2.05 mi) from north to south. It has an area of 6.285 square kilometres (2.427 sq mi) and about 15 km (9.3 mi) of coastline. The only real landing place is in the shelter of Village Bay on the southeast side of the island. The island slopes gently down to the sea at Glen Bay (at the western end of the north coast), but the rocks go straight into the sea at a shallow angle and landing here is not easy if there is any swell at all. Apart from these two places, the cliffs rise sheer out of deep water. However, sea kayakers can also land for a break on a small boulder beach backed by cliffs in the north of the island, just before the northeast side where the highest summit in the island, Conachair, forms a precipice 430 m high (1,410 ft). St Kilda is probably the core of a Tertiary volcano, but, besides volcanic rocks, it contains hills of sandstone in which the stratification is distinct.
Dùn is separated from Hirta by a shallow strait about 50 metres (55 yd) wide, which is normally impassable but is reputed to dry out on rare occasions.
The origin of Hirta is open to interpretation. Martin (1703) states that "Hirta is taken from the Irish Ier, which in that language signifies west". Maclean offers several options, including an unspecified Celtic word meaning "gloom" or "death", later suggested to be Ei hirt – dangerous or deathlike, or the Scots Gaelic h-Iar-Tìr ("westland"). Drawing on an Icelandic saga describing an early 13th-century voyage to Ireland that mentions a visit to the islands of "Hirtir", he speculates that the shape of Hirta resembles a stag, (Hirtir meaning "stags" in Norse). Steel (1998) quotes the view of Reverend Neil Mackenzie, who lived there from 1829 to 1844, that the name is derived from the Gaelic Ì Àrd ("high island"), and a further possibility that it is from the Norse Hirt ("shepherd"). In a similar vein, Murray (1966) speculates that the Norse Hirðö, pronounced 'Hirtha' ("herd island"), may be the origin.
...
Wikipedia