The Burnt Islands is the collective title for three small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s that lie in the Kyles of Bute

Kyles of Bute

The Kyles of Bute are a narrow sea channel which separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal peninsula, part of the Scottish mainland....

 off the west coast of the Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 mainland. The islands are located at .

Individually the Islands are known by their Gaelic names. From the largest to the smallest they are Eilean Mòr (Large Island), Eilean Fraoich (Heather

Calluna

Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...

 Island) and Eilean Buidhe (Yellow Island). Oddly only the smallest of these tiny islets, Eilean Buidhe, shows any sign of ever having been permanently inhabited having the remains of a vitrified fort

Vitrified fort

Vitrified fort is the name given to certain crude stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected in a greater or lesser degree to the action of fire. They are generally situated on hills offering strong defensive positions. Their form seems to have been determined by the contour of the flat...

 on it. Eilean Mòr, huge in comparison supports only a little stunted woodland at its northern end.

All water going traffic that travels through the kyle

Kyle

Kyle may refer to:* KYLE, a Fox network affiliate* Kyle , a Scottish masculine given name * Kyle , a surname of Scottish origin* Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland* Kyle, Indiana, United States...

s has to negotiate the narrow sound

Sound (geography)

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 that separates Eilean Buidhe from Eilean Mòr and Eilean Fraoich. These narrows

Narrows

Narrows is a term for restricted land or water passages. Most commonly it refers to a strait, though it can also refer to a water gap....

 are marked on either side by several light beacon

Beacon

A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...

s.

A little to the west Eilean Dubh

Eilean Dubh, Kyles of Bute

----This particular Eilean Dubh is sometimes known as Glen Caladh Island and is situated just off the Cowal peninsula in the Kyles of Bute. The island is around 0.3 kilometres along its longest length and rises to a height of 19 metres above sea level...

 (Black Island) lies at the entrance to Loch Riddon and to the north Eilean Dearg

Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon

Eilean Dearg is a small island in Loch Riddon. The island was once home to a castle, which was destroyed by naval action in Argyll's Rising in 1685. No visible remains of the castle are to be found, but archaeologists excavated the site between 1964 and 1967, finding the castle's hall, chapel, a...

lies within the loch.