Fingal's Cave
Encyclopedia
Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa
, in the Inner Hebrides
of Scotland
, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland
. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt
columns, similar in structure to (and part of the same ancient lava flow as) the Giant's Causeway
in Northern Ireland
and those of nearby Ulva
. In both cases, the cooling surface of the mass of hot lava cracked in a hexagonal pattern in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks, and these cracks gradually extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns, which were subsequently exposed by erosion.
Its size and naturally arched roof, and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes
of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral
. The cave's Gaelic
name, Uamh-Binn, means "cave of melody."
The cave was brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by 18th-century naturalist
Sir Joseph Banks in 1772. It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson
. It formed part of his Ossian
cycle of poems claimed to have been based on old Scottish Gaelic poems. In Irish mythology
, the hero Fingal is known as Fionn mac Cumhaill
, and it is suggested that Macpherson rendered the name as Fingal (meaning "white stranger") through a misapprehension of the name which in old Gaelic would appear as Finn. The legend has Fionn or Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland.
The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several local companies include a pass by the cave in sightseeing cruises from April to September. However, it is also possible to land elsewhere on the island and walk to the cave overland, where a row of fractured columns forms a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot. From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the sacred island of Iona
across the water.
visited in 1829 and wrote Die Hebriden (in English, Hebrides Overture
Opus 26, commonly known as Fingal's Cave overture), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave. Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne
; poets William Wordsworth
, John Keats
, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner
, who painted "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" in 1832. Queen Victoria also made the trip.
The playwright August Strindberg
also set scenes from his play A Dream Play
in a place called "Fingal's Grotto." Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingal's Cave as "one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it… composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, [it] baffles all description."
Artist Matthew Barney
used the cave along with the Giant's Causeway
for the opening and closing scenes of his art film, Cremaster 3
. In 2008, the video artist Richard Ashrowan
spent several days recording the interior of Fingal's Cave for an exhibition at the Foksal Gallery
in Poland.
One of Pink Floyd
's early songs bears this location's name. This instrumental was written for the film Zabriskie Point
but not used.
Lloyd House at Caltech
has a mural representing Fingal's Cave. The hallway that features this mural also houses a wooden statue named Fingal, which is among the oldest heirlooms at the institute.
Scottish Celtic rock
band Wolfstone
recorded an instrumental titled Fingal's Cave on their 1999 album Seven
.
Staffa
Staffa from the Old Norse for stave or pillar island, is an island of the Inner Hebrides in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Vikings gave it this name as its columnar basalt reminded them of their houses, which were built from vertically placed tree-logs....
, in the Inner Hebrides
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...
of Scotland
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...
, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...
. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
columns, similar in structure to (and part of the same ancient lava flow as) the Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and those of nearby Ulva
Ulva
Ulva is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Tertiary basalt rocks, which is formed into columns in places.Ulva has...
. In both cases, the cooling surface of the mass of hot lava cracked in a hexagonal pattern in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks, and these cracks gradually extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns, which were subsequently exposed by erosion.
Its size and naturally arched roof, and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
. The cave's Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
name, Uamh-Binn, means "cave of melody."
The cave was brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by 18th-century naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
Sir Joseph Banks in 1772. It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson
James Macpherson
James Macpherson was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of poems.-Early life:...
. It formed part of his Ossian
Ossian
Ossian is the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems which the Scottish poet James Macpherson claimed to have translated from ancient sources in the Scots Gaelic. He is based on Oisín, son of Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill, anglicised to Finn McCool, a character from Irish mythology...
cycle of poems claimed to have been based on old Scottish Gaelic poems. In Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
, the hero Fingal is known as Fionn mac Cumhaill
Fionn mac Cumhaill
Fionn mac Cumhaill , known in English as Finn McCool, was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland and the Isle of Man...
, and it is suggested that Macpherson rendered the name as Fingal (meaning "white stranger") through a misapprehension of the name which in old Gaelic would appear as Finn. The legend has Fionn or Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland.
The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several local companies include a pass by the cave in sightseeing cruises from April to September. However, it is also possible to land elsewhere on the island and walk to the cave overland, where a row of fractured columns forms a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot. From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the sacred island of Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
across the water.
In art and literature
Romantic composer Felix MendelssohnFelix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
visited in 1829 and wrote Die Hebriden (in English, Hebrides Overture
Hebrides Overture
The Hebrides Overture , Op. 26, also known as Fingal's Cave , is a concert overture composed by Felix Mendelssohn. Written in 1830, the piece was inspired by a cavern known as Fingal's Cave on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides archipelago located off the west coast of Scotland...
Opus 26, commonly known as Fingal's Cave overture), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave. Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
; poets William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, John Keats
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
, who painted "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" in 1832. Queen Victoria also made the trip.
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
also set scenes from his play A Dream Play
A Dream Play
A Dream Play was written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was first performed in Stockholm on 17 April 1907. It remains one of Strindberg's most admired and influential dramas, seen as an important precursor to both dramatic Expressionism and Surrealism.-Plot:The primary...
in a place called "Fingal's Grotto." Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingal's Cave as "one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it… composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, [it] baffles all description."
Artist Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney is an American artist who works in sculpture, photography, drawing and film. His early works were sculptural installations combined with performance and video...
used the cave along with the Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills...
for the opening and closing scenes of his art film, Cremaster 3
The Cremaster Cycle
The Cremaster Cycle is an art project consisting of five feature length films, together with related sculptures, photographs, drawings, and artist's books; it is the best-known work of American visual artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney....
. In 2008, the video artist Richard Ashrowan
Richard Ashrowan
Richard Ashrowan, is a moving image/video artist working in Scotland. He specializes in multi-screen moving image installations, most often relating to themes connected with natural landscapes. His work has been widely exhibited in the UK and Europe.-Biography:Ashrowan was born in 1966, in Essex,...
spent several days recording the interior of Fingal's Cave for an exhibition at the Foksal Gallery
Foksal Gallery
The Foksal Gallery or Galeria Foksal is a non-commercial art gallery in Warsaw, Poland established in 1966. Its small size belies its internationally influential reputation as a gallery that maintains a strong tradition of showing work by avant-garde contemporary artists.-History:The Foksal Gallery...
in Poland.
One of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's early songs bears this location's name. This instrumental was written for the film Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point (film)
Zabriskie Point is a 1970 film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, widely noted at the time for its setting in the late 1960s counterculture of the United States...
but not used.
Lloyd House at Caltech
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
has a mural representing Fingal's Cave. The hallway that features this mural also houses a wooden statue named Fingal, which is among the oldest heirlooms at the institute.
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...
band Wolfstone
Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Highland music combined with rock and roll. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. To date, they have released seven studio albums, the latest, Terra Firma, in 2007. The band record on their own...
recorded an instrumental titled Fingal's Cave on their 1999 album Seven
Seven (Wolfstone album)
Seven is the fifth album by the Scottish Celtic rock band Wolfstone. It was released in 1999 after a short hiatus, down to poor management by Green Linnet Records. The album, a comeback, was considered a success by the band. After its release, Wolfstone recorded a live album, Not Enough Shouting...
.
The dimensions of the cave
- Wood-Nuttal Encyclopaedia, 1907: 69 m (227 ft) deep, 20 m (66 ft) high.
- National Public Radio: 45 m (150 ft) deep; 22 m (72 ft) high.
- Show Caves of the World: 85 m (279 ft) deep; 23 m (75 ft) high.