Waternish
Encyclopedia
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
, Scotland, situated between Loch Dunvegan and Loch Snizort in the northwest of the island, and traditionally inhabited and owned by Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod is a Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan, whose chief is Macleod of Macleod, are known in Gaelic as Sìol Tormoid ; the Macleods of Lewis, whose chief is Macleod of The Lewes, are known in...
whose clan seat is at the nearby Dunvegan Castle
Dunvegan Castle
Dunvegan Castle is a castle a mile and a half to the North of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, situated off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the...
. The current clan chief is Hugh Macleod of Macleod. It contains the hamlets of Stein
Stein, Skye
Stein is a crofting township, situated on the north eastern shore of Loch Bay, in the west of the Waternish peninsula, on the isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland. Previously known as Lochbay, it is in the council area of Highland.-History:...
and Lusta in Loch Bay to the south east, Halistra
Halistra
Halistra , is a small crofting township located on the west coast of the Waternish peninsula, overlooking Loch Bay, on the island of Skye, Scotland. It is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It comprises Upper Halistra, Lower Halistra and Hallin and is situated about 1 mile north of Stein....
, Hallin and Trumpan
Trumpan
Trumpan is a hamlet located on the Vaternish peninsula in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish council area of the Highland. Trumpan church, which is now a ruin, was the focus of a particularly brutal incident in 1578, when the Clan MacDonald of Uist travelled to Trumpan in eight boats and under...
further north and Gillen to the west , all of which are accessed from the A850 road by crossing the Fairy Bridge. The highest point is Ben Geary (284 m (931.8 ft)) and the most northerly is Waternish Point
Waternish Point
Vaternish Point is the north western point of the Waternish peninsula on Skye. It has had a lighthouse since 1924.-Lighthouse:Vaternish Lighthouse was built on Waternish Point in 1924. The engineers were David and Charles Stevenson. The original lens was donated to the Museum of Scottish...
. The name Waternish is derived from the Norse vatnenes or "headland of the pond".
The history of the peninsula is a long (and often bloody) one involving clan feuds, massacres, de-population during the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
, and eventual re-vitalisation. Originally consisting of small crofting communities, Waternish now has a growing population and is home to various arts and crafts enterprises. Whilst the main industry on Waternish is tourism, there has also been a revival in recent years of crofting
Crofting
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production unique to the Scottish Highlands, the Islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man....
or small scale agriculture. The local school is called Knockbreck. The school has struggled recently due to an ageing population which has resulted in only 4 students currently attending. The local pub is the Stein Inn, which dates back to 1790 and is the oldest on Skye.
Trumpan was the site of the skirmish known as the Battle of the Spoiling Dyke
Battle of the Spoiling Dyke
The Battle of the Spoiling Dyke was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1578, fought in the Scottish Highlands, between the MacDonalds of Uist and the Clan MacLeod.The MacDonalds of Uist barred the doors of Trumpan Church, or Kilconan Church as it was once known, east...
and the churchyard is the burial ground of Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange
Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange
Rachel Chiesley, usually known as Lady Grange , was the wife of James Erskine, Lord Grange, a Scottish lawyer with Jacobite sympathies. After 25 years of marriage and 9 children, the Granges had an acrimonious separation...
.