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Eilean-a-beithich or Eilean nam Beitheach ("island of the birches") was once one of the 
In 1549,
Electric Scotland Retrieved 18 March 2012.
Southernhebrides.com. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
The quarry had been immensely productive and of high quality, and may have been the richest workings in the Slate Islands. An estimated seven to nine million slates had been manufactured annually over a protracted periods and after the flooding of the workings two hundred and forty men and boys lost their jobs. The outer rim of the island now forms a harbour on the edge of the village and is the only sign of the island that now remains.
Slate Islands
The Slate Islands are an island group in the Inner Hebrides, lying immediately off the west coast of Scotland, north of Jura and southwest of Oban. The main islands are Seil, Easdale, Luing, Shuna, Torsa and Belnahua. Scarba and Kerrera, ...
, located in Easdale Sound between Easdale
Easdale ( gd, Eilean Èisdeal) is one of the Slate Islands, in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland. Once the centre of the Scottish slate industry, there has been some recent island regeneration by the owners. This is the smallest of the Inner Hebrides' i ...
and Seil
Seil (; gd, Saoil, ) is one of the Slate Islands, located on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, southwest of Oban, in Scotland. Seil has been linked to the mainland by bridge since the late 18th century.
The origins of the island's name are ...
, in the Inner Hebrides.
In 1549, Dean Monro
Donald Monro (or Munro) ( fl. 1526–1574) was a Scottish clergyman, who wrote an early and historically valuable description of the Hebrides and other Scottish islands and enjoyed the honorific title of "Dean of the Isles".
Origins
Donald Monro ...
wrote: "''Narrest Seunay layes ther a litle iyle, callit in Erische Leid Ellan Sklaitt, quherein ther is abundance of skalzie to be win''".Gillies (1909) p. 10 In modern English: "Nearest to Shuna there lies a little isle, called ''Eilean Sklaitt'' in Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
where there is an abundance of slate to be gained."
Originally about in area the island was quarried for its slate to a depth of below sea level leaving only the outer rim of the island. Tipping of the quarry detritus eventually filled up the channel which separated Eilean-a-beithich from Seil, and the slate-mining village of Ellenabeich
Ellenabeich (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eilean nam Beitheach'', meaning "island of the birchwoods.") is a small village on the isle of Seil (Scottish Gaelic: ''Saoil'') – an island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, 7 miles (11 km) southwest o ...
began to grow up there. However, the quarry came to a sudden and catastrophic end. "In the early morning of the 22nd November 1881, after a very severe gale of south-west wind followed by an exceptionally high tide, a large rocky buttress which supported a sea wall gave way under the excessive pressure of water"."Netherlorn and its Neighbourhood:Chapter II - Easdale"Electric Scotland Retrieved 18 March 2012.
Southernhebrides.com. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
The quarry had been immensely productive and of high quality, and may have been the richest workings in the Slate Islands. An estimated seven to nine million slates had been manufactured annually over a protracted periods and after the flooding of the workings two hundred and forty men and boys lost their jobs. The outer rim of the island now forms a harbour on the edge of the village and is the only sign of the island that now remains.
Footnotes
References
* * Gillies, Patrick Hunter (1909) ''Netherlorn, Argyllshire, and its neighbourhood''. London. Virtue and Co. * Former islands of Scotland {{ArgyllBute-geo-stub