Elgol ( gd, Ealaghol) is a village on the shores of

Loch Scavaig ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spellin ...

towards the end of the

Strathaird Strathaird is a peninsula on the island of Skye, Scotland, situated between Loch Slapin and Loch Scavaig on the south coast. W. H. Murray said that "Skye is sixty miles long, but what might be its breadth is beyond the ingenuity of man to stat ...

peninsula in the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

, in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

Name

According to tradition, its name derives from a battle fought with five ships by Aella, a follower of

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

, against the Picts and Scots ("Aella-gol").

History

The Strathaird peninsula was historically a heartland of the MacKinnons, a robustly Jacobite clan. On 4 July 1746, the

Young Pretender Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

found sanctuary at Elgol in the course of his wanderings under the protection of MacKinnon of MacKinnon and Captain John MacKinnon of Elgol. The cave where he is said to have waited for a boat to the mainland ("Prince Charlie’s cave", or "Uamh Phrionnsa") can still be visited today, a short walk to the south of the village.

Gallery

File:Schotland Elgol en Cuillins 11-05-2010 17-15-37.JPG, Elgol Bay File:Elgol harbour boat trips schedules.jpg, Boat trips from Elgol File:"Investor" - geograph.org.uk - 1172002.jpg, ''Investor'' fishing boat in Elgol bay File:Elgol beach - geograph.org.uk - 391555.jpg, Elgol beach looking north west across

towards the Cuillin File:Elgol_Bay,_August_2019.jpg, Elgol Bay August 2019

Present day

The village had a considerably higher population prior to the Clearances. It now has a population of approximately 150. Elgol's scenic attractions have drawn in many outsiders seeking holiday homes and a majority of the properties there are no longer occupied on a year-round basis. In the 2011 census, 31% of the residents were reported as speaking Gaelic. The village is also a terminal for two privately owned boat trips to

Loch Coruisk Loch Coruisk (in Scottish Gaelic, ''Coire Uisg'', the "Cauldron of Waters") is an inland fresh-water loch, lying at the foot of the Black Cuillin in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands. Loch Coruisk is reputed to be the home of a kelpie o ...

and the Small Isles along with a coffee shop, Bistro and a Michelin Guide restaurant.

References

External links

Undiscovered Scotland - Elgol
Populated places in the Isle of Skye {{Highland-geo-stub