Tahay ( gd, Taghaigh) is an island in the Outer Hebrides of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The name originates from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''tagg-øy'' meaning island with a prominent hill. At in area and with a central peak of , it is the largest of the group of uninhabited islands off the north east coast of

North Uist North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...

. The island is used for sheep grazing and

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

cutting.

History

In 1846, six families who had been evicted from their homes on Pabbay to make way for sheep, moved to the previously uninhabited island of Tahay. Although the island has no

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

, they hoped to make a living from fishing. However this proved too hard and they gave up the struggle in the 1850s and emigrated to Australia. Tahay is owned by the Scottish Government.

References

Islands of the Sound of Harris Uist islands Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides {{WesternIsles-geo-stub