Coldbackie, Sutherland, Highland - Tongue Bay, Rabbit Islands - Dixon c.1970s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Coldbackie, Sutherland [Highland region] - Coldbackie Sands with Tingue Bay and the Rabbit Islands
• Publisher: J Arthur Dixon (PSC/22731)
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Coldbackie (Scottish Gaelic: Callbacaidh) is a crofting township in Sutherland and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Scotland.[1]

Coldbackie lies at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue, 2 miles (3.2 km) north east of Tongue. It sits under Cnoc an Fhreiceadain (the Watch Hill), looking north across Tongue Bay to the Rabbit Islands. It is one of a series of townships, running from Tongue along the A836 to Blandy. The township of Scullomie is 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north.

Etymology

The name Coldbackie could have old Norse or Gaelic roots. The place name Coldbackie is not unique to the Kyle of Tongue, with there being two Coldbacks in Shetland (in Unst and Delting) and one in north west Iceland, both areas where Norse roots would be more likely. Omand, in The Sutherland book, translates Coldbackie as kula-bakki, bank with the bump, whilst Stewart, in Place names of Shetland says that Coldbacks is Cold Hill.

Tongue Bay (Scottish Gaelic: Tunga from Old Norse: Tunga) is located in northwest Highland, Scotland, in the western part of the former county of Sutherland. Skullomie is a small fishing and crofting hamlet at the head of the bay, while Melness is a group of crofting townships west of it.[1] Talmine, a crofting and fishing township, is situated on Talmine Bay, an inlet on the western shore of Tongue Bay. The Rabbit Islands are three, uninhabited islands across from the bay; Eilean nan Ròn (island of seals) is at its mouth.[2] From Tongue Bay, the coast extends to the northwest and the east. In general, it is high and rocky, and is intersected by several small creeks. Rocks along the coast are hollowed into caves, or formed into arches and pillars. The tides follow the direction of the coast nearly from east to west.[3] The Shamrock, a 19th-century sloop located within the bay, is protected by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland,[4] as is Scullomie Harbour, also within the bay.[5]

The Rabbit Islands (58.53°N 04.40°W NC602631) are a group of three uninhabited small islands off the north coast of Sutherland, Scotland in Tongue Bay. In Scottish Gaelic, and occasionally in English, they are known as Eileanan nan Gall, which is sometimes anglicised as "Eilean-na-Gaeil" [1] or "Eilean nan Gaill".[1]

The islands' modern name derives from their sandy soil, which favours rabbit burrows and makes their presence particularly obvious [2]. They are fairly low lying, slender in shape, and along with the surrounding fjard of Tongue Bay, they show the effects of former glaciation. They are made up of sandstone.

The northernmost of the group is called Sgeir an Òir, and there is a natural arch at its north end called "Claigeann na Sgeir" (Bell of the Skerry).

They are near Coldbackie, Melness and Talmine on the mainland, and Eilean nan Ròn is to the north east. They are in the parish of Tongue.[3]

History

The islands' older name "Eileanan nan Gall", means "islands of the strangers", or "Norsemen".[1]

Supposedly, a ship carrying gold to Charles Edward Stuart was wrecked on the island.[2] The northernmost of the group is called Sgeir an Òir (skerry of the gold), which is perhaps a reference to this.

The islands are popular with scuba divers, and have in the past been used for grazing.