Isleornsay
Encyclopedia
Isleornsay is a village lying off the main Armadale
to Sleat
road (the A851
) on the Isle of Skye in Scotland
. It overlooks, but is not upon, the island of Ornsay
. The island itself shelters one of the best natural harbours in southern Skye. The location was exploited from the 18th century or earlier by the MacDonalds who owned this part of Skye.
There is a hotel in the village called The Isle Ornsay Hotel and a local company Pràban na Linne founded by Iain Noble
which produces a vatted malt
whisky called Poit Dhubh (literally the "Black Pot" or "Illicit Still" and two blends, Té Bheag nan Eilean
("small dram
of the islands") and Mac na Mara (the "Son of the Sea").
was endemic in the 19th century and the company that ran the Isleornsay store, MacDonald and Elder, acted as emigration agents from the early 1800s. In 1822 they advertised that they were able to “to fit out transports for the conveyance of passengers from Inverness & the West Coast” of Scotland to the east coast of Canada. In the 1830s a programme of assisted passages to Australia from the Sleat peninsula was organised. The William Nicol sailed to Sydney from Isleornsay in July 1837 with 322 passengers including 70 families from Sleat. At the time it was reported that so many local people wished to emigrate that the ship could not accommodate all those who wanted to embark.
Armadale, Isle of Skye
Armadale is a village near the southern end of the Sleat Peninsula, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Like most of Sleat, but unlike most of Skye, the area is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not reach a great height...
to Sleat
Sleat
Sleat is a peninsula on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan MacDonald of Sleat...
road (the A851
A851 road
The A851 road is one of the principal roads of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of mainland Scotland.It connects the ferry port of Armadale on the south of the island with the A87 road for Portree and the Scottish mainland...
) on the Isle of Skye in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It overlooks, but is not upon, the island of Ornsay
Ornsay
Ornsay is a small tidal island to the east of the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.-Description:Widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful tidal islands in Western Scotland, the island provides good shelter to a natural harbour which is overlooked by the...
. The island itself shelters one of the best natural harbours in southern Skye. The location was exploited from the 18th century or earlier by the MacDonalds who owned this part of Skye.
There is a hotel in the village called The Isle Ornsay Hotel and a local company Pràban na Linne founded by Iain Noble
Iain Noble
Sir Iain Andrew Noble, 3rd Baronet of Ardkinglas and Eilean Iarmain was a businessman, landowner in the Isle of Skye and a noted Scottish Gaelic language activist. He died at home in Skye on 25 December 2010....
which produces a vatted malt
Vatted malt
A blended malt, formerly called a vatted malt, or pure malt, is a blend of different single malt whiskies from different distilleries. These terms are most commonly used in reference to Scotch whisky....
whisky called Poit Dhubh (literally the "Black Pot" or "Illicit Still" and two blends, Té Bheag nan Eilean
Tè Bheag
Té Bheag is a blended whisky made by Pràban na Linne Ltd. It is one of Sir Iain Noble's Gaelic Whisky range, which has its headquarters at Eilean Iarmain on the Isle of Skye.-External links:*...
("small dram
Dram (unit)
The dram was historically both a coin and a weight. Currently it is both a small mass in the Apothecaries' system of weights and a small unit of volume...
of the islands") and Mac na Mara (the "Son of the Sea").
Emigration
Emigration from the Highlands and IslandsHighlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...
was endemic in the 19th century and the company that ran the Isleornsay store, MacDonald and Elder, acted as emigration agents from the early 1800s. In 1822 they advertised that they were able to “to fit out transports for the conveyance of passengers from Inverness & the West Coast” of Scotland to the east coast of Canada. In the 1830s a programme of assisted passages to Australia from the Sleat peninsula was organised. The William Nicol sailed to Sydney from Isleornsay in July 1837 with 322 passengers including 70 families from Sleat. At the time it was reported that so many local people wished to emigrate that the ship could not accommodate all those who wanted to embark.