Eilean Chathastail is one of the Small Isles

Small Isles

The Small Isles are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan – the most westerly point of mainland Scotland.The four main islands are Canna, Rùm, Eigg and Muck...

 in the Inner Hebrides

Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...

 of 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 is roughly 1 kilometre in length and lies only 100 metre off the south-east coast of the island of Eigg

Eigg

Eigg is one of the Small Isles, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With an area of , it is the second largest of the Small Isles after Rùm.-Geography:The main...

. Eilean Chathastail protects the only harbour on Eigg at Galmisdale

Galmisdale

Galmisdale is the main port of the island of Eigg, one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides. It is in the Scottish council area of Highland....

 and Eigg lighthouse was built on the island in 1906 by brothers David A.

David Alan Stevenson

David Alan Stevenson was a lighthouse engineer who built twenty six lighthouses in and around Scotland.Born into the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers, son of David Stevenson, brother of Charles Stevenson, and nephew of Thomas Stevenson, he was educated at Edinburgh University...

 and Charles Alexander Stevenson

Charles Alexander Stevenson

Charles Alexander Stevenson was a Scottish lighthouse engineer who built twenty three lighthouses in and around Scotland....

.

History

In July 1884 the geologist and writer Hugh Miller

Hugh Miller

Hugh Miller was a self-taught Scottish geologist and writer, folklorist and an evangelical Christian.- Life and work :Born in Cromarty, he was educated in a parish school where he reportedly showed a love of reading. At 17 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and his work in quarries, together with...

 arrived at the Eilean Chathastail anchorage on board the yacht Betsey. He had just begun his journey at Tobermory

Tobermory

-Places:* Tobermory, Mull, the chief town of the Isle of Mull in Scotland** Tobermory *** Tobermory Single Malt Scotch whisky** Tobermory High School* Tobermory, Ontario, a town on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada** Tobermory Airport...

 and he produced a diary of his travels in the Hebrides

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

for the newspaper Witness, of which he was the editor. His contributions were later collated and published as The Cruise of the Betsey in 1856.

He wrote that: "We passed the Isle of Muck, with its one low hill; saw the pyramidal mountains of Rum looming tall in the offing; and then, running along the Isle of Eigg, with its colossal Scuir rising between us and the sky, as if it were a piece of Babylonian wall, or the great wall of China, only vastly larger, set down on the ridge of a mountain, we entered the channel which separates the isle from one of its dependencies, Eilean Chathastail, and cast anchor in the tideway."

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