Stuley is an island lying to the east of South Uist

South Uist

South Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...

 in the Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...

, 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 lies off the section of coastline between Loch Eynort and Loch Boisdale. It is 45 hectare (0.173745971366641 sq mi) and 40 metres (131 ft) at its highest point.

Geography and geology

The rock is "intermediate and basic Lewisian

Lewisian complex

The Lewisian complex or Lewisian Gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 Ga. They form the basement on which the...

 rock with a distinctly greenish colour".

It is separated from South Uist by Stuley Sound. Off the east coast are three islets/skerries - Dubh-Sgeir Mhòr & Dubh-Sgeir Bheag, and Glas-Eilean Mòr. Glas-Eilean Beag is to the west.

History

From local placenames such as Creag na h-Oraide (on Stuley), and Creag an t-Sagairt (on nearby Uist

Uist

Uist or The Uists are the central group of islands in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.North Uist and South Uist are linked by causeways running via Benbecula and Grimsay, and the entire group is sometimes known as the Uists....

), meaning the rocks of the speech/sermon and priest respectively, there is some evidence of ecclesiatical connections, possibly culdee

Culdee

Céli Dé or Culdees were originally members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland and England in the Middle Ages. The term is used of St. John the Apostle, of a missioner from abroad recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 806, and of Óengus...

.

The island's name is Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 in origin, meaning "Stula's Island". Stula's name can also be found in the name of a mountain on the nearby Uist "mainland", Stulaval.

There are no written records of habitation, and it is currently used for sheep grazing. Haswell-Smith however notes the remains of lazybed

Lazy bed

Lazy bed is a method of arable cultivation. Rather like cord rig cultivation, parallel banks of ridge and furrow are dug by spade although lazy beds have banks that are bigger, up to 2.5m in width, with narrow drainage channels between them....

s, and ruins of shieling

Shieling

A shieling is a small house or hut once common in the hills and mountains of Scotland and northern England. Farmers and their families lived there during the summer, when their livestock were grazing common land in the hills...

s (habitations for summer grazing), and suggests that the island was yet another victim of the Highland Clearances

Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...

.