Torran Rocks
Encyclopedia
The Torran Rocks are a group of small islands and skerries
located between the islands of Mull
and Colonsay
in Scotland.
and the Ross of Mull
. The largest islets of Na Torrain reach 10 metres (32.8 ft) or more above sea level and are up to 150 metres (492.1 ft) long. West Reef is made up of half a dozen skerries about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of Na Torrain.
some 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to the south west in response to the hazards these rocks jointly presented to shipping. Between 1800 and 1854 thirty ships were wrecked on the Torrans with the loss of over fifty lives. An astonishing 24 vessels were lost in the area in a storm on 30-31 December 1865. The writer Hamish Haswell-Smith describes the rocks as "being scattered over a wide area like dragon's teeth. They lurk menacingly just beneath the surface, occasionally showing themselves in a froth of white spittle". Nicholson (1995) calls them "4½ miles of jumbled granite teeth" and that "the extent and confused nature of this reef claimed untold numbers of vessels plying between America or the Baltic ports and Oban
". The reefs are so hazardous that only small boats can hope to navigate them with any degree of safety.
by Robert Louis Stevenson
. It was in this "stoneyard" that Alan Breck Stewart
and David Balfour were ship-wrecked. David Balfour, the hero of this tale was then marooned on neighbouring Erraid for a while. Stevenson's father, Thomas
was the designer of Dubh Artach lighthouse, and the young Robert Louis knew the area well. He wrote of a "black brotherhood - the Torran reef that lies behind, between which and the shore the Iona Steamers" (taking visitors to Iona
and Staffa
) "have to pick their way on their return to Oban. The tourist on this trip can see upwards of three miles of ocean thickly sown with these fatal rocks, and the sea breaking white and heavy over some and others showing their dark heads threateningly above water".
This passage begs comparison with Kidnapped itself:
for "loud murmering or thunder" although in a different context Mac an Tàilleir describes Torrain as meaning "hillocks".
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
located between the islands of Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
and Colonsay
Colonsay
Colonsay is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, located north of Islay and south of Mull and has an area of . It is the ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeill. Aligned on a south-west to north-east axis, it measures in length and reaches at its widest...
in Scotland.
Geography
The main rocks are Dearg Sgeir, MacPhail's Anvil, Na Torrain, Torran Sgoilte and Torr an t-Saothaid although there are numerous others including the southernmost of Sgeir Dhoirbh (or Otter Rock). They cover an area of about 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi) some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the tidal island of ErraidErraid
The Isle of Erraid is a tidal island approximately one mile square in area located in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It lies west of Mull and southeast of Iona. The island receives about of rain and 1,350 hours of sunshine annually, making it one of the driest and sunniest places on the western...
and the Ross of Mull
Ross of Mull
The Ross of Mull is the largest peninsula of the island of Mull, about long and makes up the south-western part of the island. It is bounded to the north by Loch Scridain and by the Firth of Lorne to the south. The main villages are Bunessan and Fionnphort with smaller settlements including...
. The largest islets of Na Torrain reach 10 metres (32.8 ft) or more above sea level and are up to 150 metres (492.1 ft) long. West Reef is made up of half a dozen skerries about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of Na Torrain.
Navigation hazard
Between 1867 and 1872 a lighthouse was built on the isolated reef of Dubh ArtachDubh Artach
Dubh Artach is a remote skerry of basalt rock off the west coast of Scotland lying west of Colonsay and south-west of the Ross of Mull.A lighthouse designed by Thomas Stevenson with a tower height of was erected between 1867 and 1872 with a shore station constructed on the isle of Erraid...
some 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to the south west in response to the hazards these rocks jointly presented to shipping. Between 1800 and 1854 thirty ships were wrecked on the Torrans with the loss of over fifty lives. An astonishing 24 vessels were lost in the area in a storm on 30-31 December 1865. The writer Hamish Haswell-Smith describes the rocks as "being scattered over a wide area like dragon's teeth. They lurk menacingly just beneath the surface, occasionally showing themselves in a froth of white spittle". Nicholson (1995) calls them "4½ miles of jumbled granite teeth" and that "the extent and confused nature of this reef claimed untold numbers of vessels plying between America or the Baltic ports and Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
". The reefs are so hazardous that only small boats can hope to navigate them with any degree of safety.
In literature
In addition to being a hazard to navigation, they are one of the locations featured in the novel KidnappedKidnapped (novel)
Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis...
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
. It was in this "stoneyard" that Alan Breck Stewart
Allan Stewart (Jacobite)
Ailean Breac Stiùbhart was an 18th-century soldier and Scottish Jacobite resistance figure. He was the centre of a murder case that inspired novels by Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.-Life and the Appin murder:...
and David Balfour were ship-wrecked. David Balfour, the hero of this tale was then marooned on neighbouring Erraid for a while. Stevenson's father, Thomas
Thomas Stevenson
Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot was a pioneering Scottish lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson screen used in meteorology...
was the designer of Dubh Artach lighthouse, and the young Robert Louis knew the area well. He wrote of a "black brotherhood - the Torran reef that lies behind, between which and the shore the Iona Steamers" (taking visitors to Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
and Staffa
Staffa
Staffa from the Old Norse for stave or pillar island, is an island of the Inner Hebrides in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Vikings gave it this name as its columnar basalt reminded them of their houses, which were built from vertically placed tree-logs....
) "have to pick their way on their return to Oban. The tourist on this trip can see upwards of three miles of ocean thickly sown with these fatal rocks, and the sea breaking white and heavy over some and others showing their dark heads threateningly above water".
This passage begs comparison with Kidnapped itself:
Altogether it was no such ill night to keep the seas in; and I had begun
to wonder what it was that sat so heavily upon the captain, when the
brig rising suddenly on the top of a high swell, he pointed and cried to
us to look. Away on the lee bow, a thing like a fountain rose out of the
moonlit sea, and immediately after we heard a low sound of roaring.
"What do ye call that?" asked the captain, gloomily.
"The sea breaking on a reef," said Alan. "And now ye ken where it is;
and what better would ye have?"
"Ay," said Hoseason, "if it was the only one."
And sure enough, just as he spoke there came a second fountain farther
to the south.
"There!" said Hoseason. "Ye see for yourself. If I had kent of these
reefs, if I had had a chart, or if Shuan had been spared, it's not sixty
guineas, no, nor six hundred, would have made me risk my brig in sic a
stoneyard! But you, sir, that was to pilot us, have ye never a word?"
"I'm thinking," said Alan, "these'll be what they call the Torran
Rocks."
"Are there many of them?" says the captain.
"Truly, sir, I am nae pilot," said Alan; "but it sticks in my mind there
are ten miles of them."
Mr. Riach and the captain looked at each other.
"There's a way through them, I suppose?" said the captain.
"Doubtless," said Alan, "but where? But it somehow runs in my mind once
more that it is clearer under the land."
Etymology
Haswell-Smith (2004) states that the name is derived form the GaelicScottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
for "loud murmering or thunder" although in a different context Mac an Tàilleir describes Torrain as meaning "hillocks".