Innsegall: The Western Isles

Description

Design and photography by David A. Magee. Innsegall, "Isles of the foreigners", is the name by which the Scottish Celts knew the Western Isles. To the vikings they were the "Sudreyar", the Southern Isles. The meaning of the name Hebrides, a misrendering of Hebudes, is unknown. This is a natural history of the Western Isles of Scotland with particular emphasis on man's part in the creation of the several elements which make up the Hebridean landscape. The authors concentrate mainly on those sites that are visible to the modern traveller and opn those topics that would occupy the mind of that great Victorian creation, the informed layman. It will be of value to the amateur naturalist, the amateur geologist, the amateur archaeologist and all visitors to the Islands. 1. The Skeleton: The Geology and Geomorphology of the Islands 2. The Thaw: After the Ice Age 3. High Summer: Climatic Improvement and the Arrival of the First Farmers 4. The Rainy Season: Climatic Deterioration and the Development of the Bronze Age 5. The Peat: Celtic Warriors in a Drowning Landscape 6. Light and Dark: The Arrival of Christianity and the Coming of the Vikings 7. Echoes of the Lordship of the Isles: Aspects of Post-Medieval Settlements Deduced from Seventeenth Century Records 8. In Living Memory 9. Gazetteer of Archaeological Sites Further reading