29th August 1819, Staffa, Fingal’s Cave, Aros

Sunday 29th August 1819

Sunday 29th Augt We determined not

to remain longer in this wretched place than we could help & took a boat at seven o’clock & sailed to Staffa in two hours the wind being quite favourable; on arriving we were much struck with the great beauty of this natural curiosity the islands near Ulva I must describe are all of a basaltic nature but the pillars of Staffa are much finer: this is this island is about 3 quarters of a mile in length and covered at the top with grass; when we landed we walked on the top of the columns to Fingal’s Cave I was much struck with it the sea goes in a considerable distance through a narrow chasm covered with large basaltic pillars I think it is out of my power to describe in any way this great

curiosity & after passing some time here we ascended on the tops of the columns which from their irregularity form a kind of staircase to the summit of the island we took some refreshment; we then did intend to go to Iona but the wind being directly against us we returned to Aross where we slept.

OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:

Staffa derives its name from the Old Norse for stave or pillar island. The Vikings gave it this name as its columnar basalt reminded them of their houses, which were built from vertically placed tree-logs.

2018: Panorama of the Isle of Staffa, Inner Hebrides, Scotland by Pderuvo, the copyright holder, and published it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isle_of_Staffa_Pa… — 2018: Panorama of the Isle of Staffa, Inner Hebrides, Scotland by Pderuvo, the copyright holder, and published it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isle_of_Staffa_Panorama.jpg

The island came to prominence in the late 18th century after a visit by Sir Joseph Banks. He and his fellow-travellers extolled the natural beauty of the basalt columns in general and of the island's main sea cavern, which Banks renamed 'Fingal's Cave'.

Their visit was followed by those of many other prominent personalities throughout the next two centuries, including Queen Victoria and Felix Mendelssohn (1832). The latter's Hebrides Overture brought further fame to the island, which was by then uninhabited. It is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffa

Fingal’s Cave was also visited by J M W Turner (1830), Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, Lord Tennyson, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson and John Keats https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/staffa.

The peace and tranquility sought by 19th century visitors was soon shattered by the hordes of tourists that followed. In 1819, the year Lucy visited, the geologist John MacCalloch lamented that its pure natural essence “ has long been exhausted” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280628244_Inspiration_and_Spectacle_The_Case_of_Fingal's_Cave_in_Nineteenth-Century_Art_and_Literature

Iona – Lucy never reached it. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries and is today known for its relative tranquility and natural environment. It is a tourist destination and a place for spiritual retreats. Its modern Gaelic name means "Iona of (Saint) Columba" (formerly anglicised "Icolmkill"). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona

Can you help us?

Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.

New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?

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