Шотландиядағы Гигха аралы

Island in Scotland

Gigha ('/ɡ//iː//ə/ GHEEə; Giogha; ) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is mild with higher than average sunshine hours and the soils are fertile. The main settlement is Ardminish. Gigha has been inhabited continuously since prehistoric times. It may have had an important role during the Kingdom of Dalriada and is the ancestral home of Clan MacNeill. It fell under the control of the Norse and the Lords of the Isles before becoming incorporated into modern Scotland and saw a variety of conflicts during the medieval period. The population of Gigha peaked at over 700 in the eighteenth century, but during the 20th century the island had numerous owners, which caused various problems in developing the island. By the beginning of the 21st century the population had fallen to 98. However a "community buy out" in 2002 has transformed the island, which now has a growing population and a variety of new commercial activities to complement farming and tourism. Attractions on the island include Achamore Gardens and the abundant wildlife, especially seabirds. There have been numerous shipwrecks on the surrounding rocks and skerries. In 2021 the U. K. television broadcaster Channel 4 produced a reality show called Murder Island on the island, featuring a fictitious murder case written by the Scottish author Ian Rankin and “investigated” by ordinary members of the public, assisted by former police officers.

The bedrock of Gigha is largely amphibolite, a meta igneous rock which was probably, before its metamorphism, one or more sills. Some areas, particularly along the east coast are formed from the Erins Quartzite, a metasedimentary rock of Neoproterozoic age (late Precambrian) which falls within the Crinan Subgroup of the Argyll Group, itself a part of the Dalradian sequence which forms most of the southern Highlands. This rock sequence also include pelites and semipelites. The amphibolite is cut by numerous broadly southeast–northwest aligned dykes of olivine microgabbro dating from the Palaeogene period and forming a part of the ‘North Britain Palaeogene Dyke Suite’. Raised marine deposits cover parts of the island, a product of higher relative sea levels during the early Holocene.

Gigha lies off the coast of Kintyre and is long in a roughly north–south direction and a maximum of wide. The total area is and the highest elevation of Creag Bhàn reaches only The rocky central spine is composed of epidiorite with basalt intrusions. The main settlement is Ardminish which is on the south east coast and offers a small anchorage in the sheltered Ardminish Bay. Further to the north is Druimyeon Bay and beyond that West and East Tarbert Bays which (as their names imply) lie astride a small isthmus. There are various farms and associated buildings located throughout the island including Kinerarach and Tarbert in the north Ardailly in the west, where there are two holiday homes and a ruined watermill and North and South Druimachro on the east coast south of Ardmininsh. The climate is mild with higher than average sunshine hours and minimum temperatures, and lower than average days of ground frost for Scotland.

Cara Island lies just offshore to the south, the smaller Craro Island lies to the west and Gigalum Island to the south east. A sandy spit connects Gigha to Eilean Garbh in the north west. To the north are the rocks called An Dubh Sgeir (a common name meaning "black rock") and Gamhna Giogha. The Sound of Gigha separates Gigha and its attendant isles from mainland Kintyre. Between Jura and Gigha are the rocks of Na Cuiltean and Skervuile Lighthouse. Between Gigha and Port Ellen on Islay is the island of Texa. Eilean Mòr and Island of Danna are little further up the Argyll coast to the north. There are also many small rocks and skerries (small rock islands) in the seas around Gigha. Asked by a tourist if he knew where they all were, local resident Willie McSporran (see below) replied "No, but I know where they aren't and that's good enough for me".

Gigha has been inhabited continuously since prehistoric times, and there are several standing stones on the island. There are many other archaeological sites, including cairns, duns and an ogham stone near to Kilchattan, which has not been deciphered. In the Early Historic Period The domain of the Cenél nGabraín appears to have been centred on Kintyre and Knapdale and may have included Arran, Jura and Gigha. The title king of Kintyre is used of a number of presumed kings of the Cenél nGabrain. This would have made Gigha part of Dalriada. There is some evidence to show that the island might have been the seat of power for Conall mac Comgall, King of Dalriada, in the mid to late 6th century. The Annals of Tigernach refer to a Battle of Delgon (later Cindeglen) in 574, and this has been identified as taking place on Gigha, then referred to as Eilean da Ghallagan, although other sources believe the battle took place in Kintyre.

After Edward Balliol's coup against the Bruce regime in 1333, he attempted to court John of Islay, Lord of the Isles. In 1336, Edward confirmed the territories which the Islay lords had acquired in the days of Robert I and awarded John the lands of Kintyre, Knapdale, Gigha, Colonsay, Mull, Skye, Lewis, and Morvern, previously held by magnates still loyal to the Bruces. John, however, never provided Edward with real assistance. Although Balliol's deposition and the restoration of the House of Bruce meant that the grants made to John were void, his pre 1336 possessions were confirmed by King David II in 1343. Moreover, in 1346, John inherited the great Lordship of Garmoran through his brother in law Raghnall MacRuaridh. This meant that John's dominions now included all of the Hebrides except Skye, and all of the western seaboard from Morvern to Loch Hourn.

The Heritage Trust set up Gigha Renewable Energy Ltd. to buy and operate three Vestas V27 wind turbines, known locally as The Dancing Ladies or Creideas, Dòchas is Carthannas (Gaelic for Faith, Hope and Charity). They were commissioned on 21 January 2005 and are capable of generating up to 675 kW of power. Revenue is produced by selling the electricity to the grid via an intermediary called Green Energy UK. Gigha residents control the whole project and profits are reinvested in the community. In 2016 two batteries were added to the system.

There is an unmanned grass landing strip running east–west near the southern end of the island, requiring prior permission for landing. It is one of the closest airstrips to Glasgow International Airport, typically a 20 to 30 minute flight away for small aircraft. A Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service links the island's only village, Ardminish, to Tayinloan on the Kintyre peninsula of the Scottish mainland. This in turn links to the A83 road. There is a primary school on the island, but secondary pupils must go to the mainland for education. Ardminish has the pier, post office and shop. which is currently not in use.

Because it is set on the eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Gigha attracts a wide variety of sea birds such as guillemot and eider, which breed on Eilean Garbh. Inland, ducks such as mallard, teal, wigeon and pochard can be found along with heron, snipe, pheasant and red grouse. The hooded crow and jackdaw are present in considerable numbers, but geese are only occasional visitors. Mammals are under represented; there are no red deer, stoat, weasel, red fox or hare. In the mid 20th century Gigha had eight boats engaged in fishing for cod and lobster, but commercial activity ceased some time ago.

Gigha's coasts have seen numerous wrecks. In August 1886 the Staffa ran aground on Cath Sgier west of Craro. The ship remained on the reef in calm overnight conditions and all crew and 21 passengers were rescued the following morning. On 8 April 1894 the steamship Udea was lost on the same rocks with a cargo of coal and iron. Owned by David MacBrayne, she was en route from Glasgow to Lewis at the time. On 16 September 1940 the British steam liner Aska was bombed by a German aircraft south of Gigha whilst carrying French troops from Gambia. Twelve crewmen died in the attack and 75 survivors were successfully picked up by trawlers. On fire, the Aska drifted onto Cara and was wrecked there. Four years later the Mon Cousu was deliberately sunk in the Sound of Gigha and used for bombing practice. In 1991 the Russian factory ship Kartli was hit by two freak waves off Islay and ran aground at Port Ban after the crew were evacuated. Forty seven crew members were air lifted to safety but four men were killed in the accident.

Gigha had a vigorous tradition of harping, represented mainly by the family called Mac an Bhreatnaigh (Galbraith), who were active in Gigha and Kintyre, and it is thought that their descendants were in Gigha until at least 1685.

In the 1990s it was reported that many of the island's residents spoke Gaelic, In the 2001 census, the percentage of Gaelic speakers had dropped to 14%. In 2008, Henri Macaulay of Gigha Gallery received funding from the Gaelic development body, Bord na Gàidhlig, to run a series of Gaelic learning weekends on the island as a combined cultural revival and tourism development initiative. Conversation and music formed the backbone of the weekends. They ran through the winter months.

Seamus McSporran who managed to do 14 jobs during the 31 years of his working life at the same time. He has also featured in a 2006 English as a foreign or second language study book and in the widely used English textbooks for adults New Headway Elementary and New Headway Elementary 3rd Edition
Willie McSporran, MBE the first chairman of the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust. He is the brother of Seamus.