Tiree, Scarinish. View of harbour.

Description Tiree, Scarinish. View of harbour.

Date c. 1898

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 743237

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AG 1744

Scope and Content Harbour, Scarinish, Tiree, Argyll & Bute Scarinish, a small settlement on the east coast of Tiree, was developed in the mid-18th century by the 5th Duke of Argyll as a fishing village and the island's first harbour. This photograph of the harbour, taken c.1898, is by the Victorian photographer, Erskine Beveridge. The harbour, a natural sandy bay, provided shelter and holding-ground for the open, single-masted sailing boats (smacks) that were used for coasting or fishing. The large rowing boats (foreground) that transferred goods and passengers from steamships anchored offshore could beach on the hard sand of the bay. The village, a scatter of houses and cottages, contained a hotel (right), a plain, two-storeyed, L-shaped harled and whitewashed building dating from the mid-19th century. Tiree, the outermost of Argyll's islands, has a rocky coastline interrupted by spectacular stretches of sand, and is regarded as both the sunniest and windiest place in Britain. The prevailing winds are westerly, unpredictable and frequently reach strong or gale force, factors which undoubtedly contributed to the difficulty in finding a safe, sheltered anchorage on the island. Scarinish, whose name is derived from the old Norse for 'seagull point', remained the island's principal harbour until a large steamboat pier was built at Gott Bay in 1908-14. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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