Handa Island

The island's name is of mixed Gaelic and Norse origin. The Norse name was Sandey meaning "sand isle" from . It was recorded in Joan Blaeu's 1654 Atlas of Scotland as "Ellan-Handey" with the addition of the Gaelic Eilean (meaning simply "island") and the Norse form having become Handey and ultimately "Handa" due to aspiration in Gaelic. MacBain and Haswell-Smith support the derivation of "sand isle", although Mac an Tàilleir translates the modern Gaelic of Eilean Shannda as "island at the sandy river". ==Geography and geology==

Handa is composed of Torridonian red sandstone and surrounded by cliffs covered with birds. In the north is a hill with two peaks, with the south and east being lower lying. The north and west have cliffs, and there are beaches in the south and east. The Sound of Handa separates it from the mainland and smaller islands around Handa include Glas-Leac to the south, Eilean an Aigeach to the north east and Stac an t-Sealbhaig to the north. The Great Stac of Handa was first climbed in 1876 by Donald McDonald, a native of St Kilda, who crossed the 24m gap between the stack and Handa "swinging hand-over hand from a rope". It was first climbed from the sea in August 1969 by Graeme Hunter, Hamish MacInnes and Douglas Lang. The height of the stack, which is one of the tallest in Scotland, is variously recorded as , "about 107m" and 115m. The nearby Stacan Geodh Bhrisidh is high and was also first climbed by that trio in the same year. ==Flora and fauna==

Handa is noted for its birdlife, which includes puffins, razorbills and guillemots. The SPA designation lists six priority species: fulmar, great skua, guillemot, kittiwake, and razorbill. The breeding colonies of razorbills and guillemots on Handa are the largest in the UK, representing 11% and 9% of the total British population respectively. The arctic skua and kittiwake populations are also of national importance, representing >1% and 2% of the British population respectively. ==History==

In the past the island was used as a burial place, and there are still the remains of a chapel in the south east, commemorated in the name Tràigh an Teampaill (Beach of the Temple). The use of Handa as burial place is thought to be due to the fact that wolves would dig up graves on the mainland so frequently that the inhabitants of Eddrachillis resorted to burying their dead on the island: It had a population of 65 in 1841 but following the 1847 Highland Potato Famine the inhabitants emigrated to Nova Scotia. In some ways this is surprising, since it is recorded that the islanders had a fairly varied diet including oats, fish and seabirds, rather than depending heavily on a potato crop. The islanders had a parliament, similar to that of St Kilda, which met daily, and the oldest widow on the island was considered its "Queen". The island is now part of the Scourie Estate, owned by Dr Jean Balfour (until her 2023 death) and J.C. Balfour. The Balfours leased Handa to the RSPB for 25 years, however this lease was not renewed, because the Balfours wished a Scottish-based body to run the island; as a result the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) took it over. Under the SWT the island is managed by one warden and a handful of volunteers during the summer months. ==Gallery==

File:Handastack.jpg|Stacan Geodh Bhrisidh File:Dreizehenmöwe (Rissa tridactyla) bei Brutfütterung02.jpg|Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) at Handa Island File:Papageitaucher (Fratercula arctica) auf Handa Island.jpg|Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at Handa Island File:Große Raubmöwe (Stercorarius skua) auf Handa Island.JPG|Great skua (Stercorarius skua) at Handa Island File:Brutschutzgebiet Handa Island.jpg|Sign for the breeding birds' protected area File:Handaquinag.jpg|Quinag and Scourie across the Sound of Handa == See also ==