SKYE, largest island of the Inner Hebrides, Inverness-shire, Scotland. From the mainland it is separated by the Sound of Sleat, Kyle Rhea, Loch Alsh and the Inner Sound, and from the Outer Hebrides by the Minch and Little Minch. At Kyleakin, on the western end of Loch Alsh, the channel is only about m. wide, and there is a ferry. The length of the island from S.E. to N.W. is 481 m., but its coast is deeply indented, so that no part of the interior is more than 5 m. from the sea. It has a total area of 428,966 acres. The population was 23,082 in 1841, but in 1921 only 11,031 (or 17 to the sq.m.), 1,062 of whom spoke Gaelic only and 9,201 Gaelic and English.
The chief arms of the sea are Lochs Snizort and Dunvegan in the N., Loch Bracadale in the W., Lochs Scavaig and Eishort in the S. and Loch Sligachan in the E. The jagged mass of the Cuil line (Coolins) dominates the view whether by land or sea. Their highest point is Sgurr Alasdair (3,309 ft.), and at least six other peaks exceed 3,00o ft. To the north of Loch Slapin stands the group of Red Hills of which the highest points are Ben Caillich and Ben Dearg More and near Loch Ainort rises Ben Glamaig. About 8 m. N. of Portree is the curious basaltic group of the Storr, consisting of pinnacles and towers, the most remarkable of which, "The Old Man" forms a landmark for sailors.
Most of the land is moor and hill pasture, with cultivated patches here and there, chiefly on Lochs Snizort and Bracadale, the Sound of Sleat, Kyleakin and Portree. The crofting system is still general. Turnips and potatoes are grown, but the climate is better adapted for sheep and cattle (West Highland) than for crops, and the sheep farms carry famous stocks, principally black faced with some Cheviots. The condition of the crofters, which was pitiable in the extreme, has been improved by the Crofters' Holdings Act of 1886, and by sums spent in recent years by the Board of Agriculture. The old black huts have been replaced, in those parishes where stone is obtainable, by well-built houses. The many ejections between 1840 and 188o and the emigration that followed was mainly responsible for the serious decline of the population. The railways to Strome Ferry, Kyle of Loch Alsh and Mallaig, by rendering markets more accessible, effected an improvement in the fisheries, which have always been a mainstay of the inhabitants. The fisheries include herring, cod, ling and
salmon, and seals are not uncommon. Whiskey is distilled at Carbost and there are marble quarries.
The inhabited isles off the coast of Skye are mainly situated near the eastern shore. Of these the principal is Raasay (pop. 368). Brochel Castle, now a ruin, stands on the eastern coast. The island is 13 m. long, by about 31. m. at its widest. Off its north-western shore lies the isle of Fladday. To the north of Raasay, separated by a narrow strait, is Rona, pop. 98 (Seal Island, from the Gaelic ron, a seal), 44 m. long with a maximum breadth of 1 m., with a lighthouse. Scalpay, immediately south of Raasay, has a hill of 1,298 ft. The other isles are Pabbay in Broadford Bay, Ornsay in the Sound of Sleat, and Soay near Loch Scavaig.
Portree (pop. 1,628 in parish), the capital, lies at the head of a fine harbour about the middle of the eastern seaboard. Steamers run daily to and from Mallaig and Kyle of Loch Alsh, and there is, besides, other communication by steamer with Oban and other ports. There is a factory for tweeds, plaids, carpets and other woollens. The exports are principally sheep, cattle, wool, salmon and other fish, and the town is the headquarters of the fishing fleet. The name of the town was derived from the fact that James V. landed there on the occasion of his tour in the Western Highlands. The place thus became, in Gaelic, Port-an Righ, or the King's Harbour. It was to Portree that Flora Macdonald (1722-179o) conducted Prince Charles Edward when he escaped from Benbecula.
Among other places in Skye associated with the Young Pre tender are Prince Charles's Point near Monkstadt, on the west of the peninsula of Trotternish, where he landed with Flora Mac donald, and Kingsburgh, on the eastern shore of Loch Snizort. The castle of the Macleods of Macleod, on a rocky promontory at Dunvegan, was erected in the 9th century and extended by later chieftains. The MacCrimmons, the famous race of heredi tary pipers, hailed from this quarter of Skye and were attached to the Macleods oft Dunvegan. At Duntulm is the ruined castle of the Macdonalds, another of the great Skye chieftains.