Canna, Scotland
472064
221408108
2008-06-24T11:08:13Z
195.27.12.230
/* Call for families for Canna */
{{distinguish|Càrna}}
{{Infobox Scottish island|
|latitude=57.06
|longitude=-6.55
|GridReference=NG244058
|celtic name= Eilean Channaidh
|norse name=Possibly Kne-oy
|meaning of name= [[Irish language|Irish]] for 'wolf whelp island' or [[Scottish Gaelic]] for 'porpoise island'. Possibly Norse for 'knee-shaped island'
|area=1,130 ha
|area rank=46
|highest elevation= Carn à Ghaill 210 m (689 feet)
|Population=6 (15 including [[Sanday, Inner Hebrides|Sanday]])
|population rank=78=
|main settlement= A'Chill ("Keils")
|island group=[[Small Isles]]
|local authority=[[Highland (council area)|Highland]]
|references=<ref>[[United Kingdom Census 2001]] per [[List of islands of Scotland]]</ref><ref name=Haswell-Smith>{{cite book| author=Haswell-Smith, Hamish| year=2004| title=The Scottish Islands| location=Edinburgh| publisher=Canongate}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ Ordnance Survey]</ref><ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/14/ncanna114.xml Daily Telegraph | The 15 residents of Canna] [[4 October]] [[2006]] accessed [[20 April]] [[2007]]</ref>
}}
'''Canna''' ([[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] ''Eilean Channaidh'') is the westernmost of the [[Small Isles]] archipelago, in the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Inner Hebrides]]. It is linked to the neighbouring island of [[Sanday, Inner Hebrides|Sanday]] by a road and sandbanks at [[low tide]]. The island is 7 km long and 1.5 km wide. The isolated [[skerry|skerries]] of [[Hyskeir]] and [[Humla]] lie 10 km south west of the island.<ref name=Haswell-Smith/>
The [[island]]s were left to the [[National Trust for Scotland]] (NTS) by their previous owner, the Gaelic folklorist and scholar [[John Lorne Campbell]] in 1981, and are run as a farm and conservation area. Canna House, one of two big houses on the island (the other being Tighard), contains John Campbell's important archives of Gaelic materials that were donated with the islands to the nation.<ref name=Haswell-Smith/> Campbell's widow, the American musician Margaret Fay Shaw, continued to live on Canna until her death in 2004 aged 101.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/canna.html| author=Road to the Isles| title=Canna| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref> Since then the NTS has engaged in new initiatives to attract new residents and visitors to the island.
==Description==
{{Unreferencedsection|date=May 2007}}
[[Image:Canna Coroghon Castle (lhoon).jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of [[Coroghan Castle]] (''An Coroghon'') on top of a stack at the east end of Canna<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=10709| author=[[RCAHMS]]| title=Information on Coroghan Castle| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref>]]
There are some 20 buildings on the island, including three churches (one is [[deconsecration|deconsecrated]] and is being converted into a study centre), a tea room and a post office (converted from a garden shed). The island is isolated and the inhabitants must buy their provisions from the mainland, but it has a [[landline|telephone link]], a [[red telephone box]] and [[broadband internet access]], although there is no [[mobile phone]] coverage. Electricity is provided by a diesel generator, at mainland voltage and frequency, and there is a private water supply. The island has a zero crime rate - but a mainland-based policeman visits the island twice a year, mainly to inspect gun licences. A doctor based on the neighbouring island of [[Eigg]] is available for house calls once a month. The roads on Canna are not [[Pavement (material)|metalled]] and are privately owned, local vehicles therefore do not require [[vehicle excise duty|road tax]]. The previous footbridge to Sanday was destroyed by storms during 2005, and has recently been replaced by a road bridge. This allows vehicular access at all tide levels for the first time, although the road on Sanday is still covered by high tides.
[[Image:MV Lochnevis.JPG|thumb|right|''Lochnevis'' calls at Canna]]
A large natural [[harbour]] is formed between Canna and Sanday. The [[pier]] on Canna, and those of the other Small Isles, was rebuilt and enlarged in 2005. This is used by the [[Caledonian MacBrayne]] ferry, MV ''Lochnevis'', which links Canna, and the neighbouring Small Isles of [[Rùm]], [[Eigg]] and [[Muck, Scotland|Muck]], to the mainland port of [[Mallaig]] (2 1/2 hours away). ''Lochnevis'' is capable of carrying motor vehicles, although NTS permission is required to land them. The harbour is well sheltered. It is the only deep harbour in the Small Isles, and is very popular with west coast yachting traffic out of [[Oban]] and [[Arisaig]].
Canna is renowned for its [[seabird]]s, including [[Manx shearwater]]s and [[Atlantic Puffin|puffin]]s. The island is also inhabited by a number of rare butterfly species. In the nearby waters one can spot [[dolphin]]s and smaller [[whale]]s. Canna is noted for its tiers of [[basalt]] pillars that rise over the eastern half of the island and the [[sea cliff]]s that dominate its northern shore. The highest point on the island is Càrn a' Ghaill (Gaelic for ''rocky hill of the storm'') at 210 m. On the eastern edge of the island, [[Compass Hill]] (139 m) is formed of a volcanic rock known as [[tuff]] of such a high [[iron]] content that nearby ships' compasses are distorted, pointing east, rather than north.
==History==
Like [[Barra]] and [[South Uist]], Canna has traditionally had a mostly [[Roman Catholic]] population; it was one of the few places to escape the [[Scottish Reformation]]. {{Fact|date=September 2007}} Population numbers remained fairly stable at around 20 - 30 during the second half of the last century, but by the time of the 2001 census had dwindled to 15 (including Sanday).
==Recent developments==
===Rat problem===
In September 2005, it was reported that the population of [[Brown Rat]]s on the island had grown to 10,000 and was causing such problems to both the human population and the birdlife, particularly the rare [[Manx shearwater]]s, that a complete cull would take place. However, the population of woodmice, ''[[Apodemus sylvaticus]]'' on the island is a distinct race descended from a Norse lineage, and as the rat cull used [[rodenticide]], a breeding population of mice was removed beforehand by the [[Royal Zoological Society of Scotland]] (RZSS) to safeguard the population's future. By the end of 2006 it was believed that Canna was rat-free. The mice had been returned to Canna and appeared to be thriving. During the summer of 2006 there was also an encouraging increase in the number of breeding [[puffins]] and [[razorbills]], and [[Manx shearwater]]s were nesting for the first time since 1997.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ntsseabirds.org.uk/news/news_seabird_rec.aspx| author=[[National Trust for Scotland]]| title=Seabird Recovery Programme| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref>
===Call for families for Canna===
In October 2006 the NTS<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6045164.stm| title=Canna come and live on your isle?| date=[[2006-10-13]]| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1940416,00.html| title=Wanted: classmates for islander Caroline at Britain's tiniest school| date=2006-11-06| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref> decided to invite two families to rent properties on the island, in an effort to attract new skills and spirit to the island community. The invitation was mainly aimed at people with "skills in building, plumbing and gardening". The call was global<ref>{{cite web| title=Families wanted for tiny island| publisher = [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]]| date=[[2006-10-09]]| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/5413934.stm| accessdate=2007-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Munday| first=Sean| title=Isolated island's SOS for migrants a huge hit| language=English| publisher=South China Morning Post|date=[[2006-10-18]]| url=http://world.scmp.com/worldnews/ZZZMDMO9CRE.html| accessdate=2006-10-18}}</ref> and over 400 responses were received, from places as varied as [[Germany]], [[Sweden]], [[India]] and [[Dubai]]. From these, Sheila Gunn and John Clare were chosen to move to Canna during summer 2007. They now live in the large house known as Tighard, and are planning to open it as a guesthouse from Easter 2008.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} They were joined in early 2008 by two more incomers, Neil and Deborah Baker, from Llannon, in the Gwendraeth Valley in South Wales. Neil is a gardener, and his job is to restore the fine but overgrown gardens of Canna House.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2190316,00.html| title=Away from it all family prepare for new life on wind-battered isle| date=2007-10-13}}</ref>
==Gallery==
{|
[[Image:Isle of Canna Panorama 2.jpg|thumb|800px|center|Panorama taken from Compass Hill on Canna, overlooking Canna Bay and [[Sanday, Inner Hebrides|Sanday]] towards [[Rùm]].]]
|}
==See also==
*[[Religion of the Yellow Stick]]
==Bibliography==
{{commons|Canna}}
*Shaw, Margaret Fay: ''From the Alleghenies to the Hebrides'' (Canongate, 1999)
<references/>
{{Small Isles}}
{{Hebrides}}
{{coor title d|57.05790|N|6.54564|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NG245055)}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->
[[Category:Islands of the Inner Hebrides]]
[[Category:National Trust for Scotland properties]]
[[ca:Canna (illa)]]
[[de:Canna]]
[[es:Canna (Escocia)]]
[[fr:Canna (Écosse)]]
[[he:האי קאנה]]
[[nl:Canna (eiland)]]
[[nds:Canna]]