Three features combine to make Fingal's Cave on Staffa perhaps
the best known of all caves.
Its
struture is unique. Nowhere else is there a sea-cave formed completely
in hexagonally-jointed basalt. To this the size, the sounds, the
colours, and the remarkable symmetry of this 227-foot cavern; and
by Nature's gift of fractured columns forming a crude walkway just
above high-water level, allowing exploring visitors to go far inside.
Secondly, the impact of the cave on all those who enter it, and
especially on those who do so alone, is likely to be remembered
for life. Sir Walter Scott put it into words for us:
"…one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld.
It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it …composed
entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral,
and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and
swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles
all description."
And thirdly the evergreen popularity of Mendelssohn's "Hebrides
Overture (Fingal's Cave)" provides a continuous stirring reminder
of this wonder of the world.
The
question "How was Fingal's Cave formed?" is often posed.
Eminent visitors have seriously asserted that it must, because of
its regularity and because it points exactly at Iona, have been
hollowed out of the island by hand. In fact the answer is straightforward.
Since the layer of rock made up of columns would all have been laid
down at one time it follows that when the tilting occurred there
would have been pressure above the present site of the cave, and
a fissure would have been forced open directly below, where sea
now surges in. The violent action of huge waves that would have
struck the island during storms over thousands of years developed
the fissure, undermining dozens of columns, to create the opening
we marvel at today.
The origin of the name 'Fingal's Cave' is wrapped in myth.
Around 250 A.D. Finn MacCumhaill, or Fingal, was possibly an irish
general who had a band of faithful warriors - a Celtic parallel
to King Arthur and his Round Table. Fingal is supposed to have been
the father of Ossian, traditional bard of the Gaels.
Gaels migrated into Scotland from Ireland until the Norsemen began
their raids on the Scottish coast, and the stories of Fingal would
doubtless have come across too. Soon he became revered in Scotland
and, boosted by the Ossianic heroic verse and songs, his name was
a natural choice to assign to this dramatic and awe-inspiring cavern.
In
1829, on 7th August, Felix Mendelssohn visited Fingal's Cave. With
his friend Klingemann, Mendelssohn set out on the newly introduced
paddle steamer service to sail round Mull calling at Iona and Staffa,
returning down the Sound of Mull to Oban. The day was wild and all
the passengers were ill. Klingemann tells of the arrival at Staffa:
We were put out into boats and lifted by the hissing sea up
the the pillar stumps to the celebrated Fingal's Cave. A greener
roar of waves surely never rushed into a stranger cavern - its
many pillars making it look like the inside of an immense organ,
black and resounding, and absolutely without purpose, and quite
alone, the wide grey sea within and without.
Conditions were so bad that the little craft had only reached Tobermory
by nightfall, and Mendelssohn can hardly have enjoyed seeing Fingal's
Cave since he was so seasick. However the visit to Staffa, and the
sight and sound of the Atlantic swell tumbling into the Cave, made
a profound impression on him. The theme in the illustration, which
he later developed into the ever-popular Hebrides Overture, occurred
to him immediately. He was just 20 years old.
If you would like to visit Fingal's Cave, the
tours below will take you there:
This excursion is one of the best day tours in Britain, providing a scenic route through the beautiful isle of Mull
and a visit to the Isle of Iona to see the famous abbey, but the highlight of this tour is the awe-inspiring visit to the unique Isle of Staffa to see Fingal's Cave.
This tour departs rom the Ferry Terminal, Railway Pier, Oban on Caledonian Macbrayne's MV Isle of Mull, crossing the Firth of Lorne to Craignure on Mull where you join our private coach. The scenic route through the Island is via Glen More to Fionnphort where you board the ferry for Staffa. After landing on Staffa and visiting Fingal's Cave, you sail south to Iona. There is now an opportunity to have a late lunch or snack at Martyr's Bay Restaurant, which is conveniently situated near Iona pier. Later take a leisurely stroll through the Benedictine nunnery and the Reilig Oran - the burial place of the kings - on the route to Iona Abbey.
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Oban
Depart
09.50
09.50
09.50
09.50
09.50
09.30
09.50
Return
19.45
19.45
19.45
19.45
19.45
19.45
19.45
Adult Fare:
£45.00
Child Fare:
£23.00
Season: 21/03/2008 - 22/10/2008 On Saturdays and Sundays prior to 20th May and after 9th September the return is at 17.45
This tour to Mull, Iona and Staffa is similar to the Three Isles Excursion. It leaves Oban earlier in the morning, offering the chance to avoid the crowds and enjoy a more leisurely day with time on Iona for lunch and to explore the island. You also save with the 'Early Bird' Special Fare.
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Oban
Depart
7.45
7.45
7.45
7.45
7.30
Return
17.45
17.45
17.45
17.45
17.45
Adult Fare:
£43.00
Child Fare:
£22.00
Season: 21/03/2008 - 22/10/2008
This is the ultimate choice in tours for those interested in ornithology
and the natural history of these beautiful unspoilt islands.
We spend over two hours ashore on Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles to visit the large colony of puffins nesting there.
Lunga was inhabited until the 1850's- the islanders leaving their isolated homes as a monument to their hardy existence which is
now envied by those of us whose lifestyles are spoiled by the disadvantages of modern times. The views from their ruined homes are superb with spectacular scenery, seals off the shore,
puffins on the doorstep and many thousands of guillemots perched precariously on the Harp Rock nearby. The silence is broken by the calls of the seabirds as they come ashore to their nesting sites.
After Lunga we sail sail to Staffa to visit Fingal's Cave. This tour provides a chance to view seals and occassionally dolphins, basking sharks and whales in their habitat in the seas around
the Treshnish Isles and Staffa.
Its
struture is unique. Nowhere else is there a sea-cave formed completely
in hexagonally-jointed basalt. To this the size, the sounds, the
colours, and the remarkable symmetry of this 227-foot cavern; and
by Nature's gift of fractured columns forming a crude walkway just
above high-water level, allowing exploring visitors to go far inside.
The
question "How was Fingal's Cave formed?" is often posed.
Eminent visitors have seriously asserted that it must, because of
its regularity and because it points exactly at Iona, have been
hollowed out of the island by hand. In fact the answer is straightforward.
Since the layer of rock made up of columns would all have been laid
down at one time it follows that when the tilting occurred there
would have been pressure above the present site of the cave, and
a fissure would have been forced open directly below, where sea
now surges in. The violent action of huge waves that would have
struck the island during storms over thousands of years developed
the fissure, undermining dozens of columns, to create the opening
we marvel at today.
In
1829, on 7th August, Felix Mendelssohn visited Fingal's Cave. With
his friend Klingemann, Mendelssohn set out on the newly introduced
paddle steamer service to sail round Mull calling at Iona and Staffa,
returning down the Sound of Mull to Oban. The day was wild and all
the passengers were ill. Klingemann tells of the arrival at Staffa:
