Sail bonny boat, over the sea, to . . . Eilean a' Cheo
It has been captured in song, celebrated in literature and attracts 250,000 visitors a year but, despite all that, this week the Scottish island of Skye will officially disappear.
Highland Council has decided that the island, immortalised in the Skye Boat Song about Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight, should drop its "Anglicised slave name" in favour of its Gaelic nickname, Eilean a' Cheo.
The new name, which means Island of Mist and is pronounced "ellan-uh-cheeyaw", will be formally adopted on Thursday. All council documents will feature the Gaelic name and tourists inquiring about travelling to Skye will be encouraged to use the new version...
Gaelic scholars, meanwhile, have accused the council of choosing the wrong name.
Most Gaels know Skye as An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, meaning the Winged Isle, referring to a series of headlands which jut out into the sea like wings. The name chosen by the council is a romantic nickname used in poems and songs.
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Highland Council has decided that the island, immortalised in the Skye Boat Song about Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight, should drop its "Anglicised slave name" in favour of its Gaelic nickname, Eilean a' Cheo.
The new name, which means Island of Mist and is pronounced "ellan-uh-cheeyaw", will be formally adopted on Thursday. All council documents will feature the Gaelic name and tourists inquiring about travelling to Skye will be encouraged to use the new version...
Gaelic scholars, meanwhile, have accused the council of choosing the wrong name.
Most Gaels know Skye as An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, meaning the Winged Isle, referring to a series of headlands which jut out into the sea like wings. The name chosen by the council is a romantic nickname used in poems and songs.