Cuillin range. Cracks and fissures in the rock provided pathways for later magma intrusions, leading to dykes of basalt which are commonly seen across Skye. The Red Cuillin also have volcanic origins, being formed from a later intrusion of acidic, granitic rock. This granite was more uniformly eroded by wind and water than the gabbro and basalt, causing the red hills to have smoother outlines. The Cuillin provide classic examples of glacial topography and were the subject of an early published account by James Forbes in 1846 (who had become a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh aged only nineteen).
Scottish island names and Forth are Brythonic and those to the north and west are of Pictish origin. This Goidelic language arrived via Ireland due to the growing influence of the kingdom of Dalriada from the 6th century onwards. It is still spoken in parts of the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides, and in Scottish cities by some communities. It was formerly spoken over a far wider area than today, even in the recent past. Scottish Gaelic, along with modern Manx and Irish, are descended from Middle Irish, a derivative of Old Irish, which is descended in turn from Primitive Irish. This the