Soay, Skye Elgol. The island is part of the Cuillin Hills National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. The name derives from Old Norse "Sauða-ey" meaning "Sheep Island". Camas nan Gall (G: "Bay of Foreigners") is probably named after the Norse invaders, after whom the Hebrides ("Na h-Innse Gall") are also named. The population peaked at 158 in 1851, following eviction of crofters from Skye in the Highland Clearances. In 1946, author Gavin Maxwell bought the island and established a factory to process shark oil from basking sharks. The enterprise was unsuccessful, lasting just three years. Maxwell wrote about it in
Scottish island names Shetland, and Kirk Rocks in Orkney. Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae are English/Brythonic in derivation and there are other examples of the use of "great" and "little" such as Great Bernera and Rysa Little which are English/Gaelic and Norse/English respectively. The informal use of "Isle of" is commonplace, although only the Isle of Ewe, the Isle of May and Isle Martin of the larger Scottish islands use this nomenclature in a formal sense. "Island" also occurs, as in Island Macaskin and Mealista Island although both islands are also known by their Gaelic names of "Eilean Macaskin" and "Eilean Mhealasta". Holy