The Hebrides (overture) the following, which came into my head there." The cave at that time was approximately high and over deep, and contained black basalt pillars. The work was completed on 16 December 1830 and was originally entitled "Die einsame Insel" ("The Lonely Island"). However, Mendelssohn later revised the score and renamed the piece "Die Hebriden" ("The Hebrides"). Despite this, the title of "Fingal's Cave" was also used: on the orchestral parts he labelled the music "The Hebrides", but on the score Mendelssohn labelled the music "Fingal's Cave". This revision of the overture was premiered on 14 May 1832 in London in
Hebrides Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. The Scottish Gaelic language arrived via Ireland due to the growing influence of the kingdom of Dál Riata from the 6th century AD onwards, and became the dominant language of the southern Hebrides at that time. For a few centuries, the military might of the ' meant that Old Norse was prevalent in the Hebrides. North of , the place names that existed prior to the 9th century have been all but obliterated. The Old Norse name for the Hebrides during the Viking occupation was ', which means "Southern Isles"; in contrast to the ", or