Quiraing, a mountain (1779 feet) in Kilmuir parish, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, 2 miles WNW of Stenscholl, 6 NE of Uig, and 20 N by W of Portree. Consisting of amygdaloidal trap, and apparently formed by volcanic eruption, it ascends very steeply, almost murally on the NE side; and is capped with a kind of crater, from which it takes its name (Gael. cuith-fhirFhinn, ` pit of the men of Fingal '). The rim around the summit resembles a strong, rough, lofty rampart, with only three or four gaps or fissures affording access to the interior. The principal gap is a steep narrow passage, obstructed by debris, and overhung by a tall, tapering, isolated pinnacle, the ` Needle; ' and the rampart all round, except at the gaps, shows distinct basaltic formation in columnar, pyramidal, and other forms. Through the gaps one gains picturesque glimpses of sea and land; and the hollow itself could shield 4000 head of black cattle, and indeed was probably used in olden times as a place of retreat and concealment from invasion. From the bottom of it rises an oblong tabular mass or truncated rocky hill, the flat and turf-covered ` Table, ' which measures 300 feet long and 180 broad. Such is this ` nightmare of nature,' this huge ` basaltic cathedral,' which in 1872 was ascended on foot by the Empress Eugenie and the Prince Imperial. See chaps. vii. and xi. of Alex. Smith's Summer in Skye (1865).
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