Fiskavaig

Fiskavaig or Fiscavaig (Scottish Gaelic: Fiosgabhaig) is a picturesque crofting settlement on the north-west shore of the Minginish peninsula, Isle of Skye in the Highland Council area.

According to The Island Whisky Trail by Neil Wilson, Fiskavaig was originally the intended site of the nearby Talisker Distillery: "The original intended site of MacAskill's distillery is to be found 5 miles further north of the current location (Carbost) at Fiskavaig, just beyond Portnalong, but an unreliable water source forced the brothers to settle for Carbost.

A witness for the Napier Commission report in 1883 when asked what happened to the residents of Fiskavaig stated: "Some of them went to America, and others were scattered about the country.

Fiskavaig was re-populated in the summer of 1923 (along with Portnalong and Fernilea) when the 1919 Land Settlement Act aimed to resettle populations following the end of the First World War, through the creation of smallholdings and crofts.

This land was compulsorily purchased for £58,609 and allowed the provision of 68 crofts to be offered to families, of which in 1924: "43 are tenanted by Harrismen, 20 by Lewismen and 5 by Skyemen.

"[5] Fiskavaig Bay sits on the southern shore of Loch Bracadale and is bordered on the west by Sgùrr nan Uan (Lamb Craig) and to the east by Coille Ghuail (Coal Grove).

The bay is shallow and exposes dark sand flats and tidal pools at low tide (along with the remains of two stone fish traps, one central and one on its eastern side) with high tide moving back to the rocks & rock pools at the foot of the bay.

After being concealed for some time by shingle it was rediscovered in 1927 and presented to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMS X.IB 213) (1).The stone is a slab of schist, 0.89m high and 0.27m thick and tapering in width from 0.52m at the top to 0.43m above the foot, which is broken obliquely.

The Fiskavaig Rock Shelter is a late Iron Age (2AD to 560AD) rock shelter on the west coast between Talisker Bay in the south and Rubha nan Clach in the north (NG30283264) at Uamh an Eich Bhric (The cave of the speckled horse) which contains substantial occupation and midden deposits.

The remains of a stone pier at Fiskavaig Bay where Fiskavaig Burn enters the bay.
Remains of one of the ruined houses on the original Fiskavaig Hamlet site at Fiskavaig Bay.
The fireplace of abandoned house on Fiskavaig Bay (At NG332346) This is the original site of Fiskavaig prior to the 1920s repopulation.
Fiskavaig Bay with the headland, Sgùrr nan Uan, and behind, MacLeod's Tables on the Duirinish Peninsula.
Fiskavaig Stone