However, in 1834, the year after the first publication, Breitkopf & Härtel issued an edition with the name Fingalshöhle (Fingal's Cave) and this title stuck, causing some confusion.

According to legend the cave is the site of what was once the royal castle of Fion na Gael (anglicized to "Fingal"), ruler of the kingdom of Morven and father of the celebrated third-century warrior and bard known as Ossian.

Being a concert overture, The Hebrides does not precede a play or opera, but is instead a standalone composition in a form common for the Romantic period.

[3] As an indication of the esteem in which it is held by musicians, Johannes Brahms once said "I would gladly give all I have written, to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture".

[6] He was engaged on a tour of Scotland with his travelling companion Karl Klingemann when he sent a letter to his family with the opening phrase of the overture written on it.

In a note to his sister Fanny, he said: "In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.

[11] This lyrical theme, suggestive of the power and stunning beauty of the cave, is intended to develop feelings of loneliness and solitude.