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SO WHAT IS AN ISLAND?

You are probably still trying to reconcile the anomaly of having the two islands of Harris and Lewis on a single landmass. But what exactly does it take to make an island? The Oxford English Dictionary defines an island as a landmass surrounded by water. This sounds straightforward. However, Hamish Haswell-Smith, renowned sailor and author of the definitive The Scottish Islands, was faced with the dilemma of which to include and which to omit, as listing every little skerry would result in a work that would run to many volumes. He decided to limit himself to any piece of land that is over 40 hectares at high tide and completely surrounded by seawater at low tide so that you can only get to it by getting your feet wet or by boat.

Looking down the fjord-like Loch Seaforth that divides Harris and South Lewis

Having developed a working list of 165 islands to document, map and occasionally paint with his charming watercolours, the opening of the Scalpay Bridge and the causeways that link North Uist to Berneray and South Uist to Eriskay led him to reduce his list to 162, where it has remained since. Who knows how the population on the Isle of Skye, perhaps the most famous of Scottish islands, feels about being excluded from the list? Perhaps Hamish has to use an alias whenever he anchors in Portree harbour?