SMALL-ISLES, a parish, partly in the county of
Inverness, but chiefly in the district of Mull, county
of Argyll; containing the island of Eigg in the former,
and the islands of Canna, Muck, and Rum, in the latter,
county; and having 993 inhabitants. This district anciently
formed part of the parish of Sleat, from which
it was severed in 1726, by act of the General Assembly,
and erected into a distinct parish. On its separation the
parish took the name of Eigg, from the island of Eigg,
where its minister had his principal residence, but subsequently
received its present name, by which it is more
generally known, from the several islands of which it
consists, and of each of which a minute description is
given under its own head. The surface and the soil, with
the various other features of the parish, vary greatly;
some parts are more or less adapted for tillage, and
others for pasture. The principal employment of the inhabitants
is the rearing of sheep and black-cattle. A
small quantity of kelp is made from the abundance of
sea-weed which is found on the coasts, and which is also
used as manure. Cod, ling, and other kinds of whitefish,
are taken off the coast; and during the season,
several of the inhabitants are engaged in the herringfishery,
which is tarried on to a small extent. The
mansion-houses are those of Mr. Macneil in the island
of Canna, and Dr. Maclean in the island of Rum; the
lands attached to them have been greatly improved, and
embellished with plantations, which are well managed
and in a thriving state.
There are no villages, neither are any important manufactures
carried on: a few of the inhabitants are employed
in the building and repairing of boats, and in
some of the usual handicraft trades connected with the
fisheries, ornecessary for the supply of immediate wants.
The means of communication from island to island is by
small boats, of which each family has at least one for its
own use. The annual value of real property in the parish
is £664. Ecclesiastically it is within the bounds
of the presbytery of Skye and synod of (ilenelg. The
minister's stipend, including communion elements, is
£158. 6. 8., of which £64. 16. 4. are paid from the exchequer;
with a manse, and a glebe valued at £25 per
annum: patron, the Crown. There is no church; ser-
vice is held in the schoolroom at Eigg, which is capable
of accommodating a congregation of eighty persons.
Nearly one half of the people are of the Roman Catholic
persuasion, and meet for public worship in the house of
the priest. Those who are of the Free Church have also
a place of worship. The parochial school, for which an
appropriate building in the island of Eigg was erected in
1829, is attended by about thirty scholars; the master
has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and the
fees. There is a Gaelic school in Muck, supported by a
society. Some remains of ancient fortresses exist on the
islands of Canna andMuck, but in avery dilapidated state;
and on the island of Rum are still left vestiges of dykes
formerly used for ensnaring the deer.