155:
288:
49:
405:
167:
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208:, starting in a blocky tetragonal pattern and transitioning to a regular hexagonal fracture pattern with fractures perpendicular to the cooling surfaces. As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns we see in the wave-eroded cross-section today. Similar hexagonal fracture patterns are found in
274:
The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several sightseeing cruises organised from April to
September by local companies pass the entrance to the cave. In calm conditions, one can land at the island's landing place (as some of these cruises permit) and walk the short distance
426:
described Fingal's Cave as "one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it… composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and
536:
567:
Bell, B.R. and Jolley, D.W. (1997) "Application of palynological data to the chronology of the
Palaeogene lava fields of the British Province: implications for magmatic stratigraphy".
902:“Summarising Mr. Pretyman's considerable research into the origin of this name it would appear that Fingal took its name from the poetical works of James MacPherson (about 1762-63).”
275:
to the cave, where a row of fractured columns forms a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot. From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the island of
468:
797:
1092:
1000:
Scotia
Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
546:
258:, and it is suggested that Macpherson rendered the name as Fingal (meaning "white stranger") through a misunderstanding of the name which in
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705:
1097:
324:
in the cave. Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author
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767:
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Lucas
Goehring, L. Mahadevan, and Stephen W. Morris (2009) "Nonequilibrium scale selection mechanism for columnar jointing".
472:
340:
135:
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854:
228:
from an early date until 1777. The cave was brought to the attention of the
English-speaking world by 18th-century
829:
1082:
238:
It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th century Scots poet-historian
204:
In these locations, cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and
912:
1087:
1003:
805:
541:
131:
1072:
1042:
841:
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Atilla Aydin and James M. Degraff (1988) "Evolution of
Polygonal Fracture Patterns in Lava Flows,"
434:
used the cave along with the Giant's
Causeway for the opening and closing scenes of his art film,
312:
303:
24:
937:
713:
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of the Giant's
Causeway has Finn (or Fionn) building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland.
263:
818:
587:
461:
154:
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359:
346:
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Wood-Nuttall
Encyclopaedia, 1907: 69 m (227 ft) deep, 20 m (66 ft) high.
287:
8:
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National Public Radio, 2005: 45 m (150 ft) deep; 22 m (72 ft) high.
351:
255:
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735:
459:'s early songs bears this location's name. This instrumental was written for the film
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209:
20:
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spent several days recording the interior of Fingal's Cave for an exhibition at the
48:
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Show Caves of the World: 85 m (279 ft) deep; 23 m (75 ft) high.
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in mud where contraction is due to loss of water instead of cooling.
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138:. It became known as Fingal's Cave after the eponymous hero of an
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was named after MacPherson's poetry rather than the cave itself.
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paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description."
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The 19th century Austro-Hungarian guitarist and composer
382:(Beyond the Tweed, Pictures and Letters from Scotland),
374:
in 1832 also made the trip. In 1860 the German novelist
378:
visited the cave and described it in his travel report
1040:
422:
in a place called "Fingal's Grotta". Scots novelist
158:
View from the depths of the cave with the island of
844:The Pink Floyd Hyperbase. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
246:cycle of poems claimed to have been based on old
1064:
752:Staffa (Fingal's Cave) and the Treshnish Islands
798:"Galveston Symphony Program Notes: Mendelssohn"
728:"Formation of basalt columns / pseudocrystals"
963:
189:flow and is similar in structure to both the
19:For the concert overture of the same name by
877:When Eight Bells Toll - Fingals Cave, Staffa
537:"National Trust for Scotland: Fingal's Cave"
320:), and was said to be inspired by the weird
938:"Fingal's Cave, A Scottish Ocean Cathedral"
626:
624:
622:
620:
618:
616:
97:Partially filled by the sea, slippery rocks
397:in his set of character pieces for guitar
47:
220:Fingal's Cave was originally part of the
170:Basalt columns inside Fingal's Cave, 2022
832:. Galeria Foksal. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
762:
760:
659:
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475:has a mural representing Fingal's Cave.
403:
286:
282:
165:
153:
720:
310:visited in 1829 and wrote an overture,
130:, known for its natural acoustics. The
1093:Columnar basalts of the United Kingdom
1065:
913:"Fingal's Cave (Nuttall Encyclopædia)"
747:
745:
174:Fingal's Cave is formed entirely from
757:
654:
531:
529:
527:
142:by 18th-century Scots poet-historian
604:
768:"Gordon Grant Tours: Fingal's Cave"
742:
586:January 1988: 239 (4839), 471-476.
13:
1098:Protected areas of Argyll and Bute
694:Behind the Name: View Name: Fingal
524:
495:It is likely that the township of
341:Journey to the Center of the Earth
14:
1119:
985:
950:from the original on 25 May 2005.
570:Journal of the Geological Society
338:), and mentions it in the novels
1108:Geotourism in the United Kingdom
1050:
842:"Unreleased Pink Floyd material"
573:. London. Vol. 154, pp. 701–708.
930:
905:
882:
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847:
835:
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812:
790:
408:Entrance to Fingal's cave, 2004
162:visible in the background, 2008
53:Entrance to Fingal's Cave, 1900
964:Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004).
890:"Placenames Tasmania – Fingal"
754:The Internet Guide to Scotland
698:
687:
591:
576:
561:
416:also set scenes from his play
291:Engraving of Fingal's Cave by
269:
254:, the hero Fingal is known as
1:
957:
772:www.fingals-cave-staffa.co.uk
502:
118:on the uninhabited island of
1103:Landforms of Argyll and Bute
1004:National Library of Scotland
706:"Notes to the First Edition"
665:"Caves and Caving in the UK"
440:. In 2008, the video artist
149:
7:
610:Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 124
542:National Trust for Scotland
134:owns the cave as part of a
132:National Trust for Scotland
10:
1124:
992:Engraving of Fingal's cave
819:The Art Archive, JM Turner
732:Giantcrystals.strahlen.org
393:included a piece entitled
328:, who used it in his book
215:
18:
998:in the digitised copy of
802:www.galvestonsymphony.org
632:"Show Caves of the World"
316:, Op. 26, (also known as
101:
93:
85:
77:
69:
58:
46:
39:
34:
970:. Edinburgh: Canongate.
855:"Lloyd House alley list"
518:
262:would appear as "Finn".
242:. It formed part of his
136:national nature reserve
25:The Hebrides (overture)
917:words.fromoldbooks.org
409:
318:Fingal's Cave Overture
300:
171:
163:
1083:Volcanoes of Scotland
892:. Placenames Tasmania
485:When Eight Bells Toll
407:
372:Staffa, Fingal's Cave
360:Alfred, Lord Tennyson
347:The Mysterious Island
290:
283:In art and literature
169:
157:
81:Paleocene basalt flow
1027:56.43389°N 6.33611°W
967:The Scottish Islands
865:on 28 February 2009.
669:www.sat.dundee.ac.uk
601:2009 106 (2) 387-392
492:, was filmed there.
386:also made the trip.
16:Sea cave in Scotland
1088:Paleogene volcanism
1023: /
778:on 10 December 2002
738:on 7 November 2007.
716:on 16 October 2013.
482:novel-based movie,
391:Johann Kaspar Mertz
1032:56.43389; -6.33611
830:Blue Flora Celtica
410:
352:William Wordsworth
301:
279:across the water.
256:Fionn mac Cumhaill
210:desiccation cracks
172:
164:
1073:Caves of Scotland
977:978-1-84195-454-7
414:August Strindberg
380:Jenseit des Tweed
308:Felix Mendelssohn
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861:. Archived from
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804:. Archived from
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734:. Archived from
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712:. Archived from
710:Sundown.pair.com
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671:. Archived from
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574:
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558:
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545:. Archived from
533:
497:Fingal, Tasmania
480:Alistair MacLean
465:, but not used.
442:Richard Ashrowan
424:Sir Walter Scott
240:James Macpherson
233:Sir Joseph Banks
195:Northern Ireland
191:Giant's Causeway
144:James Macpherson
51:
32:
31:
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808:on 19 May 2006.
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675:on 6 March 2009
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549:on 19 June 2006
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490:Anthony Hopkins
462:Zabriskie Point
412:The playwright
376:Theodor Fontane
368:J. M. W. Turner
285:
272:
252:Irish mythology
248:Scottish Gaelic
226:Clan MacQuarrie
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986:External links
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446:Foksal Gallery
432:Matthew Barney
384:Queen Victoria
370:, who painted
297:Scotia Depicta
284:
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224:estate of the
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180:basalt columns
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124:Inner Hebrides
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395:Fingals-Höhle
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335:The Green Ray
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293:James Fittler
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35:Fingal's Cave
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920:. Retrieved
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894:. Retrieved
884:
876:
871:
863:the original
858:
849:
837:
825:
814:
806:the original
801:
792:
780:. Retrieved
776:the original
771:
736:the original
731:
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714:the original
709:
700:
689:
677:. Retrieved
673:the original
668:
644:. Retrieved
640:the original
635:
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598:
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583:
578:
568:
563:
551:. Retrieved
547:the original
540:
494:
483:
477:
467:
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454:
435:
429:
419:A Dream Play
417:
411:
399:Bardenklänge
398:
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333:
329:
317:
313:The Hebrides
311:
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173:
111:
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40:
29:
1030: /
859:Lloyd House
488:, starring
469:Lloyd House
437:Cremaster 3
326:Jules Verne
270:Sightseeing
176:hexagonally
21:Mendelssohn
1067:Categories
1015:56°26′02″N
1002:, 1804 at
958:References
584:Science 29
503:Dimensions
457:Pink Floyd
356:John Keats
264:The legend
260:old Gaelic
250:poems. In
230:naturalist
206:fracturing
65:, Scotland
1078:Sea caves
1018:6°20′10″W
896:8 January
306:composer
235:in 1772.
184:Paleocene
182:within a
150:Formation
140:epic poem
122:, in the
86:Entrances
70:Discovery
1057:Scotland
948:Archived
364:Romantic
350:. Poets
304:Romantic
178:jointed
128:Scotland
116:sea cave
59:Location
943:NPR.org
922:20 July
473:Caltech
455:One of
430:Artist
366:artist
299:, 1804.
216:History
94:Hazards
78:Geology
1043:Portal
974:
782:2 June
679:2 June
646:2 June
553:2 June
450:Poland
358:, and
322:echoes
244:Ossian
120:Staffa
105:Public
102:Access
63:Staffa
23:, see
519:Notes
114:is a
972:ISBN
924:2022
898:2024
784:2006
681:2006
648:2006
599:PNAS
555:2006
478:The
362:and
344:and
277:Iona
222:Ulva
199:Ulva
197:and
187:lava
160:Iona
73:1772
994:by
471:at
448:in
295:in
193:in
126:of
89:One
1069::
940:.
915:.
857:.
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770:.
759:^
744:^
730:.
708:.
667:.
656:^
634:.
615:^
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526:^
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401:.
354:,
201:.
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650:.
557:.
332:(
27:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
