The legendary Scàthach Warrior

Sgàthach was born in Skye. She is said to have lived in Dunscaith Castle in Sleat. She was the daughter of the god of war, an immortal woman who was born in a storm. She grew up under the tutelage of the old grey magician. He looked after her ‘til she was old enough to look after herself. When she went away, she started to gather a small band of women. The women eventually grew in strength and started to defeat some of the smaller kings. At that time, Skye was made up of lots of kingdoms. Sgàthach tried to unite Skye under one ruler, herself.

She opened up a school for warriors here. Among her students was Ramas, a student of Ramassess the Pharaoh. Ramas was one of Sgàthach’s favourite students. She taught him everything he knew. He went away and left from south of Dunvegan, and that’s who Ramasaig Bay is named after. He went back to Egypt and ended up becoming the greatest Pharaoh who was known in that area. When archeologists discovered his tomb they discovered that he had red hair, so there could well be some truth in that.

Skye was named after Sgàthach, or Sgàthach was named after Skye - no one really knows!

As contributed by Sandy Mackinnon, resident of Elgol and skipper on the Misty Isle boat trips

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