Shiant Isles, a group of islets of basaltic character and picturesque appearance in the Outer Hebrides. It lies in the Minch, 4¼ miles SE of the nearest point of the coast of Lewis, and 21 S of Stornoway. It comprises a number of rocks or skerries, and the three islets of Garv-Eilan, Ellan-na-Kelly, and Ellan-Wirrey, all three of which are noticed separately. They all present a verdant surface, the hollows and declivities abounding in rich pasture; and they form a single sheep-farm, superintended by a single family, who reside on Ellan-na. Kelly. This islet seems anciently to have been the seat of a monastery or a hermitage; and it still possesses some ruins which look to have been ecclesiastical. Its name means ` the island of the cell; ' and probably its reputed sanctity gave rise to the Gaelic designation of the group as Eilcanan Scunta or ` sacred islands.' The Shiant Isles are strikingly characterised by columnar masses similar to those of Staffa and the Giant's Causeway; and had they lain in a position more accessible to tourists or less remote from the tracks of steamboat navigation, they could scarcely have failed to acquire a fame as great as that of Staffa. Pop. (1871) 5, (1881) 6.—Ord. Sur., sh. 99, 1858.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)