Cairnburgbeg and Cairnburgmore, two of the five principal isles of the Treshinish group in the Argyllshire Hebrides, 3 miles W of the mouth of Loch-Tua in Mull, 5 NNW of Staffa, and 5½ SE of Coll. Their coasts, in general, are cliffs from 40 to 45 feet high; and their surfaces rise in hemispherical outline to an altitude of about 300 feet above sea-level, and look, at some distance, almost like models of two ancient shields. A fortalice of the Macleans was on Cairnburgmore; is supposed to have been erected on the site of a Scandinavian work of the 13th century; became, at the time of the Reformation, the receptacle of books and records from Iona; sustained a siege by a detachment of Cromwell's army, with the result of destruction to the Iona documents; was the scene of repeated conflicts in the rebellion of 1715; and is now in a state of ruin. A barrack was built on Cairnburgbeg in the 17th century, and, as to its walls, is still tolerably entire.

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