Tour Scotland Video Tide Corryvreckan Off The West Coast Of Mainland

Tour Scotland video of the tide at Corryvreckan, a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of mainland Scotland. Strong Atlantic currents and unusual underwater topography conspire to produce a particularly intense tidal race in the Corryvreckan channel. As the flood tide enters the narrow area between the two islands. The Corryvreckan is the third largest whirlpool in the world. In mid August 1947, the author George Orwell nearly drowned in the Corryvreckan whirlpool. In Scottish mythology the hag goddess of winter, Cailleach Bheur, uses the gulf to wash her great plaid, and this ushers in the turn of the seasons from autumn to winter. As winter approaches, she uses the gulf as her washtub, and it is said the roar of the coming tempest can be heard from as far away as twenty miles, lasting for a period of three days. When she is finished with the washing, the cloth is pure white, and becomes the blanket of snow that covers the land. The Cailleach occupying the whirlpool was described as " the fiercest of the Highland storm kelpies " by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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