Hebrides, or WESTERN ISLANDS, the name applied in a general sense to all the islands on the west coast of Scotland. To the Outer Hebrides, the geological substratum of which is almost exclusively gneiss, belong Lewis with Harris (Long Island), North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, and the remote group of St Kilda, 60 miles to the west. The principal of the Inner Islands, composed chiefly of trap and slate, are Skye, Eigg, Coll, Tiree, Mull, Iona, Staffa, Ulva, Lismore, Kerrera, Colonsay, Oronsay, Jura, and Islay. Bute, the Cumbraes, and Arran, are usually counted amongst the Hebrides; and to the same group were anciently assigned the peninsula of Kintyre, the island of Rathlin, and the Isle of Man. The total number of islands of any size is about 500, but of these only one-fifth are inhabited. The population was 100,021 in 1881. Of the whole surface only about 200,000 acres are arable; the rest is pasture-land of little value, morasses, peat-mosses, lakes, and barren sands and rocks. Owing to the influence of the Gulf Stream, the Hebrides have a mild though humid climate. Politically the Hebridean isles are distributed among the Scottish counties of Ross, Inverness, Argyll, and Bute. The humbler class of natives for the most part speak Gaelic. The people are much occupied in fishing and fowling (see CROFTER). A large proportion of the area has been converted into sheep-walks, whilst extensive tracts are let to sportsmen.
The Hebrides are the Ebūdae of Ptolemy and Pliny's Hebūdes (of which 'Hebrides' is a corruption, due originally to a misprint), and Sudreyjar (Southern Islands) of the Norwegians. This last name was Latinised as Sodorenses, which survives in the title 'Bishop of Sodor and Man.' The early Celtic inhabitants were converted to Christianity by St Columba in the 6th century. Some three centuries later several of the islands were colonised by Norwegians, who came hither to escape the iron rule of Harold Haarfager (q.v.). But in consequence of the severe depredations which these sea-rovers afterwards committed on the coast of Norway, Harold sent an expedition westwards, which subdued all the Western Islands as far south as Man. To Norway they remained subject till 1266, when they were transferred to Scotland. From that time the islands were governed by native chiefs, until in 1346 the head of the Macdonalds reduced the whole under his authority, and took the title of Lord of the Isles (q.v.). But from the beginning of the 16th century they were gradually annexed to the Scottish crown. In the 19th century the Hebrides have become widely known through Scott's poem The Lord of the Isles and Mr William Black's charming novels.
The more important works on the Hebrides are Martin's Description (1703); Pennant's Tour (1774); Dr
Johnson's Journey (1775); Gregory's History (1836); Macculloch's Description (1819); Buchanan's Hebrid Isles (1833); and Gordon-Cumming's In the Hebrides (1883).