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Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa in Scotland has evoked strong sentiment for hundreds of years in those who dare to enter.

Genius grotto

For centuries, Fingal’s Cave has moved many who have glimpsed its geometric intricacies and heard its uncommon cry to create timeless works of art.

Text: Jean-Paul SmallPhoto: Jim RichardsonPublished: 28 October 2015

To say that basalt is a common rock would be an understatement. The volcanic rock has been found on land, the ocean floor and even on Mars and Venus. While used in a variety of applications, today basalt is used most as aggregate in construction. So how could a cave filled with something so commonplace inspire anyone to anything?

Step into the mouth of the Isle of Staffa’s Fingal’s Cave in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland and you have your answer.

First discovered in 1772 by naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, Fingal’s Cave has evoked strong sentiment for hundreds of years in those who dare to enter. The cave, which is made up entirely of hexagonal columns, was created when cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturing. The hexagonally joined basalt columns are unique in themselves, but the sound of the waves echoing off their symmetrical surfaces gives the place an otherworldly quality. A naturally occurring, water-level walkway invites visitors to challenge their fears and explore its darkened depths. Those that do tend to come away changed.

”It is one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it.

When German composer Felix Mendelssohn visited Fingal’s Cave in 1829, he was so inspired by the echoing sound emitted by the waves he wrote the now famous “Hebrides, Op. 26” (which is also known as “Fingal’s Cave Overture”) upon his return. Mendelssohn’s composition so stirred the public at the time that it drove other artists to see what could have influenced the German so. Romantic poets William Wordsworth and John Keats visited, as did Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Early science fiction writer Jules Verne used the site in three of his books: The Green Ray, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Mysterious Island. Swedish playwright August Strindberg used the cave as a setting for a scene in A Dream Play. In more modern times, British rock band Pink Floyd has a song with the cave’s name in the title and Scottish rock band Wolfstone recorded “Fingal’s Cave” on their album Seven.

But perhaps the most apt description comes from Scottish historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott, who upon visiting the cave exclaimed, “It is one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it.”