Editing Hirta (section)

==Etymology==
The origin of ''Hirta'' is open to interpretation. Martin (1703) states that "Hirta is taken from the [[Irish language|Irish]] {{lang|ga|Ier}}, which in that language signifies west".<ref name=Martin>Martin, Martin (1703).</ref> Maclean offers several options, including an unspecified Celtic word meaning "gloom" or "death", later suggested to be {{lang|cel|Ei hirt}} – dangerous or deathlike,<ref name="Smith"/> or the Scots Gaelic {{lang|gd|hIar-Tìr}} ("westland"). Drawing on an [[Icelanders' sagas|Icelandic saga]] describing an early 13th-century voyage to Ireland that mentions a visit to the islands of "Hirtir", he speculates that the shape of Hirta resembles a [[stag]], ({{wikt-lang|non|hjǫrtr|hirtir}} meaning "stags" in [[Old Norse|Norse]]).<ref>Maclean (1977) p. 33</ref> Steel (1998) quotes the view of Reverend Neil Mackenzie, who lived there from 1829 to 1844, that the name is derived from the Gaelic {{lang|gd|Ì Àrd}} ("high island"), and a further possibility that it is from the Norse {{lang|non|hirt}} ("shepherd").<ref>Steel (1988) pages 26–27.</ref> In a similar vein, Murray (1966) speculates that the Norse {{lang|non|Hirðö}} ("herd island", {{IPA|/hirðø/}}, {{respell|HIRR|dhur}}), may be the origin.<ref>Murray (1966) pp. 196, 236.</ref>