Views aired on Skye name change

An atmospheric scene at Sleat on the Isle of Skye

Mixed emotions have been stirred after Highland Council's decision to refer to the Isle of Skye by its romantic Gaelic title - Eilean a'Cheo.

It means the Misty Isle, while the direct Gaelic translation of the Isle of Skye is an t-Eilean Sgiathanach.

The council said the change has only been made in terms of its local authority ward name.

However, some Skye residents fear it will lead to confusion, while others have welcomed it.

Skye, which is ward number 11, was one of three changed for the elections on Thursday.

Mid Ross is now known as Dingwall and Seaforth and East Sutherland is East Sutherland and Edderton.

They won't have a clue where that is. It's just going to ruin the whole island I think Anne Healey Bed and breakfast owner

Anne Healey, who runs a bed and breakfast in Uig, fears Eilean a' Cheo could lead to confusion.

She told Radio 4's Today programme: "The island gets many, many tourists. They won't have a clue where that is. It's just going to ruin the whole island I think."

DNA expert Professor Bryan Sykes, who bought a former home of acclaimed Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean, welcomed the use of Gaelic.

The professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford, who has lived on the isle for seven years, told BBC Scotland: "The Western Isles has done that for a number of years so I do think that it is preserving the cultural identity of places like Skye.

"It is extremely important in an age of modernisation, not just the Gaelic language and its other aspects such as the Mod and song, to maintain the diversity of the British Isles."