2-361-854 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fingal's Cave, Staffa, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. 1814 (1956). The distinctive rock formations of Fingal's Cave are formed by the same geological processes as those at the Giant's Causeway on the other side of the Irish Sea. After a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, hexagonal basalt columns formed as the lava cooled. The cave, which has been formed by the erosive action of the sea, is easily accessible. It was discovered in 1772 by Sir Joseph Banks and a visit to the cave by the composer Felix Mendelssohn inspired him to write his Hebrides Overture, popularly known as Fingal's Cave. A print from Places, a volume about the origin and early history of many things, common and less common, essential and inessential, by Readers Union, the Grosvenor Press, London, 1956.