Benbecula ([5] or Beinn na Faoghla[6][7]) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2022 census it had a resident population of 1,255 including a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a zone administered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar or the Western Isles Council. The island is about 12 km from west to east and a similar distance from north to south. It lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist and is connected to both by road causeways. Benbecula's main settlement and administrative centre is Balivanich (Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Mhanaich, meaning "Town of the Monk").
In 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie was caught in a storm and forced to land on Benbecula. The population of Benbecula were sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, and smuggled him off the island to safety, as the song has it: "over the sea to Skye".
In 2006, local residents took control of parts of the island in a community buy-out. The previous landowners, a sporting syndicate, sold their 372 km2 estate, which included Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay, for £4.5 million, to a community-owned organisation known as Stòras Uibhist, which now manages the land in perpetuity.
Language
Etymology
The first written record of the name is as "Beanbeacla" in 1449.[8] The names Beinn nam Fadhla[5] and Beinn na Faoghla[6][7] are used in Scottish Gaelic today. All these names are assumed to derive from Peighinn nam Fadhla (pronounced ) "pennyland of the fords" as the island is low-lying.
The second element is a loan from Norse vaðil(l) "ford" which was borrowed as Gaelic fadhail (genitive fadhla).[9] Through the process of reverse lenition fadhla, with the ethnonymic suffix -ach has led to the formation of Badhlach "a person from Benbecula".
Geology
In common with the rest of the Western Isles, Benbecula is formed from the oldest rocks in Britain, the Lewisian gneiss which dates from the Archaean eon. Some around Ruabhal is described as Scourian gneiss of ortho-amphibolite composition. The direction of inclination of layered textures or foliation in this metamorphic rock varies across the island. Pseudotachylites are developed in certain areas whilst dykes and metasediments are noted at various localities.[12] The island is traversed by numerous normal faults most of which run broadly NW-SE though others run NNW-SSE. The Outer Hebrides Thrust, a legacy of the Caledonian orogeny, lies just off the eastern coast of the island and is seen on neighbouring Wiay and Marigaidh. Recent geological deposits include blown sand which is found around Balivanich and the airport and peat which though widespread in pockets, is found in larger quantities in the centre of the island.[13]
Geography
The island is about 12 km from west to east and a similar distance from north to south. It lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist; it is connected to both by road causeways. Travel to any of the other Hebridean islands, or to the British mainland, is by air or sea. Benbecula Airport on the island has daily flights to Glasgow, Stornoway and Barra. A direct service to Inverness was introduced in 2006 but discontinued in May 2007. There are no direct ferry services from Benbecula to the mainland, but a service operated by Caledonian MacBrayne from Lochboisdale on South Uist provides a five-hour crossing to Oban on the mainland, whilst another service from Lochmaddy on North Uist provides a two-hour crossing to Uig on the Inner Hebridean island of Skye, and hence to the mainland via the Skye Bridge. Ferry services from the islands of Berneray (linked by causeway to North Uist) and Eriskay (linked to South Uist
History
Early history
A number of standing stones from the Neolithic period are scattered throughout the island, including the remains of a stone circle at Rubha Bhidein, adjacent to the traditional ford to Grimsay. In addition to these, the remains of two chambered cairns lie between Loch Ba Una, and Loch nan Clachan. A Beaker site has been identified a Rossinish.
The island is rich in built remains from the Iron Age, though they are generally in poor condition. A number of small island forts can be found throughout Benbecula, particularly on Loch Olabhat, but the most substantial is Dun Buidhe, near Balivanich, which has a series of causeways linking it to the loch shore, via Eilean Dubh (Black Island); a wheelhouse was also present nearby (a better preserved wheelhouse survives on the adjacent island of Grimsay), at which Iron Age pottery was found.
At the shore near Dun Buidhne was found a Class 1 Pictish symbol stone, inscribed with two basic symbols[18] one of the only indications anywhere in the Outer Hebrides that Picts had been present. Traditional accounts claim that Ternan, an Irish missionary of the late 5th/early 6th century, established a chapel to the south of Dun Buidhe, from which he sought to convert the Picts to Christianity; Balivanich takes its name from this supposed establishment.
Modern island life
In 2001 the census recorded a population of 1,219[43] the 2011 total of 1,303 being an increase of 7% against an average of 3% for all Scottish islands.[44] By 2022 the population was 1,255.[2]
A contributor to the economy is RRH Benbecula. The site near Balvanich also includes Benbecula Airport, with regular flights to Glasgow, Inverness, and Stornoway.
Benbecula Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery at Gramsdale on Benbecula. Developed in a converted salmon-processing facility, the site began producing spirit in June 2024 and features a distinctive glass, lighthouse-style stillhouse.[45][46]
Mythology
A local myth states that a mermaid, discovered in 1830, is reportedly buried near the sea on Benbecula.[50][51]
See also
- List of islands of Scotland
Bibliography
- Gregory, Donald (1881) The History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland 1493–1625. Edinburgh. Birlinn. 2008 reprint – originally published by Thomas D. Morrison. ISBN 1-904607-57-8
External links
References
- {{Ordnance Survey}}^
- {{RESAS}}^
- Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 236^
- Welcome to Benbecula Explore Scotland, retrieved 19 August 2008^