This is the second weblog post about a trip to Scotland undertaken by Alasdair and I in 2026-07. The focus here is mainly on the Hebrides: Barra, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Harris and Lewis. A third post will discuss Skye and Morar as well as our departure from Inverness.
One of the goals of trip was to fly from GLA = Glasgow airport to BRR = the beach on Barra in the far south of the Outer Hebrides. Alasdair had tried to land there three years ago, but he had his trips cancelled. This time, he and I made it, despite trips being cancelled the two previous days.
Context: Because I am the father of a transportation historian, it is never enough to say that I took a plane. Here is the detail that is required. Loganair is an independent Scottish regional airline based in Glasgow. On its route Glasgow – Barra and return, it operates two Viking Air DHC-6 Series 400 Twin Otter aircraft: G-HIAL (the aircraft we took) and G-SGTS. We took the flight to Barra on 2026-06-10.
In 1928, The British de Havilland Aircraft Company established a subsidiary in Canada, de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada (DHC). In the 1980s, the government of Canada under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney privatized DHC and in 1986 sold it to Boeing. DHC was eventually acquired by Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace in 1992 after cumulative losses of US$636 million over five years under Boeing.
In 2006, Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia, purchased the type certificates for all the original out-of-production de Havilland Canada designs (DHC-1 to DHC-7). These certificates gave it the right to manufacture these aircraft. While Viking Air, has its headquarters at Patricia Bay Airport, near Victoria, British Columbia, it constructed new production facilities in Calgary, Alberta for the manufacture of these DHC legacy aircraft. In 2018-11, Viking Air’s holding company, Longview Aviation Capital, announced the acquisition of the Dash 8 and Q400 program, the last DHC designs still held by Bombardier, along with the rights to the DHC name and trademark. This deal closed on 2019-06-03 following regulatory approval. For the first time since 2006 the entire Canadian de Havilland product line was under the same banner, that of a new holding company named De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited. Note: the initial D in the new name is upper case, in contrast to the lower case used previously. They currently produce the DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-8 Dash 8 and the DHC-515 Firefighter turboprop aircraft.
Even though these turboprops are slower than many jet aircraft, I often prioritize flying onboard D/de Havilland Aircraft when given the opportunity. In Norway, this means flying with Widerøe’s Flyveselskap AS, founded by Viggo Widerøe (1904 – 2002), Arild Widerøe (1908 – 1937) and four others, on 1934-02-19. It is the largest regional carrier in the Nordic countries. Since 2024-01, it has been part of Norwegian Air Shuttle. In addition to its Dash 8 (Q-400) turboprops, it also flies Embraer E190-E2 jets.
Back to the Hebrides
From north to south, the inhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides/ Western Isles consist of: Lewis, Harris (probably more correctly a peninsula attached to Lewis), North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay. From Benbecula and south, there are large Roman Catholic majorities (ca. 80%). They are historic strongholds of native, pre-Reformation Scottish Catholicism. Barra is called the island the Reformation did not reach. The northern part of the Western Isles/ Hebrides, Lewis and Harris and North Uist, are strictly Protestant and known for strong Presbyterian traditions.
I had always wondered how my Baptist ancestors had managed to survive in an overwhelmingly Catholic South Uist. My sister-in-law Aileen helped me understand it, through her genealogy studies. My original ancestor’s brother (on the paternal side of my paternal = McLellan ancestors) was the Catholic priest who accompanied the islanders to Cape Breton Island. The maternal side also presented me with a similar situation. The Ellis family were Catholic when they left Mohill, in County Leitrim, Ireland and arrived in Pakenham, Ontario, Canada. At some point between their arrival there and homesteading in the Jumping Pound of Alberta, then their arrival in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, they too had become Protestants. I was an adult before I understood that this side of my family was Irish and not Scottish. I was in my 70s before I understood that this side of my family was originally Catholic.
We took delivery of a rental car at the airport. Then took a circle tour of Barra, stopping at Castlebay, in the south. Here we visited the community hub/ shop for coffee as well as iron-on Barra flags. Unfortunately, there were no larger flags to buy. From there we were also able to see Kisimul Castle.
The MacNeils headquartered themselves at Kisimul Castle, shown above, making use of Birlinns, essentially Viking cargo ships, with rudders rather than a stearing oars, to engage in piracy, especially attacking English ships during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603). They were summoned by James VI (1566 – 1625) to answer for their behaviour. Ruari the Tatar/ Rory the Turbulent, politely known as Roderick (1569 – 1594), chief of clan MacNeil , argued that he thought James would be pleased, since Elizabeth had beheaded his mother Mary (1542 – 1587). James was pleased, and released him.
The Western Isles/ Outer Hebrides have the oldest rocks in Britain, 2.9 billion years old. That is about the age of Norway’s oldest bedrock, located outside of Kirkenes, about as far north as one can go on mainland Norway, which is about 3 billion years old. The bedrock where we live in Trøndelag is a mere 1.0 to 1.5 billion years old.
We continued our drive around the island on Highway 888, ending up at the ferry terminal. We had booked a ferry for the next day, and had to line up in the queue for vehicles without a secured place. However, space was found for us, and we were able to travel to Uibhist a Deas = South Uist.
We took the Caledonian MacBrayne vehicular ferry travels between Ardmore in Barra and Eriskay. The crossing took around 40 minutes.
At the 2022 census South Uist had a population of 1 650, a decrease of 104 since 2011. The island, in common with the rest of the Hebrides, is one of the last remaining strongholds of the Gaelic language in Scotland. South Uist’s inhabitants are known in Gaelic as Deasaich = Southerners.
When we disembarked from the ferry at Braehead, Lochboisdale, on South Uist, one of the first things we noticed was the Pitstop Gift Spot, established in 2007 as an alternative/gothic online store. We visited it, buying a couple of cups labeled Arsenic and Poison. Arsenic is Alasdair’s nickname, using the Norwegian spelling Arsenikk, so it was appropriate. In Norwegian, gift means poison (as a noun), as well as married (as an adjective). Pronunciation = IPA: jˈɪft, Phonetic spelling: y-ift.
One of the highlights of South Uist was visiting its museum. The museum has a cash only policy. However when we explained our plight (of not carrying cash) to the attendant, she let us in without paying. Thank you.
Eriskay = Èirisgeigh (Scottish Gaelic), from Eric’s Isle in Old Nose, is an island with a population of 160. It lies between South Uist and Barra. It is connected to South Uist by a causeway which was opened in 2001. In the same year Ceann a’ Ghàraidh (Scottish Gaelic) = Head of the Garden (English translation) in Eriskay became the ferry terminal.
We stayed two nights on Benbecula. Here we were able to trade Alasdair’s Norwegian flag, for a flag of South Uist.
North Uist is an island defined by its landscape. Its many lochans (small lakes) attract a vast array of wildlife. Some 9 000 seal pups are born on the nearby Monach Isles each year, Europe’s biggest breeding colony. Historic places on North Uist include: Barpa Langass, a 5 000-year-old burial chamber, and Pobull Finn, an ancient stone circle.
Stornoway and other places on Harris and Lewis
From North Uist, we crossed over a causeway to Berneray. As before, the name is derived from Old Norse Bjarnar-øy which means either Bjorn’s island or bear island = Beàrnaraigh Uibhist (Gaelic) = Berneray of Uist (Modern English) = Beàrnaraigh na Hearadh (older Gaelic) = Berneray of Harris (older English) used to distinguish it from Beàrnaraigh Cheann = Bharraigh (modern Gaelic) = Berneray of Barra Head = Barra Head (modern English) = Beàrnaraigh Leòdhais (older Gaelic) = Great Bernera. Yes, names can be difficult.
For us, the importance of this place was the ferry terminal and the ferry that would allow us to travel to Harris, that southern peninsula attached to Lewis, in the north of the outer Hebrides.
Arriving on Harris, we noticed a more mountainous environment with trees! We continued our drive across the peninsula, and then arrived at Lewis, the larger portion of the island. This is the largest island in Great Britain, at 2 179 square kilometers, and a population of 19 680 souls. We drove through the landscape to Stornoway, population 4 578 in 2021. Compared to everything else on the outer Hebrides, it resembled a city, but referred to itself as a town. Our accommodation was easy to find, and there was parking (almost) immediately outside of it. Inside, we found the self-service desk with our keys, and retreated to our rooms.
We missed the 10:00 tour of the Harris Tweed Authority, but used the hour to visit Gordon Macdonald, a weaver located in Stornaway. He used his garage as a workspace, in accordance with the rules. He is shown in the photo below. He weaves two sets simultaneously, one on the right and one on the left. Equipped with a two meter wide reed, resembles a comb or a frame with many vertical slits, that determines product spacing, the loom can be pedaled at a rate of 80 picks per minute. A pick is a single pass of the weft yarn in a shuttle, across the stationary warp threads.
Gordon uses a pedal driven Bonas Griffith Harris Tweed Loom, the world’s only rapier hand Loom. This loom is the work-horse of the Harris Tweed industry , being used by the majority of the 140 weavers currently working in the Outer Hebrides. All Harris tweed looms are human powered, most using pedals. No electricity is allowed to be used in the weaving process. I left with a scarf, while Alasdair left with a smaller pieces for holding cards.
Floor space of the loom, without operator seat or weft creel is 3100mm wide by 1500mm deep. The weight of the machine is about 475 kg. The loom is built in Washington,
Tyne and Wear, in England. Washington is located between Chester-le-Street, Gateshead and South Tyneside. I had relatives living in the middle two of the four places mentioned.
At 11:00 we were back to the Harris Tweed Authority, to attend the second of the day’s official tours, to learn more about the weaving of Harri Tweed. The most interesting part was about the dyeing of wool, which is done before the wool is made into yarn. I knew almost everything about the carding and weaving of the cloth, being married to a weaver. I left with a book about the history of Harris tweed in the outer Hebrides.
We ate dinner at the Golden Ocean Restaurant, in downtown Stornoway. Before entering, I noted that one of the municipal worker was wearing a pair of yellow gumboots (as I all them in my dialect). I asked him where he had bought them. He pointed down the street and said: The Stornoway Fishermans Chandler.
The restaurant was more crowded than I had expected. Soon after we had been seated, two other tables were filled up, with the people divided by gender, four men at one table next to us, and somewhat further away, four women at another. Norwegians!
After breakfast, but still early the next morning, I walked down to the chandlery, and bought myself a pair. For years I have tried to buy yellow gumboots, without success. These are so professional, that they have protective steel toes included in the £60 price.
We soon packed, and were off to the Stornoway ferry quay in the centre of town. We waited in the queue until it was time to board the Loch Seaforth. The ferry has been in service since 2015. It is named for a fjord at the southern end of Lewis and Harris, near the ferry terminal at Tarbert. Soon we were off on our next adventure, across the Minch = A’ Mhaoil (Scottish Gaelic) = Skotlandsfjörð (Old Norse) meaning Scotland’s firth/ fjord. It is a strait in north-west Scotland that separates Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides from the mainland.
Flags
