South Uist (, ; ) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2022 census it had a usually resident 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). The population is about 90% Roman Catholic.
The island is home to a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in the British Isles where prehistoric mummies have been found.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mummies-may-have-been-scattered-across-bronze-age-britain-180956796/ “A pair of well-preserved bodies dating back to around 1300 and 1600 B.C. was discovered in 2001, entombed beneath an ancient dwelling in Cladh Hallan, Scotland. Intriguingly, these bodies seem to have been intentionally mummified.” In the northwest, there is a missile testing range. In 2006 South Uist, together with neighbouring Benbecula and Eriskay, was involved in Scotland's biggest-ever community land buyout by Stòras Uibhist.Stòras Uibhist The group also owns the "biggest community wind farm in Scotland", Lochcarnan, on South Uist which opened in 2013.Scots community wind farm secures future
Geology In common with the rest of the Western Isles, South Uist is formed from the oldest rocks in Britain, Lewisian gneiss brought to the surface by old tectonic movements. They bear the scars of the last glaciation which has exposed many of them. The rocks had high-grade regional metamorphism around 2,900 million years ago: in the Archaean eon. Some show granulite facies metamorphism, but most have slightly cooler amphibolite facies. A number of metabasic bodies and metasediments occur locally in the gneiss.
On the east side of the island between Lochboisdale and Ornish – part of the Outer Hebrides Thrust Zone – is the Corodale gneiss, dominated by garnet-pyroxene rock. A narrow zone of pseudotachylyte occurs along its western margin with the regular gneiss. The Usinish peninsula is formed from ‘mashed gneiss’, within which the banding has mainly been destroyed. Between these two gneisses is a band of mylonite (as offshore on Stuley). Mashed gneiss occurs again in the extreme southeast. Small occurrences of Archaean granites are found in the centre of the island.
The island is traversed by many normal faults: E to W, to NNW to SSE, many being NW to SE. Numerous NW to SE dykes cut through the island: quartz-dolerite, camptonite and monchiquite dykes of Permo-Carboniferous age and later Palaeogene tholeiitic dykes. More recent geological deposits include blown sand along the northern and western coasts and peat inland along with some (glacial) till.
Geography
The west is machair (fertile low-lying coastal plain) with a continuous sandy beach, whilst the east coast is mountainous, with the peaks of Beinn Mhòr (Gèideabhal) at and Hecla at . The island is linked to Eriskay and Benbecula by causeways.
There are numerous lochs and lochans, the largest of which is Loch Bì.
The main village on the island is Lochboisdale (Loch Baghasdail), from which Caledonian MacBrayne operates ferries to Mallaig (Malaig) on the Scottish mainland (some sailings to Oban in winter when the only large vessel able to dock at Mallaig, MV Lord of the Isles, is covering elsewhere on the Calmac network for vessels in drydock, or in drydock herself). The company previously operated services to Castlebay (Bàgh a' Chaisteil) on Barra, however as of the 2016 fleet reshuffle these have been removed. There is a separate service to Ardmhòr (Barra) operating from Eriskay numerous times a day. Smaller settlements include Daliburgh (Dalabrog), Howmore (Tobha Mòr) and Ludag (An Lùdag).
Climate South Uist has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb).
Etymology Mac an Tàilleir (2003) suggests that the derivation of Uist may be "corn island".Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 116 However, whilst noting that the vist ending would have been familiar to speakers of Old Norse as meaning "dwelling", Gammeltoft (2007) says that the word is "of non-Gaelic origin" and that it reveals itself as one of a number of "foreign place-names having undergone adaptation in Old Norse". In contrast, Clancy (2018) has argued that Ívist itself is an Old Norse calque on an earlier Gaelic name, *Ibuid or Ibdaig, which corresponds to Ptolemy’s Eboudai.
History Early history
South Uist was clearly home to a thriving Neolithic community. There are several Neolithic remains, such as burial cairns, and a small number of standing stones, of which the largest—standing tall—is in the centre of the island, at the northern edge of Beinn A' Charra. Occupation continued into the Chalcolithic, as evidenced by a number of Beaker finds throughout the island.
Later in the Bronze Age, a man was mummified, and placed on display at Cladh Hallan, parts occasionally being replaced over the centuries; he was joined by a woman three hundred years later. Together they are the only known prehistoric mummies in the British Isles.BBC - History - The Mummies of Cladh Hallan Towards the end of the Bronze Age, the mummies were buried, and a row of roundhouses built on top of them.
Burials underneath buildings during this time are seen elsewhere on South Uist. At Hornish Point (Cnoc Mòr) a burial was found under a roundhouse, consisting of an individual, likely male and aged 12. The skeleton had been dismembered, probably some time after death when the body was partly decomposed. Cannibalism was ruled out as there were none of the marks of skinning, filleting and butchering which would be expected if it was cannibalism.
Cladh Hallan was not abandoned until the late Iron Age. At around that time, in the 2nd century BC, a broch was built at Dun Vulan; archeological investigation suggests the inhabitants often ate pork. After the 2nd century AD, the Dun Vulan broch was converted into a three-roomed house. At a similar time, a wheelhouse was constructed at Kilpheder; within a cupboard (in the wheelhouse) was found an enameled bronze brooch, of a style fashionable in the Roman Britain of 150 AD.
Kingdom of the Isles
In the 9th century, Vikings invaded South Uist, along with the rest of the Hebrides, and the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata to the south, and established the Kingdom of the Isles throughout these lands. A short Ogham inscription has been found in Bornish, inscribed on a piece of animal bone, dating from this era;An Ogham-Inscribed Plaque from Bornais, South Uist, Katherine Forsyth in West over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300, edited by Gareth Williams, 2007, Koninklijke Brill, p. 471-472 it is thought that the Vikings used it as a gaming token, or perhaps for sortilege.
Following Norwegian unification under King Harold Fairhair, the Kingdom of the Isles was declared a crown dependency by the Norwegian king; to the Norwegians it was Suðreyjar (meaning southern isles). Malcolm III of Scotland acknowledged in writing that Suðreyjar was under Norwegian control, and later King Edgar was forced to quitclaim in favour of the invaders. At Kilpheder, the roundhouses were abandoned in favour of Norse longhouses; at Bornish, a few miles to the north, a more substantial Norse settlement was built. As indicated by archaeological finds, residents had access to a wide trading network, stretching throughout the Norwegian empire, as well as adjacent lands like Ireland.
However, in the mid-12th century, Somerled, a Norse-Gael of uncertain origin, launched a coup, which made Suðreyjar independent of Norwegian domination. Following his death, Norwegian authority was nominally restored, but in practice the kingdom was divided between Somerled's heirs (), and the dynasty that Somerled had deposed (the Crovan dynasty). The final return of Scotland's territory was to follow. The MacRory, a branch of Somerled's heirs, ruled Uist, as well as Barra, Eigg, Rùm, the Rough Bounds, Bute, Arran and northern Jura.Kingship and Unity, Scotland 1000-1306, G. W. S. Barrow, Edinburgh University Press, 1981Galloglas: Hebridean and West Highland Mercenary Warrior Kindreds in Medieval Ireland, John Marsden, 2003Lismore: The Great Garden, Robert Hay, 2009, Birlinn LtdProceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 90 (1956-1957), A.A.M. Duncan, A.L Brown, pages 204-205The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, R. A. McDonald, 1997, Tuckwell Press A small monastery was established at Howmore.
Lordships
In the 13th century, despite Edgar's quitclaim, Scottish forces attempted to restore parts of Suðreyjar to Scotland, culminating in the Battle of Largs. In 1266, the matter was settled by the Treaty of Perth, which acknowledged the whole of Suðreyjar to Scotland, in exchange for a compensatory sum of money. The Treaty expressly preserved the status of the rulers of Suðreyjar; the MacRory lands, excepting Bute, Arran, and Jura, became the Lordship of Garmoran, a quasi-independent crown dependency. Following this, the Norse longhouses were gradually abandoned, in favour of new Blackhouses and a new parish church was built at Howmore for South Uist.
At the turn of the century, William I had created the position of Sheriff of Inverness, to be responsible for the Scottish highlands, which now extended to Garmoran.Dickinson W.C., The Sheriff Court Book of Fife, Scottish History Society, Third Series, Vol. XII (Edinburgh 1928), pp. 357–360The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2017), 15 July 1476 In 1293, however, king John Balliol established the Sheriffdom of Skye, which included the Outer Hebrides. Nevertheless, following his usurpation, the Skye sheriffdom ceased to be mentioned, and the Garmoran lordship (including Uist) was confirmed to the MacRory leader. In 1343, King David II issued a further charter for this to the latter's son.Regesta Regum Scottorum VI ed. Bruce Webster (Edinburgh 1982) no. 73.
Just three years later the sole surviving MacRory heir was Amy of Garmoran. The southern parts of the Kingdom of the Isles had become the Lordship of the Isles, ruled by the MacDonalds (another group of Somerled's descendants). Amy married the MacDonald leader, John of Islay, but a decade later he divorced her, and married the king's niece instead (in return for a substantial dowry). As part of the divorce, John deprived his eldest son, Ranald, of the ability to inherit the Lordship of the Isles, in favour of a son by his new wife. As compensation, John granted Lordship of Uist to Ranald's younger brother Godfrey, while making Ranald Lord of the remainder of Garmoran.
However, on Ranald's death, disputes between Godfrey and his nephews (the elder of whom founded Clan Ranald) led to an enormous amount of violent feuding. In 1427, frustrated with the level of violence in the Highlands, King James I demanded that Highland leaders should attend a meeting at Inverness. On arrival, many of the leaders were seized and imprisoned; Alexander MacGorrie, son of Godfrey, was considered to be one of the two most reprehensible, and after a quick show trial, was immediately executed., p. 65 King James declared the Lordship of Uist forfeit.
Fracture
Following the forfeiture, and in that same year, the Lord of the Isles granted Lairdship of the southern third of South Uist (traditionally called Lochboisdale), together with Barra, to Giolla Adhamhnáin mac Néill, leader of the MacNeils. At around this time Calvay Castle was built, guarding Lochboisdale.