Bornish

Bornish[1] (Scottish Gaelic: Bòrnais) is a village and community council area on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Bornish is also within the civil parish of South Uist.[1] The A865 passes through Bornish, on the route between Lochmaddy and Lochboisdale.[2]

Bornish

Saint Mary's Church, Bornish
Bornish
Location within the Outer Hebrides
LanguageScottish Gaelic
English
OS grid referenceNF739298
Community council
  • Bornish
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townISLE OF SOUTH UIST
Postcode districtHS8
Dialling code01878
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

History

The construction of nearby Dun Vulan broch has been dated to the period 150–50 BC. Located on the coast, it was originally 10 metres (33 ft) in height, but is now reduced to walls of 1.52 metres (5.0 ft). A Pictish house was later built within the walls.[3]

Dun Vulan broch

Excavations of a Norse settlement nearby have provided important information about lifestyles during this period. It suggests that pigs were a more important aspect of Viking farming than prior to that time, that red deer numbers may have been "controlled" rather than the species simply being subject to hunting, that herring fishing became an important commercial consideration and that trade with centres to the south such as Dublin and Bristol may have been important. Coins found at Bornais and nearby Cille Pheadair were produced in Norway, Westphalia, and England, although there were none from Scotland.[4] Ivory from Greenland was also found there.[5]

It is known that Hebrides were taxed using the Ounceland system and evidence from Bornais suggests that settlers there may have been more prosperous than families of a similar status in the Northern Isles, possibly due to a more relaxed political regime.[6]

References

  1. "Details of Bornish". Scottish Places. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. "A865/route". Sabre. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  3. "South Uist, Bornish, Dun Vulan". Canmore. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  4. Sharples and Smith (2007) pp. 113–14, 119
  5. Sharples and Smith (2007) p. 120
  6. Sharples and Smith (2007) p. 104, 109, 124
  • Sharples, Niall and Smith, Rachel "Norse settlement in the Western Isles" in Woolf, Alex (ed.) (2007) Scandinavian Scotland – Twenty Years After. St Andrews. St Andrews University Press. ISBN 978-0-9512573-7-1


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