|  South Uist ('south abode'; Gaelic: Uist a' Deas), (shown left, click to enlarge). South Uist is about 21 miles long and roughly six miles wide, covering approximately 141 square miles. There are fantastic beaches down the west coast of the island, although many are used for military purposes (take heed of signs), while the east of the island is extremely hilly and even mountainous: Ben Mhor is the highest peak and rises to over 2000 feet, while Hecla is 1988 feet. The east is also indented with several sea lochs, and there are nearly 200 lochs and small lochans. The population of South Uist is about 2300 with the largest settlements being Lochboisdale and Daliburgh. The population is largely catholic, along with Barra to the south - while North Uist and Benbecula are presbyterian - and speaks Gaelic.
 South Uist has a large number of duns, several wheel houses, also known as aisled houses (which appear to have been occupied between 200-300 AD) and an important ecclesiastical site at Howmore. The north part of South Uist was a property of the Clan Ranald branch of the MacDonalds from the 1370s. The south was held by the MacNeils of Barra until 1621 when it passed to the Mackenzies of Kintail, although the MacNeils continued as tenants.
The chief of Clan Ranald was killed fighting for the Jacobites at the battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715. Flora MacDonald was born at Milton on South Uist, and from here helped Bonnie Prince Charlie back over the Minch to Skye in 1746: he had sheltered in a small cave, known as the Prince's Cave [NF 834313), above Corodale Bay. The Prince had also sheltered in Caisteal Calvay. The previous year, Charlie had landed on Eriskay, but finding little support made for the mainland.
 In 1838 the island, as well as Benbecula and Eriskay, was sold to the Gordons of Cluny, who cleared much of the population: at one time the population was well over 7000. There is an army missile station at the north of the island. Click on the image to the left to enter a gallery of South Uist photographs submitted by a visitor to the Virtual Hebrides.
SOURCES:
The Hebrides: a guide to the islands of western Scotland. Martin Coventry''s guide to the Hebrides is packed with detailed information on all the islands that make up the chain and includes maps, illustrations, indexes by island and site and a general index.' - Many thanks to Martin for allowing us to use this information.
All information copyright Martin Coventry. Buy in UK Buy in US
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