Bornish

Bornish
Scottish Gaelic: *Bòrnais*
Bornish Scottish Gaelic: Bòrnais;
	Saint Mary's Church, Bornish
	Bornish Location within the Outer Hebrides
Language	Scottish Gaelic; English
OS grid reference	NF739298
Community council	Bornish;
Council area	Na h-Eileanan Siar;
Lieutenancy area	Western Isles;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ISLE OF SOUTH UIST
Postcode district	HS8
Dialling code	01878
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Na h-Eileanan an Iar;
Scottish Parliament	Na h-Eileanan an Iar;
	List of places UK Scotland 57°14′35″N 7°24′22″W / 57.243°N 7.406°W

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]

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]

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 Bay 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] Walrus ivory from the Norse settlements in Greenland has also been 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

^ ^a ^b "Details of Bornish". Scottish Places. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
^ "A865/route". Sabre. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
^ "South Uist, Bornish, Dun Vulan". Canmore. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
^ Sharples and Smith (2007) pp. 113–14, 119
^ Sharples and Smith (2007) p. 120
^ 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