Borve
I’m looking at a picture (photograph) just now. It is of an old
Gaelic village. There are thatched
houses in the village.
The village was on a small
island. The island is still there. But
the village is not there. The people
left a long time ago.
The island is Boreray. Boreray
means “fort-island” in Old Norse.
It’s close to North Uist and Berneray. I understand there is only one
person living there today.
But in 1904, when the picture
was taken, there was a community
there. The picture was taken by a
certain Erskine Beveridge. Beveridge was from Dumfermline but he
was particularly fond of the Highlands. At the start of the twentieth
century, he bought an estate in
North Uist. And he built a house on
[the island of] Vallay, near the coast
of Uist.
The picture of Boreray is in a
collection of old photographs. They
appeared recently in a book called
Wanderings with a Camera in Scotland. There are other places in
the Western Isles in the book. And
there are also Coll, Tiree, Lismore,
Lochaber, Argyll, Perthshire – and
Fife. Some of the best photos in the
book are of the small fishing villages
in Fife.
Beveridge was a businessman.
He was wealthy. He was interested
in archaeology, history and photography [camera work].
In 1896 he had holidays in Coll
and Tiree. He did research on the
old archaeological sites on those
islands. He published a book – Coll
and Tiree: Their Prehistoric Forts
and Ecclesiastical Antiquities.
He also did research on
archaeological sites in Uist. He
published the book North Uist: Its
Archaeology and Topography.
And what happened to the
community in Boreray? Well, the
people left in 1923. That was three
years after the death of Erskine
Beveridge. It wasn’t a clearance.
According to the new book, the
crofters themselves were wanting to
leave.
Am Borgh
Tha mi a’ coimhead air dealbh an-dràsta. Tha e de sheann bhaile
Gàidhealach. Tha taighean tughaidh
anns a’ bhaile.
Bha am baile air eilean beag.
Tha an t-eilean fhathast ann. Ach
chan eil am baile ann. Dh’fhalbh na
daoine o chionn fhada.
’S e an t-eilean Boraraigh.
Tha Boraraigh a’ ciallachadh “dùn-eilean” no “borgh-eilean” ann an
seann Lochlannais. Tha e faisg air
Uibhist a Tuath agus Beàrnaraigh.
Tha mi a’ tuigsinn gu bheil dìreach
aon duine a’ fuireach ann an-diugh.
Ach, ann an naoi ceud deug ’s
a ceithir (1904), nuair a bha an
dealbh air a thogail, bha coimhearsnachd ann. Chaidh an dealbh a
thogail le fear Erskine Beveridge. ’S
ann à Dùn Phàrlain a bha Beveridge,
ach bha e gu math measail air a’
Ghàidhealtachd. Aig toiseach an
fhicheadamh linn, cheannaich e
oighreachd ann an Uibhist a Tuath.
Agus thog e taigh ann an Eilean
Bhàlaigh faisg air cladach Uibhist.
Tha an dealbh de Bhoraraigh
ann an cruinneachadh de sheann
dealbhan-camara. Nochd iad o
chionn ghoirid ann an leabhar air a
bheil Wanderings with a Camera in
Scotland. Tha àiteachan eile anns na
h-Eileanan an Iar anns an leabhar.
Tha, agus Colla, Tiriodh, Lios Mòr,
Loch Abar, Earra-Ghàidheal, Siorrachd Pheairt – agus Fìobh. ’S ann de
na bailtean beaga iasgaich ann am
Fìobh a tha cuid de na dealbhan as
fheàrr anns an leabhar.
’S e fear-gnothaich a bha ann
am Beveridge. Bha e beartach. Bha
ùidh aige ann an àrc-eòlas, eachdraidh agus obair a’ chamara.
Ann an ochd ceud deug,
naochad ’s a sia (1896) bha làithean-saora aige ann an Colla is Tiriodh.
Rinn e rannsachadh air na seann
làraichean arc-eòlach anns na h-eileanan sin. Dh’fhoillsich e leabhar –
Coll and Tiree: Their Prehistoric
Forts and Ecclesiastical Antiquities.
Rinn e rannsachadh cuideachd
air làraichean arc-eòlach ann an
Uibhist. Dh’fhoillsich e an leabhar
North Uist: Its Archaeology and
Topography.
Agus dè thachair don choimhearsnachd ann am Boraraigh? Uill,
dh’fhalbh na daoine ann an naoi ceud
deug, fichead ’s a trì (1923). Bha sin
trì bliadhna às dèidh bàs Erskine
Beveridge. Chan e fuadach a bha
ann. A rèir an leabhair ùir, bha na
croitearan fhèin ag iarraidh falbh.
