Bearasaigh or Bearasay (and sometimes Berisay) is an islet in outer

Loch Ròg Loch Ròg or Loch Roag is a large sea loch on the west coast of Isle of Lewis, Lewis, Outer Hebrides. It is broadly divided into East Loch Roag and West Loch Roag with other branches which include Little Loch Roag. The loch is dominated by the on ...

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

, Scotland. During the late 16th and early 17th centuries it was used as a pirates' hideout and the remains of various buildings from that period still exist. In the modern era its cliffs are used for rock-climbing.

Geography

Bearasaigh lies north west of

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; ), often known just as Bernera (), is an island and community council, community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest List of islands of Scotland, Scottish island. Great ...

, Little Bernera and Flodaigh (flat island) and south of Seanna Chnoc (old hill). Although steep-sided the isle has a relatively flat summit. Immediately to the west is Stac an Tùill and there is a sea cave to the north east. The deep sea channel between Bearasaigh and Seanna Chnoc is said to be "troublesome" when the wind opposes the tidal current.

Pirate's redoubt

In the 16th century the island was the retreat of Neil MacLeod, the Lewis patriot and illegitimate son of the

clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard ci ...

of the

MacLeods of Lewis Clan MacLeod of The Lewes, commonly known as Clan MacLeod of Lewis (), is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, which at its height held extensive lands in the Western Isles and west coast of Scotland. From the 14th century up until the be ...

, Old Ruari. In 1598 King

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had authorised some " Gentleman Adventurers" from Fife to civilise the "most barbarous Isle of Lewis" and take over the herring fisheries. Initially successful, the colonists were driven out by local forces commanded by Neil MacLeod, his brother Murdoch and his nephews Malcolm, William and Ruairi. The MacLeods, with a contingent of 40 men lived on Bearasaigh for three years, eluding the pro-monarchy MacKenzies.Rotary Club (1995) pp. 12–13Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 312 Seana Chnoc and Bearasaigh - geograph

During their stay there the ''Priam'' under the command of the English pirate Peter Love entered Loch Ròg. His ship was full of cargo which consisted of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, 700 Indian hides, and 29 pieces of silver plate which had been looted from an English ship; a box, containing various precious stones of great value, which had been looted from a Dutch ship; as well as a large number of

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s. Love and MacLeod entered into an agreement and numerous ships were seized along with their cargoes.Mackenzie (1903) pp. 248–252 These included a ship owned by Thomas Fleming of

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

, whom they detained as a prisoner and a

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ship, later driven by bad weather onto the coast of

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, where the crew was forced to go ashore. Neil MacLeod, however, betrayed Love, and during a feast attempted to seize the pirates. Some of the pirates were killed during a desperate scuffle, but Love and the ''Priam'' were captured by MacLeod and his men. This action provided MacLeod with both money and a means of reconciliation with the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. Love and nine of his men were handed over to the authorities in December 1610. They were tried in Edinburgh and

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

on the sands of

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

.Pitcairn (1833) pp. 99–101 Berisay - geograph

MacLeod did not last much longer than Love. In 1613, he was forced from Bearasaigh and fled to

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

and the protection of his kinsman, chief Rory Mor MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan. Neil MacLeod hoped he could obtain a pardon from

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

but upon reaching Glasgow, MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan gave him up to the authorities.Mackenzie (1886) p. 290 He was found guilty of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

and hanged in April 1613Roberts (1999) pp. 146–147 and his son Donald was banished to England.

Ruins

The remains of the buildings used by Neil MacLeod and his 25 followers are in "the south-western corner of the island"."Outer Isles: Lewis, Bearasaigh (NB 122 424)"
SMC. Retrieved 25 July 2010. There are five structures, one of which is T-shaped.

Sporting activities

Appropriately for a place the Norse called "precipice isle",

rock climbers Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and o ...

have identified a variety of routes on Bearasaigh's cliffs. "Hadrians Wall" is on the northwest corner of the island, "Pictland" at the north end and "Weathermans Geodha" on the eastern shore. There is also a climb called "Ask not for whom the Bell Tuills" on Stac an Tuill, a sea

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

that requires a swimmer to set up

Tyrolean traverse In climbing, a Tyrolean traverse is a technique that enables climbers to cross a void between two fixed points, such as between a headland and a detached rock pillar (e.g. a sea stack), or between two points that enable the climbers to cross ove ...

s. Bearasaigh is also a destination for experienced sea

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

ers.Emmott ''et al'' (2010) pp. 14–15

Notes

References

* Emmott, Robert, Pickering, Tom and Sullivan, Mike (2010
''The Outer Hebrides: Sea Kayak Journeys to the Isles and St Kilda''
Caernarfon. Pesda Press. Retrieved 27 July 2010. * * * * * * Rotary Club of Stornoway (1995) ''The Outer Hebrides Handbook and Guide''. Machynlleth. Kittwake. {{Authority control Islands of Loch Ròg