Pobull Fhinn ( ) is a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

on the Isle of North Uist in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

. The name is Gaelic. The first word has been variously spelt as ''pobull'', ''poball'', ''pobul'' or as plural ''pobuill''. The phrase can be translated as "Fionn's people", "the white/fair people", or "Finn's tent". The plural form ''Pobuill Fhinn'' can be translated as "Fionn's peoples" and is unlikely to be correct. The stones were probably named after the legendary Gaelic hero Fionn mac Cumhaill known in English as Finn or Fingal. The present title may constitute a modern rationalisation of a word now obsolete in colloquial Scottish Gaelic: ''Pùball Fhinn'' ("Fionn's tent") was a common phrase in the ancient Fenian cycle of Gaelic lore and indicated his nomadic residence. The stones are also known as ''Sòrnach Coir' Fhinn'', or "the fireplace of Fionn's cauldron" and locally as ''Sòrnach a' Phobaill'' ("the fireplace of the People"). The former name is similar to that of ''Sòrnaichean Coir' Fhinn'' ("the fireplaces of Fionn's cauldron") near Kensaleyre in Skye and ''Suidhe Coire Fhionn'' ("the site of Fionn's cauldron") in Arran. ''Coire Fhinn'' ("Fionn's cauldron") was used to cook the deer that he and his fellow hunters had killed. Of the several stone circles on the island, Pobull Fhinn is the most conspicuous. It is located on the south side of Ben Langass, and it possibly dates from the second millennium BC. It is technically an oval rather than a circle, measuring about from east to west and from north to south. Although situated on a natural plateau, the north side of the enclosed area has been excavated to about . At least two dozen stones can be counted, some eight on the northern half and 16 on the southern half, but parts of the circle are devoid of stones. About within the circle at the east side is a tall single stone, and there are two fallen slabs about beyond the western edge. Pobull Fhinn is located at

grid reference A projected coordinate systemalso called a projected coordinate reference system, planar coordinate system, or grid reference systemis a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on Earth using Cartesian coordinate system, Car ...

NF 8427 6502 . It can be reached from a footpath beginning near the Langass Lodge Hotel. Alternatively, it can be reached from the footpath to Barpa Langass that starts from the A867 about southwest of Lochmaddy; Barpa Langass is a walk up Ben Langass from Pobull Fhinn. The jagged shapes of the stones silhouetted against Loch Langass, Loch Eport, and Eaval make Pobull Fhinn one of the most visited and most photographed sites on North Uist.

Sources

* * {{Prehistoric Western Isles Stone circles in Na h-Eileanan Siar Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides North Uist Scheduled monuments in the Outer Hebrides