History
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Early history[edit]
Loch Ba Una
A number of standing stones from the Neolithic period are scattered throughout the island, including the remains of a stone circle at Rubha Bhidein, adjacent to the traditional ford to Grimsay. In addition to these, the remains of two chambered cairns lie between Loch Ba Una, and Loch nan Clachan. A Beaker site has been identified a Rossinish.
Loch Dùn Mhurchaidh; Dun Buidhe is on the larger island in the distance.
The island is rich in built remains from the Iron Age, though they are generally in poor condition. A number of small island forts can be found throughout Benbecula, particularly on Loch Olabhat, but the most substantial is Dun Buidhe, near Balivanich, which has a series of causeways linking it to the loch shore, via Eilean Dubh (Black Island); a wheelhouse was also present nearby (a better preserved wheelhouse survives on the adjacent island of Grimsay), at which Iron Age pottery was found.
At the shore near Dun Buidhne was found a Class 1 Pictish symbol stone, inscribed with two basic symbols one of the only indications anywhere in the Outer Hebrides that Picts had been present. Traditional accounts claim that Ternan, an Irish missionary of the late 5th/early 6th century, established a chapel to the south of Dun Buidhe, from which he sought to convert the Picts to Christianity; Balivanich takes its name from this supposed establishment.
Kingdom[edit]
In the 9th century Viking settlers established the Kingdom of the Isles throughout the Hebrides. Nevertheless, although evidence of Viking settlement has been found in both North and South Uist, there has not yet been found any sign of Viking settlement on Benbecula itself. Following Norwegian unification, the Kingdom of the Isles became a crown dependency of the Norwegian king; to the Norwegians the Kingdom was Suðreyjar (meaning southern isles). Malcolm III of Scotland acknowledged in writing that Suðreyjar were not Scottish, and king Edgar quitclaimed any residual doubts.
However, in the mid 12th century, Somerled, a Norse-Gael of uncertain origin, launched a coup, which made Suðreyjar entirely independent. Following his death, Norwegian authority was nominally restored, but in practice the kingdom was divided between Somerled's heirs (Clann Somhairle), and the dynasty that Somerled had deposed (the Crovan dynasty). The MacRory, a branch of Somerled's heirs, ruled Benbecula, as well as Uist, Barra, Eigg, Rùm, the Rough Bounds, Bute, Arran, and northern Jura.
In the 13th century, despite Edgar's quitclaim, Scottish forces attempted to conquer parts of Suðreyjar, culminating in the indecisive Battle of Largs. In 1266, the matter was settled by the Treaty of Perth, which transferred the whole of Suðreyjar to Scotland, in exchange for a very large sum of money. The treaty expressly preserved the status of the rulers of Suðreyjar; the MacRory lands, excepting Bute, Arran, and Jura, became the Lordship of Garmoran, a quasi-independent crown dependency, rather than an intrinsic part of Scotland.
Lordship[edit]
See also: Garmoran
At the turn of the century, William I had created the position of Sheriff of Inverness, to be responsible for the Scottish highlands, which theoretically now extended to Garmoran. In 1293, however, king John Balliol established the Sheriffdom of Skye, which included the Outer Hebrides. Nevertheless, following his usurpation, the Skye sheriffdom ceased to be mentioned, and the Garmoran lordship (including Uist) was confirmed to the MacRury leader. In 1343, King David II issued a further charter for this to the latter's son.
Ruins of Borve Castle, Benbecula
Just three years later the sole surviving MacRury heir was Amy of Garmoran. According to MacGibbon and Ross, Borve Castle (which they date to between 1344 and 1363) was built by Amy; it became the main power seat of power in Benbecula and surrounding islands of North and South Uist. Amy is also reported to have built the parish church of St. Columba on Benbecula; the eastern side of Teampul Chalumchille, an ancient chapel dedicated to St Columba, dates to her lifetime.
The southern parts of the Kingdom of the Isles had become the Lordship of the Isles, ruled by the MacDonalds (another group of Somerled's descendants). Amy married the MacDonald leader, John of Islay, but a decade later he divorced her, and married the king's niece instead (in return for a substantial dowry). As part of the divorce, John deprived his eldest son, Ranald, of the ability to inherit the Lordship of the Isles, in favour of a son by his new wife. As compensation, John granted Lordship of North Uist and South Uist (presumably including Benbecula) to Ranald's younger brother Godfrey, and made Ranald Lord of the remainder of Garmoran.
However, on Ranald's death, his sons were still children, and Godfrey took the opportunity to seize the Lordship of Garmoran. This led to a great deal of violent conflict involving Godfrey's family (the Siol Gorrie) and the heirs of Ranald (Clan Ranald) and his other brother Murdoch (the Siol Murdoch). In 1427, frustrated with the level of violence generally in the highlands, King James I demanded that highland magnates should attend a meeting at Inverness. On arrival, many of the leaders were seized and imprisoned. Alexander MacGorrie, son of Godfrey, was considered to be one of the two most reprehensible, and after a quick showtrial, was immediately executed. As Alexander had by now inherited Godfrey's de facto position as Lord of Garmoran, and in view of Ranald's heirs being no less responsible for the violence, King James declared the Lordship forfeit.
Lairdship[edit]
View over Loch Langabhat
Following the forfeiture, most of Garmoran (including Benbecula) remained with the Scottish crown until 1469, when James III granted Lairdship of it to John of Ross, the Lord of the Isles. In turn, John passed it to his own half-brother, Hugh of Sleat; the grant to Hugh was confirmed by the king – James IV – in a 1493 charter.
Hugh died a few years later, in 1498, and for reasons that are not remotely clear, his son John of Sleat immediately resigned, transferring all authority to the king. That same year, king James IV awarded Benbecula to Angus Reochson, son of Ranald's penultimate son, Angus Riabhach. Angus' son, Angus MacAngus Rewing, became a friar at Iona, and was succeeded by his son John. John died in 1538, without any lawful children; under the charter, this demise of Angus Riabhach's line meant that ownership of Benbecula returned to the King.
In 1538, therefore, the king granted lairdship of Benbecula to Allan and Lachlan MacDonald (jointly), the grandsons of Ranald Bane. Ordinarily, Allan would have been the head of Clan Ranald, but the extreme cruelty of his father, Dougall, led to Ranald Bane's descendants being officially barred from the succession; instead leadership of the Clan now rested with Ranald Bane's nephew, John Moidartach.
In 1549, Donald Monro, Dean of the Isles wrote of the "south part of Ywst" and went on:
and in the north syde of this there is ane parochin callit Buchagla, perteining to the said Clandonald. At the north end thereof the sea cuts the countrey againe, and that cutting of the sea is called Careynesse, and benorth this countrey is called Kenehnache of Ywst, that is in Englishe, the north head of Ywst.
Tenancy[edit]
In 1596, concerned by the active involvement of Highland leaders in Irish rebellions against Queen Elizabeth of England, King James VI of Scotland (Elizabeth's heir) demanded that Highland leaders send well-armed men, as well as attending themselves, to meet him at Dumbarton on 1 August, and produce the charters for their land. As Allan's heirs did not do so, Benbecula became forfeit, by Act of Parliament. The king then awarded Benbecula to Donald Gorm Mor, the heir of Hugh of Sleat, as a reward for being one of the few Highland leaders who had obeyed the king's summons.
Donald Gorm Mor subinfeudated Benbecula to Clan Ranald for £46 per annum. In 1622, however, his successor, Donald Gorm Og, is found requesting that the Privy Council physically punish the Clan Ranald leadership for not removing their families and tenants from Benbecula; presumably they had not been paying the rent.
In 1633, Donald Gorm Og decided to sell the lairdship of Benbecula to the Earl of Argyll; in January 1634, this arrangement was confirmed by a Crown charter. In 1661, as a leading opponent of king Charles I, the Earl's son – the Marquess of Argyll – was convicted of high treason, and his lands became forfeit. Thus, in 1673, it was the king demanding that Clan Ranald pay their outstanding rent for Benbecula.
Refuge[edit]
Flora MacDonald in 1747
In 1746 Flora MacDonald was visiting Benbecula, then controlled by a Hanoverian-supporting militia, an Independent Highland Company commanded by her step-father, Hugh MacDonald. She was additionally a distant relative of two of the companions of Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart), who had recently fled in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. During his voyage, the Prince's boat was caught in a storm, and he was forced to land on Benbecula.
Despite mainly being Presbyterian, Flora and the population of Benbecula were sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, and the Prince and his companions received hospitable treatment. Nevertheless, the Prince was a fugitive with a price on his head, and his companions therefore sought out Flora whose connection to the militia would allow her access to the permits necessary for the Prince’s party to leave the island. She disguised him as an Irish spinning maid, Betty Burke, smuggled him off the island, on 27 June, and took him "over the sea to Skye". Flora was arrested upon her return to Scotland, but was released following the Indemnity Act 1747. Later, she explained in person to the King's son, Prince Frederick, that she had only acted out of charity, and would have done the same for either side.
Eviction[edit]
Abandoned house on Benbecula
In the early 19th century, the leader of Clan Ranald, Ranald George MacDonald, got into severe financial difficulties. The family trust forbade him from even visiting Benbecula. His difficulties were compounded by the enormous debts which had been amassed by his grandfather, in support of Jacobite armies. In 1838, forced to sell his lands, Ranald sold them to Colonel John Gordon of Cluny.
Already accustomed to treating people as slaves, and seeing the financial advantages to livestock farming, Gordon was ruthless, evicting the population with short notice, sometimes even resorting to dragging them to the shore in handcuffs, wearing little more than their undergarments. He replaced the residents with sheep. Despite his behaviour causing a national outcry, it was continued by the widow of his son, well into the early 20th century.
