Vallay ( gd, Bhàlaigh) is an uninhabited
tidal island
A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...
in the
Scottish Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
. It can be reached from
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
by a long
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
at
low tide.
![Erskine Beveridge's house on Bhalaigh - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Erskine_Beveridge%27s_house_on_Bhalaigh_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2980.jpg)
Once the island supported a population of nearly sixty people. Its best-known inhabitant was the
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
Erskine Beveridge
Erskine Beveridge FRSE FSAScot (27 December 1851 – 10 August 1920) was a Scottish textile manufacturer, historian and antiquary. He was the owner of Erskine Beveridge & Co. Ltd., which had been founded by his father in 1832 and was the larg ...
. The island is also known for its
sea bird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s and for prehistoric monuments.
References
Uist islands
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Western Isles South
Uninhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides
Tidal islands of Scotland
{{WesternIsles-geo-stub