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 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 only inhabited isl ...

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 Radiohead ...

, 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, 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 c ...

of the MacLeods of Lewis, Old Ruari. In 1598 King

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

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, breakf ...

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 a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

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

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, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

, 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 di ...

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 ( sco, Ainster or Enster ; gd, Ànsruthair) is a small coastal resort 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 Eas ...

, whom they detained as a prisoner and a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

ship, later driven by bad weather onto the coast of

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

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

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

on the sands of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

.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 of ...

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 hi ...

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 diplo ...

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 sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

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 A Tyrolean traverse is a method of crossing through free space between two high points on a rope without a hanging cart or cart equivalent. This is used in a range of mountaineering activities: rock climbing, technical tree climbing, caving, w ...

s. Bearasaigh is also a destination for experienced sea

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

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