The Black Stacks and the Weaver’s Castle

There was a brief sense of relief when the ferry finally slipped past the headland. Several sailings had been cancelled thanks to the breezy weather. I then endured ten minutes on the poop deck being drenched by the bow spray before giving up and retreating indoors. The unease only lifted once our wheels touched the slipway on Barra.

I had gone out on deck mainly to spot the ruin known as Weaver’s Castle, perched on Eilean Leathan — the largest of the islands called Na Stacan Dubha, the Black Stacks.

That lonely silhouette on the skyline is a small tower house, no more. It likely dates from the late Middle Ages, at the latest. Its original Gaelic name was Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair — Riever’s Castle. Over time, this has decayed into Caisteal An Reubadair, now translated as Weaver’s Castle. A linguistic tangle, but that is the story¹Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair (Weaver’s Castle). Canmore ID 9763. http://canmore.org.uk/site/9763.

It was once held by the MacNeils of Barra, who also controlled the southern end of South Uist and Eriskay. Local tradition names its last resident as one Breabadair Stache — a wrecker and pirate by all accounts, and I guess a riever as well. He and most of his family were eventually killed by soldiers. It seems the past, too, had its storms.

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  Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair (Weaver’s Castle). Canmore ID 9763. http://canmore.org.uk/site/9763