Bornish

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | country = Scotland | official_name = Bornish | gaelic_name = Bòrnais | static_image_name = St Marys Church, Bornish (geograph 2570109).jpg | static_image_caption = Saint Mary's Church, Bornish | population = | language = Scottish Gaelic | language1 = English | os_grid_reference = NF739298 | coordinates = {{coord|57.243|-7.406|display=inline,title}} | community_scotland = Bornish | unitary_scotland = Na h-Eileanan Siar | lieutenancy_scotland = Western Isles | constituency_scottish_parliament = Na h-Eileanan an Iar | constituency_westminster = Na h-Eileanan an Iar | post_town = ISLE OF SOUTH UIST | postcode_area = HS | postcode_district = HS8 | dial_code = 01878 }}

'''Bornish'''<ref name=SP1>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/towndetails8706.html|title=Details of Bornish|publisher=Scottish Places|accessdate=27 December 2014}}</ref> ({{langx|gd|Bòrnais}}) is a village and community council area on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Bornish is also within the civil parish of South Uist.<ref name=SP1 /> The A865 passes through Bornish, on the route between Lochmaddy and Lochboisdale.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

==History== The construction of nearby Dun Vulan broch has been dated to the period 150–50 BC. Located on the coast, it was originally {{convert|10|m|ft}} in height, but is now reduced to walls of {{convert|1.52|m|ft}}. A Pictish house was later built within the walls.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=9825 |num2=NF72NW 1 |desc=South Uist, Bornish, Dun Vulan |access-date=1 July 2025}}</ref> thumb|Dun Vulan broch

Excavations of a Norse settlement nearby have provided important information about lifestyles during this period. It suggests that pigs were a more important aspect of Viking farming than prior to that time, that red deer numbers may have been "controlled" rather than the species simply being subject to hunting, that herring fishing became an important commercial consideration and that trade with centres to the south such as Dublin Bay and Bristol may have been important. Coins found at Bornais and nearby Cille Pheadair were produced in Norway, Westphalia, and England, although there were none from Scotland.<ref>Sharples and Smith (2007) pp. 113–14, 119</ref> Walrus ivory from the Norse settlements in Greenland has also been found there.<ref>Sharples and Smith (2007) p. 120</ref>

It is known that Hebrides were taxed using the Ounceland system and evidence from Bornais suggests that settlers there may have been more prosperous than families of a similar status in the Northern Isles, possibly due to a more relaxed political regime.<ref>Sharples and Smith (2007) p. 104, 109, 124</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} * Sharples, Niall and Smith, Rachel "Norse settlement in the Western Isles" in Woolf, Alex (ed.) (2007) ''Scandinavian Scotland – Twenty Years After''. St Andrews. St Andrews University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9512573-7-1}}

==External links== {{commons category|Bornais}} *{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=134232 |num2=NF73SW 12 |desc=South Uist, Bornish House}} *{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=171962 |num2=NF72NW 38 |desc=South Uist, Bornish, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church |fewer-links=yes}}

Category:Villages on South Uist