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Benbecula, Airidh Na H-aon Oidhche

Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Shieling Hut(S) (Post Medieval)

Site Name Benbecula, Airidh Na H-aon Oidhche

Classification Chambered Cairn (Neolithic), Shieling Hut(S) (Post Medieval)

Canmore ID 10205

Site Number NF85SW 5

NGR NF 81702 52488

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10205

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Western Isles
  • Parish South Uist
  • Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
  • Former District Western Isles
  • Former County Inverness-shire

Archaeology Notes

NF85SW 5 8170 5247.

(NF 8170 5247) Airidhanah-aon oidche (NR)

OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1904)

Airidh na h-aon Oidche - a chambered cairn - slightly oval, 57ft by 47ft and up to 11ft high on the northern half but less on the southern part. A low tail to the south-west stretches for 63ft, giving the monument a length of 115ft. The rectangular foundations of a small building are situated at the junction of the tail with the main mound, on the north side. A spread of cairn material extends for 15ft from the steep north-east edge of the material. In the confusion of stones, two rough wall faces can be seen running radially from the mound. Except that they bear no relation to the axis of the cairn, they could be the inner faces of a pair of horns.

RCAHMS 1928; Information from TS of A S Henshall's 'Chambered Tombs of Scotland' Vol. 2, 1-2, plan.

Airidh na h-Aon Oidhche appears to be the remains of a round chambered cairn about 18.0m in diameter by 4.0m high. Several shielings have been built in, on and around the cairn making its shape irregular. The tail mentioned above is probably mutilation connected with the shielings. The entrance appears to have been in the west, and there are traces of a possible chamber, 3.0m in diameter,in the centre of the stone tumble.

Surveyed at 1:10560.

Visited by OS (R D) 26 May 1965.

Activities

Field Visit (10 July 1915)

Chambered Cairn, Airidh na h-Aon Oidhche.

This cairn lies about 550 yards east-south-east of the cairn on Stiaraval (NF85SW 4), and is built near the summit of a small hill, near the centre of the island, rising 100 feet above sea level, from which glimpses of the sea are to be obtained on all sides. The main mass of the cairn has not been removed, but it has been plundered of stones on its margin, especially on the north, and of large slabs taken chiefly from the chamber to build some shielings at its base. It has been circular with a diameter of more than 52 feet, and now stands 11 feet in height on the northern half. Owing to the destruction of the chamber it is hollow on the summit, and in this hollow there are several slabs, the largest measuring 5 feet 10 inches by 2 feet 9 inches by 9 inches. The position of the entrance passage seems to have been towards the east-south-east, as there is a hollow here containing many flat stones of considerable size. (Fig. 163.)

RCAHMS 1928, visited 10 July 1915.

OS map: South Uist xlvi.

Field Visit (2 March 2010)

This heather covered cairn is more or less as described by Henshall. It measures 17m from NNE to SSW by 16m transversely and has a low tail of cairn material some 13.5m broad extending for about 18.5m to the SSW; traces of what may be an axial hollow or channel can be seen running its whole length. The summit of the cairn has been heavily disturbed but two large stones set on the ESE may indicate the position of the entrance into the chamber, and at least four other large slabs are disposed radially amongst the tumbled stones. While there is the possibility that these relate to a later structure superimposed on the top of the cairn, they may belong to the upper courses of corbels for the roof. The two rough wall faces observed by Henshall within the spread of stone extending to the NNE of the cairn, and tentatively interpreted as a pair of horns, appear to belong to a small building and its adjoining enclosure. Further buildings, all of which are probably shieling huts, can be seen overlying the tail of material to the SSW. The first is situated at the junction of the tail and the cairn on the WNW, and a cluster of three more are to be found at its SSW end.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARG,SPH) 2 March 2010

Field Visit

After many years of studying shielings in the Western Isles and beyond, it has been noticeable how few bothain-àirighe are actually named on maps or documents. The commonest name given by Ordnance Survey is simply “Old Shielings” – although I have yet to find any map detailing any “New Shielings”. The few which are named are mostly a personal ownership name, a locality name or a geographic descriptive name. To come across a collection of shielings sharing the enigmatic name of “Àirigh na h-Aon Oidhche” – “The Shieling of One Night” is intriguing to say the least. All the sites found are on Hebridean island locations, except for one site in Kintyre.

It seems that the naming of the Àirigh na h-Aon Oidhche sites was primarily by the Seanachie, the Gaelic storytellers and keepers of the community’s oral traditions. The tales themselves are generally in the tradition of a morality fable, often involving death of those committing moral ‘sins’ at the named shielings. It is likely these stories were intended to instruct the younger members of society in the expected behaviours of the times.

The main purpose for this research programme was to see if the naming of the sites was directly attributable to the type of structure found at the location. Indeed, it was also desirable to find if there were any structures at the locations, as few were previously accurately recorded in Canmore Sites records.

This widespread group of shielings was interesting to study as they clearly illustrated the range of vernacular building styles employed across the Hebrides for providing shelters at the shielings, ranging from rock shelters and turf walled constructions to structures on Lewis employing the same standards of building as used more usually in farmhouses.

Kintyre NR 7434 4179 The only references to this site is the name of Glen Arrinahinney appearing on Lewis D Robertson’s map of Carradale Estate (1827) and Andrew Henderson’s 1857 map of the Lands between Ballochantuy & Machrihanish. There is no recorded folk story associated with this site.

The glen lies between Loch Losgainn and Barr Water in an area now planted with mature Sitka spruce by the Forestry Commission since the early 1970s. The group of turf-walled bothain-àirighe are in a clearing where the confluence of three streams forms the main origin of the Barr Water burn. Access is along the track to the S of the Kintyre Way with the clearing, still devoid of trees, is present on the eastern side of the track. The presence of the site had been noted when the forestry operations began, so the site has not been overplanted, although some of the peripheral trees have fallen in storms and now lie across some of the bothan- àirighe remains.

Jura NR 6523 9196 The Jura site is high on the flanks of Cruach Ionnastail and appears on the Ordnance Survey maps as a locality name, although no building structures are marked. The single isolated bothan-àirighe is on a low mound and is a subcircular stone-built foundation ruin. The surrounding ground is extremely low-grade pasture, even by Hebridean standards. It is saturated peatland with poor tussock grass only between other acidophilic vegetation. There is no specific story associated with the site, although thre are several other tales recorded featuring MacPhie as the hero against the Gaelic Otherworld occupants.

Coll NM 2328 5915 The Coll site is at Loch Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche. Other than the name, there is no other reference, either in local stories nor as any built structures. The loch, together with the adjoining Loch Fada forms the main component of the Scottish Water public supply to the main township of Arinagour and much of the Island of Coll. The site can be accessed across an area of upland pasture still used today for both cattle and sheep. This upland strewn with small lochans, many of which have confirmed or likely crannogs across their surfaces. Loch Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche itself has three likely peninsulas which might have previously been crannogs, but the current use of the loch for water supply makes it unlikely that any further investigations would be allowed, for fears of disturbance of silt and contamination of supplies. The bothan-àirighe itself is on the S side of the loch, adjacent to one of the putative crannog sites. A large glacial erratic boulder marks the site. This has been undermined on its western side to form a clamp suitable for cool storage of dairy produce. The bothan is on the opposite side, using the rock as one wall, with the other walls of boulder and turf construction. The floor of the bothan has been excavated down into the ground and the interior today is filled with a tangle of dense vegetation, in particular a large specimen of Salix aurita (eared willow) which fills the interior.

Tiree NL 9767 4560 The main Tiree Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is now overbuilt with a modern house, serendipitously named ‘The Airigh’, so is no longer accessible for further inspection. However, there is also another associated site, close to the former mediaeval Cornaigmore township: the grazing area known as Faire na h-Aon Oidhch (the One Night’s Watch), an area of wet pasture close to Loch Bhasapoll. There is a local tale of a young shepherd spending the night at the former bothan-àirighe but being terrified by flashing lights during his stay, hence he never returned, giving the shieling its name. In later life he retrospectively identified the lights as the Skerryvore lighthouse.

Barra NF 7023 0377 The Barra Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is named in Stahl’s report into Barra place-names, where he also gives information regarding its origin – it was the site of reported visits by a local Water Horse who sucked its victims blood in the manner of a vampire and inhabited the nearby Loch an Eich Uisge. There are two adjacent large green, fertile mounds whose surfaces support several bothain-àirighe. There are also some other adjacent bothain immediately to the east of the mounds. The mounds themselves are likely to be much earlier origins, probably Bronze Age structures.

Eriskay NF 8018 1110 The Eriskay Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche is in the hidden Gleann an Fhir Mhòir (translates as the Glen of the Big Man) on the Eastern side of Eriskay. The glen is part of a deep cleft across the island to the east of Beinn Sgriathan, the main hill on the northern end of the island. The waters of the Minch have filled the eastern portion of this geological void creating a fjord like lochan. The steeper portions of the glen have given way in landslides several times in the past leaving many scars and loose ground which can only be traversed with great caution.

There is a small burn, less than 10cm deep, flowing along the base of Gleann an Fhir Mhòir, adjacent to the sub-circular stone bothan-àirighe, which has been deepened, widened and stone lined to give a significant well of sweet water more than half a metre deep. Adjacent to some of the side escarpments of the Glen there are indications of stone settings which may represent ruined storage structures.

South Uist NF 7959 2578 The South Uist Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site was identified by the eponymous loch on Ordnance Survey maps, although no building structures had been recorded at or near the site. A field visit revealed the presence of two large mounds immediately to the north of the loch, both of which had quite different bothain-àirighe structures built onto their surfaces. The southerly mound had two adjoining sub-rectangular bothain, primarily turf walled. However, the northern mound had a much more substantial structure partly excavated into the surface of the mound’s crest and lined with large masonry courses standing up to a metre in height.

Benbecula NF 8170 5249 The Benbecula Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is well known. It is a Neolithic Kerb Cairn, known locally as a Barp, which has been remodelled in more recent times to support several bothain-àirighe. There are at least three different iterations of the traditional stories associated with the Benbecula site, involving the untimely deaths of up to 12 people at the hands of Gaelic Otherworld beings.

North Uist NF 8071 6442 On North Uist, the Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche name exists only as a locality name on the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps. The Canmore entry for the name refers to a reported stone circle which was determined to be natural stones by the O.S. surveyor. However, the position of the name on the map is possibly erroneous, as it is to the west of the stream (Allt na Muillne) which drains the nearby Loch nan Struban. This area still bears the recognisable ridges and furrows of earlier agriculture, so it is very unlikely that it would be designated for shieling (summer pasture) usage. However, on the eastern side of the burn, the ground is much more likely to have been pastureland, and there are several areas where the foundations of bothain-àirighe can be readily identified. There are no surviving specific stories relating to the North Uist site

Sursay NF 9578 7584 The tiny island of Sursay is an approximate equilateral triangle with 700 metre sides, less than a kilometre from the shores of North Uist but is politically part of Harris estate and parish. The Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche name has been given to the group of three roofless buildings on the southern shoreline opposite Eilean na Slettich. The name was given following a story concerning a visiting shepherd who was disturbed in the night by screams and rotating lights in the sky which spooked both him and his dog causing him to return immediately to North Uist by rowboat at night and never to return. The ruined buildings appear to be farmstead buildings but may be associated with more extensive farming activities on the nearby island of Taghaigh

Lewis, Uig NB 0197 2852 Uig’s Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is marked on the early O.S. mapping as a locality and has two substantial bothain-àirighe structures. The bothain are built in a manner normally seen in farmstead construction, with twin dry-stone walls infilled with dried peat as an insulator and twin stone lintels present over the doorway. The story associated with this site concerns the fears of a girl who was frightened by strange overnight sounds – possibly from wind blowing through rocks in the nearby pass. This locality was a popular site for shieling huts – there are at least a dozen in the immediate area, most of which are of this same ‘overengineered’ format, many incorporating intra-mural niches and storage cupboards. Although the shielings huts are not together in a tight group, as often found on Uist shieling sites, the huts would be inter-visible, one to two or three others, allowing the township people to remain in close contact.

Lewis, West Side NB 3010 4274 The west side Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is marked by an eponymous Loch, Allt, and Druim (ridge). The bothan-àirighe is at the eastern end of the eponymous ridge about 50 metres from the burn, Allt Loch Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche, which has been widened, and deepened at one point to create a usable well as a sweet water source. This bothan is also of a heavyweight design, similar to that found at Uig, but in the Gleann Bhràgair area it seems that the ‘standard’ design was to build with the eastern wall in an ellipse, similar to an apse. The design also incorporated multiple intra-mural storage niches and two opposed doorways, sited in the long walls close to the curved ‘gable’ wall. It is uncertain if the doorways were for practical reasons (always having one downwind) or possible belief ritual (one for entrance, one for exit, for example) Once again, the bothain were not grouped tightly together, but were separated remaining in inter-visual contact only. Sadly, no specific story survives for this site in Gleann Bhràgair.

Lewis, Achmore NB 3155 2660 The Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is part of a wider group of bothain associated with the township of Luerbost (marked as Airighean Luerbost). More than twenty bothain-àirighe are marked on the O.S. Explorer map of the area, but the Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche story associated with this site specifies that the shieling hut was built by a man from Luerbost away from most of the other bothain, near to an un-named loch from which emerged a water horse overnight, causing the man to leave the site lest he be taken to the Otherworld. There is one un-named loch which fits the description well and has an adjacent mound with a shieling hut ruin together with the eroded remains of a turf walled produce clamp. These features are not on any records nor are they shown on the Ordnance Survey maps, although clearly visible on satellite imagery.

Lewis North Lochs NB 3988 1700 Perhaps the most complex story referencing an Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is from this area. This site has an eponymous Loch and Allt which has at some point been partly dammed to regulate the loch’s water height. The bothan-àirighe itself is on the northern shore of the loch towards the western end and sheltered from sight with a large rocky promontory and a low dry-stone wall between it and the loch. On the hidden side of this wall there are a group of stones driven into the earth to form a support stand from what might be a cooking pot over a fire. However, a more intriguing solution is that this site was never a shieling at all. The land nearby is VERY poor grazing, and the story is particularly frightening, to deter visitors. Given that some attempt has been made to make the site as hidden as possible, it seems possible that this was in fact the site for a ‘poit-dhubh’ the traditional illicit still of the Gaeltacht.

Raasay NG 6021 4902 The final Loch Àirighe na h-Aon Oidhche site is on the northern end of Raasay, beyond the end of ‘Calum’s Road. There is a site described on Canmore which is about half a kilometre from the eponymous loch, but there is the remains of two bothain-airighe and two produce clamps excavated under a large glacial erratic boulder right on the shoreline of the loch. The loch is surprisingly clear sweet water, as it is so high that most of the water it holds is direct run-off from the rocks, not remaining in deep peat previously, hence has little discolouration, There is no specific story from this location, although there are stories of each-mara (water-horses) on the island, one of which was recounted in Johnson’s tour of the Hebrides.

Simon Davies ̶ Uist Summer Wine / Uist Community Archaeology Group

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