Bragar

Bragar
Scottish Gaelic: Bràgar

The whalebone arch
Bragar
 Bragar shown within the Outer Hebrides
LanguageScottish Gaelic
English
OS grid referenceNB288478
Civil parishBarvas
Council areaNa h-Eileanan Siar
Lieutenancy areaWestern Isles
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ISLE OF LEWIS
Postcode district HS2
Dialling code 01851
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentNa h-Eileanan an Iar
Scottish ParliamentNa h-Eileanan an Iar
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 58°20′06″N 6°38′02″W / 58.335°N 6.634°W / 58.335; -6.634

Bragar (Scottish Gaelic: Bràgar) is a village on the west side of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, 14 miles from the island's only town, Stornoway. Bragar is within the parish of Barvas,[1] and is situated on the A858 between Carloway and Barvas.[2]

Residents are mainly Gaelic speaking, and many work as crofters.

The village's best-known landmark is a whalebone arch, made in 1921 from the jawbone of an 80 foot long blue whale which was beached on the shore the year before. Bragar also has a post office, a war memorial, and a school.

History

A ruined Iron Age broch, Dun Bragar, stands in Loch an Dùin in South Bragar,[3] 80 metres from the road and connected to the lochside by a causeway. In the mid-20th century local people took away many of its stones, and the structure is no longer safe.

The remains of a chapel, Teampall Eòin (the Temple of John the Baptist), built in the 15th century or earlier,[4] lie inside a walled compound. This also contains a cemetery, now known as Cill Sgàire (Zechariah's cemetery) after Zechariah MacAulay who fell in a skirmish between the MacAulays of Uig and the Morrisons of Ness.

Notable people

Rory 'Dall' Morison (Roderick Morrison), an Clàrsair Dall, the harpist who wrote Òran Mòr MhicLeòid, was born in Bragar in 1656.

References

  1. ↑ "Details of Bragar". Scottish Places. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "A858". Sabre. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Lewis, Bragar, Loch An Duna". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Lewis, Teampull Eoin". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
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