What to See in North Uist - Top Sights and Attractions

Archaeological site in Scotland. Pobull Fhinn is a stone circle on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The name is Gaelic. The first word has been variously spelt as pobull, poball, pobul or as plural pobuill. The phrase can be translated as "Fionn's people", "the white/fair people", or "Finn's tent". The plural form Pobuill Fhinn can be translated as "Fionn's peoples" and is unlikely to be correct.

The stones were probably named after the legendary Gaelic hero Fionn mac Cumhaill known in English as Finn or Fingal. The present title may constitute a modern rationalisation of a word now obsolete in colloquial Scottish Gaelic: Pùball Fhinn ("Fionn's tent") was a common phrase in the ancient Fenian cycle of Gaelic lore and indicated his nomadic residence.

The stones are also known as Sòrnach Coir' Fhinn, or "the fireplace of Fionn's cauldron" and locally as Sòrnach a' Phobaill ("the fireplace of the People"). The former name is similar to that of Sòrnaichean Coir' Fhinn ("the fireplaces of Fionn's cauldron") near Kensaleyre in Skye and Suidhe Coire Fhionn ("the site of Fionn's cauldron") in Arran. Coire Fhinn ("Fionn's cauldron") was used to cook the deer that he and his fellow hunters had killed.

Of the several stone circles on the island, Pobull Fhinn is the most conspicuous. It is located on the south side of Ben Langass, and it possibly dates from the second millennium BC. It is technically an oval rather than a circle, measuring about 120 feet (37 metres) from east to west and 93 ft (28 m) from north to south. Although situated on a natural plateau, the north side of the enclosed area has been excavated to about 4 ft (1.2 m). At least two dozen stones can be counted, some eight on the northern half and 16 on the southern half, but parts of the circle are devoid of stones. About 4 ft (1.2 m) within the circle at the east side is a tall single stone, and there are two fallen slabs about 7 ft (2.1 m) beyond the western edge.

Pobull Fhinn is located at grid reference NF 8427 6502 57°33′52″N 7°16′57″W. It can be reached from a footpath beginning near the Langass Lodge Hotel. Alternatively, it can be reached from the footpath to Barpa Langass that starts from the A867 about five miles (eight kilometres) southwest of Lochmaddy; Barpa Langass is a 3⁄4-mile (1.2-kilometre) walk up Ben Langass from Pobull Fhinn. The jagged shapes of the stones silhouetted against Loch Langass, Loch Eport, and Eaval make Pobull Fhinn one of the most visited and most photographed sites on North Uist.^[1]

Ruin in Scotland. Barpa Langass, is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It measures about 72 feet in diameter by 18 feet in height, and is around 5,000 years old. The roof is constructed of two massive slabs with a third slab superimposed.

The entrance is at the east side. Although the structure has partially collapsed, it is still possible to enter one chamber. The antiquary Erskine Beveridge believed that a second and perhaps a third chamber exist. In or prior to 1911, Dr Beveridge excavated within and near the cairn, and he found evidence of burnt burials as well as pieces of pottery (some with patterned lines), wood ashes, burnt bones, a flint arrowhead, a scraper, and a piece of pierced talc.

Barpa Langass is located at grid reference NF838657 (57°34′14″N 7°17′30″W)(57.570581, -7.291557). It can be reached via footpath from the A867 about 5 miles southwest of Lochmaddy. Alternatively, one can park at the Langass Lodge Hotel, follow the footpath to the Pobull Fhinn stone circle, and then continue up Ben Langass to Barpa Langass.^[3]

Tower in Scotland. Scolpaig Tower is a Georgian folly located near the village of Scolpaig on the island of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The name probably derives from the Old Norse scolpvik, or 'Scolp Bay'.

It was built in about 1830 by Dr Alexander MacLeod, who was the factor of the North Uist estate. It was erected to provide employment for the purpose of famine relief. Built over an Iron Age dun on a small islet in Loch Scolpaig, the Gothic-style folly has an octagonal footprint and appears as a two-storey structure surmounted by a crenellated parapet. The tower is surrounded by a low stone wall that was probably constructed at the same time. The original dun has disappeared entirely. Today the tower is open to the elements and serves as a nesting place for birds.

It was included in the Ninth Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. In Historic Scotland approved it as a Category B listed building in 1971, however this was withdrawn in 2018 as part of the Dual Designation 2A project though the site continues to be protected as part of a scheduled monument.

Scolpaig Tower is located at OS Grid Reference NF73107503. When the water level is sufficiently low, it can be reached via a stone causeway in Loch Scolpaig. The tower is a prominent feature on otherwise flat ground and is among the most photographed sites on the island.

A group organised by the Council for Scottish Archaeology under its Adopt-a-Monument scheme was in 2008 attempting to raise funds to stabilise and conserve the structure.^[6]

Na Fir Bhrèige is a set of three standing stones on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. They lie on the northwestern slope of Blashaval.

The stones are set in a line that runs WNW to ESE, nearly in alignment with the peaks of Blashaval and Maari. They protrude 0.7m, 0.5m, and 0.6m above the peat, although they are probably embedded very deeply and stood much higher when originally erected. They lie 21m and 35m apart.

The name derives from two local legends. One is that they mark the graves of three traitors who were buried alive. Another is that they are three men from Skye who deserted their wives and were turned to stone by a witch.

The stones are located at grid reference NF88757176. They can be reached from the A865 about 3 miles northwest of Lochmaddy. One must then walk about a mile up Blashaval.

The stones inspired Mhairead MacLeod's novel, The False Men, based on true events during the Highland Clearances.^[9]