“The wanderlust of the Uigeach”, from the Stornoway Gazette, 30 December 1949. Swedish timber houses allocated to West Uig are not to be built there. Owing to the depopulation of the district there is very little chance of finding tenants. When this news was given to the Lewis District Council by the chairman, Councillor John Maciver, there was a scramble by the other districts in the island to claim the houses. The houses had originally been allocated to West Uig in the hope that they [ » read more ]

There have been very few Martins in Uig over the last two hundred years, but Martins in other parts of Lewis and Harris can trace their line back to the district. Lewis Maciver, Tacksman of Gress, was in Uig on business when he came across a poor widow and her three children.  Her husband and her eldest son had been press-ganged into the army; her son was killed in India and her husband was drowned when the ship taking him home foundered in the Bay [ » read more ]

(picture of Valtos and Kneep by Chris Murray) An Dotair Ruadh, Donald Macaulay, seventh in line from Dòmhnall Càm, was the son of Dòmhnall mac Sheorais, the tacksman of Linshader who himself became something of a legend because of his size and strength. His son has come down in tradition as equally renowned, but for being something of a chancer. He was a brother of Lily Macaulay who married Rev Robert Finlayson of Lochs, and it seems was also a cousin of Mac an t-Sronaich. [ » read more ]

Mac an t-Sronaich was a notorious and shadowy murderer and robber of Lewis legend who was active in Uig in the early 19th century.  He lived in a cave behind Keose in Lochs that is still known as Uamh Mac an t-Sronaich and he was reputedly the first cousin of Lilly Macaulay Linshader, the wife of Rev Robert Finlayson, Keose Manse. On many occasions he found refuge at the manse at Keose and Lilly would leave food for him in one of the outhouses.  Tradition maintains that on occasion he [ » read more ]