Editing Outer Hebrides (section)

== Uninhabited islands ==
[[File:View south from Heaval.jpg|thumb|View of the [[Barra Isles]] from [[Heaval]]. The village of [[Castlebay]] is in the foreground, with [[Vatersay]], and the uninhabited islands of [[Sandray]], [[Pabbay, Barra, Scotland|Pabbay]], [[Mingulay]] and [[Barra Head|Berneray]] beyond.]]

There are more than fifty uninhabited islands greater in size than {{convert|40|ha|acre}} in the Outer Hebrides, including the [[Barra Isles]], [[Flannan Isles]], [[Monach Islands]], the [[Shiant Islands]] and the islands of {{lang|gd|Loch Ròg}}.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 206, 262</ref> In common with the other main island chains of Scotland, many of the more remote islands were abandoned during the 19th and 20th centuries, in some cases after continuous habitation since the prehistoric period. More than 35 such islands have been identified in the Outer Hebrides alone.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) various pages</ref> On Barra Head, for example, [[Historic Scotland]] have identified eighty-three archaeological sites on the island, the majority being of a pre-medieval date. In the 18th century, the population was over fifty, but the last native islanders had left by 1931.  The island became completely uninhabited by 1980 with the automation of the lighthouse.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp.&nbsp;207–209</ref>

Some of the smaller islands continue to contribute to modern culture. The "[[Mingulay Boat Song]]", although evocative of island life, was written after the abandonment of the island in 1938<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010210204347/http://chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/mingulay.htm "Mingulay Boat Song"] Cantaria. Retrieved 26 December 2006.</ref> and [[Taransay]] hosted the [[BBC]] television series ''[[Castaway 2000]]''. Others have played a part in Scottish history. On 4 May 1746, the "Young Pretender" [[Charles Edward Stuart]] hid on {{lang|gd|[[Eilean Liubhaird]]}} with some of his men for four days whilst [[Royal Navy]] vessels patrolled the Minch.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 282–83</ref>

Smaller isles and [[skerry|skerries]] and other island groups pepper the [[North Atlantic]] surrounding the main islands. Some are not geologically part of the Outer Hebrides, but are administratively and in most cases culturally, part of {{lang|gd|Comhairle nan Eilean Siar}}. {{convert|73|km|mi}} to the west of Lewis lies [[St Kilda, Scotland|St Kilda]], now uninhabited except for a small military base.<ref>Thompson (1968) pp.&nbsp;187–89</ref> A similar distance to the north of Lewis are [[North Rona]] and {{lang|gd|[[Sula Sgeir]]}}, two small and remote islands. While Rona used to support a small population who grew grain and raised cattle, {{lang|gd|Sula Sgeir}} is an inhospitable rock.  Thousands of [[northern gannet]]s nest here, and by special arrangement some of their young, known as ''{{lang|gd|gugas}}'', are harvested annually by the men of [[Ness, Outer Hebrides|Ness]].<ref>Thompson (1968) pp.&nbsp;182–85</ref> The status of [[Rockall]], which is {{convert|367|km|mi}} to the west of North Uist and which the [[Island of Rockall Act 1972]] decreed to be a part of the Western Isles, remains a matter of international dispute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0268/D.0268.197311010090.html |title=Oral Questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs |publisher=[[Dáil Éireann]] |date=1 November 1973 |access-date=17 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822145436/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0268/D.0268.197311010090.html |archive-date=22 August 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=MacDonald |first=Fraser |year=2006 |title=The last outpost of Empire: Rockall and the Cold War |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=627–647 |url=http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au |access-date=8 February 2010 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2005.10.009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210121856/http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/ |archive-date=10 February 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>