In Scotland, the Celtic
Iron Age way of life, often troubled but never extinguished by Rome, re-asserted itself when the legions abandoned any permanent occupation in 211 AD. Hanson (2003) writes: "For many years it has been almost axiomatic in studies of the period that the Roman conquest must have had some major medium or long-term impact on Scotland. On present evidence that cannot be substantiated either in terms of environment, economy, or, indeed, society. The impact appears to have been very limited. The general picture remains one of broad continuity, not of disruption ... The Roman presence in Scotland was little more than a series of brief interludes within a longer continuum of indigenous development." The Romans' direct impact on the Highlands and Islands was scant and there is no evidence that they ever actually landed in the Outer Hebrides. The later
Iron Age inhabitants of the northern and western Hebrides were probably
Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Hunter (2000) states that in relation to King
Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD: "As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence." The island of Pabbay is the site of the Pabbay Stone, the only extant
Pictish symbol stone in the Outer Hebrides. This 6th century
stele shows a flower, V-rod and lunar crescent to which has been added a later and somewhat crude cross.
Norse control at the end of the eleventh century
Viking raids began on Scottish shores towards the end of the 8th century AD and the Hebrides came under Norse control and settlement during the ensuing decades, especially following the success of
Harald Fairhair at the
Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872. In the Western Isles
Ketill Flatnose was the dominant figure of the mid 9th century, by which time he had amassed a substantial island realm and made a variety of alliances with other
Norse leaders. These princelings nominally owed allegiance to the Norwegian crown, although in practice the latter's control was fairly limited. Norse control of the Hebrides was formalised in 1098 when
Edgar, King of Scotland formally signed the islands over to
Magnus III of Norway. The Scottish acceptance of Magnus III as King of the Isles came after the Norwegian king had conquered
Orkney, the Hebrides and the
Isle of Man in a swift campaign earlier the same year, directed against the local Norwegian leaders of the various islands‘ petty kingdoms. By capturing the islands Magnus imposed a more direct royal control, although at a price. His
skald Bjorn Cripplehand recorded that in Lewis "fire played high in the heaven" as "flame spouted from the houses" and that in the Uists "the king dyed his sword red in blood". The Hebrides were now part of Kingdom of the Isles, whose rulers were themselves vassals of the Kings of Norway. The Kingdom had two parts: the '
or South Isles encompassing the Hebrides and the Isle of Man; and the ' or North Isles of Orkney and
Shetland. This situation lasted until the partitioning of the Western Isles in 1156, at which time the Outer Hebrides remained under Norwegian control while the Inner Hebrides broke out under
Somerled, the Norse-Celtic kinsman of the Manx royal house. Following the ill-fated 1263 expedition of
Haakon IV of Norway, the Outer Hebrides along with the Isle of Man, were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland a result of the 1266
Treaty of Perth. Although their contribution to the islands can still be found in personal and placenames, the archaeological record of the Norse period is very limited. The best known find from this time is the
Lewis chessmen, which date from the mid 12th century.
Scots rule , the ancient seat of
Clan MacNeil,
Castlebay,
Barra As the Norse era drew to a close the
Norse-speaking princes were gradually replaced by Gaelic-speaking
clan chiefs including the
MacLeods of Lewis and Harris, the
MacDonalds of the
Uists and
MacNeil of Barra. This transition did little to relieve the islands of internecine strife although by the early 14th century the MacDonald
Lords of the Isles, based on
Islay, were in theory these chiefs' feudal superiors and managed to exert some control. The growing threat that Clan Donald posed to the Scottish crown led to the forcible dissolution of the Lordship of the Isles by
James IV in 1493, but although the king had the power to subdue the organised military might of the Hebrides, he and his immediate successors lacked the will or ability to provide an alternative form of governance. The
House of Stuart's attempts to control the Outer Hebrides were then at first desultory and little more than punitive expeditions. In 1506 the
Earl of Huntly besieged and captured Stornoway Castle using cannon. In 1540
James V himself conducted a royal tour, forcing the clan chiefs to accompany him. There followed a period of peace, but all too soon the clans were at loggerheads again. In 1598 King
James VI authorised some "
Gentleman Adventurers" from Fife to civilise the "most barbarous Isle of Lewis". Initially successful, the colonists were driven out by local forces commanded by Murdoch and Neil MacLeod, who based their forces on in . The colonists tried again in 1605 with the same result but a third attempt in 1607 was more successful, and in due course Stornoway became a
Burgh of Barony. By this time Lewis was held by the Mackenzies of Kintail, (later the
Earls of Seaforth), who pursued a more enlightened approach, investing in fishing in particular. The historian W. C. MacKenzie was moved to write: The Seaforth's royalist inclinations led to Lewis becoming garrisoned during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms by
Cromwell's troops, who destroyed the old castle in Stornoway and in 1645 Lewismen fought on the royalist side at the
Battle of Auldearn. A new era of Hebridean involvement in the affairs of the wider world was about to commence.
British era With the implementation of the
Treaty of Union in 1707 the Hebrides became part of the new
Kingdom of Great Britain, but the clans' loyalties to a distant monarch were not strong. A considerable number of islandmen "came out" in support of the Jacobite
Earl of Mar in the
"15" although the response to the
1745 rising was muted. For example, Colonel
Gordon of
Cluny, owner of Barra, South Uist and Benbecula, evicted thousands of islanders using trickery and cruelty, and even offered to sell Barra to the government as a penal colony. Islands such as were completely cleared of their populations and even today the subject is recalled with bitterness and resentment in some areas. The position was exacerbated by the failure of the islands'
kelp industry, which had thriven from the 18th century until the end of the
Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and large scale emigration became endemic. For example, hundreds left North Uist for
Cape Breton,
Nova Scotia. The pre-clearance population of the island had been almost 5,000, although by 1841 it had fallen to 3,870 and was only 2,349 by 1931. Violent riots became common. Charities, encouraged by George Pole and others in the Commissariat (a military agency) encouraged charities to come to the rescue. The Free Church was particularly helpful, "delivering oatmeal to famine-affected families all across the West Highlands and Islands", according to one report. Another report states that the Church "was prompt in organising an efficient system of private charity across the Hebrides and on the Western seaboard. It cooperated with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Relief Committees". An interdenominational charity was in place by early 1847 and took the most significant role in famine relief. Some landowners also provided a great deal of assistance, according to one history of the region: "MacLeod of Dunvegan bought in food for his people, some eight thousand of them" ... MacLean of Ardgour provided food, and introduced new crops into the area - peas, cabbages and carrots ... Sir James Matheson on Lewis spent £329,000 (Equivalent to £37,000,000 in 2024) on improving his lands, hoping to provide a more secure future for his people". The government of Britain provided some assistance, thanks to Sir
Charles Trevelyan, who arranged for food distribution at Portree and Tobermory. The
British Association for the Relief of Distress in Ireland and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland also helped as did donations received from North America. The blight struck again over the next two years, requiring an extra tax on landowners to help feed the population. The British government began encouraging mass emigration. For those who remained new economic opportunities emerged through the export of cattle, commercial fishing and tourism. During the summer season in the 1860s and 1870s five thousand inhabitants of Lewis could be found in
Wick on the mainland of Scotland, employed on the fishing boats and at the quaysides. Nonetheless, emigration and military service became the choice of many and the archipelago's populations continued to dwindle throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. By 2001 the population of North Uist was only 1,271. The work of the
Napier Commission and the
Congested Districts Board, and the passing of the
Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 helped, but social unrest continued. In July 1906 grazing land on
Vatersay was raided by landless men from Barra and its isles.
Lady Gordon Cathcart took legal action against the "raiders" but the visiting judge took the view that she had neglected her duties as a landowner and that "long indifference to the necessities of the cottars had gone far to drive them to exasperation". Millennia of continuous occupation notwithstanding, many of the remoter islands were abandoned —
Mingulay in 1912,
Hirta in 1930, and in 1942 among them. This process involved a transition from these places being perceived as relatively self-sufficient agricultural economies to a view becoming held by both island residents and outsiders alike that they lacked the essential services of a modern industrial economy. There were gradual economic improvements, among the most visible of which was the replacement of the traditional thatched
blackhouse with accommodation of a more modern design. The creation of the
Highlands and Islands Development Board and the discovery of substantial deposits of
North Sea oil in 1965, the establishment of a unitary local authority for the islands in 1975 and more recently the
renewables sector have all contributed to a degree of economic stability in recent decades. The
Arnish yard has had a chequered history but has been a significant employer in both the oil and renewables industries. , the local authority, employs 2,000 people, making it the largest employer in the Outer Hebrides. See also the " area plan 2010" and the 's "Factfile – Economy". == Economy ==