±«Óãtv

Bha mi ag innse dhuibh mu Chaisteal a’ Bhreabadair – no Caisteal an Reubadair – air an Stac Àrd, deas air Èirisgeigh. Nuair a bha am breabadair aig an àirigh ann an Uibhist a Deas, thug e boireannach òg am bruid. Thug e dhachaigh i mar bhean.

Bha ise a’ dèanamh a h-uile càil mar a bha esan. Bha i ag iasgach agus a’ spùinneadh còmhla ris. Bha iad a’ fuasgladh bhàtaichean anns na h-acarsaidean aca. Bha na bàtaichean a’ dol air a’ chladach. Bha am breabadair is a theaghlach a’ faighinn a’ bhathair bhuapa. Bha iad ri spùinneadh mar seo fad na h-ùine. Bha daoine a’ fàs seachd searbh sgìth dhiubh.

Chan eil fhios agam cò na h-ùghdarrasan-lagha a bha ann. Chanainn gur e Clann ’ic Nèill a bha ann. Co-dhiù, chaidh òrdugh a-mach am breabadair a chur an grèim. 

Latha a bha seo, bha am breabadair agus triùir dhen cheathrar bhalach aige a-muigh ag iasgach ann an eathar. Bha a bhean agus an gille as òige anns a’ chaisteal. Thàinig soitheach-seòlaidh seachad air Eilean Ghioghaigh eadar Èirisgeigh agus Barraigh. A bharrachd air seòl mòr, bha dusan duine air bòrd, agus ràmh aig a h-uile fear aca. 

Chunnaic am breabadair i. Rinn e fhèin is na balaich aige air ceann a deas Èirisgeigh. Bha iad a’ dol a dhol am falach an sin. Ràinig iad an t-eilean ach ghlac an fheadhainn eile iad. Bha am breabadair agus na gillean aige air an cur gu bàs.

Tha trì ainmean-àite air cladach a deas Èirisgeigh a tha ceangailte ris a’ bhreabadair agus a bhàs. Tha Sloc na Creiche ann ‘the hollow of the plundering’ agus Sgala na Creiche ‘the cliff of the plundering’. Faisg air làimh, tha Leac na Banaraich ‘the slab of the milkmaid’. Tha sin a’ cuimhneachadh bean a’ bhreabadair. Bha i na banarach mus deach a toirt am bruid.

Cha robh fios aice gu dè bha air tachairt. Mu dheireadh, thàinig a h-athair agus thug e a nighean agus a mac dhachaigh a dh’Uibhist a Deas. Bhon uair sin cha robh duine a’ fuireach ann an Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair.

I was telling you about Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair – or Caisteal an Reubadair – on the Stac Àrd south of Eriskay. When the weaver was at the shieling in South Uist, he kidnapped a young woman. He took her home as a wife.

She was doing everything just as he was. She was fishing and was involved in piracy along with him. They were untying boats in their anchorages. The boats were going on the shore. The weaver and his family were getting the goods from them. They were involved in piracy like this all the time. People were getting thoroughly sick of them.

I don’t know who the legal authorities were. I’d say it was Clan MacNeil. Anyway, an order went out to arrest the weaver.

One day, the weaver and three of his four sons were out fishing in a boat. His wife and their youngest son were in the castle. A sailing boat came past the isle of Gigha between Eriskay and Barra. In addition to a big sail, there were a dozen men on board, all of them with an oar.

The weaver saw her. He and his sons made for the southern end of Eriskay. They were going to hide out there. They reached the island, but the others caught them. The weaver and his sons were killed.

There are three place-names on the south coast of Eriskay that are linked to the weaver and his death. There is Sloc na Creiche ‘the hollow of the plundering’ and Sgala na Creiche ‘the cliff of the plundering’. Close by, there is Leac na Banaraich ‘the slab of the milkmaid’. That recalls the weaver’s wife. She was a milking maid before she was kidnapped.

She didn’t know what had happened. Eventually, her father came, and he took his daughter and her son home to South Uist. Since then, nobody was living in Caisteal a’ Bhreabadair.