Taransay

(Tarasaigh)

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Taransay, an island of Harris parish, Outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire, off the entrance of West Loch Tarbert, 1¼ mile W of Harris mainland, and 3½ miles NE of Toe Head, at the N side of the W entrance of the Sound of Harris. It measures 4½ miles in length from NE to SW, and 3 miles in extreme breadth; comprises two peninsulated hills, 750 feet high, and a connecting narrow sandy isthmus; consists mainly of gneiss rock, traversed by veins of granite, and very scantily covered with soil; and affords to its inhabitants little means of support except facilities for fishing. Pop. (1861) 55, (1871) 68, (1881) 55.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer