Pabbay

(Pabaigh)

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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Pabbay, an island in Harris parish, Outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire, 2¼ miles W of Cape Difficulty, and 3½ N of Bernera. With a length of 2½ miles from E to W, and a width of 1½ mile from N to S, it rises to an altitude of 1000 feet above sea-level; and as seen from a distance presents a conical outline. It formerly grew very fine crops of corn, but it has in a great degree been rendered barren and desolate. Sand-drift has overwhelmed its SE side; the spray from the Atlantic almost totally prevents vegetation in the NW; and only on the SW, where it is sheltered by Bernera, does the island retain anything like its former noted fertility. Pop. (1841) 338, (1861) 21, (1871) 8, (1881) 2.

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