Roag, Loch, an intricate sea-loch of Uig parish, on the W side of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Ross-shire. Opening from the Atlantic, it has a width of 7¾ miles at the entrance; penetrates the land south-eastward to the extent of about 10 miles; is sectioned lengthwise, by a series of islands, into two main channels, called Loch Roag proper and Loch Bernera or West Loch Roag; measures 6 miles in mean breadth, over a length of 6½ miles from its entrance, but is bisected, over all that length, by Bernera island and some adjacent islets; forks, in its upper part, into two separate, widely detached, narrow reaches, Loch Ceann Thulabhig and Little Loch Roag; contains, all round from entrance to head, as many as 38 islands and islets; and is rendered so intricate by islands, islets, headlands, bays, and winding passages, as to demand no ordinary degree of attention and skill for its navigation, while the entrance of Loch Roag proper is so obscure that it might escape the observation of a boat's crew passing within a hundred yards distance. All the land of the islands, and of the immediate coasts, is either low and tame, or terminates in such cliffs of gneiss as have little elevation, much ruggedness, and no beauty. Several salmon streamlets run to the heads and sides of the lochs; and three of them have a run of respectively 6, 7, and 8 miles.—Ord. Sur., shs. 105, 104, 1858.
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