Isle of Barra, Sandy's MacNeal, Vatersay

The sun came out today!  Everything that looked wonderful yesterday looked even better today.  We started the day with a visit to the Barra Heritage Center.  As we walked in we were asked if we were MacNeals.  Sandy replied that her 11th great grandfather Roderick Og MacNeal was born on Barra in 1535.  They waived her fee for admittance and allowed me in as her guest.  The center was more of an archive than a museum.  Documentation of the MacNeals of Barra everywhere.  They had an archivist available to help people follow the heritage.  In Sandy's case, her cousin had done such a good job following her family history that the archivist had little to add to Sandy's personal history.  She did however fill in lots of details about the Barra MacNeals.  Foremost among those details was the fact the Sandy's forefathers were indeed pirates.  Sandy kept arguing with the expert that she was sure her relatives were fishermen not pirates.  The archivist would have none of it.  She allowed that there was some fishing going on, but the wealth of the MacNeals came from pirate's booty and not fish.  Sandy is in denial, but I only love her more for her pirating heritage.

The archivist with whom Sandy wrongly disagrees

Barra has a sister island, Vatersay, connected by a short causeway.  We drove across and found more stunning land/seascapes.  We also found two surprises.  One was the wreckage of a 1944 military plane still spread across the little glen in which it crashed almost 80 years ago.  Amazingly it is still very recognizable.  The people of Vetersay have erected a plaque in honor of those who died and those who survived.  

 The causeway to Vatersay (One side of the causeway is the Little Minch, 

the other, the Atlantic Ocean

Sandy with her ancestral home of Barra in the far background

Heather is everywhere and is in bloom

The crashed military Catalina

The narrow roads of Vatersay

Passing places wide spot in the roads where autos going in

 opposing directions finagle their way past one another

The other Vatersay surprise was that we ran into a friend that we made in Glasgow while waiting for the plane.  The young woman was on Barra visiting her "Granny and Auntie" before moving to London to finish her masters degree in literature and education.  We were at a community center asking some questions about the area.  As we were walking back to our car we ran into Amiee and it felt like we found an old lost friend.  We ended up having lunch with her and her interesting and fun family.  It was a good time.  We wish her luck in her studies and hope we see her yet again.

Back on Barra we continued enjoying the unending beauty of this remote island.

Our digs while on Barra

Scenes like this is how we will remember of Barra

Sandy and her castle where the MacNeals ruled

Our travels on Barra