Monument record 696 - ABHAINN ROAG, SNISHIVAL, SOUTH UIST

NF73SE 2 7786 3481.

Name (NF 778348) Battle fought here between the Macleods
and Clan Ranald (NAT)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1928)

About 3/4 mile east of the road at Snishival, South Uist, the burn Abhuinn Roag makes a sharp bend to the south. Here, on the right bank, a raiding party of Macleods from Skye were defeated by the local MacDonalds who are said to have entrenched themselves, while waiting for the invaders, in a position defended on three sides by the burn. "There is a circular excavation about 5 feet deep and 70 feet across, with a slight bank concentric with the outer rim of the hollow on the north and east, which gives this part the appearance of a trench some 18 feet wide. On the east it is some 35 feet from the bank of the burn, but towards the south-west the stream has cut into the edge of a hollow. RCAHMS 1928.

The date of the conflict could not be ascertained - " two old entrenchments" are noted on the site.
Name Book 1878.

The "two old entrenchments" at NF 7795 3479 and NF 7783 481 are 'ox-bows'. No local information could be gained about the battle. Visited by OS (N K B) 13 May 1965.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 119-20, No. 409 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

Name Book (County), 1998, Name Books of the Ordnance Survey, Book No. 11, 145 (Unpublished document). SWE4254.