Where they are
The name Hebrides comes from the Norse Havbrødøy meaning island on the edge of the sea. The Western Isles form a 160 mile long arc of islands about 40 miles to the west of the Scottish mainland. In all there are around 200 islands, but only 14 are inhabited. There are three distinct areas. In the north the 'islands' of Lewis and Harris (actually only one island) with their attendant islands stretch for about 75 miles from the Butt of Lewis to the Sound of Harris. Next are the Uists, consisting of three main islands of North and South Uist and Benbecula and running for another 60 miles to the Sound of Barra which separates them from Barra.

Environment
The main rocks are extremely old and mainly consist of Lewisian gneiss, a metamorphic rock. In Lewis around Uig and the hills of North Uist there are large areas of pinkish granite. There are small amounts of sandstone near Stornoway and a metamorphic limestone near Rodel at the southern tip of Harris. Significant in many areas on the west of the islands and especially in the Uists is the presence of large amounts of shell sand. This sand has produced machair, an alkaline system which supports a lush vegetation and can produce quite reasonable farm land.

Geomorphologically the islands show a range of landscapes. The north and middle of Lewis is essentially moorland with a thick peat cover, with the exception of coastal strips of better agricultural land where the sands helped to produce better soils. Further south Lewis becomes increasingly hilly, especially to the west, until in Harris there are much wilder hills with bare rocky landscapes on the east and narrow expanses of machair on the west. In the Uists the machair is much more widespread and there are extensive beaches. The east has more bare rock, hills and some peat moor. High average wind speeds have meant that there are few trees, apart from a few places such as Lews Castle in Stornoway and some other estates. Modern forestry planting has been limited and appears to have met with limited success.

Whilst none of the hills are particularly high they are relatively wild and inaccessible for their size. With the exception of in the machair areas there is a  complex drainage system with very many lochs and lochans. All this together with the contrast of acidic peat and alkaline machair, tidal flats an indented coast and relatively little disturbance means that the flora and fauna of the islands is particularly diverse and rich. Tragically this is now under extreme threat from proposals to build very large wind power stations over vast areas.

Heritage
Situated on the Atlantic seaways the Outer Hebrides were probably first visited by man from about 5000BC, with more organised settlement from abround 4000BC. The stones at Callanish (3000BC, about the same time as Stonehenge) show this was an advanced civilisation. However climate change from around 1500BC led to major vegetation change with the loss of trees and encroachment of peat. Apart from the problems this created to agriculture it means that many remains were lost under the peat; also, and particularly in the west, blown sand covered others.

Celtic settlement by Pictish people is particularly marked by remains of brochs, like the classic example at Dun Carloway built around 50BC, remained virtually complete for 1500 years and was still inhabited within the last century. Christianity arrived early with monks from Iona and significant chapels were being established by 900.

The Norse began to appear, mainly as raiders, from about 800 and settled from about 850. The kingdom of Man and the Isles came into being and regarded itself as virtually independent of Norway. However King Magnus Barelegs of Norway eventually reimposed his rule in 1098 in what was apparently a typically Viking way. There are relatively few physical remains from Norse times, however the typical black house is based on their long house and 'Norse' mills remained in use until relatively recently. Norwegian rule was recognised, albeit grudgingly, by the Scottish crown until the Battle of Largs in 1263 after which Norway ceded the islands to Scotland via the Treaty of Perth in 1266. However central rule from Scotland appears to have become nominal and effective control seems to have been in local hands under the Lordship of the Isles from about 1350 - 1500. The Scottish parliament tried to restrain this but it wasn't until Oliver Cromwell's Parliament that central control was firmly established.

The last two centuries
To understand the Western Isles today it is necessary to recognise the impact of more recent history. This is complex, but characterised by most, though not all, estate owners having little or no consideration for their tenants (who had virtually no rights) with clearances, establishment of large, enclosed farms, evictions and enforced emigration being the order of the time. Understandably there was a degree of unrest with such events as the Land Riots. The Crofters Act of 1886 established rights for crofters (the system of land tenure today seems complicated to the outsider). There was even conflict over kelp (seaweed) which crofters wanted for fertiliser and owners wanted to burn for alkali for industry. Lord Leverhulme bought Lewis and attempted to create his own vision of a new economic order in the island. Although he invested considerable sums of money most of his schemes failed to establish themselves, possibly due to his approach being misguided albeit altruistic, possibly because of the conservatism of the islanders. He eventually sold Lewis but retained Harris, where there was more acceptance of his ideas.

Both World Wars hit the islands hard. Not only did men volunteer early and willingly they suffered heavy casualties. In WW1 of serving men 17% were killed - double the ratio of death to population in the rest of Britain. The cruellest twist was when the yacht Iolaire sank entering Stornoway Harbour whilst carrying troops returning home after the war - 205 lives were lost.

Gaelic in the Western Isles
Gaelic, belonging to one of the two Celtic language groups in Britain, was introduced to the Western Isles from Ireland. Later Norse occupation with the use of Norn modified the language locally. Gaelic has always been widely spoken in the Outer Hebrides and Western Islands Council has been actively encouraging Gaelic use, the most obvious evidence of this to the visitor being in road signs, where Gaelic is now used for place names. The BBC has a Gaelic for beginners website, which includes sound clips. MacBain's online Gaelic dictionary with its good search facility may be of interest to anyone wanting to chase some words (but be warned, Gaelic like the other Celtic languages mutates frequently). It is also helpful as it relates Gaelic words to other languages, such as Welsh or Manx.

Place names are often of Norse origin, but were later Gaelicised. People who know Wales will see similarities between Gaelic and Welsh place name elements. For instance Gaelic/Welsh/English examples include beag/bach/small, mòr/mawr/large, tràigh/traeth/beach, deas/de/south, innis/ynys/island, abhainn/afon/river, but ceann/pen/head (note C in Gaelic, P in Welsh, a common change). The Ordnance Survey website has a glossary of Gaelic origins of place names in Britain (also available as PDF download). The OS site on British place names covers other origins too.