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Concept
North Uist
Summary
North Uist (Uibhist a Tuath; North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
In Donald Munro's A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist are described as one island of Ywst (Uist). Starting in the south of this 'island', he described the division between South Uist and Benbecula where "the end heirof the sea enters, and cuts the countrey be ebbing and flowing through it". Further north of Benbecula he described North Uist as "this countrey is called Kenehnache of Ywst, that is in Englishe, the north head of Ywst".
Some have taken the etymology of Uist from Old Norse, meaning "west", much like Westray in Orkney. Another speculated derivation of Uist from Old Norse is Ívist, derived from vist meaning "an abode, dwelling, domicile".
A Gaelic etymology is also possible, with I-fheirste meaning "Crossings-island" or "Fords-island", derived from I meaning "island" and fearsad meaning "estuary, sand-bank, passage across at ebb-tide". Place-names derived from fearsad include Fersit, and Belfast. Mac an Tàilleir (2003) suggests that a Gaelic derivation of Uist may be "corn island". However, whilst noting that the -vist ending would have been familiar to speakers of Old Norse as meaning "dwelling", Gammeltoft (2007) says the word is "of non-Gaelic origin" and that it reveals itself as one of a number of "foreign place-names having undergone adaptation in Old Norse". In contrast, Clancy (2018) has argued that Ívist itself is an Old Norse calque on an earlier Gaelic name, Ibuid or Ibdaig, which corresponds to Ptolemy’s Eboudai.
Coates (2006) linked the names Uist and Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean, arguing for an origin in Semitic *bšm ("balsam") with the island-naming prefix *’y, acknowledging the possibility of a name transfer and the name being subject to the influence of Norse ívist.
A number of standing stones from the Neolithic period are scattered throughout the island, including a stone circle at Pobull Fhinn.
Official source
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