BARRA, or BARRAY (Scand. Baraey, isle of the ocean)  , an island of the outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire, Scotland . Pop . (1901) 2362 . It lies about 5 m . S.W. of South Uist, is 8 m. in length and from 2 to 4 M. in breadth, save at the sandy isthmus 2 m. below Scurrival Point, where it is only a few hundred yards broad . The rock formation is gneiss . The highest hill is Heaval (126o ft.) and there are several small lochs . The chief village is Castlebay, at which the Glasgow steamer calls once a week . This place derives its name from the castle of Kishmul standing on a rock in the bay, which was once the stronghold of the M`Neills of Barra, one of the oldest of Highland clans . There are remains of ancient chapels, Danish duns and Druidical circles on the island . There is communication by ferry with South Uist . The parish comprises a number of smaller islands and islets—among them Frida, Gighay, Hellisay, Flodda to the N.E., and Vatersay, Pabbay, Mingalay (pop .

135) and Berneray to the S.E.—and contains 4000 acres of arable

land and 18,000 acres of meadow and hill pasture . The cod, ling and herring fisheries are important, and the coasts abound with shell-fish, especially cockles, for which it has always been famous . On Barra Head, the highest point of Berneray, and also the most southerly point of the outer Hebrides chain, is a light-house 68o ft. above high water .