0:00:03 > 0:00:07A chain of distant islands on a blue horizon,
0:00:07 > 0:00:13a tranquil image that disguises a violent and bloody past.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18400 years ago, seafarers navigated these often treacherous waters
0:00:18 > 0:00:24at their peril, fearing sudden attack and plunder by Clan MacNeil.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31On an autumn day in 1596, an English merchant ship was making her
0:00:31 > 0:00:35way north, sailing between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish mainland.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40The captain was anxious - on the horizon lay the island of Barra,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43home to clan Chief Rory MacNeil,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47the most notorious pirate in Scottish waters.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51In this series, I'm going on a personal journey to reveal
0:00:51 > 0:00:56the extraordinary stories behind the great clan names of history.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00And of all the clans in the Hebrides there can be few whose fate has been
0:01:00 > 0:01:06so shaped by the sea as Clan MacNeil, the last of the Vikings.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20On that day in 1596, the English captain watched
0:01:20 > 0:01:25as a single square sail approached at speed across the sea...
0:01:27 > 0:01:32..the telltale sign that MacNeil and his men had been scrambled into action.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40The end for the captain and his crew was as swift as it was bloody.
0:01:40 > 0:01:47MacNeil and his pirates fought their way on board, butchered everyone in sight and looted the cargo.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54Their work done, the MacNeils left the ship to drift with its corpses
0:01:54 > 0:01:58until the wind and the tide drove it to destruction on the coast.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07400 years on and I'm crossing the Minch, the same
0:02:07 > 0:02:12ancient Hebridean seaway where Rory MacNeil plied his nefarious trade.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16With me on board is writer and historian John Sadler.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20John, can you tell me why you think that the MacNeils became such notorious pirates?
0:02:20 > 0:02:23What was the secret of their piratical success?
0:02:23 > 0:02:27I suppose one would have to say that the MacNeils were a continuation of
0:02:27 > 0:02:30the great Viking tradition of sea roving and sea raiding.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33They probably didn't even regard themselves as pirates as such.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39They continued, on a maritime basis, the kind of Celtic raiding tradition
0:02:39 > 0:02:44on land which the other clans carried out with each other.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48The mainland clans, of course, practised cattle raiding, which was an ancient Celtic tradition,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52as a form of Homeric manliness, as a kind of...
0:02:52 > 0:02:57As a macho activity, almost like a sport - for glory as much as for gain.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Whereas the MacNeils continued that same type of activity but using their sea legs,
0:03:01 > 0:03:07rather than practising on land. And their great seamanship, their fleets
0:03:07 > 0:03:10of swift galleys meant that they could do it on an industrial scale.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13And how serious a threat were the MacNeils to shipping in the Minch?
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Unquestionably, they were a very significant threat, perhaps as...
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Almost a threat on the scale of modern, say, Somali pirates
0:03:20 > 0:03:23are in their part of the globe, and they were just as ruthless.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26We shouldn't be too blinded by the kind of Errol Flynn, swashbuckling
0:03:26 > 0:03:32legend that attaches to the MacNeils, or the fact that there's a peacefully rather romantic form of piracy -
0:03:32 > 0:03:39it was a ruthless commercial activity and they would not hesitate to kill if they were offered any resistance.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43And kill they did.
0:03:43 > 0:03:51When Rory MacNeil attacked the English merchant ship in 1596, there were no survivors.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Loaded to the gunnels with booty, MacNeil turned his galley towards
0:03:55 > 0:04:00home, the island of Barra and Kisimul Castle, the Castle of the Sea,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04where for generations, MacNeil Chiefs had held sway over the islands
0:04:04 > 0:04:06of the southernmost Hebrides.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15From any vantage point, the view of Kisimul Castle is impressive.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21Occupying the most sheltered natural harbour in the Hebrides, it gave the MacNeils the perfect base
0:04:21 > 0:04:27from which to attack shipping in one of the world's major trade routes, the great Northway of the Sea,
0:04:27 > 0:04:34connecting Western sea-boardered Europe to Scandinavia and the Baltic.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41Barra lies plumb bang in some of the major
0:04:41 > 0:04:45sea routes, European sea routes. Lots of very interesting,
0:04:45 > 0:04:50very curious, valuable objects being carried backwards and forwards
0:04:50 > 0:04:51around Barra,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54especially during the early modern period, 400 or 500 years ago.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Barra's remoteness from the centre of power in Edinburgh
0:05:01 > 0:05:06not only made it an ideal place to launch attacks on shipping - it also encouraged the MacNeil Chief to feel
0:05:06 > 0:05:14untouchable in his island castle and master of all he surveyed.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Kisimul was the centre of MacNeil power for at least six centuries,
0:05:18 > 0:05:24perhaps much longer if the legendary accounts of their origins can be believed.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28To find out how this island fortress fits into the wider story
0:05:28 > 0:05:31of MacNeil occupation on Barra,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I've come to meet Tom McNeill, from Queen's University, Belfast.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Tom, have you got any idea of how long this place has been occupied?
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I would have thought it would have been occupied
0:05:43 > 0:05:47from certainly about the 10th, 11th century. The buildings we see
0:05:47 > 0:05:51are almost certainly later - quite possibly quite a bit later.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Well, some of them, I know, have been, restored in the 20th century, but basically,
0:05:55 > 0:05:56what have we got here, Tom?
0:05:56 > 0:06:04What we have got is the Great Hall range down here, you've got the religious side here with the chapel,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and you've got the lord's accommodation up here in the tower.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13So you've got three elements of classic lordship. Now, is that common for this part of the world?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It's not what the traditional view of the Gaelic world is.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21It's based on a European idea of hierarchy and ceremony.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27Ceremony and public display form the currency of medieval lordship
0:06:27 > 0:06:34and the Chief of Clan MacNeil was no slouch when it came to impressing guests and members of the clan
0:06:34 > 0:06:38with his lordly status, here in the great hall.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Tom, can you paint a picture of what life
0:06:40 > 0:06:44might have been like when the great MacNeil was at dinner here?
0:06:44 > 0:06:52The Chief and whoever he chose to ask to come to sit with him, at the table running across here.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58The clansmen and the lesser guests, down the body of the hall.
0:06:58 > 0:07:04So this is all about display, and a display that is designed to enhance the power and prestige of MacNeil.
0:07:04 > 0:07:11Absolutely. It shows who is the boss, whose guest you are, whose favour you need.
0:07:14 > 0:07:21The great hall was MacNeil's stage, the place from where he made his proclamations, but the important
0:07:21 > 0:07:26decisions of politics and power were made in the impressive castle tower.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32This is where the Chief's private life was played out behind closed doors.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36This is really a fantastic view and we are quite privileged to enjoy it.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42Yes, and we would have been to enjoy it in the Middle Ages, because the stair up to these
0:07:42 > 0:07:46battlements comes from the private apartments of the lord, so only the
0:07:46 > 0:07:51MacNeil and his private guests would have been invited up here.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Do you think MacNeil of Barra, with such an emphasis on display,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57might have been a boastful, vainglorious man?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59We have the 17th century story
0:07:59 > 0:08:05that he sent a herald up every day to announce that the great MacNeil
0:08:05 > 0:08:09had had his dinner and therefore the princes of the world might now dine.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Now, that's modesty.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18To maintain himself in the style that matched his boastful claims,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23MacNeil had to look beyond the shores of his barren island empire
0:08:23 > 0:08:26to fill his table and stock his cellars.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Ships in the open sea were both key to survival
0:08:30 > 0:08:34and to maintaining the loyalty of his clan.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Now, the stones you can see behind me, just sticking out of the water,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41are all that's left of a low harbour wall.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Now, this is where MacNeil of Barra would have berthed his birlinn,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49his highland galley, after he'd attacked the English merchantmen.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52The feature is known as a naust,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56an old Norse Viking word for a place where you berth
0:08:56 > 0:09:02your boat, and it's also a feature that directly connects the MacNeils to the Vikings who once
0:09:02 > 0:09:09dominated these islands, because before the MacNeils, the Vikings were the pirates of the Hebrides.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16The MacNeils of Barra are direct heirs
0:09:16 > 0:09:19of a tradition that was both Viking and Gaelic.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22They come from a group known as the Norse-Gaels,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26that were people who intermarried between the Vikings and the Gaels,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30and the MacNeils are a living embodiment of this tradition
0:09:30 > 0:09:35and continued the seafaring tradition that moved from the Viking galleys
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and longships into the birlinns of the clans.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44The birlinn, or West Highland galley,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48used by the pirate MacNeils was almost identical in design
0:09:48 > 0:09:52to the infamous longships of their Viking predecessors.
0:09:52 > 0:09:59These boats symbolised the cultural and technological fusion of the Norse and Gaelic worlds.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04The birlinn was the Rolls Royce of ships in medieval Scotland
0:10:04 > 0:10:06and a sure sign that its owner
0:10:06 > 0:10:11was a man of great social standing, which is why so many were carved on
0:10:11 > 0:10:13the gravestones of the mighty,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17as a visual reminder of the Vikings' technological legacy.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24And uniquely on Barra, in the ancient graveyard of the ruined Celtic church of Cille Bharra,
0:10:24 > 0:10:31is another gravestone that perfectly demonstrates the fusion of the Celtic and Norse cultures.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Now, this is a replica of a 10th-century Celtic cross
0:10:36 > 0:10:39found on Barra. The original's actually in Edinburgh.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44Now, you can see it's a very fine example of the stonemason's art,
0:10:44 > 0:10:45but it's on the other side
0:10:45 > 0:10:49that things get really interesting from my point of view, because here,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52you've got these quite bizarre-looking markings.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Now, these markings are Norse runes -
0:10:55 > 0:11:00runes being the written language of the Vikings - and it says here,
0:11:00 > 0:11:06"This stone was raised to the memory of Thorgeth by her father, Steinar."
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And we don't know who Thorgeth was,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13but this stone shows how the two cultures - the Celtic culture and
0:11:13 > 0:11:19the Viking culture - had fused together, because by now, the pagan Vikings had become Christian.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24But converting to Christianity didn't make any difference to
0:11:24 > 0:11:27the Vikings' violent and piratical ways,
0:11:27 > 0:11:33which are neatly described in the story of how they arrived on Barra.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38According to the ancient Norse Grettir Saga, the first Viking
0:11:38 > 0:11:42on Barra was the improbably named Onund The Wooden-Leg.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Now, like all good pirates, Onund had only one leg,
0:11:46 > 0:11:52but this, it seems, didn't stop him and his followers from defeating the native Gaelic speakers on
0:11:52 > 0:11:57the island and setting up a base here, from where they launched summer raids to burn and plunder.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05The Vikings passed their culture of raiding onto their Gaelic-speaking successors.
0:12:05 > 0:12:13By the 1600s, when Rory MacNeil was making his attacks on shipping in the Minch, Barra piracy
0:12:13 > 0:12:21had changed little in 600 years, yet the reach of royal authority was now beginning to extend to the Hebrides.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Roused to anger by Rory's attacks, the king in Edinburgh
0:12:25 > 0:12:30clamped down on the MacNeil Chief and piracy declined.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Despite this, MacNeil Chiefs continued to defy authority
0:12:37 > 0:12:43in the mistaken belief that their isolation still guaranteed immunity from the law.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47In 1723, the 39th Chief of Clan MacNeil
0:12:47 > 0:12:52was presented with an opportunity to reap untold riches from the deep.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58The white water breaking behind me portrays the presence of a semi-submerged reef.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03Now, even in calm weather, this can be a dangerous place, but in a hurricane,
0:13:03 > 0:13:09the seas around here can be whipped up into a terrifying and destructive frenzy.
0:13:09 > 0:13:15To be caught out near that reef in bad weather could mean almost certain death.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22One night in January 1723,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26the island was hit by hurricane-force winds, driving the Adelaar,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29a ship of the Dutch East India Company,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33laden with rich cargo, silver and jewels, onto the reef.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Within minutes, the ship's back was broken
0:13:37 > 0:13:42and the 350 passengers and crew thrown into the wild water.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44There were no survivors.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56Many of the bodies were washed ashore here, on the big beach to the west of the island.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Now, what had been a human tragedy for the men and women
0:13:59 > 0:14:05who'd lost their lives at sea very quickly became an opportunity for the men and women of Barra.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13The bodies were systematically looted and the shoreline combed for the goods that were washed ashore.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18MacNeil sealed off the island, desperate to grab as much as he could.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23But when news got to Edinburgh, the state reached out and claimed the treasure.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28MacNeil now found himself powerless to stop government-sponsored divers
0:14:28 > 0:14:30from salvaging the wreck.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Following in the wake of this early salvage operation,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38a team of marine archaeologists,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43led by Colin Martin, dived the dangerous wreck in the 1970s.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Incredibly, the 18th-century divers had raised
0:14:47 > 0:14:49nearly all of the 500 silver ingots
0:14:49 > 0:14:57and 30,000 silver coins, worth 170 million dollars in today's market.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Now, what did you find down there? Was there much left of the boat itself?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04There was nothing of the ship at all. It's a very, very exposed
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and dynamic site and the ship had been broken to virtually nothing,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11probably in the first few seconds of the wrecking event.
0:15:11 > 0:15:18Um, it was then heavily salvaged by our 18th-century predecessors, so all we found were a few
0:15:18 > 0:15:25durable items scattered quite widely in the gullies around the reef.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- What kind of durable items? We've got pictures of you...- Well...- Was that a metal detector there?- Yes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32That's a metal detector. We found quite a lot of lead ingots,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34which were part of the ship's ballast.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38- We also found a good many of the ship's guns.- Right.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Most of which were iron, but one of the large ones was a bronze gun
0:15:42 > 0:15:46- which was one of a pair of bronze guns.- Is that this one?
0:15:46 > 0:15:47That's this one here.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51There were originally two guns of that size and they were the guns set
0:15:51 > 0:15:56on either side of the ship's compass, so they wouldn't affect the...
0:15:56 > 0:15:58- accuracy of the compass.- But presumably, they would have been
0:15:58 > 0:16:02- more interested in raising the gold and silver?- Absolutely.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- And what kind of machine did they have to take them down?- Well...
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Was it a diving bell, or...?
0:16:07 > 0:16:10No, it was a kind of barrel, and this was patented
0:16:10 > 0:16:13by an Englishman called Jacob Rowe, and he was the leader of
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- the team that recovered the Adelaar's treasure.- It looks like a saxophone!
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- It does a bit.- I can't see how it works.- Yes, this is actually
0:16:20 > 0:16:24a copper version, but I think the version they used mainly was made like a barrel
0:16:24 > 0:16:25out of wooden staves.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29And it had a little porthole that you could look through.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33It must have been terrifying to go down in one of these,
0:16:33 > 0:16:38but they successfully managed to recover pretty well all the Adelaar's treasure.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40So he would have been able to attach one end of a...
0:16:40 > 0:16:43like a line to whatever he's discovered on the seabed.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47To a box of coins, or whatever, and if it was loose coins...
0:16:47 > 0:16:50They list their equipment and one of the items is called the money shovel.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Right.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57- And you found some money, I believe? - We did indeed, yes. These, these are silver coins from the Adelaar.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00- So these are 18th century? - These are 18th century.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Well, actually, some of them are 17th century.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- Here's quite an old one. - That's an enormous coin.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07That's a Spanish piece of eight.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09A genuine pieces of eight pieces of eight?
0:17:09 > 0:17:13A genuine pieces of eight pieces of eight.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16That's actually quite early, that's 1639, that one.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17Uh-huh.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21This one, which is exactly the same size,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25- is a Dutch coin, so it doesn't have the King's head on it.- Right.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27- But it's got a horseman on it.- Right.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30So these things were always known as silver riders.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Thwarted by this extraordinary 18th-century salvage operation,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39MacNeil never got his hands on any of the treasure.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43This failure marks the point where the power traditionally wielded
0:17:43 > 0:17:48by the MacNeil Chiefs over their islands began to weaken.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53But if life was getting tough for the Chief, then spare a thought for his people.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58Their daily struggle for survival is perfectly illustrated by the story of Mingulay.
0:17:58 > 0:18:04Just 20 miles south of Barra, Mingulay was evacuated in 1912,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08ending almost 6,000 years of human occupation.
0:18:08 > 0:18:14Mingulay was often described by visitors as the "nearer St Kilda,"
0:18:14 > 0:18:20because the lives of its inhabitants was, like the St Kildans, uniquely dominated by the sea.
0:18:20 > 0:18:27Mingulay could be cut off for weeks at a time by storms, so the people had to be entirely self sufficient,
0:18:27 > 0:18:33but the sea that separated them from the other islands also provided them with a livelihood.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48My guide on the island is fisherman and local historian Calum MacNeil.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Calum is intimately acquainted with the Mingulay story.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57He first came here as a 15-year-old shepherd when he spent the lambing
0:18:57 > 0:19:01and shearing seasons living among the ruins.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Calum, how many people would have lived here in its heyday?
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Well, up to 180, but that was excessive
0:19:07 > 0:19:10in relation to what the land could support.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13How did people live here? How did they sustain themselves?
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Reasonably well. At one stage in the early 1800s, for example,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21they were exporting even butter and feathers.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Quite often, that would help to pay, especially with the rent.
0:19:24 > 0:19:31And, um...dried salt fish, salt cod and salt bream especially, cos it was more expensive.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Basically, the fish and the seabirds was the mainstay.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Calum, you say that birds were the mainstay here. How were they caught?
0:19:40 > 0:19:44They would snare them with what they call a snarey - a loop
0:19:44 > 0:19:48on a rod. And they would also
0:19:48 > 0:19:51just climb down and catch them on the ridges, especially when...
0:19:51 > 0:19:53they started to fly.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- What, on the big cliffs? - On the cliffs, on the ledges...
0:19:55 > 0:19:57They knew which ledges to operate on.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00The puffins would be caught and the birds as well.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Now, to some extent, this village was a fishing village, was it not?
0:20:03 > 0:20:09And there would have been boats leaving here from this beach behind us, after basking sharks.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14- Is that right?- They were harpooning the basking shark in a big way in the early 1800s.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18They're docile and they're easily caught, and they would harpoon them
0:20:18 > 0:20:24and they would take them inside the boat, and then they would row in and they would take them onto the beach
0:20:24 > 0:20:26and they would start melting down the...
0:20:26 > 0:20:28the liver especially, for oil.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35In the summer of 1905, a young Scottish photographer
0:20:35 > 0:20:39called Robert Adam caught the life of Mingulay on film.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44These haunting images are a vivid reminder of a way of life that has gone forever.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47The lure of the modern world
0:20:47 > 0:20:52took the young people away and life on Mingulay became unsustainable.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57In 1912, the population abandoned their island home
0:20:57 > 0:20:59to the sand and the seals.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Just going back 100 years, it's hard to us to imagine today, just looking
0:21:03 > 0:21:06at the ruins, but this must have been a, a really vibrant community.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09It was, a lively community, because the houses
0:21:09 > 0:21:11were close together. They were cheek-to-jowl.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14The community would know each other so well
0:21:14 > 0:21:18and they would know who were good singers, good storytellers.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19You'd have weddings, marriages taking place,
0:21:19 > 0:21:25wedding celebrations... And they weren't short of music and song.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28They would tend to pray as well.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30These things kept them going.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36The fate of Mingulay highlights the pressures that had
0:21:36 > 0:21:40been facing the communities and all the MacNeil islands.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45These came to a head in 1830, when General Roderick MacNeil,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50a veteran of Waterloo, became the 41st Chief of the clan.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53He was crippled by massive inherited debts.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57To survive bankruptcy, he exploited an unlikely resource.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01MacNeil devised a get-rich-quick scheme,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05exploiting a resource that Barra has in abundance - this stuff.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Seaweed.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18From the mid-18th century onwards, the West Highland economy became
0:22:18 > 0:22:22increasingly dependent upon the most unlikely crop ever,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27seaweed. Certain varieties of seaweed could be burnt down to make soda ash,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29which was very important at the time
0:22:29 > 0:22:31for making soap and glass, among other things.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36In Barra, the General went a step further.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41People didn't just harvest kelp in Barra - they were expected to process it as well.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44This is a massive undertaking.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Perhaps as many as 500 people - a quarter of the population of
0:22:47 > 0:22:52the island - were involved in the kelp industry at this time.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00But work in the kelp industry was one of back-breaking toil,
0:23:00 > 0:23:08where Barra men and women spent days standing in freezing cold water, bent double, cutting the kelp
0:23:08 > 0:23:11before dragging it up the shore to be burnt.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Because the work was so unappealing,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Chief Roderick MacNeil resorted to bullying tactics to recruit his
0:23:18 > 0:23:24workforce - threatening eviction and clearance if his will was defied.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28This was not a happy time for the ordinary members of the clan.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33A visiting priest to Barra was so shocked by what he saw that he wrote,
0:23:33 > 0:23:40"The feeble looks and meagre bodies of the belaboured people, without the necessary hours of sleep
0:23:40 > 0:23:47"and altogether dressed in rags, would melt the heart of any but a tyrant into compassion."
0:23:47 > 0:23:52The implication was quite clear - MacNeil had no heart.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54MacNeil was that tyrant.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00But despite his desperate bullying tactics,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03financial ruin was MacNeil's only reward.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08As his debts increased, the price of soda ash collapsed.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14These walls are all that's left of the grand house and gardens that General MacNeil's father
0:24:14 > 0:24:18had built, here at Eoligarry, at the north end of Barra.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24It's hard for us to imagine today, but this was once a beautifully furnished home fit for a clan Chief,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27but MacNeil's bankruptcy sounded its death knell.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36General MacNeil began his reign as MacNeil of Barra £30,000 in debt.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40By the time he finished it, he was £115,000 in debt -
0:24:40 > 0:24:44a huge amount of money, an unthinkable amount of money.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The only solution,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51with his creditors knocking on the door, was to sell up -
0:24:51 > 0:24:54sell the island, sell his belongings.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Unfortunately, at the time as well for him,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04a Hebridean estate wasn't really a marketable commodity.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Ironically, the man who'd evicted his tenants and had threatened
0:25:08 > 0:25:15to clear the entire island was himself cleared from his ancestral lands by bankruptcy.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21In 1845, Roderick MacNeil, the 41st Chief of the clan, fled the island
0:25:21 > 0:25:24with the family's silver, and went into hiding.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32After the general's death in 1863,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34the title of Chief passed to a cousin
0:25:34 > 0:25:39whose ancestors had emigrated to North America a generation earlier.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Today, this transatlantic connection continues.
0:25:43 > 0:25:50Back at Kisimul Castle, I'm met by Rory MacNeil, the son of the present clan Chief.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55Rory was born in the USA, but his heart has always been Barra's.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Now, Rory, for almost a century, there was no MacNeil Chief on Barra.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02What happened to change that?
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Well, it was really my grandfather.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08He was aware of the heritage, and his own family heritage.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12He was born in 1889 and he came here for the first time
0:26:12 > 0:26:15in 1909, with his mother, a strong-willed mother, and I think
0:26:15 > 0:26:18it was really that visit which...
0:26:18 > 0:26:21stimulated him to make it his life's mission, if you will,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25to find a way to come back to Barra and to re-establish the position of
0:26:25 > 0:26:30the Chief and to rebuild and restore Kisimul Castle, which at the time was in ruins.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Now, you're the son of the present Chief, and what made you think things had changed?
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Well, my father became Chief in 1970, when my grandfather died,
0:26:39 > 0:26:47and I think by inclination, he was more of an egalitarian than my grandfather, perhaps.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50In the community here, there's an incredibly strong community in Barra,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55and it's a very egalitarian community, and I think my father quickly, quite quickly,
0:26:55 > 0:27:00began to perceive that. And of course, landlords are not held in great fondness
0:27:00 > 0:27:04in Scotland, as everybody knows, and he began to perceive that as well.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08In an enlightened move, Rory's father
0:27:08 > 0:27:12returned the ownership of the Barra estate to the community,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16a decision that changed the old hierarchical position of the Chief
0:27:16 > 0:27:19as the first amongst equals.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20Now, Rory, what do you think
0:27:20 > 0:27:23the role of a 21st-century Chief is today?
0:27:23 > 0:27:27What's very special about Barra is that the Chief
0:27:27 > 0:27:34has a living relationship with the traditional Gaelic community, a modernising Gaelic community,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37nevertheless, one which has roots which go back hundreds of years.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39And I think that...
0:27:39 > 0:27:46my grandfather, in his own way, and then my father, bringing it into the 21st century, we're now able to have
0:27:46 > 0:27:53a relationship with the community which is focused more on social things, on economic development,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and on helping the community to continue to thrive.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07The old model of Chief has been changed forever and Kisimul Castle
0:28:07 > 0:28:12is no longer the home of warriors, pirates or even landlords.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16The modern Chiefs of Clan MacNeil have discovered new ways to support
0:28:16 > 0:28:22the island community in its ongoing struggle to wrest a living from the sea.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29Today, Barra remains at the heart of Clan MacNeil, an island and a people
0:28:29 > 0:28:33whose past and present are bound up with the sea.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:59 > 0:29:03E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk