Borve
Na Buirgh
As you head north, Borve follows Scaristavore. This township looks out onto the Island of Taransay (made famous by the programme 'Castaway'). In previous years, this village was split up into two parts - Borve beag and Borve mòr, but is now generally referred to just as 'Borve'.
Place name:
In Gaelic, the spelling for Borve in the Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Skye for example is different to Borve in Harris. They are spelt ‘Borgh’ and in Harris it is ‘Na Buirgh’. This is because in Harris there is Borgh Mhòr (Big Borve) and Borgh Bheag (Small Borve) with the plural of ‘Borgh’ being ‘Na Buirgh’ (The Borves). Even though today ‘Borve’ in English is more often than not used to refer to the entire village, the Gaelic plural remains.
The word ‘Borve’ comes from the Old Norse for a place with a fort and it is a lovely walk to head up to ‘Dùn Bhuirgh’ to see the fort.
Notable sites:
-
Dùn Bhuirgh - an Iron Age fort
