Lovely Barra Isle in Outer Hebrides Is Ancestral Home of All MacNeils

Clan MacNeil has owned the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides since the 9th Century, and for half a millennium the clan has held forth from 14th-Century Kismul Castle in this city’s small harbor.

“Hear, O ye people, and listen O ye nations,” the clan herald once proclaimed from the castle tower. “The great MacNeil of Barra, having finished his meal, the princes of the earth may now dine.”

A legend also says there was no MacNeil on Noah’s Ark because the clan’s chief had his own boat. The present chief, now living in Chicago, takes over the castle every July for his holiday and still has his own boat.

Many of Barra’s 1,200 inhabitants still carry the MacNeil name, and a friendlier lot you couldn’t find.

They never pass a walker without a cheerful welcome, and when driving the island’s one-lane dirt roads many will stop, lean from the car window and chat for a moment in their Gaelic-laced dialect.

Barra, like most of the Hebrides, is a rugged and hilly island covered with summer wildflowers, heather and brilliant yellow gorse. Ancient stone walls run across the hillsides, and sheep that outnumber the population by several fold are everywhere.

Getting here: Fly Northwest, British Airways, Air Canada or American to Glasgow. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket costs $827 to $1,002, depending upon the month and day of week flown. Loganair flies Glasgow-Barra for $129 round trip. Landings and takeoffs from the island’s Cockle Shell Strand Airport are dictated by tides, however, so schedules vary considerably.

How long/how much? Barra is a place to unwind. Gauge your stay according to how much peace, quiet and low-key activity your system needs. Lodging and dining costs are moderate.

A few facts: Britain’s pound recently sold for $1.64. Weather in the Hebrides is usually iffy, but May through August is the best time for a visit. Serious walkers may want to circle the 16-mile shoreline, but rental cars and taxis are available, the latter looping the island for about $24.

Getting settled in: Castlebay Hotel ($89 double, half-pension) is a gabled house of rough island stone overlooking the harbor in town. Bedrooms are simple, and some have marvelous views of the castle, all with hair dryers and self-catering coffee and tea gear.

The dining room in this family-owned place is excellent, and there’s a small “public house” in a separate building where you can get a drink and meet the locals.

Aros Cottage (Northbay; $39 B&B; double, shared bath) could pass for a modest, single-family bungalow, albeit neat, fresh and bright as can be. Only three bedrooms here, but the owners are island-born, so they can tell you where are the best trout fishing, bird watching and wildflower vistas.

Complimentary tea and homemade baked goods are served in the evening, and a full meal is available for $6.50 if one is ordered early. Breakfasts are hearty, and use of the washer-dryer is yours for the asking.

The Isle of Barra Hotel (Tangusdale Beach; $82 B&B; double, $115 half-pension), five minutes from town, has a magnificent beach. You can see it from every window.

Tartan rugs adorn the public rooms. There is a TV lounge, where movies are shown in the evening, including numerous reruns of the hilarious “Whisky Galore,” shot on the island.

Bedrooms have most of the amenities one would expect in a first-class country hotel, and there is a fine dining room.

Regional food and drink: Fishing for trout, salmon and herring is marvelous, so you’ll find them on most menus. Lamb and mutton are other Hebrides staples, with mutton being favored by locals. You’ll also find plenty of shellfish: oysters, mussels and gigantic tender scallops.

Bridie , a meat turnover, is a traditional island dish, as is colconnon : mashed potatoes mixed with leeks, butter and cream, usually eaten at high tea.

Flummery , a dessert of whipped cream, Scotch liqueur and crumbled oat cakes, is a real favorite. And MacEwan’s beer is very good.

Good dining: The Isle of Barra Hotel’s dining room gives you one of the island’s most dramatic views plus a fixed-price, four-course dinner daily for $22.

Start with a prawn or crab cocktail, move on to potato and leek soup, then choose from grilled Barra salmon, sirloin steak or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, all with vegetables. Several desserts or cheese with biscuits round out the meal.

Kismul Galley (Main Street) is the only place to eat in town besides hotels. It’s a combination gift shop-tearoom-bakery that also does lunches and high teas.

The luncheon menu is a selection of “filled rolls” (sandwiches) of tuna, sausage, cheese and the like. High tea could be a baked potato filled with cheese and pickle, or meat pies, bridies or stovie , a vegetable stew. The homemade buttered scones are delicious.

Castlebay Hotel has a dining room lacking just about any decor, save a few fresh flowers on each table, yet the food is outstanding.

The pan-fried cockles are stupendous, and the scallops in Cointreau sauce that follow are their equal. You might choose local haddock, trout or lamb with a mint sauce.

On your own: For $5 round trip per person a small boat goes out to Kismul Castle. Visit its great hall, medieval dungeon and the clan chief’s chapel.

Another boat trip takes visitors to the Isle of Vatersay, with its gorgeous beaches of shell sand, one tearoom-grocery store and not much else. A causeway to Vatersay should open soon; it’s the biggest thing to happen hereabouts in years.

In addition to loch fishing, ocean angling and bird watching (black- and red-throated divers, barnacle geese, Hebridean wrens, auks, redwings, gannets and the rare corncrake and golden eagle), people here can walk the hills and beaches and can even take dips if the goose bumps don’t bother them.

For more information: Call the British Tourist Authority at (213) 628-3525, or write to 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071 for brochures on the Highlands and Islands and the Outer Hebrides, plus a map of Britain. Or else ask for the Barra package.