Tag: Harris

Harris (also Scottish Gaelic: Na Hearadh, pronounced [nə ˈhɛɾəɣ]) is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5. See HS postcode area. A person from Harris is known as a Hearach.
Harris is most likely to be the island referred to as Adru (meaning thick, stout or bulky) on Ptolemy’s map of the British Isles. In Old Norse, a Hérað was a type of administrative district, and the name may derive from that. An alternative origin is the Norse Haerri, meaning “higher” – a reference to the high hills, especially in comparison with the much flatter Lewis lying to the north. Most of the place names on Harris are Gaelicized Old Norse.
Harris divides naturally into northern and southern parts which are separated by West and East Loch Tarbert….