Once these boats were a main feature of transport on the West Coast of Scotland. They would have linked the constellation of settlements scattered on the western seaboard at a time when water united a mountainous country.

A Birlinn comprised a class of small galleys with 12 to 18 oars, used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. Variants in English and Lowland Scots include “berlin” and “birling”. It probably derives ultimately from the Norse byrðingr, i.e. a ship of burden. The Birlinn is a Norse-Gaelic variant on the Norse longship, based on a design by Somerled which bested the Norse longships with enhanced agility and streamlining and allowed him to defeat the Kingdom of Mann in the middle of the 12th century.