Some think that the correct Gaelic spelling of Balallan should be Bailailean, not Baile Ailein, apparently. after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Redcoats in 1753 were still in pursuit of Jacobites and an Officer with a detachment of soldiers was sent to Lewis and Harris in search of firearms and kilts. He wrote a letter to his CO giving a report of his itinerary which mentioned that on the way to Harris he left a Corporal and four men in Kios and a Sergeant and ten men in Bail-laland. The word from Gaelic and Norse means"the village sloping down to the sea", which Balallan does