Gortantoid to Finlaggan
This is the last in my latest series of walks. It's taken a lot of photo manipulation and working out which photo relates to which gridsquare, so a lot of time. Don't expect to see me on here for about another year! Just kidding, this thing is far too addictive for that to be the case. Sadly, though, there's only so much manipulating that can enhance boring photos and so I apologize in advance for the lack of interest in these photos; the weather was poor and, whilst the scenery was more exciting in actuality, it is difficult to capture its essence in a photo, as everyone knows.
After meeting at Finlaggan and depositing two cars there, five people and two dogs squeezed into one car for the trip to Gortantoid where we were leaving the vehicle. That's the one big drawback of these linear walks; the distance is far greater by road than by moors and it means making what's got to be an early start, even earlier to allow for the time taken to drive to the finishing and the starting points.
Cloud hung low as we set off, following the quad bike track along the Gortantoid River but started to lift as we crossed the river and looked back towards Nave Island . The quad bike track is a bonus here. I didn't remember it being there on my first ever Geograph walk (which was almost the same as this one). That time we had fought our way through the dense Rhododendron . This time we followed the fence line and the track, heading towards Beinn Bhreac . It soon clouded over again, however, and remained pretty dull for most of our walk (but I've already apologised for the effect that had on the photos!)
We were walking between Beinn Ghibheach and Beinn Bhreac. 'Gibeach' can, confusingly, be translated as either 'rough' or 'neat/tidy'. 'Breac' is spotted or speckled. I have yet to ascend Beinn Ghibheach. There was little appealing about it today, however, cast as it was in the shadow of cloud and . We continued eastwards, contouring round Beinn Bhreac and admiring the attractive Giùr-bheinn in the distance . I was excited about revisiting Mairi Thormaid's shieling as it is one of my favourite gridsquares on the island. My last visit had been in sunshine and solitude and somehow seemed more special, but there remains a poignancy about this ruin where we rested for a while , wondering who Mairi Thormaid was and what had become of her. Did she own a horse to bring her here in the summer months or did she walk the long road from Gortantoid or Bunnhabhain? Was there even anyone alive today who could give us answers to these questions?
Mairi Thormaid is also honoured by having a burn named after her and we followed this burn south , now in the valley between Beinn Bhreac and Beinn na Heraibh . There are no words starting with the letter 'h' in Gaelic so 'Heraibh' is obviously a corruption of some other Gaelic word, but my Gaelic is not good enough to know which it is. Another thing to add to the research list!
On my last visit here I had noted an interesting eminence (in which I saw a Peacock Butterfly if I remember correctly). I had wondered then if there was any history attached to the place as it is not marked on the map. I took an accurate GPS waymark of the location but could find nothing on Scotland's Places website to suggest it is of any significance. Nevertheless, it appears to be manmade with raised turf and stones and roughly rectangular in shape.
We continued walking through this valley , and until we reached Gleann nam Meirleach (Thieves' Glen) . Presumably this valley was once used by crofters after stealing each others' stock! The plethora of old boundary lines, both here and all over the island, suggest that disputes over boundary lines was as big a problem then as it is today. Allt an Lochain Bhroaich (Burn of the Lochan abounding in sullen anger!) runs parallel to the remains of an old boundary line which presumably once extended further. It continues right up to the 'sullen' loch . Angry or not, Mike and Jane's dogs were happy to swim in it - or rather one of them was, the other apparently not being able to be persuaded, even to try to get rid of any ticks!
Finally we caught sight of our second lunch destination - the ruin at Tais (Moist) Bheinn . We had to cross a 'river' to get to it, the Abhainn Airigh an t-Sluic (River of the Shieling of the pit/den/hollow) . This was no more than a step across and then we enjoyed an anniversary picnic (Mike and Jane's) at the ruin before ascending Tais Bheinn and looking back at our picnic spot .
Once over the 'mountain' we could just glimpse Loch a' Chaorainn (Loch of the Rowan Tree) and in the distance. Below us in the valley of the Sruthan Airigh an t-Sagairt (Stream of the Priest's shielings) were the scattered ruins of said shielings and . We didn't investigate these further, although we agreed these were not as impressive as either of the other ruins we'd viewed today so far (we still had one ruined village to visit).
We crossed the outlet from Loch a' Chaorainn and looked despairingly across more moorland to yet another hill . "I thought you said there would be no hills on this walk," Jim reminded me. I'd hoped he'd forgotten I'd said that, but no such luck! "We'll see the forest just over the hill," I promised, hoping desperately that would be the case. It was! and soon thereafter we found the gate through the deer fence and the track leading from there to Ballachlaven Farm , probably the same one I'd followed on my last walk here. I'd walked from and to Ballachlaven Farm on that occasion, rather than Finlaggan, which was where we were heading today.
We needed to venture away from the track in order to reach our destination so we headed towards the conifer plantation , and . By now the sun was making a reappearance, making the scene which soon lay in front of us even more attractive. and . Pausing for another break (we were all feeling quite dehydrated today) we could see and hear people on Eilean Mòr , one of the two islands which formed the administration centres of the Lordship of the Isles during the 13th to 15th centuries. In 1493 the lordship of the Isles fell to James IV of Scotland, who administered the territory via a tenant-in-chief. Many visitors come to view the ruined castle and chapel every year.
We mustered enough energy to descend the hill to view our final ruin of the day, Sean-ghairt (Old Cornfield). These are quite extensive ruins, more extensive than all the remnants of our energy put together (including the dogs)! So we did not do them justice on this occasion, but, being close to the Visitor Centre at Finlaggan, I am sure I will pay them another visit soon.
We followed a very vague path right by the western shores of the Loch , which provided excellent views of the ancient seat of the Lord of the Isles. After surviving many a dried up bog, it was here, at the very end of our walk where Mike nearly lost one of his new wellies in the boggy terrain. By clinging to the fence the rest of us managed to pull ourselves to safety and then back to the car where water awaited us!
- When
- Tue, 16 Apr 2013 at 11:54
- Grid Square
- NR3868
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