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One of the most moving accounts of Scottish West Highland life, the utter joy of the landscape on glorious days, the fearsome storms, the entrancing wildlife, all this and more is narrated in such a fresh and engaging way by Gavin Maxwell in his excellent book, Ring of Bright Water.
When Gavin wrote this book he was living at a place he called Camusfearna in his writings, this is not the real name and clearly he was not wanting to be discovered. Camusfearna, which means 'Bay of Alders', is in reality a remote place called Sandaig, a long walk down a rough hillside from the nearest single track road and about 6 kilometres from the nearest village, Glenelg.
The above photograph was taken at Camusfearna in the late afternoon with just enough hazy sunlight to brighten the water. The view is looking out over the Sound of Sleat to the Isle of Skye, and the foreground islands are the Sandaig Islands. The nearest is called Fraoch Eilean and the furthest upon which is the Sandaig Lighthouse, is called Eilean Mor.
While preparing my photograph for this website and checking the detail in the image I rediscovered two things I had long forgotten about, the photograph having been taken several years ago. The first is on Fraoch Eilean, upon which and to the right of the small sandbank is a low, only a few centimetres high, stone grid-like structure. When I saw it in the image it brought back memories of walking out to this island at low tide and discovering the grid. What is it? Did Maxwell place it there? Do you, the reader, know?
Next, on Eilean Mor I noticed the shell of a ruined building near the lighthouse. Who lived there? The house that Gavin Maxwell lived in on the shore at Sandaig was called the Lighthouse Keeper's cottage and I had assumed the lighthouse keeper lived there before Gavin Maxwell. Perhaps in more distant times the lighthouse keeper lived in the cottage on Eilean Mor next to the lighthouse?
Since writing the above paragraph, a visitor to my website, who often visited Gavin Maxwell, and stayed with him for periods contacted me to tell me that the shell of the building on Eilean Mor had been used in former times as a lighthouse store.
Of Gavin Maxwell's house there is no trace now. While he was living there a tragic accident resulted in the house going on fire and being razed to the ground. There is a memorial stone erected on the spot where his desk would have been when writing stories of life with his otters at Camusfearna.
The distance as the crow flies from the roadside down the hillside to Camusfearna is just over a kilometre, but the track twists and turns through a dense forest, and the first time I made this trip I wondered if Camusfearna would ever be reached. I'd recommend anyone who hasn't read Ring of Bright Water to read it, then take the long walk down the hillside, the never ending walk, until you reach Camusfearna, that "little bit of Heaven".
North-west Highland Place Names
The landscape of the North-west Highlands and the Gaelic language are intimately connected. Other languages have contributed to the richness of our place names, notably Norse, but the North-west Highlands have for centuries been a Gaelic landscape. In listing the meanings of place names I have relied on authoritative sources wherever possible. For further information about sources please refer to North-west Highland Place Names in the main menu.
Eilean Mor; Big island.
Fraoch Eilean; Heather island.
Glenelg; From my own researches there is much debate about the meaning of this name with no great certainty accorded by any of the theories. My own notes are based on the explanations given on the Glenelg & Arnisdale development trust website where a more comprehensive explanation is to be found. The name is derived from Gleann-eilge or Glinn-eilge where the first part refers to Glen or Glens, however the eilge portion is more difficult to explain. Some suppose it is of Norse origin and derived from Ealga, a Norse princess alleged to have been buried on Skye. Professor Watson points out that ealga means the same as
Sandaig; From the Norse sanndaig meaning sand bay.
Skye; Skye's history includes the influence of Gaelic, Norse and English speaking peoples and the relationships between their names for the island are not straightforward. The Gaelic name for the "Isle of Skye" is An t-Eilean Sgitheanach (or Sgiathanach, a more recent and less common spelling). The meaning of this name is not clear. Various explanations have been proposed, such as the ‘winged isle’ or ‘the notched isle’ but no definitive solution has been found to date.
Sound of Sleat; Sleat is derived from the Gaelic Sléibhte or Slèite which in turn are derived from the old Norse word sléttr meaning smooth, this due the southern area of Skye to which it is adjacent being much less mountainous.
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