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Standing at the gateway to Glen Coe, and in the centre of this photograph, is the magnificent Buachaille Etive Mor. Its name means Great Herdsman of Etive for it's main ridge runs along that glen for 6 kilometres to Dalness. The start of Glen Etive can be seen in this photo at the base of the shadow cast by Meall a' Bhuiridh on Buchaille Etive More.
To the far left can just be seen Blackrock Cottage, now owned by the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club and can only be booked through recognised mountaineering clubs. This was a cold day but with little snow about. The boggy ground however was largely frozen and crunched nicely as I walked to this view point.
The road leading down into Glen Coe, the "Glen of Weeping", passes to the right of Buachaille Etive Mor and descends, as it makes its way to Glencoe village, through the most awesome scenery to be seen anywhere.
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.
Buachaille Etive Mor; The great Herdsman of Etive.
Etive; The name Etive is believed to mean ‘little ugly one’ from the Gaelic Goddess associated with the loch.
Glen Coe; The following information was gleaned from Wikipedia. In Gaelic it is written as Gleann Comhann. Due to the massacre that took place there in 1692 the name Glen Coe is often said to mean "Glen of Weeping", However, Gleann Comhann does not translate as 'Glen of Weeping'. In fact the Glen is named for the River Coe which runs through it, and bore this name long prior to the 1692 incident. The name of the river itself is believed to predate the Gaelic language and its meaning is not known. One possibility is that it was named for a tribe once living in the area; however this remains speculation. It is also possible that the name stems from an individual personal name.
Meall a' Bhuiridh; No authoritative references but according to visitscotland.com the name refers to ‘hill of the bellowing’ (of stags) from the Gaelic bùirich.
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