Image Details
I had been commissioned by an estate not far from Plockton to take exterior photographs of the estate lodge and the surrounding grounds. To get the right light for the various parts of the estate meant a long day from dawn till sundown, capturing each part of the estate at the optimum time with regard t the sun's position.
There was a longish spell in the middle of the day when nothing could be done and it was then that I took a break to get something to eat. I drove to Plockton and as well as getting something to eat I was on the look out for new images of the area around Plockton. This was one such shot and Duncraig Castle stands out quite clearly beneath the crags.
Creag an Duilisg (The Crags) dominate the view from Plockton. Along the shoreline beneath the crags runs one of the finest scenic railway journeys in Europe. It starts at Inverness and terminates a few miles beyond Plockton at Kyle of Lochalsh. The building of this line was a huge engineering project and by 1870 it had reached Strome Ferry, just a few miles short of Plockton. Strome Ferry remained the end of the line for a good number of years because the builders, the Dingwall and Skye Railway, had run out of money.
The hugely expensive project to build the final 17 kilometres along the rocky coast took four years and the line finally reached the Kyle of Lochalsh on November 2, 1897. In Tom Weir's account of the building of this line he mentions Mrs Jean MacKenzie of Plockton who travelled on the first passenger train that went to Kyle.
She had good memories of that first journey but even better memories of the Railway Ball on that day when hundreds of well dressed folk went to it. She said to Tom Weir "There weren't three houses in Kyle until the railway came. Plockton was a fishing village with big schooners fishing herring all round the coast, as far away as the Clyde."
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.
Creag an Duilisg; I have been unable to find any direct reference to explain the meaning of this name. However, creag is Gaelic for ‘crag’ and Duilisg I believe is Gaelic for ‘seaweed’. This implies the name translates as ‘seaweed crags’ but I have to confess I am guessing. I would appreciate it if anyone could point me in the direction of an authoritative explanation.
Duncraig; From the Gaelic Dùn Creige meaning ‘castle rock’ or ‘castle cliff’. The old name was am Fasadh, ‘the dwelling’.
Kyle of Lochalsh; Kyle is derived from the gaelic Caol meaning ‘narrow’ generally referring to areas where waterways narrow. For the meaning of Lochalsh see Loch Alsh.
Plockton; The Gaelic name is Ploc Loch Aillse meaning ‘the lump of Lochalsh’ this due to the humpy promontory which ends in Rudha-mór.
Stromeferry; Professor Watson states this is a hybrid name, ‘ferry’ is English while ‘Strome’ is Norse derived from straumr meaning current or stream. The Gaelic name is Port an t-Sroim where the presence of the article with Sroim indicates it was felt to have come from a Gaelic word.
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