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I have always been attracted to this peninsula called Rubh' a' Choin that juts out from the eastern shore of Loch Ewe.
A few houses are scattered along this peninsula as well as an army base used by the troops during the regular NATO exercises in this area. Beyond the peninsula is The Minch, the sea which lies between mainland Scotland and the Outer Hebridean Islands
This was a particularly clear evening and looking over the Minch to the horizon the thin line of the Hebridean islands can actually be seen, in this view the Isle of Lewis is visible. From my viewpoint the part of Lewis in view was a full 55 kilometres away!
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.
Hebrides; The following etymology is quoted from the Wikipedia article on the Hebrides. The first reference to a name similar to the modern Hebrides is by Ptolemy, who called the islands Αἱβοῦδαι = Haiboudai in Ancient Greek. Later texts in classical Latin, by writers such as Solinus, use the forms Hebudes and Hæbudes. The old Old Norse name, during the Viking occupation, was Suðreyjar, which means ‘Southern Isles’. It was given in contradistinction to Norðreyjar, or the ‘Northern Isles’, i.e. Orkney and Shetland.
Ironically, given the status of the Western Isles as the last Gàidhlig speaking stronghold in Scotland, the Gaelic language name for the islands - Innse Gall - means "isles of the foreigners" which has roots in the time when they were under Norse occupation and colonisation, and in reference to the Norse-Gaels, known in Gaelic as the Gall-Ghaidhil (meaning Foreign Gaels).
Lewis; Can also be written as Lews. In Gaelic it is Leòdhas or Leòdh’s and it appears in the Norse sagas as Ljóðhús and Ljóðus. There is some doubt about the true origin of this name but most toponymist’s have decided it is of Norse origin, derived from Ljóða-hús meaning ‘house of songs or lays’, in other words a céilidh house. According to Professor Watson some Lewis scholars favour it being derived from Ljót-hús, ‘Leod’s House.
Loch Ewe; Professor Watson said “that he had taken iu, with hesitation, from the Irish eo, thus ‘Loch of the yew tree’; the fact that Tobar na h-Iu in Nigg showed the article is practically decisive in favour of iu being there at least a Gaelic word. No Pictish name is accompanied by the Gaelic article. But the Ewe may be a Pictish name derived from the same root, or from a totally different one.”
Rubh’ a’ Choin; Gaelic; ‘Point of the Dog’.
The Minch; In Gaelic it is An Cuan Sgith which translates as ‘the weary sea’. In old Norse it was known as Skotlandsfjörð, ‘Scotland’s Fjiord’.
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