Image Details
I suspect I may have arrived at this viewpoint a few minutes too late. It had been a fine morning, and very still, but the weather was now changing and a breeze was disturbing the surface of the water. Perhaps earlier there had been a more complete reflection.
Before coming to live in the Highlands Lochcarron village was a place we would often stop at on our journey north. Here we would stretch our legs and refuel both the car and ourselves, usually at the Lochcarron Hotel. I have cropped out a small section of the above image and displayed it below to show some of the village more clearly.
In this section of the image the single track road leaving Lochcarron can be seen to the right of the image. This road runs west through through Glenmore on its way to Loch Kishorn and rising above the road are two of the snowbound mountains of Applecross Forest.
The village and loch are named from the River Carron which flows into the sea loch from Glen Carron. The name Carron is from the root 'kars-' meaning rough and refers to the rocky bed of the river.
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.
Applecross; For a full explanation of the origin of this name the reader is referred to Professor Watson’s excellent book – click ‘North-west Highland Place Names’ in the main menu for further information. Summing up his comments it appears that the name means the ‘estuary of the Crosan’ which is the river (Abhain Crosan) that flows into Applecross Bay. The word Crosan is of uncertain origin but is assumed to be Pictish, meaning unknown.
Glenmore; The Great Glen.
Lochcarron; The village is named after Loch Carron, which see below.
Loch Carron; Named after the River Carron which enters this sea loch after a course through Glen-carron and Strath-carron. In Gaelic it is Loch Carrann, Carrann meaning ‘rough’. The root is kars-, rough, as seen in
Loch Kishorn; From the Norse keis-horn, bulky cape.
River Carron; In Gaelic it is Carrann, Carrann meaning ‘rough’. The root is kars-, rough, as seen in
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