Image Details
This image was the result of a request by a friend to take a photograph of, or from Naast, to be made into a gift for a couple who were leaving the area. Naast is a small village on the western shore of Loch Ewe about one third of the way along the Inverasdale peninsula. I was told where they lived, which was a house up the hill at Naast and apart from that I was left to come up with something.
I waited for a reasonable day. It was the month of January and I didn't acres of time to wait on a good day arriving. I went off on the first half decent day to see what I could do. I had never walked up the hill behind the village of Naast and was surprised at how good the view was.
I needed some foreground interest and found it when I came across the ruins of two dry stone dykes, perfect! The day had improved by now and the low winter sun gave a fine light to reveal the shapes of the hills.
To the right of this photograph can be seen the single track road that leads to the village of Poolewe the houses of which are only just visible in the distance, beyond which are the mountains of 'The Great Wilderness'.
In Dixon's book, 'Gairloch and Guide to Loch Maree' published in 1886 it states about Naast that "a stronghold anciently stood on the rocky headland forming a tiny bay below the township, where a picturesque group of fishing boats is generally to be seen lying on the beach." Dùn is a Gaelic word meaning fort. Unfortunately the fishing boats are long gone but the picturesque nature of the area still remains to be enjoyed today.
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.
Inverasdale; Village on the western shore of Loch Ewe. The following notes are by Professor Watson. In Gaelic it is Inbhir-asdal. A hybrid name; from Gaelic, inbhir, estuary; from Norse, aspi-dalr, Aspen-dale, from osp, the aspen tree. The old forms, together with the independent authority of Blaeu (a 16th century Dutch mapmaker), prove that the modern Gaelic is a contraction with compensatory lengthening of the vowel a.
Naast; There is some uncertainty about the origin and meaning of this place name. According to the Scottish Parliament it is Nàst in Gaelic, perhaps derived from a Norse word meaning ‘boat place’. JH Dixon agrees it is from the Norse and gives an alternative spelling, Naust. Dixon goes on to state that Fäste is Norse for fortress and that its Gaelic form with the article would be Näste; that there is a knowe by the sea called Dun Naast, apparently including the Gaelic Dun, a castle.
Professor Watson goes on to give the following account; “The Nastis in 1638 ; Gaelic Nàst ; doubtful. We may compare the Irish Naas, derived from nàs, a fair ; t would easily develop. Norse naust, a boat-place, would land in Gaelic nòst, hardly nàst, unless we could suppose a change from o to a. Also Plàtach Nàst, the flat place of Naast ; and Dùn Nàst, Fort of Naast.”
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