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I was at a local craft fair a few years ago selling prints and greetings cards when I was approached by a couple with a request to do a commission for them. They had been endeavouring for quite some time to make their way through the statutory processes involved in acquiring common grazing land to build a house on.
This lengthy process culminated in a hearing before the crofting commission of all the parties involved. Common grazing land is just what it says it is, grazing land free for the use by the local crofting community's livestock. The couple had just been granted permission to build a house on a part of the common grazing land near Opinan.
Once the craft fair had finished they gave me a lift in their van and showed me the precise spot in Opinan where the house would be built. The wanted a photograph of the view from this spot that they could enjoy until such time as their house would be built. The scene before me was not promising, it was very overcast, wet, and misty.
A few days later I returned to this spot and in better weather was able to appreciate the view the couple were going to have from their house, it was a magnificent panorama stretching from An Teallach in the south to Suilven in the north including views of Gruinard Bay and the Summer Isles. In this particular view from Opinan can be seen Gruinard Bay, the Summer Isles, the Achiltibuie peninsula, and beyond from left to right are the mountains, Suilven, Canisp, Stac Pollaidh and Cul Mor.
I took a few shots, including this one in which the Ullapool - Stornaway ferry just happened to come into view while I was there. From the selection of images I took the couple chose two to be framed. Sadly, some time later the husband became ill and died and the project to build a house in this spot was abandoned by his wife.
I was told a story by one of my neighbours concerning the house in this image which has a chimney at each gable end. My neighbour, before she and her husband moved up to Wester Ross to live here, would regularly book this house for their holiday.
As other holiday makers approached the house and saw my neighbour and her husband there they would assume they they actually lived there, and would say to them, "It must be wonderful to live in a spot like this." to which they would always reply, "Yes we are very lucky to live here"!
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.
Achiltibuie; The Gaelic is heard as Achd-ille-bhuidhe, or Aichilidh bhuidhe, or Achill bhuidhe. From Professor Watson’s book he states that local tradition gives this name the meaning ‘Field of the yellow lad’ or ‘Cave of the yellow lad’. However he fears that this is mere popular etymology and that the first of the three Gaelic forms is a popular corruption to suit the story. The other two forms are similar to Achilty in Contin, Gaelic Achillidh, and may show the same root as the Welsh uchel, meaning ‘high’.
An Teallach; Gaelic, ‘The Forge’, according to Wikipedia from its colour in certain lighting rather than its shape. From personal experience I can agree with this explanation. In the summer, during a good sunset, and when looking east over Gruinard Bay An Teallach can appear bright red with the reflected light from the sunset in the west. However Professor Watson says that the being called the forge is due either to its smoke like mists or from supposed resemblance to a forge.
Canisp; No reference to this name in my preferred sources. According to Wikipedia it is from a Norse word meaning ‘the white mountain’.
Cul Mor; Gaelic; Cuthaill Mhòr, The latter part of Cuthaill is from the Norse fjall, a hill; first part obscure. Professor Watson said the names recur in the parish of Urray where he doubtfully suggested it derived from the Norse kúa-fjall, Cow-fell. More probably kví-fjall, Pen-fell, Fold-fell. SNH in their Knockan Crag interpretation plan say it means ‘large hill of the cattle pen’.
Gruinard Bay; possibly from the Norse grunnfjörðr meaning shallow firth.
Opinan; In Professor Watson’s Wester Ross Place Name book he gives the Gaelic name for this place as na h-Òbainean meaning ‘the little bays’; the Gaelic òb borrowed from the old Norse word for bay, hóp. Note that some other sources (such as Wikipedia) spell the Gaelic name differently; i.e. na h-Òbaidhnean, however both the Scottish Parliament and Professor Watson agree that the Gaelic spelling is na h-Òbainean.
Stac Pollaidh; I was unable to find this name referred to in any authoritative sources and a web search revealed conflicting definitions. From these researches it would appear that it is a hybrid Norse/Gaelic name. Stac from the Norse Stakkr meaning ‘hill’ or ‘precipitous rock’ and the Gaelic Poll meaning pool. Given that Stac Pollaidh towers over Loch Lurgainn this seems to be an appropriate name. Professor Watson said of the nearby river Abhainn Phollaidh that Pollaidh in this context means the river of ‘pools’ or ‘holes. [1]
Stornoway; In Gaelic it is Steòrnabhadh and is derived from the Norse Stjórnar-vagr meaning ‘steerage bay’ or ‘rudder bay’.
Suilven; A very dramatic shaped mountain in Sutherland. None of the authoritative sources I use list this name. Researching other sources on the web indicates it's name is an amalgam of Norse and Gaelic derived from Sula Bheinn, where Sula is Norse for pillar and Bheinn is Gaelic for mountain.
Summer Isles; A collective name for a scattered group of islands lying close to the North-west coast of Scotland just north of Ullapool. From the Gaelic na h-Eileanan Samhraidh meaning ‘summer isles’.
Ullapool; Gaelic is Ullabul derived from the Norse Ulli-bólstaðr meaning ‘Ulli’s stead’.
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