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I had been in the forest at Strath Beag at Dundonnell getting some autumnal shots in the low November sun. As I was packing up to leave, the weather changed for the worse and some light rain began to fall. Thinking that the opportunity for more shots that day might be over, I decided to use the time to explore the other side of the peninsula I was on before returning home.
I was on the peninsula that lies between Little Loch Broom and Loch Broom on Scotland's north-west coast, and I was on the Little Loch Broom side. There is a track going over the peninsula eventually leading to Allt na h-Airbhe on the shores of Loch Broom, and it was this track I took for the first time wondering what I would see.
As I came over the crest of the hill I was able to see that there were wonderful views of Loch Broom and Coigach, and sandwiched between them was the village of Rhue, and just beyond was Isle Martin.
Isle Martin is now uninhabited, becoming so in 1949 when the last family left the island and the school closed. The island was in private ownership for a while, following which it was gifted to the RSPB in 1970, who in turn offered it to the local community in 1999. The local community formed the Isle Martin Trust, a registered charity, as a guardian for the island.
This kind of view typifies for me the scattered communities one sees throughout the North-west Highlands, clinging to a small patch of fertile soil amidst the awesome wilderness. Many people living and working in places like this find their being becomes at one with this amazing landscape, such that even the very thought of having to live elsewhere is like death.
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.
Allt na h-Airbhe; Gaelic; Written as Altnaharrie by Watson and in Gaelic it can also be written as Allt na h-Eirbhe. It comes from Loch na h-Airbhe, Loch of the Fence. The fence or wall in question runs along by the north end of the Loch, and so on towards Maoil na h-Eirbhe, Hill of the Fence. It is a very old wall composed of sods and stones. Gaelic airbhe or eirbhe in old Irish is airbe meaning ribs or fence and is not uncommon in place-names. At many places similar old walls exist and their antiquity may be gauged from their appearance, as well as from the fact that the word eirbhe is quite obsolete in the north, and that there is no tradition as to the purpose of them.
Coigach; From Watson’s book the Gaelic name is a’ Chóigeach meaning ‘the place of fifths. Division of land into fifths was a common and ancient Celtic practice, the best known fifths being the five fifths of Erin – cóig cóigimh na h-Eirinn. Tradition makes the five-fifths of Coigach to have been Achnahaird, Achlochan, Acheninver, Achabhraighe, and Achduart – the five Ach’s, na cóig achaidean, and this is the local derivation of the name.
Dundonnell In Gaelic Acha dà Dòmhnaill means the 'Field of two Donalds'.
Isle Martin; Gaelic is Eilean Mhartainn; a burial place in it is called Cladh Eilein Mhartainn. Although Professor Watson does not provide an explanation for the name of this place, he does indicate with regard to other place names containing the martin root that they were named after St Martin of Tours. However this idea must remain uncertain in the case of Isle Martin until some evidence can be found to confirm it.
Little Loch Broom; Gaelic an Loch Beag according to Watson, i.e. ‘the little loch’. He does not explain the origin of its anglicised name and I assume it is derived after its nearby neighbour, Loch Broom, being small in comparison to it. The name Loch Broom is an anglicised version of its true Gaelic name which is Loch Bhraoin. Bhraoin means a 'drop of water or rain' and is named after the river that flows from Loch a' Bhraoin high in the Braemore (Am Braigh Mor).
Loch Broom; The name Loch Broom is an anglicised version of its true Gaelic name which is Loch Bhraoin. Bhraoin means a 'drop of water or rain' and is named after the river Abhainn Bhraoin that flows from Loch a' Bhraoin high in the Braemore (Am Braigh Mor).
Rhue; A small village north of Ullapool on the Rubha Cadail peninsula. Professor Watson makes no reference to this village. Looking back at the first edition Ordnance Survey maps for this area the village is shown but is called Ardachadail. Professor Watson refers to Rudh’ Ard a’ Chadail which translates as the ‘sleep promontory’. Thus at that time the village was named after the promontory on which it was situated. I do not know exactly when or why the village started to appear on Ordnance Survey maps as Rhue but I do know that the 1920 maps still showed it as Ardachadail.
Strath Beag; Written as Strathbeg by Watson. Gaelic; an Srath beag, the ‘small strath’ to distinguish it from Strathmore at the head of Loch Broom.
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