Image Details
To get this photograph of Ullapool on the north-west coast of Scotland, I went to Braes, a small suburb of Ullapool which stretches up the hill overlooking Loch Broom, driving up the steep winding road to it's end, and parked the car there.
It's not too long a walk from there over the hill to this viewpoint. Ullapool is the largest town in the North-west Highlands, a major tourist centre, the port for Ro-Ro ferries to and from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and has regular bus connections to Inverness.
Before I came to live in the highlands this would be my first stop after leaving Glasgow when on holiday, heading to the Captain's Cabin on Shore Street for sustenance before the final two hour leg of the journey to my favourite holiday destination, Gleann Leireag in Assynt, Sutherland.
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.
Assynt; From the Norse Asaint or Asaint meaning ‘ridge end’.
Braes of Ullapool; Gaelic Bruthaichean Ullabuil, ‘the hillside of Ullapool’.
Gleann Leireag; Gaelic, meaning ‘Larch Glen’.
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 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).
Stornoway; In Gaelic it is Steòrnabhadh and is derived from the Norse Stjórnar-vagr meaning ‘steerage bay’ or ‘rudder bay’.
Ullapool; Gaelic is Ullabul derived from the Norse Ulli-bólstaðr meaning ‘Ulli’s stead’.
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