Image Details
This is the Sleepy Hollow smokehouse at Mellon Charles, in a setting to die for. The smoke house, built as a croft house 300 years ago, is situated on the slopes of Cnoc a' Choilich, and in this view looking over the smokehouse we see the entrance to Loch Ewe, the Cove peninsula on the opposite shore, and on the horizon the well defined silhouette of Harris at a distance of 71 kilometres. The highest peak on Harris is the round-topped Clisham and this is clearly visible. This was a remarkably clear day!
The smokehouse is operated on traditional methods by a local family, supplying a variety of salmon and haddock products locally and by mail order. If you are visiting the area be sure not to miss giving yourself a treat by enjoying some of the products of the Sleepy Hollow Smokehouse.
Those familiar with the area may be surprised to see that part of a modern house just beyond the trees behind the smokehouse appears to have vanished. I confess I did that, not that there is anything wrong with the house concerned, it is a very nice house! However, it was not in keeping with the mood that I wished this image to have, and so I used my artist's licence to effect a small change. The scene is now closer to it's appearance when the croft was originally built a long time ago. Some people get terribly upset by this sort of thing when done by a photographer, but somehow it's acceptable for a painter to do it, despite that fact that both are artists. If you are interested in my further views on this subject you will find them by clicking on the left hand menu, 'About The Photography'.
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.
Clisham; The highest hill on Harris. The Gaelic name is an Cliseam and the only reference I could find was on the munromagic.com website which gave its meaning as ‘the rocky hill’. I’m sure a more scholarly explanation exists but I have not been able to find it.
Cnoc a Choilich; I was unable to trace any source for this name of a hill in Mellon Charles. Cnoc is Gaelic for a small hill. The Gaelic word Choilich (or Coilich) is referred to by Professor Watson as meaning ‘crests of broken water’. However in my own Gaelic dictionary is given three meanings, ‘a cock’, ‘a gush of water’, and ‘the rapids in a stream’.
Cove; Gaelic, an Uaghaidh; the north part of Cove is Achadh na h-Uaghach meaning ‘Place of the Cave’ and ‘Field of the Cave’ respectively.
Harris; In Gaelic it is called Na Hearradh. The name has two possible meanings, both derived from the Norse language. One possibility is that the name is derived from the Norse Haerri meaning ‘higher’ referring to the high hills of Harris compared to the lower ground of Lewis to the north. Alternatively it may have been derived from the Norse Hérað meaning an administrative district.
Loch Ewe; Professor Watson said “that he had taken iu, with hesitation, from the Irish eo, thus ‘Loch of the yew tree’; the fact that Tobar na h-Iu in Nigg showed the article is practically decisive in favour of iu being there at least a Gaelic word. No Pictish name is accompanied by the Gaelic article. But the Ewe may be a Pictish name derived from the same root, or from a totally different one.”
Mellon Charles; Gaelic is Meallan Thearlaich, Charles’s Little Hill.
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