Image Details
This photograph was taken on a warm and windless summer's evening on the shore between Laide and Udrigle. I had deliberately gone out in the hope of catching a sunset. On this shore of Gruinard Bay the view is easterly, and in the above image in particular to the north-east. So there is no way I'm going to get the usual sunset of the sun going down to the horizon. and the spectacular effects resulting from that.
Sometimes at sunset, looking easterly over Gruinard Bay, the mountains turn bright red from the reflected sunset. On other occasions, as in this instance, the bay can be suffused with a warm light.
I had taken some shots, without feeling that they were going to be anything to get excited about, one usually knows when something special is in the bag. This feeling of disappointment was compounded with one of absolute misery as a result of the activities of the midgies - I had no protective gear on. It's really very difficult to concentrate on what you are doing when the midgies are all over you.
I had reached the last frame of film and was desperate to get away, but I also wanted to get the film processed, and rather than waste a frame I looked around for another subject. There they were - the seagulls and the mountains! I quickly grabbed the shot then raced back up the hill to the roadside where I had left the car, got in , switched on the engine, and turned on the fan. Aaaaaaah! Relief from the midgies, they don't like the wind, and in the car the fan full on serves the same purpose.
I think as a result of being distracted by the midgies I didn't have the feeling that I had managed to get a nice photograph, but when the film had been processed and printed, then I knew I had a good one.
This landscape view, taken from the shore between Udrigle and Laide, is looking over Gruinard Bay on Scotland's north-west coast to the long peninsula on which Achiltibuie is situated, beyond which are two of Sutherland's mountains, the long massif of Quinag with its many peaks, and to the right the whale-like shape of Suilven. On the far left can be seen the dark shape of Tanera Mor, one of the Summer Isles, and above it, faintly, are Foinaven, Ben Stack, and Arkle.
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’.
Arkle; There is doubt about the meaning of this name and I have come across four definitions. The transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness Volume XVI 1889-90 claim the name is derived from Gaelic earrgheal, a white tailed falcon or eagle, thus it could be ‘the mountain of the white tailed eagle’. Another possibility is given by the Scottish Outdoors website which states the name may derive from the Norse ark-fjall meaning the hill of the level or flat top. Finally Alex MacBain’s ‘Place names Highlands and Islands of Scotland’ published in 1922 suggests the name may derive from arg-fell meaning ‘Shieling’s Fell’ or from Arkfell meaning ‘ark like’.
Ben Stack; I have been unable to find a translation in any of my references of the mountain name but I feel fairly confident that this is a hybrid Gaelic/Norse name. In Gaelic it is Beinn Stack. I believe Stack is derived from the Norse stakkr meaning ‘precipitous rock’, an apt description for this extremely steep sided pyramidal mountain.
Foinavon; Gaelic is Foinne Bheinn meaning ‘the wart mountain’ in reference to the several protuberances on its summit. This definition was obtained from the ‘Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness Volume XVI 1889-90.
Gruinard Bay; possibly from the Norse grunnfjörðr meaning shallow firth.
Laide; In Gaelic it is An Leathad meaning ‘a slope’.
Quinag; From the Gaelic cuinneag, meaning a churn or a pail, referring to its shape.
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’.
Tanera Mor; Gaelic Tannara; Norse h.fnar-ey with the usual prefixed t, meaning ‘Harbour Isle.
Udrigle; Udrigle is possibly a Norse name, however Professor Watson suggests it may be derived from the Norse útargill, meaning outer cleft or gully.
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