Image Details
Photographed from the hills behind the village of Laide this scene shows the rugged coastline of Gruinard Bay and the massive bulk of one of Scotland's finest mountains, An Teallach, with its many peaks. The coastal road in the Scottish North-west Highlands is the main road leaving Laide which one would follow if travelling to Inverness, an hour and forty-five minutes distant, a drive to be savoured for most of its way.
Here the road is seen running through the next two villages, First Coast and Second Coast, just a few houses in each case, beyond which the roads drops down an extremely steep hill before turning sharp left to run northwards along the far shore of Gruinard Bay.
Several of An Teallachs peaks are revealed in this view, beginning with the first lower one, about one third of the way in from the right, Sgurr Ruadh, then following the clearly defined ridge we have Sgurr Creag an Eich, Sgurr Fiona, Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill and Glas Meall Mor. This massive mountain of great extent lies right on the edge of the area known as The Great Wilderness. Apart from the superb climbing offered by An Teallach, there are many excellent walks all around this area and a long stay is needed to enjoy them all.
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.
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.
Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill; According to Professor Watson the local Gaelic is Spidean a' Ghlas Thuill meaning ‘pinnacle of the green (or grey) hole’ or perhaps ‘hollow’.
First Coast; The authoritative sources I rely on are in conflict over this name. Firstly Professor Watson simply says that in Gaelic it is called an t-Eirthire or t-Eirthire shios but does not offer any translation of these Gaelic names. The Scottish Parliament website states that the Gaelic name is An t-Eirtheaire Shios meaning ‘the lower coast’, this seems to be a good fit because the village of First Coast is at a lower level than Second Coast.
However, J H Dixon’s ‘Gairloch and Guide to Loch Maree’ says that the Gaelic name for First Coast is Bad an t’ Sluig but, confusingly, goes on to give two different meanings for this name. Firstly, in the glossary of place names he states that it means ‘Grove of the miry puddle’ from the Gaelic Bad, a grove, and sluig, possessive of slug, a miry puddle. Secondly, in chapter 12, page 339 he states that Bad an t’ Sluig translates as the ‘clump of the gullet’.
It seems to me that Watson is the reliable source for the actual place name and that the Scottish Parliament definition of its meaning is the more reasonable but if anyone can clarify this confusion I’d be glad to hear from them. I was told that the place names ‘First Coast’ and ‘Second Coast’ arose as a result of ‘confusion’ on the part of Ordnance Survey when they first mapped this area, which may be true, but I have found no evidence to support this. Given that the Gaelic names for both places (as per Watson) contain the Gaelic word for ‘coast’ (Eirthire) it is not unreasonable to consider that informal local names for these two adjacent villages would be First and Second Coast, but in Gaelic obviously.
Glas Mheall Mór; One of the An Teallach peaks. No references found to this name but I translate it as the ‘big grey (or green) hill’.
Gruinard Bay; possibly from the Norse grunnfjörðr meaning shallow firth.
Laide; In Gaelic it is An Leathad meaning ‘a slope’.
Second Coast; Professor Watson gives two Gaelic names for this place - an t-Eirthire and an t-Eirthire shios which translate as ‘the brown shore’ or ‘on the shore side’ respectively.
The village next to Second Coast is called First Coast. I was told that the place names ‘First Coast’ and ‘Second Coast’ arose as a result of ‘confusion’ on the part of Ordnance Survey when they first mapped this area, which may be true, but I have found no evidence to support this. Given that the Gaelic names for both places (as per Watson) contain the Gaelic word for ‘coast’ (Eirthire) it is not unreasonable to assume that informal local names for these two adjacent villages would be First and Second Coast, but in Gaelic obviously.
Sgùrr Creag an Eich; I could find no references giving the meaning of this name. From my own limited knowledge of Gaelic I would translate this as ‘the rock crags of the horses’.
Sgùrr Fiona; Gaelic; Watson translates this as ‘wine peak’ from the Gaelic Fion for wine but other sources say it could mean ‘white mountain’ from the Gaelic fionn for ‘white’ or ‘pale’.
Sgùrr Ruadh; Gaelic; meaning ‘red peak’.
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