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Near Applecross, to the north, is a small bay called Sand. It was made famous by a BBC TV program filmed in 2007 called Monty Hall's Great Escape and apparently scenes of the area are much in demand by visitors to Applecross. Having chatted to a local shopkeeper it seemed that there could be a market for a greetings card showing the place where Monty Hall lived during his time in Applecross.
So off I went to Sand Bay to explore the opportunities. It is an idyllic spot, a lovely sandy cove surrounded by high hills with views over the Inner Sound to the Isles of Raasay and Skye, including the Cuillin mountains on Skye.
I had finished taking photographs and was walking back to my car when I looked down at a small stream running over the beach. The stream was only an inch or two deep. The sand over which it was running was in two different shades, some of the grains were black and the stream had mixed the two shades into patterns.
However it was the ever changing ripples of light which caught my eye as the water flowed over the sand. The patterns were changing too quickly to make a deliberate choice so I just took about a dozen shots from which one would be chosen later.
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.
Applecross; For a full explanation of the origin of this name the reader is referred to Professor Watson’s excellent book – click ‘North-west Highland Place Names’ in the main menu for further information. Summing up his comments it appears that the name means the ‘estuary of the Crosan’ which is the river (Abhain Crosan) that flows into Applecross Bay. The word Crosan is of uncertain origin but is assumed to be Pictish, meaning unknown.
Cuillin; This is the anglicised spelling of the Scottish Gaelic An Cuilthionn or An Cuiltheann. From my researches into the meaning of the Gaelic names An Cuilthionn and An Cuiltheann it appears that etymologists are unable to provide a definitive answer. Some suggest the range owes its name to the legendary heroic figure, Cú Chulainn while others propose cuilionn, the Gaelic for holly. However, given the island's Viking heritage and the aspect that the Cuillin ridge presents from afar, the contention that the name comes from the Norse kjollen or keel-shaped, appears to be the most likely explanation.
Inner Sound; This is the sound between the Applecross peninsula and the Isle of Raasay. It has caused me some difficulty in that the sources I rely on for place names have nothing to say about this. A number of web sites give its Gaelic name as An Lighe Rathairseach but they are not authoritative. Assuming they are right the next difficulty is in determining the meaning, Rathairseach refers to the Isle of Raasay so that seems reasonable but An Lighe presents a problem. On page 26 of Professor Watson’s book he refers to An Lighe in another context and ascribes the meaning ‘physician’. However some of my Gaelic dictionaries ascribe the meaning ‘spate’ or ‘flood’ to An Lighe which seems more reasonable. Perhaps some kind etymologist will settle this discussion and provide the answer?
Raasay; In Gaelic Raasay is Ratharsair or Ratharsaigh from the old Norse words Raa-s-oy, Ross-oy, Rásey or Hrossey meaning ‘roe deer island’. In Gaelic the island is also known as Eilean nam Fear Móra, ‘the island of the great men.
Sand Bay; From the Norse sannd, ‘sand’.
Skye; Skye's history includes the influence of Gaelic, Norse and English speaking peoples and the relationships between their names for the island are not straightforward. The Gaelic name for the "Isle of Skye" is An t-Eilean Sgitheanach (or Sgiathanach, a more recent and less common spelling). The meaning of this name is not clear. Various explanations have been proposed, such as the ‘winged isle’ or ‘the notched isle’ but no definitive solution has been found to date.
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