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I had been asked to do some photography for a local estate that had property by the River Ewe, and at the end, with time to myself, I took the opportunity to do some personal work. I had been photographing the Manse, now no longer housing a minister but housing visitors enjoying their stay in estate property. With that privilege comes the right to fish in the River Ewe.
I had moved over to the opposite shore to get views of the Manse beside the river, then having done that the commission was complete. I turned to look back to village from the hill I was on to get views of Poolewe from this vantage point. Beyond the village the entire western shore of Loch Ewe is visible. Throughout the length of that shore are a series of small communities starting at Naast and ending at Cove.
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.
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.
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.”
Naast; There is some uncertainty about the origin and meaning of this place name. According to the Scottish Parliament it is Nàst in Gaelic, perhaps derived from a Norse word meaning ‘boat place’. JH Dixon agrees it is from the Norse and gives an alternative spelling, Naust. Dixon goes on to state that Fäste is Norse for fortress and that its Gaelic form with the article would be Näste; that there is a knowe by the sea called Dun Naast, apparently including the Gaelic Dun, a castle.
Professor Watson goes on to give the following account; “The Nastis in 1638 ; Gaelic Nàst ; doubtful. We may compare the Irish Naas, derived from nàs, a fair ; t would easily develop. Norse naust, a boat-place, would land in Gaelic nòst, hardly nàst, unless we could suppose a change from o to a. Also Plàtach Nàst, the flat place of Naast ; and Dùn Nàst, Fort of Naast.”
Poolewe; Gaelic Poll-iù, ‘the pool on the Ewe river’; Professor Watson states that the village was called by the natives in his time Abhainn Iù, Ewe River. He also said that Ewe, Gaelic iu, he had taken, with hesitation, from Irish eo, ‘Yew Tree’, but concedes that it may in fact be a Pictish name.
River Ewe; The River Ewe, Gaelic, Abhainn lu. Professor Watson said “that he had taken iu, with hesitation, from the Irish eo, 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 River Ewe may be a Pictish name from the same root, or from a totally different one.”
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