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We were staying in Gleann Leireag (in Sutherland) with friends and in the evening I decided to go for a walk, with my camera of course! Our friends had a dog called Jen and although I had not walked her before I was told she would be no problem.
She was no problem and Jen obediently walked along side me and would sit on command if I heard a car coming, not that there were many of those! It was quite overcast and I was not really expecting photographic opportunities to arise. However the walk was pleasant along the twisting single track road as it climbed the hills.
Eventually we came to the start of what would have been an old drovers path running under the massive wall of rock presented by the south-western face of Quinag. I decided to stop here for a while despite the gloomy cloud cover. The extremely low sun was occasionally breaking through small gaps in the clouds on the horizon throwing spot lights here and there.
Jen of course was not interested in any of this and explored the nearby nooks and crannies for game. She was a good hunter and I had often watched her pounce, bringing both forelegs down hard on some unfortunate creature.
While Jen enjoyed honing her hunting skills I was transfixed at the spot lights projected by the sun on the face of Quinag. They ran right to left as the clouds moved, then disappeared and reforming elsewhere on the face as the clouds changed shape. I had never seen anything like it before and took many an image as the light show progressed.
All to soon it was over, perhaps only a couple of minutes in all, but I had not only seen it, I had captured it too. This is one of the many joys of photography, capturing great moments to enjoy for ever.
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.
Gleann Leireag; Gaelic, meaning ‘Larch Glen’.
Quinag; From the Gaelic cuinneag, meaning a churn or a pail, referring to its shape.
Sutherland; From the Norse Suðerland, that is ‘South Land’. It may seem odd that the far north of Scotland should have a name which means ‘South Land’, but if you were on Viking raiding party from Norway it would have been an obvious name to choose.
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