Image Details
En route to the Isle of Skye I stopped off at a lay-by on the single track road which runs high above Loch Carron. The reason for stopping was to capture this attractive scene looking over Loch Carron to the village of Stromemore. Also on the opposite shore of Loch Carron, on the green hill rising just behind the white house, are the ruins of Strome Castle.
To the right of the white house is the jetty that in times past was used by the Strome ferry to take people and vehicles over the loch to the road on the north shore of Loch Carron. In those days (pre 1973) there was no road along the southern shore of Loch Carron and to travel north from here there was no option but to use the ferry. The ferry was small and overwhelmed by traffic with the result that at times there could be a wait of several hours to get across the loch.
The bracken covered hill rising behind the village of Stromemore is called Bad á Chreamha. Strome Castle, now just a ruin, was originally built during the 15th century on a rocky hill with steep sides. It changed hands a number of time before, in 1602, being destroyed by Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord of Kintail.
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.
Bad á Chreamha; A hill near Strome Castle, Gaelic meaning ‘Clump of the wild garlic’.
Loch Carron; Named after the River Carron which enters this sea loch after a course through Glen-carron and Strath-carron. In Gaelic it is Loch Carrann, Carrann meaning ‘rough’. The root is kars-, rough, as seen in
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.
Stromemore; The village name derives from the Norse straumr, stream, and the Gaelic Mòr meaning ‘great’.
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