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Voted on BBC Radio 4 as the most beautiful place in Great Britain, the views from Mellon Udrigle beach present a magnificent panorama. Looking over Gruinard Bay to the Wester Ross mountains, the panorama starts at An Teallach and ends over 70 kilometres away at Foinaven in Sutherland.
Here the view was taken in the last few minutes of direct sunlight, gradually fading the sand into shadow as behind me the sun gradually sank below a hill. Here the view shows part of the panorama, starting at the right the northern tip of Gruinard Island is seen followed by a sequence of spectacular mountains with wonderful names, Coigach, Stac Pollaidh, Canisp, Suilven, Quinag and on the far left a tiny glimpse of Foinaven.
A few years after taking this photograph a stranger came to my home one evening, he had been told by friends that I had a photography of the view from Mellon Udrigle beach featuring his yacht and he wanted to see it. I showed him it in my studio and I was immediately given an order for framed copy of the photograph!
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.
Canisp; No reference to this name in my preferred sources. According to Wikipedia it is from a Norse word meaning ‘the white mountain’.
Coigach; From Watson’s book the Gaelic name is a’ Chóigeach meaning ‘the place of fifths. Division of land into fifths was a common and ancient Celtic practice, the best known fifths being the five fifths of Erin – cóig cóigimh na h-Eirinn. Tradition makes the five-fifths of Coigach to have been Achnahaird, Achlochan, Acheninver, Achabhraighe, and Achduart – the five Ach’s, na cóig achaidean, and this is the local derivation of the name.
Foinavon; Gaelic is Foinne Bheinn meaning ‘the wart mountain’ in reference to the several protuberances on its summit. This definition was obtained from the ‘Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness Volume XVI 1889-90
Gruinard Bay; possibly from the Norse grunnfjörðr meaning shallow firth.
Mellon Udrigle; A hybrid Gaelic/Norse name meaning ‘Udrigle's Hill’. Udrigle is possibly a Norse name, however Professor Watson suggests it may be derived from the Norse útargill, meaning outer cleft or gully.
Quinag; From the Gaelic cuinneag, meaning a churn or a pail, referring to its shape.
Stac Pollaidh; I was unable to find this name referred to in any authoritative sources and a web search revealed conflicting definitions. From these researches it would appear that it is a hybrid Norse/Gaelic name. Stac from the Norse Stakkr meaning ‘hill’ or ‘precipitous rock’ and the Gaelic Poll meaning pool. Given that Stac Pollaidh towers over Loch Lurgainn this seems to be an appropriate name.
Suilven; A very dramatic shaped mountain in Sutherland. None of the authoritative sources I use list this name. Researching other sources on the web indicates it's name is an amalgam of Norse and Gaelic derived from Sula Bheinn, where Sula is Norse for pillar and Bheinn is Gaelic for mountain.
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