Dùnan an Aisilidh
Dùnan an Aisilidh, KC
An Àird’s peninsula curls its crooked finger
into the Narrows, toward its mirror,
the promontory of Aird Ghiuthais,
only –a –stone’s –skip –from
Dùnan an Aisilidh
for the right path in, park at Gedintailor,
by the post-box, & follow the path
down the eye-sweet glen,
through foxglove, hazel & willow,
stepping out onto Camus a’ Mhòr-bheòil
as slowly as the stones are being sieved
along the tombolo
their smooth shapes & limitless
colours sparkle or shine
by dint of the moon’s twice daily lure,
pulling them that way & this,
this way & that, in the bay’s
broad sweeping curve
only the sea can direct everything
through the quiet breathing
of the kyle, but you can swing
your way on to the shingle end
of the tide-wide strand,
past Loch an Amadain
displaced as a pendulum bob, slowly
sensing a shift in equilibrium,
as the walk finds its proper pace
amid this matrix of time & space,
notice how the changeable dùn
seems as close or as far as
the coast of Skye seems near
in the distance
Dùnan an Aisilidh (Grid ref: NG53NW 5), one of Skye’s less well-known but most interesting
coastal forts. For more detail on the site see RCAHMS. Set at the end of the tombolo – the sand
bar joining the point to the mainland – on the peninsula of An Àird. The Dùn faces a similar
aird on Raasay, Aird Ghiuthais, The Height of the Fir or Pine. The wood contains hazel, calltainn,
& willow, seileach. The beach is Camus a’ Mhòr-bheòil, Bay of the Great Mouth. The lochan,
Loch an Amadain, Loch of the Fool. The name Aisilidh is unclear, though Maoilios Caimbeul
suggested it may derive from axle, suggestive of this location as a centrepoint, with the mountains
wheeling about it. The verse describing the quiet breathing of the kyle is from a workshop with
students from Portree Primary School and High School, guided by George Gunn, for Taking Stock:
The Claim of Crofting, at Braes Hall & Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Skye, 16 March, 2012; for a review of
the event see Northings.
photograph, AFpoem and photograph AF
the fringe
on a clear day, if you coincide
with a dainty tide,
the sea will crimp the shingle fringe
into a pastry trim
all along the shore
photograph KC
Dùnan an Aisilidh
word-mntn (An Stòrr); poem & photograph, AF
eòin mhòir sgiamhaich na h-Albann
great beautiful bird of Scotland
(Sorley MacLean)
Skye is traditionally visioned
as a great bird
Aisilidh is a salt-wing beaten
by time & tide, battered
to a rickle of tinged stone,
bone of dwelling
Aisilidh is a reason
to be as searching as the sea
that picked and pared
this cormorant head,
yet spared its frail acuity
Aisilidh defined sea-culture
within an alpine skyline:
here ships returned
safe from the ocean
& set out again
into the inland sea
Aisilidh’s ramparts were defensive,
but flaming beacons suggest
a signal station to set
alight the Neolithic telegraph,
a hub of ceremony
Aisilidh’s towers were designed
for display, panorama, landmarks
that connect and relate
the mountainous outlook
all of which suggests, the point
of these coastal dùns
is their point
The epigraph is from Sorley MacLean’s poem, ‘An t-Eilean’, ‘The Island’, From Collected Poems
(Polygon, 2011). The lines describing the bird skull are after Charles Tomlinson’s poem, To Be
Engraved, On the Skull of a Cormorant, (Unaccompanied Serpent Press, 1968). The discussion
of the alignment of the dùn with natural features was influenced by the writings of Paul Devereux,
such as Earth Memory: Sacred Sites (Llewellyn Publications, 1992), and discussions with
archaeologists, including Ian Armit and Martin Wildgoose, and poets, Ken Cockburn and Meg
Bateman. The flora described in the poem catalogue below: samh, sorrel; an lus mòr, foxglove;
tonn a' chladaich, thrift; propach, wrack.
KC; photograph AF
AF; photograph KC
flora of Dùnan Aisilidh
Aisilidh’s flora shelter under rocks
highlighted by grey, yellow
& orange lichen
samh
bitter samplings
so close to the sea
an lus mòr
always fond
of fingering ruins
tonn a' chladaich
spray-bleached at
the rock’s lip
propach
tangled on cliffs
& sea stacks
more notes on dùns
Dùnan an Aisilidh, KC
the dùn was processional
the dùn was where seeing becomes viewing
the dùn and the mountain horizon were calendrical
the dùn was a compass
the dùn was a rite for the sails arrival, the sails departing
the dùn was a foreshore fort & watchtower
the dùn was a home, the local Big House, a standard
the dùn was cellular, a beehive
the dùn was a marginal sea-farm, for fishing and mussels
the dùn was farm, byre & larder
the dùn was a wild garden of bitter sorrel, elderflower for cordial & spontaneous thyme
The notes on dùns draw on my research from the road north, and from the archaeologist Ian Armit’s
survey, The Archaeology of Skye and the Western Isles (Edinburgh University Press, 1996); a further
set of these notes appear in the guide to Dùn Gershader. For 'dùn' see also 'Atlantic roundhouse' &
'broch', overlapping terms for human constructions that remain various and open to interpretation.
aligning Dùnan an Aisilidh
word-mntn (Dùn Caan); poem & photograph, AF
Aisilidh pairs with Dùn Caan, aligning NE-SW
toward the Skye Cuillin
the broch floats on a deck of rock
at the centre of the Clàrach,
beneath heights that stretch our eyes out
on fescue stalks, past the pitted upslopes
of Ben Lee & Glàmaig
take your turn drawing the veil to reveal
on this elemental theatre of mountains;
see how the conspectus opens,
see the eastern seaboard stand
entirely altered
Dùn Caan, capping Raasay
Beinn Dearg Mòr, of the smooth Red Cuillin,
declining into Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach
Glas Beinn Mhòr on Loch Ainort
Sgùrr nan Each, Garbh-Bheinn
& Beinn na Caillich
glimpses of Ben Aslak and, back on the tombolo,
the thrust of Beinn Sgritheall
the great fore-shoulder of the Black Cuillin’s
serrated ridgeline
heading the loch, Ben Tianavaig,
merging into the undulating slippage
of Trotternish ridge
The stretch of sea south of Raasay is known as The Clàrach, The Flat Surface. Translations of the
mountain names are listed below the conspectus. White tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nest
on Ben Tianavaig’s cliffs, called iolaire sùil na grèine in Gaelic, Eagle of the Sunlit Eye.
photograph AF
poem & photograph AFOskaig–Peinachorainn, Sorley MacLean's eyeline
word-mntn (Glàmaig); poem & photograph, AF
draw your eye from the dùn;
trace a line from island to island,
as low as cormorants plying over The Clarach,
as high as the peaks of Sgùrr nan Gillean
& Am Basteir
Aisilidh rests at the midpoint
of the poet’s life-line
siting here, reading time & seeing space,
your view encompasses Sorley’s life
& gazes through the frame
of his poetry
tha bùird is tàirnean air an uinneig
the window that looks to the west
tha bùird is tàirnean air an ear
the window that looks to the east
age’s retrospect gazes from his final home
at Peighinn a’ Chorrainn,
over the narrow sound, back toward
the recollection of his childhood
cottage, down on the shore
at Oskaig
Sorley MacLean and his wife Renee moved to the poet’s great-grandmother’s house, at Peighinn a’
Chorrainn, or Peinnachorrain, in the township of Braes, in 1972, following his retirement from Plockton
School. The house is near the start of the walk to Dùnan an Aisilidh. MacLean’s childhood home was at
Oskaig, on the west side of Raasay; the view from the window is referred to in his famous poem, ‘Hallaig’,
described in more detail in the guide to Dùn Caan.
poem & photograph, AF 
word-mntn (An Stòrr), poem & photograph AF
word-mntn (Sgurr nan Gillean), AF
Dùnan an Aisilidh conspectus
This conspectus is composed from the names of some of the mountains that
are
visible from this location. The centre-point marks the location of Dùnan an Aisilidh.
The typography represents the view as it is experienced by the human eye, giving an
The typography represents the view as it is experienced by the human eye, giving an
approximate impression of distance and scale. Mountain ridges are
indicated by
overlapping names. The gradation of hill slopes is suggested by
the use of grey-
scale, with the peak in black.
Click on this graphic to view the original and, if you wish,
print it out for use in
situ. A booklet containing all 14 conspectuses is available from ATLAS Arts. The
14 conspectuses have also been archived in an
album, indexed here. A complete
list of the mountains referred to in the Dùnan an Aisilidh guide is given below, with
links from each one to its OS map. English translations have been given where
possible. A gallery of word-mntn drawings, including mountains visible from
Dùnan an Aisilidh, can be found on the drawing page.
list of the mountains referred to in the Dùnan an Aisilidh guide is given below, with
links from each one to its OS map. English translations have been given where
possible. A gallery of word-mntn drawings, including mountains visible from
Dùnan an Aisilidh, can be found on the drawing page.
| Am Basteir | The Executioner |
| An Stòrr | The Big (One) |
| Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach | Middle Red Mountain |
| Beinn Dearg Mhòr | Big Red Mountain |
| Beinn na Caillich | Mountain of the Crone |
| Beinn Sgritheall | Mountain of the Scree |
| Ben Aslak | (Norse) Aslak's Mountain |
| Beinn Lì | Coloured or Water Mountain (?) |
| Ben Tianavaig | Bay or Harbour Mountain |
| Dùn Caan | Porpoise Fort |
| Garbh Bheinn | Rough Mountain |
| Glàmaig | The Greedy Woman |
| Glas Bheinn Mhòr | Big Grey-green Hill |
| Sgùrr nan Each | Peak of the Horses |
| Sgùrr nan Gillean | Peak of the Lads |
Alec Finlay (AF)
with
Ken Cockburn (KC)
Gavin Morrison
Emma Nicolson
Gaelic consultant
Maoilios Caimbeul
navigation
to view the next conspectus click here
to return to the map with links to all 14 guides click here
to read the project overview click here
for basic project information, including acknowledgements, click here
Còmhlan Bheanntan | A Company of Mountains
commissioned by ATLAS, Skye, 2012-13
http://atlasarts.org.uk/
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