Dùn Beag
Dùn Beag, EN
spring’s fragments
fleeced in coarse
cropped grass
summer’s bells
ring the cliff-
top broch
autumn’s light
blinks at
blinks at dusk
winter’s stone
bone’s seen
in the round
Dùn Beag, The Small Fort (Grid ref: NG3338), for site record see RCAHMS. One of the best
preserved brochs on Skye; set on a spur, with views over Loch Harport, Loch Bracadale and
Waternish. As in the Quiraing, the Little Fort has a Big Fort nearby, An Dùn Mor (Grid ref:
NG340390). Johnson & Boswell visited Dùn Beag on their tour; Johnson suggested the dùn
would have served as a cattle shelter. The blinking is the Ardtreck lighthouse, below
Dùn Ardtreck.
preserved brochs on Skye; set on a spur, with views over Loch Harport, Loch Bracadale and
Waternish. As in the Quiraing, the Little Fort has a Big Fort nearby, An Dùn Mor (Grid ref:
NG340390). Johnson & Boswell visited Dùn Beag on their tour; Johnson suggested the dùn
would have served as a cattle shelter. The blinking is the Ardtreck lighthouse, below
Dùn Ardtreck.
Preshal More
south-west from the dùn's raised wall,
over the loch, the Ardtreck light & Arnaval
I cast the alluvial image of Preshal More
furious mane of lavic rock
which Sorley visioned as a stallion
protecting the west coast against the wild ocean
shaking its dark head over the bare shore,
into the maw of Talisker Bay
far a bheil am bil mór bàn
a' fosgladh eadar dà ghiall chruaidh
Rubha nan Clach's am Bioda Ruadh
where the great white mouth
opens between two hard jaws,
Rubha nan Clach and the Bioda Ruadh
on soot-streaked grey sand
the poet found no familiar:
caught between alien sea & stone,
the world & eternity,
confronting wave upon wave
unto infinity
inimical sea & savage rock
crushed into the primeval massif
being endlessly worn to nothing,
grain by grain
Sorley's only surety of humanity
a synthesis of love
I look around the ruin,
drawn to a yellow fleck of tormentil,
which, in its season, will shatter
the antinomies of stone
there is comfort in the things
we can name
rock pipit, sedge warbler
& twite
for naming seems
to bring a pause
bishort, comfrey, meadowsweet
& pearlwort,
to the relentless infinite,
a moment
water dropwort, adderstongue fern,
& valerian
of detail, intricate
in the weave
Sorley MacLean’s early poem ‘Tràighean’, ‘Shores’, refers to the coast and hills around Talisker
Bay (Collected Poems, Polygon, 2011). The stallion reoccurs as a central image in MacLean's
epic poem 'An Cuilithionn', 'The Cuillin', symbolizing the revolutionary spirit incarnate in wild
nature. The species of birds and flora are taken from the blog Nature Notes from Skye.
Bay (Collected Poems, Polygon, 2011). The stallion reoccurs as a central image in MacLean's
epic poem 'An Cuilithionn', 'The Cuillin', symbolizing the revolutionary spirit incarnate in wild
nature. The species of birds and flora are taken from the blog Nature Notes from Skye.
Loch Harport & the Cuillin
word-mntn (Cuillin); poem AF, photograph LA
south-east, down the loch
are the coronal peaks of sunrise;
saying the names I recognize,
I set them down carefully
where they belong
where they belong
with my gaze
giddy hefted wilderness
serrated in scars & corries
of immense age
hand over feet, those who scale
the mountains, let's say they
the mountains, let's say they
get over them
seeing as I'm unable to,
is that the same then
as what Suzanne Piper said:
is that the same then
as what Suzanne Piper said:
that I could never belong?
Ach Suzi, your mountain
may seem terminal,
but me, I found a way to begin
again, synthesizing
may seem terminal,
but me, I found a way to begin
again, synthesizing
language & remembrance,
giving the mountains their names,
writing them out, letter-by-letter,
pronouncing each one over
[ˈs̪kuːrˠ nəŋ ˈkʲiʎən]
searching for their likeness
[ˈs̪kuːrˠ nəŋ ˈkʲiʎən]
searching for their likeness
in unfamiliar languages
– Norse, Gaelic, remnant Pictish –
knowing nothing is accurate
to the resolve of this vastness
nothing will lessen
the numb indeterminacy
knowing nothing is accurate
to the resolve of this vastness
nothing will lessen
the numb indeterminacy
of skylines
names are arbitrary,
how can they not be?
how can they not be?
lodged in the alien mass
they fix details
that mean nothing
to the mountain
they fix details
that mean nothing
to the mountain
Big, Red, Dark, Yellow,
Notched, Hill, Peak, Knoll
Notched, Hill, Peak, Knoll
Glàmaig
stands there
in the round
someone is looking
saying her name:
saying her name:
she is known, she is one
among the blown volcanic ruin
of prehistory
left out in a thousand thousand
thousand nights of rain
among the blown volcanic ruin
of prehistory
left out in a thousand thousand
thousand nights of rain
as with all summits
she has limits, she flourishes
locked & barred by
her horizon
our seeing weighs on her
like a void
she has limits, she flourishes
locked & barred by
her horizon
our seeing weighs on her
like a void
our fond skyline illusion
cannot encompass
epochs of stone
our names become memories
which flare & extinguish,
engulfed in the losses of history
& the firestorm of time
there's nothing else for it
but to take our turn
but to take our turn
and count our way along
the abacus of peaks
Beinn Dearg Mòr
Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach
Marsco
Sgùrr nan Gillean
Am Basteir
Bruach na Frithe
Sgùrr a Mhadaidh
Sgùrr a Ghreadaidh
Sgùrr na Banachdaich
Sgùrr Dearg
Sgùrr Mhich Choinnich
Sgùrr Alasdair
The verse about indeterminacy derives, distantly, from Mallarme’s characterization of a poem
as ‘chance defeated word by word’. Suzanne Piper, post-urban artist. The line describing mount-
ains locked in their skylines is after Elizabeth Jennings. The translations of the mountain names
appear in the conspectus below.
as ‘chance defeated word by word’. Suzanne Piper, post-urban artist. The line describing mount-
ains locked in their skylines is after Elizabeth Jennings. The translations of the mountain names
appear in the conspectus below.
word-mntn (Sgùrr na Banachdaich), AF
naming
word-mntn (Arnaval); poem AF, photograph EN
from the dùn the low peninsula
portions out the sea
ths swathe of land has no memory
of sharp-toothed wolves; they belong only
in the name of the point, the lair
of ‘Ullinish’
the sea lochs recall nothing,
though their Norse names,
– Harport, Gesto Bracadale –
project the image of whetted keels
& raven-flagged longships
bellying out their sails
Sgathaich took the hydra-headed gae-bolga,
forged in the depths of the Cuillin,
& forced it into the fist of Cù-chulainn,
the lover she inscribed forever
in the skyline
Ullinish: sometimes translated as Promontory of the Wolves, though MacBain prefers the
simpler Norse Ulli's Point. It is now thought the Cuillin themselves are named from the Norse,
kjollen, keel-shaped, for the sharp ridges, though some still cling to the association with Cu-
Chullain and Sgathaich. The gae-bolga is described in more detail in the guide to Dùn Scaich.
simpler Norse Ulli's Point. It is now thought the Cuillin themselves are named from the Norse,
kjollen, keel-shaped, for the sharp ridges, though some still cling to the association with Cu-
Chullain and Sgathaich. The gae-bolga is described in more detail in the guide to Dùn Scaich.
Corse Scotia
Mt Cinto
when Boswell viewed the jagged ridge
from his windows at Ullinish
he reminisced of his tour through hilly Corsica,
seeing these mountains as those mountains
for there are Cuillin close by Corte
in a typically Scottish synthesis
Mt Cinto
Mt Rotondo
Puta Minuta
Paglia Orba
Monte D’Orbo
Monet Renoso
Capu Tafunatu
word-mntn (Capu Tafunatu), AF
Bozzy set down his bowl of punch
& told the good Dr how much he was reminded
of his tour of Corse
just as his account of Corse had put him in mind
of dear auld Edina & Scotia
following his traces
Moray McLaren plays
on the same flute
following his traces
Moray McLaren plays
on the same flute
the small port of Centuri
is very like Crail
the picturesque parts of the Genoese old city
must have been like the Old Town of Edinburgh
before it fell into decline
Joseph Chiara is almost as much of a Scot
as a Corsican
The day we came to Corte lacked the brilliant blue skies and sunshine we
had had everywhere else. Clouds obscured the mountain-tops and there
was a hint of rain about. This gave Corte to our Scottish eyes even more
the appearance not only of Edinburgh but of an imaginary Highland city
set in the centre of the uplands. One thought of Inverness as it had been
some thirty or forty years ago, yet an Inverness not low-lying by the
mouth of the River Ness but proudly and dominantly set in the heights of
the Grampians.
Paoli
the Cuillin also reminded him
of his admiration for his friend,
the revolutionary Paoli
‘magnis tamen excidit aufis’
Boswell to Paoli
what a thought?
that thousands owe
their happiness to you!
Paoli throwing himself
into an attitude
as if he saw the lofty mountain
of fame before him
THERE, is my object
(pointing to the summit)
if I fall, I fall at least THERE
(pointing a good way up)
Gavin Morrison first drew my attention to the amusing parallels that Boswell establishes between
Corsica and Scotland, in particular the Cuillin and the mountains around Corte, published in his
An Account of Corsica (1768), from where the extracts above are taken. Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807),
Corsican nationalist, leader of the resistance, author of the constitution (the first composed under
Enlightenment principles). Boswell met Paoli, a second father figure, on his tour of Corsica, and
would later send arms to support the resistance; see Morrison’s essay 'Cuillin and Corsica'. The Latin
motto translates as either do not attempt at all or go through with it. I am reliably informed there is
an anthology of ‘just like Scotland’ clips from Macgregor and Charlie Boorman’s motorbike journey
to Mongolia, Long Way Round (2005), on youtube.
Corsica and Scotland, in particular the Cuillin and the mountains around Corte, published in his
An Account of Corsica (1768), from where the extracts above are taken. Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807),
Corsican nationalist, leader of the resistance, author of the constitution (the first composed under
Enlightenment principles). Boswell met Paoli, a second father figure, on his tour of Corsica, and
would later send arms to support the resistance; see Morrison’s essay 'Cuillin and Corsica'. The Latin
motto translates as either do not attempt at all or go through with it. I am reliably informed there is
an anthology of ‘just like Scotland’ clips from Macgregor and Charlie Boorman’s motorbike journey
to Mongolia, Long Way Round (2005), on youtube.
looks just like
we are not so different on our expeditions:
Ewan MacGregor pulls his bike over,
stops and turns his cheeky grin to camera,
saying how some corner or other of Outer Mongolia
“looks just like Scotland”
lights
Ardtreck Lighthouse; poem AF, photograph LA
‘future prospects, with their joys and sorrows,
cloud what is actually at hand’
(Virginia Woolf)
the grass ring on the dùn's walls softens ruin
will careful remembering reignite
the winter flames of Imbolc,
topping the Calliach’s summits?
the winter flames of Imbolc,
topping the Calliach’s summits?
the grass ring on the dùn's walls softens ruin
where warmth once reached
from the hearth
beacon fires were lit
by the round walls of Dùn Taimh
one promontory down the loch
and on Merkadale, crowning
the lovely pap hollows
a lantern swung, to and fro, on the prow
of the ship Dr Johnson, that vast galleon,
spied from his window in Ullinish House,
vanishing into the swirling dance of emigration,
whose involutions and evolutions
are still in motion
the electric light goes untended,
its point–blinks–on and off the waters–blinks–
casting the promise of tomorrow’s excursion–blinks–
to keep the boy from sleep–blinks–
Dùn Taimh; Dùn Merkadale. In 'The Cuillin' Sorley MacLean refers to Bracadale's mounds as 'lovely
pap hollows'. Dr Johnson saw an emigrant ship from Ullinish House; elsewhere on Skye he records a
'fashionable' ceilidh dance, America, with couples making ‘involutions and evolutions’. Alexander
Smith refers to Johnson as: ‘that vast galleon floating on the sea of Boswell’s vanity’, A Summer in
Skye (1865). The Ardtreck light is a reminder of Virginia Woolf's novel, To The Lighthouse, described
as taking place on Skye, though it is a Skye unknown to locals or visitors (See also Gavin Morrison's
essays). There are various theories concerning fire-rites on summits on the Celtic cross-quarter day
Festivals, such as Imbolc, also known as St Brighid’s Day, 1 or 2 February. The Calliach, Crone or
Winter Queen.
pap hollows'. Dr Johnson saw an emigrant ship from Ullinish House; elsewhere on Skye he records a
'fashionable' ceilidh dance, America, with couples making ‘involutions and evolutions’. Alexander
Smith refers to Johnson as: ‘that vast galleon floating on the sea of Boswell’s vanity’, A Summer in
Skye (1865). The Ardtreck light is a reminder of Virginia Woolf's novel, To The Lighthouse, described
as taking place on Skye, though it is a Skye unknown to locals or visitors (See also Gavin Morrison's
essays). There are various theories concerning fire-rites on summits on the Celtic cross-quarter day
Festivals, such as Imbolc, also known as St Brighid’s Day, 1 or 2 February. The Calliach, Crone or
Winter Queen.
woods & isles
Mark and Alf Trekked, 2008
nearest to the dùn, the prow of Oronsay,
half an island gained
with the sea’s permission
by the tidal causeway
further west is Wiay, largest of Bracadale’s isles;
then Sula Skerry, Tarner & Harlosh,
whose fire rock recalls
another beacon signal station,
Dùn Neill
along the peninsula of Duirinish
is Joe Strummer’s pew,
by the sapling Rebel Wood,
where the rebel yell
swirls in the wind’s call
birch wood! birch wood!
I wanna birch of my own!
out of sight, beyond Beinn Bhreac
are the little isles of Clett
Mingay & Iosaigh
Macleod offered Johnson Iosaigh
for his own Hebridean island dream-home
kitted out with cannon: the stated bargain
being he’d stay 3 months every year
on a writer's residency
Donald MacDonald sold the same Iosaigh
to hand-me-down hurdy-gurdy-man Donovan,
as a Celtic Avalon, sanctuary of free love
& misty song-writing
how high the gulls fly
o'er Ilay
how sad the farm lad
deep in play
felt like a grain
on your sand
(Donovan)
Vashti Bunyan took her time reaching
the far-flung commune by horse & caravan
traveling 18 months, staying one night;
Donovan’s dream lasted as long
as a spell of Skye rain,
so Bunyan headed her caravanseri
on to Berneray
the latest lairdie tried to sell-off Iosaigh
in 25,000 one-foot sized bits, pitching peats
for sale to romantic idiots
Many place names in this region derive from Norse: Arnaval, Erne Fell; Stockval, Stock Fell; Oronsay,
Ebb-Tide Isle; Loch Bracadale, Loch of the Sloped-Dale; Wiay, Temple Isle; Harlosh, Fire Rock;
Healabhal Mhòr, Big Flagstone Hill; Healabhal Bheag, Little flagstone Hill. The wood at Duirinish
was planted in memory of Joe Strummer (1952–2002), founding member of The Clash, by Future
Forests; funded by carbon offsets, plantations such as this have sparked controversy. Beinn Bhreac,
Speckled Hill; Clett, Sea Cliff; Mingay, Lesser Isle; Iosaigh or Isay, Ice island, or possibly Plant isle.
Bunyan’s caravan was a converted bread-delivery van, transformed into a chicken shed on Berneray.
For more on Donovan & Vashti Bunyan in the Hebrides, see Rob Young's archaeology of Britain's
visionary folk-music, Electric Eden (Faber, 2011)
Ebb-Tide Isle; Loch Bracadale, Loch of the Sloped-Dale; Wiay, Temple Isle; Harlosh, Fire Rock;
Healabhal Mhòr, Big Flagstone Hill; Healabhal Bheag, Little flagstone Hill. The wood at Duirinish
was planted in memory of Joe Strummer (1952–2002), founding member of The Clash, by Future
Forests; funded by carbon offsets, plantations such as this have sparked controversy. Beinn Bhreac,
Speckled Hill; Clett, Sea Cliff; Mingay, Lesser Isle; Iosaigh or Isay, Ice island, or possibly Plant isle.
Bunyan’s caravan was a converted bread-delivery van, transformed into a chicken shed on Berneray.
For more on Donovan & Vashti Bunyan in the Hebrides, see Rob Young's archaeology of Britain's
visionary folk-music, Electric Eden (Faber, 2011)
Vashti Bunyan & family
a panorama from Dùn Mòr
word-mntn (Healabhal Bheag & Healabhal Mhòr), poem AF, photograph LA
'The tables and the Maidens remain forever bearing Macleod's name,
while you – the individual Macleod – are as transitory as the mist wreath
of the morning which melts on the one, or the momentary shape
of wind-blown foam which perishes on the base of the other'
Alexander Smith, A Summer in Skye
take a short tramp over the moor to Dùn Mor
hidden beyond Ben Aketil, the wind-towers on the lee
of Beinn a’ Chearcaill unfurl blade tips
cutting into cloud
Healabhal Mhòr & Healabhal Bheag
dominate the west; below their flat-tops is Orbost
of the seals, where Otta Swire says
her window framed the finest view in Skye
nearby, her granddaughter, Flora MacDonald Swire’s
scattered ashes rest at St John’s, Caroy
west of Healabhal Bheag is Dunvegan
where the Skye Macleods’ seaward windows
frame prestige views of the Harris Macleods’
the square towered church at Rodel
& Ròineabhal's moon rocks
a reminder of MacDiarmid’s raised beach,
its stones littorally at one with the stars
Dùn Mòr (Grid ref: NG340390). Beinn a’ Chearcaill, Hill of the Girdle; the 10-turbine windfarm is run
by Skye Renewables Co-operative on the Macleod & Coishletter Estate, crofted by Feorlig Crofting Com-
munity. Otta Swire, author of Skye: The Island and its Legends (1952) and other books on folk-culture
and myth, lived at Orbost House after WWII. Her grand-daughter, Flora MacDonald Swire, was a victim
of Pan Am flight 103. Rodel Church, on the Isle of Harris, near Ròineabhal, Rough Ground Hill, whose
summit is a granite intrusion, including anorthosite, similar in composition to rocks found in the mount-
ains of the Moon.
by Skye Renewables Co-operative on the Macleod & Coishletter Estate, crofted by Feorlig Crofting Com-
munity. Otta Swire, author of Skye: The Island and its Legends (1952) and other books on folk-culture
and myth, lived at Orbost House after WWII. Her grand-daughter, Flora MacDonald Swire, was a victim
of Pan Am flight 103. Rodel Church, on the Isle of Harris, near Ròineabhal, Rough Ground Hill, whose
summit is a granite intrusion, including anorthosite, similar in composition to rocks found in the mount-
ains of the Moon.
Anaitis on Waternish
Temple of Anaitis, photograph CD
partly Oriental in character the Celts remain
in the mountain vastness and remote Isles
and peninsulas where a remnant
is still to be found faithful to the old memories
and the old tongue. Hindu and Byzantine carving
certainly shows affinity with that of Iona
and there are traces also in Celtic airs of kinship
with Greek and Arabian
(Marjory Kennedy-Fraser)
turn north-west, to Ben Horneval
& imagine the Fairy Bridge
below Beinn Bhreac
in the cut & curl of a cleft of River Bay
is a dark amphitheatre, hemmed in by the eroded
confluence with a burn flowing down from the hill;
a rock pintle catches the line of the sun
shining on the unmarked graves
of unbaptized children
here is the ruin of Anaitis' teampall;
4 oval chambers gone, but the vulvic mound still green,
revealing old habitation by contrast
with the harsh tones of rock & ling
Boswell’s Tour records Johnson’s lofty refutation
of their host, the learned Rev. Dr McQueen,
who thought the teampall a twin of Lydia’s Anaitidis delubrum
names veil the rituals that washed
from ancient Anatolia to Waternish
with the goddess
Anatu
Anath
Anata
Antu
Anant
Anit
Anti
Antit
Anahita
Anahit
Scythian hints of ‘Anaitis’ resound
in other Skye sites
Teampall Annaitis
on the River Bay, Waternish
Camus na h-Annait
at Neist Point
Annat
on Staffin Island
Ach na h-Annaid
at Braes
where McQueen & his visitors agreed
was that here processions led down to this riverside
where the sacred stones
were ritually washed
The epigraph is from Marjory Kennedy-Fraser & Kenneth MacLeod, Songs of the Hebrides, Vol II
(Boosey & Co, 1917). Ben Horneval, Horn Hill. Johnson's visit to the Teampall of Annait, or Anaitis,
with Dr. MacQueen, minister of the parish of Bracadale, is recorded in Boswell's The Journal of a
Tour of the Hebrides (1785). Johnson argued for a local explanation: ‘We have no occasion to go to
a distance for what we can pick up under our feet.’ Pausanias, Description of Greece, Chapter XVI,
refers to the Lydian temple of Artemis Anaeitis. The description of the site by the River Bay came from
Caroline Dear, Nick Thomson, and J. A. MacCulloch's The Misty Isle of Skye (1905). Anaitis and her
‘Temple’ at High Pastures Cave, referred to in detail in the guide for Clach na h-Annait. Information
on the other Anaitis place names on the Skye came from Caroline Dear. Her book the colours of Skye
offers another kind of overview of the island.
(Boosey & Co, 1917). Ben Horneval, Horn Hill. Johnson's visit to the Teampall of Annait, or Anaitis,
with Dr. MacQueen, minister of the parish of Bracadale, is recorded in Boswell's The Journal of a
Tour of the Hebrides (1785). Johnson argued for a local explanation: ‘We have no occasion to go to
a distance for what we can pick up under our feet.’ Pausanias, Description of Greece, Chapter XVI,
refers to the Lydian temple of Artemis Anaeitis. The description of the site by the River Bay came from
Caroline Dear, Nick Thomson, and J. A. MacCulloch's The Misty Isle of Skye (1905). Anaitis and her
‘Temple’ at High Pastures Cave, referred to in detail in the guide for Clach na h-Annait. Information
on the other Anaitis place names on the Skye came from Caroline Dear. Her book the colours of Skye
offers another kind of overview of the island.
word-mntn (Ben Aketil), AF
Dùn Beag 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 Dùn Beag.
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 Dùn Beag 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 Dùn Beag,
can be found on the drawing page.list of the mountains referred to in the Dùn Beag 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 Dùn Beag,
Am Basteir | The Executioner |
Arnaval | Erne-fell |
Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach | Middle Red Mountain |
Beinn Dearg Mhòr | Big Red Mountain |
Beinn Horneval | Horn Mountain |
Bruach na Frìthe | Brae of the Moor Forest |
Glàmaig | The Greedy Woman |
Healabhal Bheag | Little Flagstone Hill |
Healabhal Mhòr | Big Flagstone Hill |
Marsco | Seagull Rock |
Preshal More | ? |
Quiraing | Round Fold |
Sgùrr Alasdair | Alexander’s peak |
Sgùrr Dearg | Red Peak |
Sgùrr Mhic Coinnich | McKenzie’s peak |
Sgùrr a' Ghreadaidh | Peak of the tormented torrent |
Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh | The Foxes' Peak |
Sgùrr na Banachdaich | Pockmarked Peak |
Sgùrr nan Gillean | Peak of the Lads |
contributors
Alec Finlay (AF)
with
Luke Allan (LA)
Caroline Dear (CD)
Alison Lloyd (AL)
Gavin Morrison
Emma Nicolson (EN)
Caroline Smith
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
commissioned by ATLAS, Skye, 2012-13
http://atlasarts.org.uk/
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