Strath Shuardail & Strath Mòr were shortcuts
for folk who walked between sea lochs
carrying curroughs on their shoulders
to Loch Ainort, Slapin, Alsh & Eishort,
connecting the old tracks worn by Mesolithic nomads
when the tides flowed deep
into today’s glens
later the lochs blossomed a ring
of stone duns, keeping watch over
their seaward approaches
Dùn Liath
Dùn Scaich
Dùn Kearstach
Dùn Beag
Dùn Ringill
Dùn Grugaig
Dùn Geilbt
most eminent of them all, Dùn Scaich
where Sgathaich’s warrior-school trained
on the cliff-top, while sparks & brangs burst
from the smithy on Eilean Ruairidh
while you look over the silver-grey loch
from Liath to-fort-to-fort,
hum the son’s lament
‘Cù-chulainn's a Mhac’
ochone nan och is och eire
woe is me, my son a-keening
sung for the warrior, Cù-chulainn, who sailed here
to study the secrets of warfare,
mastering such precise skills as would someday
kill his own son, Conla
blow mirroring blow
on an Irish shore
until the final horror
of filial recognition
Dùn Liath, The Grey Fort (Grid ref: NG 3598 7002). Site records can be viewed on RCAHMS.
The fort is on a spur, on the lip of a slope above Loch Slapin A currough is a coracle; such a
vessel was recreated by Will MacLean & Arthur Watson, as a framework sculpture, or ‘Crannghal’,
based on descriptions of these vessels in early literature, at the Gaelic College on Skye, Sabhal
Mor Ostaig . In 1984 the archaeologist Caroline Wickham-Jones found Mesolithic settlements
(c. 8 500 BP) on Rùm. Sgathaich’s warrior school is described in more detail in the guide to Dùn
Scaich. The performance is by Finlay MacNeill, recorded by the BBC on behalf of John
Purser for the first series of Scotland's Music on BBC Radio Scotland, broadcast 1991-92.
Sgathach’s sister Aoife put her son Conla under a spell that barred him from saying his own name.
When the son met his father, Cù-chulainn, in combat, ‘the son, knowing, sent his spear shaft fore-
most. The father, not knowing, sent his spear point foremost. And the son fell’, Kenneth MacLeod,
Songs of the Hebrides (Vol II, Boosey & Co, 1917). ‘Woe is me! My son a-keening’ is MacLeod’s
translation.
view of Dùn Scaich; poem & photograph, AFRuth's Curach
the Curach sits upon the water she responds
to the slightest motion of water, wind or rower
at times the oars serve
solely as correctives
rather than propellants
it takes a good Curach crew three years
to develop their collective skills
BASKET FOR A LOCH
curach
after Ruth MacDougall, artist, who built her own curach at Carbeth.
colouring Dùn Liath
Dùn Liath, KC
we will go down to the dùn
but there’s nothing to see
in today's grey mist
though there is this to see
Dùn Liath, the grey dùn
grey, as in many coloured
grey, as in cloud
grey, as in pebble
grey, as in lichen
grey, as in the marbling of the birch bark
grey, as in soft pussy willow
grey, as in a gull’s markings
grey, as in the heron’s wing
grey, as in the road, for this is its end
grey, as in the post, holding up the sign, PASSING PLACE
grey, as in the cold ashes of the fire left by Liath
grey, as in a mountain, An Sgùrr, or far off Rois-Bheinn grey, as in the isles of Eigg, Muck & Rùm
grey-blue, as in sea covered with a lavender-blue veil
(after Ottilie Helen Mclaren)
finding our way to the dùn we stumble upon
the bleached white skull of a deer, among
thin trunks of sallow willow bones which will weather
watery grey come next summer
Dùn Liath, The Grey Fort, situated on a headland, surrounded by woodland; the willow around the
dùn is saille seileach. Our host John Purser, composer & musicologist, provided me with the phrase
‘grey-blue sea covered with a lavender-blue veil’, a translation (from the original French) of a line
by the sculptor Ottilie Helen Mclaren, describing the view she had from Smirisary of Eigg and the sea
in a letter sent to August Rodin, for whom she worked as an assistant. She married the Scottish
composer William Wallace.
word-mntn (An Sgùrr); poem & photograph, AFcolouring mountains
word-mntn (Beinn na Caillich); poem & photograph, AF
bàn, white
as in quartz
gorm, blue-green
as in Cairngorm
glas, grey-green
as in scree
ruadh, rust red
as in winter bracken
dearg, bright red
as in the Cuillin’s
lavic red granite
buidhe, yellow
as in gorse
dubh, black
as in the Cuillin’s
gabbro crags
The Gaelic words for colours are more complex than those used in English, being 'attributive', they
vary in meaning depending what feature they are describing. This is particularly true in the case of
landscape, where gorm may mean blue when referring to a hill, or green if it refers to a corrie. Click
for a leaflet with more information.
(after John Purser)
dùns: an argument as to their function & meaning
Purser blend; poem & photograph, AF
at Dun Liath I shared tea and chat
with a local expert
He: (as he pours the tea)
with respect to how they are sited
all the dùns I’ve seen have no consistent logic:whether we view them as fortifications,
status symbols or potential alignments,
these conceptions are no more than projections
of our own preconceptions
Me:
can we agree then, each dùn presents its own
unique problem & solution? –
though I see I’m being romantic,
preferring fallen dùns which, being ruins,
are my wild highland gardens,
rich with sorrel, thyme, rowan,
foxglove, birch, hazel & ash,
thriving in the debris of dwelling,
and, being roofless & windowless,
ruined dùns make perfect viewpoints
offering a conspectus, free from the fixed frames
of historical certainties
Among the typical flora found on Highland dùns: sorrel, samh, thyme, lus an rìgh, rowan, caorann;
foxglove, lus nam ban-sìdh; birch, beith; hazel, calltainn; & ash, uinnseann. There is a more detailed
discussion of flora and how they may relate to dùns in the guide to Dùn Gerashader.
a walk through cleared land
Suisnish, KC
viewed from Dùn Liath the coast of Loch Eishort
is a succession of cleared crofts, from Boreraig to Suisnish,
townships whose occupants were brutally ejected
into waist-deep snow, witnessed by the geologist
Sir Archibald Geikie
a strange wailing reached my ears
I could see a long and motley procession
winding along the road north from Suisnish
a cry of grief went up to heaven,
a long plaintive wail like a funeral coronach,
the sound re-echoed through the wide valley
in one prolonged note of desolation
The townships were cleared by Lord Macdonald in 1853. The verse is based on Sir Archibald Geikie’s
account. I was struck by a conversation between the poet Meg Bateman and curator Emma Nicolson,
that many families on Skye (and elsewhere) were cleared and then cleared again, made homeless and
then made homeless again. A coronach is a lament or keening.
Ken Cockburn, vision of Creag an Daraich
Suisnish; Michael Bromley, 2010
this poem describes a walk along the coast
Cille-Chrisod – Boreraig – Craig an Daraich – Suisnish – Kilbride
a dusty coastal path
winding through gorse
and grassy inclines
steeply rising
to cliff-wall and blue sky
should at the crest
I encounter a traveller
the sun on his shoulder
descending towards me
I’ll raise my arm
to shade my eyes
a gesture open
perhaps to misreading
as Oedipus blocked
not seeing his father
fells a stranger
as Cù-chulainn dazzled
by the warrior’s dexterity
only after delivering
the ultimate stroke
recognizes his son
an aching lament to cliff and sky
that reaches the ears of a blind king
wandering the dusty coastal paths
(Ken Cockburn)
Cockburn made this walk during the week we spent at Kilbride, in April 2012. Dazzled by the sun
blazing over Creag an Daraich – Cliff of the Oak – he was reminded of the scene in Pasolini’s film
Oedipus Rex (1967): the son's accidental murder of his father echoes Cù-chulainn’s murder of his
son, Conla, who he was unable to recognize.
Glasnakille Wood
The MacAlisters' tomb, KC
take a walk from Dùn Liath
through the woods of Glasnakille
following the old path beside Allt na Cille,
between birch & hazel, past MacAlister’s tomb
down to Port Dùn Liath, where pebbles skirt
cliffs of undercut sandstone whose seam points
over to Clach na h-Annait and the pinkish paps
of Beinn na Caillich & Beinn Dearg Mhòr
Glasnakille mesostic; poem & photograph, AF
Gorse
bLackthorn
hAwthorn
Sallow
licheN
rowAn
bracKen
bIrch
bluebeLl
hazeL
Elm
Grass of parnassus
lesser butterfLy orchid
Ash
northern marSh orchid
ramsoN
brAmble
oaK
Ivy
ceLandine
sorreL
primrosE
Port na Dùn Liath renga
above the wrack
this fresh spring’s been
breached by the equinoctial tide
the pebbles roughly slough
their liking for lapping
on the creamy rocks
barnacles give way
to black lichen
a gull and cormorant
divvy up Clach na Bonait
aspen on Creag nan Sgarbh
grip the overhang
of the bitten cliff
primroses & ramson
a bit before bluebells
stone-broken nuts
the hazel wood
is yet to leaf
beneath the trees
there are mossy lazy-beds
filling the grave
put on, put on the earth
as MacAlister put on us
their first cows
Butterscotch & McCowan
over on Suisnish
you can still see
green field patterns
the walls of the house
ruined the dùn & dyke
defensive thickness
conferring status
or central heating
Ken’s compass shifts
the mountain onto the island
(Alec Finlay & Ken Cockburn)
The place names here are: Allt na Cille, Burn of the Church, which may relate to a former grave-
yard or possibly a church; Beinn na Caillich, Hill of the Crone; Beinn Dearg Mhor, Big Red Hill.
The 2 poems listing the names of flora that grow in Glasnakille Wood are mesostics; the species
names are from a local SNH report, with some additional help from John Purser. The woods are
a mass of Bluebells in late Spring, and many varieties of wild orchid can be found, as well as 52
lichens. The longer poem is a renga, a Japanese form of linked verse. The flora in the renga
include: lichen, crotal, primrose, sòbhrach, ramson, creamh, and bluebell, currac cuthaige.
Purser has collected local place names from the community and old maps, including Creag nan
Sgarbh, Cormorant Rock. Butterscotch & McCowan are the names of his first pair of Highland
cattle. He also told us the tale of a local crofter decrying the unpopular landlord, MacAlister,
saying, as he buried him: ‘put on, put on the earth, as MacAlister put on us’.
Prunus spinosa, poem & photograph, AF
plum sweet
from this
wild sourness
John Purser’s vision of Glen Scaladal
I trudge the ridge and furrow
of old lazy-beds: the loss and gain
where the cas-crom, heavy hilted,
long-footed, drained the land.
Now the land weeps, deserted,
choked with rain.
These written griefs
frowning and weeping
through the green-glowing glen
remain unspoken:
they are home for the iris,
stately and fine,
and burial ditch for the spent ewe,
her loins plundered by foxes –
the torn womb reveals
a small wet eyeless head.
There are no children here
whose supple hands
would have been asked to ease
that hard delivery:
and thinking of the lambs of all the world I hear
only the voice of a child running
mad-cap to her mother's woollen skirt
across sunlit Glen Scaladal,
and in that cry the perilous call
that searches still
for the warm comfort of humanity.
(John Purser)
‘Glen Scaladal’, was first published in Chapman 82 (1995). The characterization of The Cuillin as a musical
composition (below) derives from Purser’s description of 'Skyelines' (1994), a musical portrait of the
mountain range, for trombone and organ.
word-mntn (Ben Cleat), AF
7 June, 10:00, The 17, performance, Ben Meabost, Isle of Skye
In the summer of 2006 Bill Drummond visited John Purser at Drinan and together they walked
up Ben Meabost, bare-foot, in silence, at John's suggestion.
word-mntn (Ben Meabost), AF
the Scottish mainland & southern isles
word-mntn (Beinn Bhuidhe); poem & photograph, AF
as we become more familiar with our viewpoints
we can align the dùns into a series of
pagan threesomes
Dùn Scaich
looking over Liath, toward the skyline
of the Cuillin
Dùn Liath
looking past Scaich, south-east over An Sgùrr,
toward the stern peaks of Knoydart & Morar,
& further south, to Sanna and Mull
Dùn Bàn, the white fort on the east coast of Sleat
shares the panorama of landward mountains
with Liath, looking down Loch Eishort
to Sgùrr na Còinnich and the crowded peaks
of Knoydart
to detail the view from Liath, look from Beinn a' Chapuill
to the twin peaks of Beinn Sgritheall
beside Loch Hourn
from Beinn na h-Eaglaise to Beinn na Caillich
another of the peaks that belong
to the Winter Queen
down to Ladhar-Bheinn, deep in the wilds,
and the neighbouring peaks Stob a' Chearcaill
& Meall Buidhe
due east of Liath, the summit of Meith-Bheinn
in Morar
peer through the branches that screen the dùn,
south to Loch Ailort & the constellated summits
of Rois-Bheinn
on a clear day the view reaches over Ardnamurchan
to Ben More on Mull
the massif of Rùm Cuillin remains out of sight
until you approach the incline of Ben Cleat
or climb Ben Meabost
Eigg is the Notched Island, named for the shape of An Sgùrr, The Peak. Translations of the
other mountain names are given in the conspectus below.
word-mntn (Rois-Bheinn); poem & photograph, AF
Dùn Liath 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 Liath.
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 Liath 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 Liath,
can be found on the drawing page.list of the mountains referred to in the Dùn Liath 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 Liath,
| An Sgùrr | The Peak |
| Beinn a' Chapuill | Mountain of the Horse |
| Beinn Bhuidhe | Yellow Mountain |
| Ben Cleat | Cliff or Rock Mountain |
| Beinn Dearg Mhòr | Big Red Mountain |
| Beinn na Caillich | Mountain of the Crone |
| Beinn Sgritheall | Mountain of the Scree |
| Ben Meabost | Bost, homestead; mea, narrow (?) |
| Ben More | Great Mountain |
| Meall Buidhe | Yellow Knoll |
| Mèith-bheinn | Sappy Mountain |
| Rois-bheinn | probably mountain of showers (otherwise Norse, horse mountain) |
| Sgùrr na Còinnich | Peak of the Moss |
| Stob a' Chearcaill | Stump of the Circle |
contributors
Alec Finlay (AF)
with
Ken Cockburn (KC)
Bill Drummond
Alison Lloyd (AL)
Gavin Morrison
John Purser
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
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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