We still to poor Lochaber cling,
Content if ceaseless toil and care,
Scant living from these rocks may wring,
Confined to this lean strip of shore,
The Mountains free to range no more,
All gone – our goats and bonny kye,
That were so bounteous to supply
Alike the children’s wants and ours;
We drudge through late and early hours,
And for our toiling hardly win,
Of fuel, food, and raiment thin,
Enough to keep this poor life in.
How different from the easeful wealth
Of mountain-living, those old days,
When we drank freedom, joy and health,
High on Glendesseray braes!
But that dear Glen, as though hast seen,
To-day is silent as the grave,
No songs at the high shealings green,
No voices in the valley, save
The bleating of the thousand sheep,
Which o’er our fields and gardens feed,
That Lowland drover thence may reap,
O’erflowing gain to glut his greed.
Despite the forecast, there were long periods of sunshine. Alone in spacious A'Chuil Bothy, it seemed very peaceful. I did spot the tiny mouse as it slipped into a hole behind the warm fireplace.
Next day I set off for Sourlies Bothy through Glen Dessary. Once again, the forecasted light snow failed to materialize. It was cold and overcast with occasional bursts of bright sunshine.
In Glen Dessary I crossed the route taken by Bonny Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart) on 20th July 1746 after defeat at the Battle of Culloden. I will crossed over his trail again at Kinloch Hourn.
A’Chuil Bothy was built some time after 1875 and was occupied by a Sutherland family until the early 1940s. The children went to a school in Strathan which survived until about 1950. Supplies were brought in by boat across Loch Arkaig until the road alongside the Loch was built in the 1920s.
Loch Arkaig's other claim to fame is as the alleged hiding place of a consignment of gold landed by the French at Arisaig for the Jacobites in 1746. This was hidden somewhere near Loch Arkaig, and the hiding place, it is said, has never been found.
In common with a number of other Scottish lochs, Loch Arkaig was at one time supposed to be the home of a water horse. James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury and twice foreign minister during Queen Victoria's reign, recorded in his Memoirs of an Ex-Minister:
"October 3rd, 1857. This morning my stalker and his boy gave me an account of a mysterious creature, which they say exists in Loch Arkaig, and which they call the Lake-Horse. It is the same animal of which one has occasionally read accounts in newspapers as having been seen in the Highland lochs, and of the existence of which in Loch Assynt the late Lord Ellesmere wrote an interesting article, but hitherto the story has always been looked upon as fabulous. I am now, however, nearly persuaded of its truth. My stalker, John Stuart, at Achnacarry, has seen it twice, and both times at sunrise on a bright sunny day, when there was not a ripple on the water. The creature was basking on the surface; he only saw the head and hind quarters, proving that its back was hollow, which is not the shape of any fish or of a seal. Its head resembled that of a horse.... The Highlanders are very superstitious about this creature. They are convinced that there is never more than one in existence at the same time, and I believe they think it has something diabolical in its nature, for when I said I wished I could get within shot of it, my stalker observed very gravely: 'Perhaps your Lordship's gun would miss fire.'"
I spent two nights at Sourlies Bothy at the head of Loch Nevis (Loch of Heaven). from here I climbed Meall Buidhe (yellow hill)
Sourlies bothy lies on the Southern side of Knoydart. The famous seven men of Knoydart fought in WWII and tried to reclaim the land they had been promised that was owned by Lord Brockett. Although unsuccessful, they became legendary heroes to the cause of crofting rights and established a principle, which has today become a reality for communities in Eigg, Assynt and now Knoydart itself.
For more details go to http://www.redflag.org.uk/frontline/nov11/knoydart.html where you can read the lyrics of Dick Gaughan’s song.
Prior to the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion the population numbered nearly a thousand and in spite of much emigration, mainly to Canada, remained at that level in 1841.
In 1852 four hundred of the inhabitants were given notice of eviction for the following year and offered passages overseas, originally to Australia, but later their destination was changed to Canada. On 9 August 1853 three hundred and thirty inhabitants from the west coast of the peninsula went on board the Sillery and left for Canada. However, 11 families comprising over 60 people refused to go and the story of their eviction became notorious as part of the Highland Clearances.
Here is a typical story from Alexander MacKenzie’s book:
Alexander Macdonald, aged 40 years, with a wife and family of four children, had his house pulled down. His wife was pregnant; still the levellers thrust her out, and then put the children out after her. The husband argued, remonstrated, and protested, but it was all in vain; for in a few minutes all he had for his (to him once comfortable) home was a lot of rubbish, blackened rafters, and heaps of stones. The levellers laughed at him and at his protests, and when their work was over, moved away, leaving him to find refuge the best way he could. Alexander had, like the rest of his evicted brethren, to burrow among the rocks and in caves until he put up a temporary shelter amid the wreck of his old habitation, but from which he was repeatedly driven away. For three days Alexander Macdonald's wife lay sick beside a bush, where, owing to terror and exposure to cold, she had a miscarriage. She was then removed to the shelter of the walls of her former house, and for three days she lay so ill that her life was despaired of.
There were four other people in the Bothy on the first night and two others on the second. It was misty, wet, and windy at the top of Meall Buidhe. With snow underfoot. Lots of Self Heal growing on the lower slopes and around Sorlies Bothy bright yellow Lesser Celandines. Guess who has a Wild Flower App on their phone!
Loch Nevis
From Sourlies bothy I climbed over the col called Mam Unndulain and descended to Barrisdale Bothy in Barrisdale Bay on Loch Hourn (Hell's Loch). There were a few drizzly showers but not enough to make it worth bothering with a coat.
From Sourlies bothy I climbed over the col called Mam Unndulain and descended to Barrisdale Bothy in Barrisdale Bay on Loch Hourn (Hell's Loch). There were a few drizzly showers but not enough to make it worth bothering with a coat.
The Carnach glen is so beautiful and secluded. A really pleasant day.
Carnach Bridge
More people to chat to at Barrisdale, where I spent the night. Then I carried on along an ancient right of way to Kinlochhourn and the camped just north of there in Coire Reidh.
A guy came by while I was reading. He was also doing the CWT but in a week. That day he had done what I had taken three days to do! Again, weather overcast with sunny spells. No issues with crossing rivers, which is great. Even tea and cake at Kinlochhourn. Luxury!
More people to chat to at Barrisdale, where I spent the night. Then I carried on along an ancient right of way to Kinlochhourn and the camped just north of there in Coire Reidh.
A guy came by while I was reading. He was also doing the CWT but in a week. That day he had done what I had taken three days to do! Again, weather overcast with sunny spells. No issues with crossing rivers, which is great. Even tea and cake at Kinlochhourn. Luxury!
Looking back towards Barrisdale Bay
The next day I wove my way round Sgurr na Sgine and the Forcan Ridge to arrive in Shiel Bridge where I am staying at the Trekkers Lodge owned by Kintail Lodge Hotel.
I was here on 10 June 1719, between British Government troops (mostly Scots) and an alliance of Jacobites and Spanish, that Battle of Glen Shiel took place. Topically, this was linked to Britain's acquiring of Gibraltor.
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| The Battle of Glenshiel 1719 by Peter Tillemans. |
