roughboundsoflochaber

Glen FinnanIt is at Glen Finnan or Gleann Fhionnainn that ourjourney starts properly. This glen runs south to thehead of Loch Shiel. The River Finnan feeds theloch along with Abhainn Shlatach and Callop River.Starting some way up the glen, there is Leum ant-Saighdeir, ‘the soldier’s leap’. The story is a familiarone: A Jacobite soldier was captured by redcoatsat the head of Loch Arkaig; he was escorted southinto Glen Finnan. When they were passing the pointnow called Leum an t-Saighdeir he broke away andleapt over the river. The other men were too afraid tofollow. He disappeared over a hill to the east whichwas since named Tom an t-Saighdeir, ‘the soldier’shill’. Similar stories occur a number of times aroundScotland, and indeed the world, most famously ofcourse at the Pass of Killiecrankie.Just south of Corryhully is Leac na h-Uinneigeor ‘the slab of the window’, where over the milleniaa hole has been worn into the stone by the waterresembling a window. Coming down past AnGarbh-Buaile, ‘the rough fold’ off to the east is Ant-Eas Smùid, ‘the smoky falls’. When it is windyand wet, (as it so very often is in Glen Finnan) thiswaterfall blows back up vertically, like a tower ofsmoke. An Gabhal Mòr, ‘the big fork’ is a holdingpark for sheep or cattle. It was possibly moved forthe railway.Looming over the visitor centre to the worldfamous Glenfinnan Monument is Tòrr a’ Choit, ‘thehill of the coracle, or small boat’. Coit can mean a hutor bothy, but only when feminine, and it is masculinehere. There is another Tòrr a’ Choit on Loch Shiel.The monument itself stands on Dail an Tùir, ‘haughof the tower’ a name which must be more recentthan the monument itself. On the other side of themonument there is also Dail an Naoimh, ‘field of thesaint’ in the immediate vicinity. There is a very oldinterment site here. It was sometimes a staging postfor shipment to St Finnan’s Isle.6Leac na h-Uinneige(the slab of the window)Dail an Tùir (the haugh of the tower)