old hill names for starbh trilleachan and beinn abheithir

Sat, Dec 29, 2007

I was down at the neebs for dinner yesterday and had a good look at their collection of nautical maps, one of which is a beautifully drawn survey map of 1861, “Lochs Etive and Creran”, surveyed by Commander E.J. Bedford F.R.G.S. I compared it to a modern map of the area, which seemed dull and lifeless in comparison and then a few things jumped out of the pages and I discovered some old gems of hill names.

On the map, Beinn Starbh (starav) is called Ben Sgapach, which means “spreading or sprawling”, possibly in relation to the sheer size of this big munro and just across the glen, a familiar hill had changed gender. Beinn Trilleachan was marked as Ben Thrilleachan, so in 1861 the local dialect would have been female for Beinn, hence the aspiration of Trilleachan (adding an “h” after the first letter). Gender of hill names can’t always be inferred from aspiration though, as not all letters can be aspirated. For example, “R” cannot be aspirated in writing, only in speech, which is why Rhum is a load of of bull! So if you’re a native Gaelic speaker you would say Sgorr Ruadh as if the “R” of Ruadh was aspirated (if your dialect considered Sgorr to be feminine). There’s an example of gender switching on my older post about the Cuillin.

The most interesting discovery though, was the area around Beinn a’Beithir above Ballachulish, near Glencoe. On modern maps, Beinn a’Bheithir refers to the two munros of Sgorr Dhearg and Sgorr Dhonuill but on the 1861 map it refers to the ridge running from Creag Gorm, SW over the 758m and 759 tops, then SE up to the 824m top, with the two munros standing apart from the main massif. The northerly spur that leads down to Gleann a’Chaolais and starts between the 1001m and 757m tops is called Sgurr Hulish but the thing that really caught my eye was the name for what is now called Sgorr Dhonuill. On the 1861 map it’s called Sgor Doimheal, which means “stormy peak”. Also, again, Sgorr has switched gender. Masculine in 1861 (no aspiration on doimheal), feminine today (aspirated donuill).

Now, as Beithir means “lightning” or “thunderbolt”, I’d stick my neck out and say Sgorr Dhoimheal (goyal, although see my guide on how to say “dh”) is the “real” name for Sgorr Dhonuill. It fits with the general theme of thunder, lightning and storm.

I think some further research is in order.