Beinn Sgritheall on eBothy Blog

bealach na h oidhche solved

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There’s a pass between Beinn Sgritheall and Beinn a’Chapuill called Bealach na h-Oidhche with attendant features such as Creag Bealach na h-Oidhche, Loch and Allt Bealach na h-Oidhche and today I learned why they’re all called “of the night”. It was a lovely day at work and I bumped into a colleague outside and while gazing across to Beinn Sgritheall he mentioned he’d been told why by a relative who’s ancestor was a drover. Apparently drovers used to take cattle from Tormore on Skye, up the Sleat peninusla, past Leitir Fura to Kylerhea, where they swam them across to Glenelg then drove them on to Arnisdale. It was there they headed up the hill and the first overnight stop was at Bealach na h-Oidhche. Hence the name. Pass of the night. Apparently it was a good place to stance cattle overnight. Good grazing and crags to hem them in. I’ve seen another meaning for Loch na h-Oidhche (the night loch) as well. Apparently it means the fishing is good after dark according to Roddy MacLean’s excellent booklet Gaelic in the landscape [PDF]. You might find this booklet interesting too. Gaelic and Norse in the landscape [PDF].

the cloud cometh

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

With all that gear stuff out of the way, I’m now free to stare at the clouds again and what superb Cirrus we had yesterday afternoon:

a tropical morning

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

No sign of the torrential rain forecast but the wind is picking up and it’s warm as the tropics. Only last week there was snow on the hills but this morning is very mild. Superb sunset over Beinn Sgritheall and Ladhair Bheinn:

the first snows have gone

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

It was a horrendous morning today so it was festering in bed and reading most of the day, until the weather cleared up completely to reveal a bright white line snaking down the east face of Beinn Sgritheall. A massive torrent of water was being unleashed by the melting snows that came yesterday and left today. Cailleach a’Gheamhraidh (the old woman of winter) was just trying out her voice. She’ll be back. In the meantime, it was a calm and peaceful end to a very stormy day.

rise and sunshine

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

What a morning! Got up to see the sun rising over Beinn Sgritheall with Ladhair Bheinn waiting patiently for its share of the warmth. The coldest morning yet, after the summer. Welcome autumn!

a warm skye evening

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a fantastic late summer day on Skye today and I managed to snap some pics, perhaps the last of the warm weather. It’s been a superb summer on Skye, in contrast to the record breaking wet weather throughout the rest of the UK. It was so dry at one point, three months without rain, that we almost ran out of water and a lot of the neebs actually did, as we’re all on springs. This morning on the way to work I snapped crepuscular rays slanting down in front of Sgurr na Coinnich across the Sleat moorland.

and the sun it shines on and on

Mon, 26 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Just had the most amazing couple of days in the Cuillin, giving my old friend Corncircles a hand round the Banachdich to Ghreadaidh ridge and Glamaig, which I’ll write up later, once I’ve sorted the 190 pics I took! Had to take the car to the garage at Armadale today though and the weather is just out of this world. Normally it’s severe gales and torrential rain with sun in the south of the UK but it’s a complete reversal and we haven’t seen much rain in two months on the island. It’s been wall to wall sunshine for more or less the whole of April and May.

beinn sgritheall goes nuclear

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

After a day of North East gales and heavy rain, a giant Cumulus forms over Beinn Sgritheall and breaks off to drift west towards Skye.