Читать книгу Literature of the Gaelic Landscape онлайн

41 страница из 54

Figure 2: Ardtalnaig - Cìoch na Maighdinn and Ciste Buille a’ Chlaidheimh in relation to Loch Tay and the possible location of Lochan nan Làmh

Plate 11: Cìoch na Maighdinn – Maiden’s Breast to the left and Ciste Buille a’ Chlaidheimh - Chest of the Sword Blow to the right, either side of Gleann a’ Chilleine, Ardtalnaig, Loch Tayside. Fionn planted a foot on each hill. From the glen, the Sword Blow is a small notch on the righthand horizon.

Plate 12: Buille a’ Chlaidheimh – The Sword Blow, Ardtalnaig, Lochtayside.

The OS 1:25,000 sheet mistakenly shows Ciste Buille a’ Chlaidheimh as Ciste Buide a’ Chlaidheimh and the 1:50000 OS map substitutes this name with The Shee of Ardtalnaig. William Gillies, a Gaelic speaker from Barra, quotes the correct name (Gillies 1938), which he gathered in the district in the 1920s during his ministry at Kenmore. Shee is a corruption of sìth meaning fairy. It is also the origin of Glen Shee - Gleann Sìodh further east in Perthshire (see below). ssss1 shows what seems to be a large cut in the rounded flank of The Shee. More prosaically than its name implies, the Fenian-sized sword blow of Ciste Buille a’ Chlaidheimh has actually been caused by an igneous dyke intruding into the surrounding quartzite and leading to a landslip at the junction between the two rock types after the retreat of glaciers at the end of the ice age. It is a pity that Gillies remains silent about the story that must surely lie behind the massive sword blow.