A visit to one of the local caves amid the guano

[Uilleachan]

Went for a wander along the shore near my house yesterday and called in to a cave I spent quite a bit of time hanging out in in my youth. Not really a day out more of a quick wander in the shadow of the old woman to remind me of my mortality (if you click my profile you can see the old woman's white plaid laid out to dry, the view is more spectacular from this cave entrance but she chose to wear her veil yesterday.



Spent a few nights in it some 25 years ago now and it was interesting to pay a visit.

It seems there's been a period of regular use in the interim as there was bit of stuff lifted from the shore around, but judging by the amount of guano and feather around the place the last lot of occupants seem to have been some kind of Tern.



I lit a fire in the hearth, that was there long before my time and there was a story about a man who lived here for a time in the immediate aftermath of a local clearance.



The story goes that the man lived here for 7 years, supported by the locals whilst eking out a living from the foreshore. In the end (possibly something to do with Scots squatters rights) the estate gave him a job and accommodated him. The estate now belongs to SNH, not the foreshore though, thats still in the hands of the crown.

I've often pondered the possibility that this place may have been used as a shelter by passers by for many many years. Despite the entrance facing into the prevailing wind direction this spot offers good shelter from the south westerlies, something to do with the way the wind hits the cliff face seems to leave the interior remarkably calm but enough of an eddie to draw the smoke out of the entrance, rather than back into the cave. All in all a viable sheltered space.

The view from the mouth over to Ellean a Cheo



Yesterday the wind was strong from the south bringing in pulses of rain despite that had it not been for the guano (and the proximity of my own hearth) I'd have happily spent the night there.

I'm rather interested in these sorts of places, places where some passers by may have paused for respite & shelter down the millennia; so if anyone else has similar spots nearby or that they visit it would be nice to hear of them. If you do please keep the locations to yourselves, it's an ever shrinking world unfortunately.

 

[Toddy]

Nice and I agree, interesting

Lot of cleared folks took up residence on the foreshore, look at Crovie on the Banffshire coast for instance.
Brutally cruel at the time, clearing farmers and trying to make fisherfolks of them just to make money for a few indolent titled landowners.

Ah, no politics, not even historical ones

Anyway, the cave; oh yes, well worth exploring, especially if you find any evidences of shell middens. Look up Obanian culture and the harpoon points, etc., these are, well, even I don't have words for all their history and how much it matters that they're properly appreciated in situ finds.

You must be quite near the Glen Elg brochs too. Massive amounts of fascinating history and prehistory in that North West area

atb,
M

 

[HHazeldean]

That looks fantastic, must've been nice to bring back some of the memories perhaps. I wish there were some caves around where I go as all of the rock is shale and so is incredibly unstable.
I love the history of those kinds of places too. I'm presuming it's above the high tide mark too then?

Thanks for sharing

 

[Uilleachan]

Nice and I agree, interesting

Lot of cleared folks took up residence on the foreshore, look at Crovie on the Banffshire coast for instance.
Brutally cruel at the time, clearing farmers and trying to make fisherfolks of them just to make money for a few indolent titled landowners.

Ah, no politics, not even historical ones

Anyway, the cave; oh yes, well worth exploring, especially if you find any evidences of shell middens. Look up Obanian culture and the harpoon points, etc., these are, well, even I don't have words for all their history and how much it matters that they're properly appreciated in situ finds.

You must be quite near the Glen Elg brochs too. Massive amounts of fascinating history and prehistory in that North West area

atb,
M

There's no direct evidence of shell middens in this particular spot but the sea level was a bit lower in the mesolithic so any shell midden would likely have washed away in the time since. Quite a few caves of this type just round the corner too but there's been houses there for quite some time. Good pickings on this shore but it gets hammered, due to the proximity of the road, by whelk pickers. So if it was used it would be more of a transit stop, a mesolithic service station.

There are a couple of quite well known Obanian sites (not credited in Obanian study but considered to be of a similar vintage and possibly connected) at Sand on the Applecross peninsula and across the sound on Rassay. So if they were connected this area would have seen them in passing at least

I am quite close to Glenelg, but my favorite broch is the totaig broch which sits overlooking ellean donnan a mile or so to the south west on the other shore;



Not as tall but not without interest, more atmospheric in my opinion. That lintel is quite a stone and there's a cracking little room with its finer interior stone work and architecture intact, thats worth a crawl in with the torch.

 

[Toddy]

The shell middens are fascinating. Tbh I reckon the folks of prehistory ate the shellfish like we'd eat peanuts. The cave being above the water line isn't an issue there, it's still close and they did carry the shellfish.

Interesting one that at Loch Alsh, and the tales of Grugaig and her sons, the other two brochs in Glen Elg. Makes you wonder if the tale is a derivation of family reality sometimes

Beautiful bit of the world, and if you are of a people who move by water, then right on the highways

atb,
M

 

[Macaroon]

A very nice thread, very interesting; when I was a younger man I used to visit many such places on the west coast of Ireland with a not dissimilar history and much the same set of stories to tell, but I'm fairly sure the photos will be hard to find now, they were in the care of my now very elderly mother and many things have been misplaced.

I was brought to know the history of my own people by wandering in these places of real magic in a way that no amount of reading or formal education could ever have achieved and the times spent wandering and wondering there are lodged in my memory as some of the best of my days........................

 

[mountainm]

Best thread in a long time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Uilleachan]

The shell middens are fascinating. Tbh I reckon the folks of prehistory ate the shellfish like we'd eat peanuts. The cave being above the water line isn't an issue there, it's still close and they did carry the shellfish.

Interesting one that at Loch Alsh, and the tales of Grugaig and her sons, the other two brochs in Glen Elg. Makes you wonder if the tale is a derivation of family reality sometimes

Beautiful bit of the world, and if you are of a people who move by water, then right on the highways

atb,
M

Yep right on the main route, the most accessible of local shore place names have many viking and later isles lordship names, but the bigger features still preserve more ancient mythical associations and motifs. The old veiled one can be seen peeping out of the cloud in this photo I took yesterday, Fionn must be sat up there judging by the light emanating around the summit



I can't help but think Grugaig et al, Saucy Mary; matriarch of the MacKinnons, Fionn's wife (mother of Ossin) and Greine (both have a grave up there, on different summits), are all different manifestations/aspects of the same local deity/mythical woman character woven into different stories down the years? Big women are a feature of the mythology in this part of the world, even the old caillich above has a rival just along the road looking down on Broadford. Ellean Ban Mor (Isle of Eigg) literally means island of the big women.

A very nice thread, very interesting; when I was a younger man I used to visit many such places on the west coast of Ireland with a not dissimilar history and much the same set of stories to tell, but I'm fairly sure the photos will be hard to find now, they were in the care of my now very elderly mother and many things have been misplaced.

I was brought to know the history of my own people by wandering in these places of real magic in a way that no amount of reading or formal education could ever have achieved and the times spent wandering and wondering there are lodged in my memory as some of the best of my days........................

The landscape has that effect on us. It's only since the advent of the digital camera that I've managed to accrue and keep photos. Mores the pity.