An Rathad<br>an Iar
Alba · Scotland · October
An Turas Mòr · Pàirt I

An Rathad
an Iar

The Road West. Where the rain and the sun take turns by the minute, and the road answers with a rainbow.

tòisich — begin ↓
Am PlocPlocktonCill Chrìosdthe ruined kirkTalabhsgeirTaliskerArmadailArmadaleleg the first — mainland shore to the garden at the end of Sleat

The first day's way, marked in stones.

I

Am Ploc

The tide is out at Plockton

57.33° N · 5.65° W
Plockton across the bay at low tide

The sea has stepped away for the morning
and left the village its moorings.

Boats on the tidal flats
An AcarsaidThe boats sit down in the weed and wait. Everything here knows the tide will be back.
Plockton bay panorama
An t-seileachPalm trees, of all things — the Gulf Stream's little joke on the west coast.
Lobster creels on the jetty

CliabhCreels stacked on the jetty, ropes coiled like sleeping animals. A working shore, resting.

Trì dealbhan · three studies

Still lifes the fishermen leave behind every single day without knowing it.

cliabh · creelscliabh · creels
slabhraidh · chainslabhraidh · chain
lìon · meshlìon · mesh
II

Na Bèistean Mòra

The great shaggy beasts

Bò Ghàidhealach — the Highland cow
A Highland cow in golden light

Stop the car.
Stop the car.

Bò GhàidhealachShe has stood in weather like this for two hundred generations. You, in your rain jacket, are the novelty here.

Two Highland cows
An dithisMother and calf, fringe to fringe.
Highland cow among rocks
Am fiadhaireThe one that prefers rocks to grass.
III

Cill Chrìosd

Christ's church, roofless since 1840

Srath Suardail, an t-Eilean Sgitheanach
Sheep among gravestones in the mist

The sheep keep the graveyard now,
and the mist keeps the sheep.

The ruined kirk of Cill Chrìosd
An làrachRoofless for nearly two centuries — the parish church of Strath, given back to the weather.
Sheep grazing at the kirk
Na cìobairean ùraThe new congregation is woollier than the old one.
caora — the berries duilleagan — paired leaflets CAORANN Sorbus aucuparia — the rowan, or mountain ash planted at every kirk gate and croft door, to keep the ill luck out

Field plate: the tree standing guard at the kirk gate, berries and all.

IV

Talabhsgeir

The water of life

Talisker — Skye's oldest working distillery, est. 1830
Talisker distillery

An taigh-staileFounded 1830 by the MacAskill brothers at Carbost, on the shore of Loch Harport. 'Made by the sea' is not a slogan here, it is a map reference.

Whisky casks in the warehouse

An taigh-bathairCasks asleep in rows. The angels take their two percent a year and nobody begrudges them.

A burn below the Cuillin
An t-alltSnowmelt and peat — the water the whisky begins as.
Waterfall and moor
Am fuaranEvery burn on this island is in a hurry to reach the sea.
V

Armadail

The garden at the end of Sleat

Armadale — clan Donald's castle, kept as a ruin in a garden
A gardener working the great lawn

An gàirnealairOne man, one lawn the size of a loch, and all the patience in the world.

Armadale castle across the lawn

Caisteal ArmadailThe castle burned in 1855 and the garden simply grew around what was left.

flùr — head duilleag — leaf CLUARAN Cirsium vulgare — the spear thistle national emblem since the battle of Largs, 1263 — so the story goes

A field plate, drawn on the road: the flower that guards the country.

Ceithir flùraichean · four flowers

The walled garden, still flowering into October while the hills behind it go to rust.

lili — tiger lilylili — tiger lily
fraoch — heatherfraoch — heather
cluaran mara — sea hollycluaran mara — sea holly
flùr — verbenaflùr — verbena
Eilean a' Cheò
Pàirt II — continue the journey Eilean a' CheòThe Isle of Mist — Dunvegan, the crofts, and the Old Man of Storr