the end of the rhyme the second man, having finished his recital is then interrogated in his turn and responds with observations about the character of the Turner’s Burn near Upper Lix (now Wester Lix).
Tha Allt an Tuairneir an Lic Uachdarach –
Is luath e ’na theid e ’na shiubhal
Ach theid an Rìgh fo an t-sluasaid,
Ge luath e, mun ruig e an Suidhe.
(in Watson 1928, 264)
There’s the Turner’s Burn of Upper Lix.
It’s fast in its travels; though swift as it is,
the King will be below the shovel
before it reaches the Suie.
(author’s translation adapted from ibid 264)
His answer shows that he knows how rapidly and in what direction the burn runs. If the water could flow to Suie, which lies at a higher elevation upstream, the monarchy might well have been overturned. For to do so, the burn would need to change direction and run uphill from its confluence with the River Dochart. Both men had proved their provenance to each other by using a question and answer form of topo-mnemonic.
This verse shows the depth and detail of the geographical and hydrological information possessed by Highlanders in the 18th century. Today few of these places would register on any cognitive map of the locality, except perhaps Ben More, whose profile dominates the whole length of this long Glen and Lochan nan Arm, whose story is mentioned in today’s tourist literature. Yet in the 18th century the burial grounds of clan leaders, farming settlements and fertile meadows would have had great significance to the natives of Glen Dochart, as would a dramatic event in the Wars of Independence. Both religious sites are associated with St. Fillan, who was active in Glen Dochart in the 8th century. Gold shrine covers of his holy crozier, dating from the 11th and 14th century, were kept by the Dewar family until the 19th century. St Fillan is associated with a healing and baptismal pool on the River Dochart not far from Lochan nan Arm (NN351287). All the farming settlements recorded would have been inhabited in the 18th century when the two soldiers had their toponymic exchange about Glen Dochart in faraway Canada.
Both topo-mnemonics share a common spatial pattern in the way the place-names they cite are distributed (figure 1). There is a central cluster of names, which are mostly inter-visible and define an intimate locality. Then there are a few other places, which are more removed from the core area. These seem to act as reference points, which anchor the locale to a wider sense of the regional landscape.
Figure 1: Glen Dochart Topo-mnemonic
- Fionn mac Chumhail
Fionn mac Cumhail and the Fianna or Fenians were role models for the Gael. Their personal qualities were often expressed in proverbs (Newton 1999). For the Gael, they embodied ideal and semi-divine characteristics (Wiseman 2009). They were reknowned throughout Ireland and the Scottish Highlands as young warrior bands who protected Gaeldom during the Dark Ages, often from Norsemen. In Glen Lyon - Gleann Lìobhann, or the dark, bent Glen of the Stones - Chromgleann Dubh nan Clach, Fionn and his men had twelve castles from which to conduct their heroic deeds. ‘Bha dà chaisteal deug aig Fionn An Chromgleann Dubh nan Clach’ (in Watson 1937, xxxiii).
Fian is cognate with the Latin venare, meaning to hunt (Meek 1998). Since hunting exercised both mind and body, it was an ideal training for young warriors. In Fenian ballads, prowess in the field flourished alongside praise poetry for hunting and eulogies for the natural arena in which their heroic pursuit was prosecuted. It was self evident that any eulogy for a chief had to celebrate his expertise as a hunter - a leader who held dominion over both nature and nurture (Wiseman 2009). During the Middle Ages the aristocracy of the highlands were preoccupied with the chase and its celebration (Menzies 2012). Hunting expressed noble status. It legitimised social bonding, authority and governance and was a test for the chief and his retainers. It signified a unity of land, culture and people – its heritage or dùthchas in Gaelic. Hunting was as much a a rite of passage for the aristocracy as it was for the Fianna (Wiseman 2009).
The enjoyment of hunting is reflected in an anonymous composition praising the Isle of Arran. Amongst many other stories, it was attributed to Oisean the son of Fionn Mac Cumhail, who was one of the few survivors of this age of heroes. It was probably composed during the 12th century as part of a much longer ballad recording a conversation, Acallam na Seanórach – the Conversation of Old Men, between Oisean and St Patrick. Càilte or Caoilte, another survivor of the golden age, is the narrator. He was the swiftest runner amongst the Fianna, and his talent is mentioned in Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain. This is Caoilte’s reply to a question from Patrick, ‘What was the best hunt, whether in Ireland or Scotland, that the Fèinn (Fian or Fianna) ever took part in?’ (Bateman & McLeod 2007, 305).
from Arran’s Hunting
Arran of the many red deer,
ocean reaching to her shoulders;
island where warriors are nourished,
ridge where blue spears are blooded …
… Greyhounds running there and mastiffs
brambles and dark sloes on blackthorn;
close against woods her dwellings,
deer scattered in her oak groves …
… Delightful for them in fine weather,
trout beneath the banks of her rivers,
gulls around her white cliff replying,
delightful at all times is Arran.
(ibid 305-6)
The Fenian hunt is embedded in nature. There is no distinction between man and the natural world. The hunter is as innocent as the quarry he pursues. A description of dwellings in Arran is included amongst references to the natural world. Such poetry is characterised by its close observation of nature, a symbiosis between man and his natural environment, joy tempered with sadness at the hunting of deer and nostalgia for a bygone era (Wiseman 2009). Traces of the heroic age on Arran can still be found amongst place-names in the mountains. Caisteal an Fhinn – Castle of the Fianna (NS953398) lies to the south of Beinn Nuis and Bealach an Fhir-Bhogha – Pass of the Bowman (NS963416) to the north of Beinn Tarsuinn – Mountain Athwart (the way). As late as the mid-18th century, when Highland society and land use were beginning to change radically, Donnchadh Bàn Macintyre in his Song to Homeland – Òran Dùthcha, was still praising hunting prowess as a defining quality of the Gael.
Gu fiadhach a’ mhunaidh,
No dh’ iasgach air buinne,
Anns gach gnìomh a nì duine
’S mòr urram nan Gàidheal.
For
